Comparing Evil In Hesiod's Works And Genesis

The Evil God: Comparing the Origin of Evil Between Hesiod’s Works and Genesis

Within Genesis, Works & Days, and Theogony the divine-human relationship is depicted where humans are initially blessed by the gods and live an effortless life until humans challenged them, thus leading to the existence of evil. Unlike Genesis, however, the origin of evil in Theogony is ambiguous because there is no clear indication of who is considered to be “in the right” between Prometheus and Zeus. While it can be argued that Prometheus should be held responsible for bringing evil due to his holier-than-thou attitude towards Zeus, it is important to consider that Zeus holds responsibility for condemning evil to Prometheus and humankind. In addition, Hesiod raises

the question of whether or not evil arises due to the actions of the humans or the choice of divine beings to create evil. Considering the story of the “fall” of Adam and Eve, it seems that Genesis’ origin of evil is reasonable because Eve eats the forbidden fruit with full knowledge of her actions. However, if we take note of Theogony’s approach to the establishment of evil, it becomes evident that Genesis’ construction is not as compelling as it might have initially appeared. Hesiod’s take on the origin of evil challenges the idea that humans are to blame because the story of Prometheus reveals that the gods may not be as virtuous as they appear to be, instead they are the ones to blame for creating evil.
In order to create this argument, this paper will constitute of three parts in order to show how Hesiod’s works provide a more compelling introduction of evil than Genesis. In the first part, it will analyze how humans act against their respective god(s) and what immediate consequences follow their actions. The second part will be an examination of how evil as it is presented in each work. Finally, this paper will discuss outside influences and the nature of the gods in order to address the origin of evil in the respective works. Each section will include proof as to why Hesiod’s interpretation of the introduction of evil is more compelling than Genesis’ approach because Hesiod’s works are ambiguous in determining who is to blame between Prometheus and Zeus, a concept that is not as clearly shown in Genesis.
The divine-human relationship in Hesiod’s works complicates the common notion that evil resulted in the disobedience of humans because it was Zeus who made the decision to curse humankind, whereas Eve made the decision to act against God in Genesis knowing the consequences.

For instance, Zeus’ divine sense of justice is distorted because he places his ego before impartiality when he declares that he is “going to give [humans] Evil in exchange for fire, their very own Evil to love and embrace” (Hesiod 25). Zeus reveals that he will create evil because of the Prometheus’ actions, compared to evil coming into existence because of Prometheus. This slight distinction is compelling because the concept of evil does not exist until Zeus releases it onto humanity. One can argue that evil exists due to Prometheus and that without his actions, Zeus would not have made the final decision to release “Evil in exchange for fire” (Hesiod 25). However, to refute this, it was not Prometheus’ action of stealing fire back to humankind that initiated evil, rather it was Zeus’ decision to punish Prometheus that led to the creation of evil. Essentially, Prometheus does not go against the gods because Prometheus’ actions were not considered wrong by the gods until after the occurrence. On the other hand, in Genesis, Eve acknowledges that lest she be doomed to die, she should not eat from the forbidden tree; however, she “saw that the tree was good for eating…and she took of its fruit and ate, and she also gave to her man, and he ate” (Alter 12). In this case, Eve’s own actions brought evil to humankind. God did not make the final decision to release evil, rather, evil is released due to how Eve utilized her free will. The commonality between both works is that both Prometheus and Adam and Eve disobey their respective gods. Comparatively, the main distinction lies in the divine-human relationship in both works and the blame that is placed on the introduction of evil. In Genesis, Adam and

