t as they are presented in
the Homeric poems, we must now prepare to descend to the actualities of
life as they disclose themselves at the dawn of Greek history. Hesiod,
the epic poet of Boeotia, constitutes the bridge, as regards social
conditions, between the Heroic Age and the early historical periods of
the various peoples and cities of Greece. He describes the actual
conditions about him, and gives us glimpses of the life of the Greek
people which prepare us for the great changes that have taken place
through the overturning of monarchies, the spread of commerce and
colonization, and the awakening of the common people to a sense of their
rights and their power. Hence we may expect to find in his poetry much
light on the status of woman in remote times.

Hesiod is usually ascribed to the second half of the ninth century
before the Christian Era. He lived at Ascra, near Mount Helicon, in
Boeotia, the original home of the AEolians. Amid agricultural
surroundings the poet grew up. Defrauded by his brother Perses of part
of his inheritance, he experienced hardships that quickened his sympathy
for the plain people and led him to reflection on life and its problems.
He was commissioned by the Muses, who appeared to him on Mount Helicon,
to _utter true things to men_--a phrase which strikes the keynote to his
poetry, for he dealt in realities and sought to alleviate the social
conditions of his times. His principal works are the _Works and Days_
and the _Theogony_; there was also a Hesiodic _Catalogue of Women_,
attested by many allusions in classical writers, but, unfortunately for
our purpose, altogether lost to us. Very probably in this work, Hesiod
or his school told of the aristocratic women of Greek mythology, from
whose union with gods had sprung heroes. Lacking this, Hesiod is to us
"the poet of the Helots," and we gain from him only knowledge of the
common people of Boeotia and their manner of life.

Hesiod's estimate of women is vastly inferior to that of Homer. Homer,
who sang for aristocratic ladies at the court of kings, has introduced
us into a society where women presided over their houses with grace and
dignity, and softened and refined the rough, warlike manners of men.
Hesiod, the poet of the plain people, is impressed with the hopelessness
of the conditions about him. The people are oppressed by the nobles; it
is impossible for them to obtain justice; the world seems all wrong. And
in seeking the causes