Compare And Contrast Works And Days By Hesiod

Philosophies on Life
How do you live your life? Do you follow in how major media portrays a normal life or do you have your own reservations on how one should live life? In ancient Greece, a “normal” traditional life is represented in Hesiod’s works, more notably his poem Works & Days. Protagoras was an early philosopher of the time and had his own opinions that differed from Hesiod’s traditional Greek views on life. Although Protagoras’ ideas diverge from the traditional Greek life represented by Hesiod, following in his ideas would result in a more fulfilling life. Protagoras’ ideas would open up different opportunities, lead to a more open personal perspective, and lead to an overall more relaxed life. Protagoras’ ideas differed from Hesiod’s traditional view on how to make a

Hesiod believed that farming and hard manual labor was the only path to a sustainable future. In his poem Works & Days, which the premise is a letter to his own troublesome and problematic brother, Hesiod tells him how to set up a farm and gives him advice and tips on how to run the farm. He continues further and says that farming, or working of the land, contains all the goodness life has to offer, “In short, they thrive on all the good things life has to offer, and they never travel on ships. The soil’s their whole life.” (Works & Days 276). By saying this, Hesiod implies to his brother Perses that farming is the only profession that he should pursue. Protagoras does not believe this is the case and was the first professional sophist. “Protagoras first introduced the custom of charging a fee for lectures. Thereby he bequeathed to the Greeks a practice for is by no means a bad one, since we set greater store on what costs money than on what comes free.” (Testimonia 11). By charging for lectures, Protagoras creates a