Eve are allowed to eat from all the trees except the forbidden tree lest they die. This scenario establishes the fact that negative consequences will arise if one disobeys God, and because Eve disobeys God, evil exists. In Theogony, because Prometheus succeeded in tricking Zeus twice, Zeus made a decision to release evil on humankind. While it is human nature to be curious as Eve is in Genesis, at the end of the day, she disobeyed God, whereas Prometheus challenges Zeus and outwits him. Because of this ambiguity, it is far more compelling than the reasonable story of evil as seen in Genesis.
Along with the divine-human relationship, Hesiod provides a different perspective on the moral connotation of evil, as Hesiod’s concept of evil does not coincide with the traditional definition that evil is wrong. In Genesis for example, God allows humans to eat from anywhere except the tree of knowledge because “the day they eat from it, they are doomed to die” (Alter 8). Disobeying God is the be-all-end-all because God’s words are indisputable in Genesis. The fall of Adam and Eve provides a reasonable explanation of how inherently evil humans are and gives an explanation as to why it is human nature to desire something that one cannot have. In Hesiod’s works, however, after Prometheus tricks Zeus, Zeus places “a great infestation among mortal men” by introducing the first woman named Pandora who was a “lovely evil to balance the good” (Hesiod 77). Interestingly enough, Zeus himself creates evil in the form of a woman, however his justification for doing so is to “balance the good” (Hesiod 77). Thus, the origin of evil becomes more fascinating because these “evil conspirators” are created by Zeus in order to offset the good in the world (Hesiod 78). This makes the concept of evil multifaceted as there are several meanings to evil other than the common definition that evil is morally wrong. Compared to Genesis, evil is unethical because Eve follows the words of the serpent before God’s own words and therefore disobeys him. In Genesis, because God’s words are accepted as the moral thing to do, disobeying God is committing an evil act. While the origin of evil presented in Genesis portrays evil as wrong and immoral, Hesiod’s works challenges this idea because Zeus sends humanity evil in order to balance the good.
Taking into account of the gods’ personalities and the specific situations in both works reveal that the gods in Hesiod’s works are not as impartial and all-knowing as they are revered to be, further showing how the gods are responsible for creating evil. Within Work & Days, Prometheus reclaims fire back to humankind because it is the only way to “make a living” (Hesiod 25). Based on this, it is reasonable for Prometheus to reclaim fire in order to allow humans to prosper. It is also important to consider the implications of Zeus’ actions for taking fire from the entirety of humankind because of the actions of one man. Because it was only Prometheus who challenges Zeus, a punishment individual to Prometheus would suffice; however, Zeus punishes the entirety of humankind without the consideration that Prometheus is not an accurate representative of humanity. On the other hand, in Genesis, Adam and Eve are the only humans to exist at the time, hence the actions of Eve are guaranteed to affect future generations to come because she and Adam are expected to “be fruitful and multiply” (Alter 4). It can be argued that while Prometheus returns fire to humans, Adam and Eve’s legacy to future generations was knowledge that did not exist prior to their fall. The fault in this argument, however, is that God provided Adam and Eve with all the things they need to live and prosper. Given that God blesses Adam and Eve, there is no need for them to aquire knowledge that God possessed whereas Zeus took away what was needed to live for humans. In addition, it can be argued that Prometheus is sly and he may not have stolen fire back for humanity, but just to spite Zeus, therefore he is to hold responsibility for bringing Pandora’s “box” to society therefore releasing all the miseries in the world. However, prior to Pandora’s “box” humankind “lived off land without any trouble, no hard work, no sickness or pain that the Fates give to men” (Hesiod 26). Zeus’s personality based on his actions does not portray him as a revered and respected god; rather, his actions portray him as an impulsive and childish god. It can be seen that Zeus’ pride is placed before impartiality, and his actions as a god reflect human-like characteristics rather than characteristics of a divine being. Comparatively, Genesis portrays God as wise and sovereign as he does not take action until Eve disobeys. This reiterates the fact that humans contain problematic characteristics which cause them to introduce evil, whereas the God in Genesis appears to be omniscient. Due to Zeus’ versatile personality that consisted of both divine and problematic qualities, Hesiod complicates the idea that evil originates from humans by portraying a god that falls from the traditional characteristics of a virtuous divine being.
The biggest problem concerning evil as it is presented in both texts is finding its origin. Although both texts appear to be ambiguous in the formation of evil, Hesiod provides a more compelling story of the origin of evil as he denounces the idea that humans are solely at fault for introducing evil to society. Despite the similar structure of both works, Hesiod provides a different approach to the formation of evil because the gods are seen as irrational and unethical, attributes that are not seen in Genesis. Hesiod’s description of the divine-human relationship is different from Genesis’ portrayal because in the latter, obedience is the main factor dictating what is evil and what is not. In Genesis, if one disobeys god they have committed an evil, and within the story, Adam and Eve’s “fall” from the Garden of Eden is the first circumstance of evil that subsequently affects future generations. Comparatively, Hesiod complicates this structure because the divine-human relationship between Zeus and Prometheus is not as sophisticated as the relationship between Adam, Eve and God. Therefore, Hesiod’s works provide the more compelling story of evil’s origin because it breaks the stigma that humans are the cause of evil, and it shows that gods can be irrational and cause evil to happen; after all, the choice to release evil that was sealed in Pandora’s jar belongs to Zeus.