Kallimachos and Hêsiodos

Abstract

Kallimachos is separated from Hesiod by four centuries and by totally different conditions of living and working. Yet Kallimachos loved the old Boeotian poet and was influenced by the latter’s two main epics in producing his own poems. Kallimachos calls Hesiod’s second epic the most “honey-like” of Greek epics. What kind of bond existed between the scholarly Hellenistic poet and the old Boeotian poet? Both poets speak with some kind of contempt about their common compatriots. They see themselves on a higher cultural level. But their reasons for their contempt differ greatly. In the case of Hesiod the reason is the disinterest of the common people in moral and social values, in the case of Kallimachos it is the common people’s lack of understanding with regard to aesthetic values. In my paper I try to show that both sets of values are inextricably linked to each other in the work of a good poet. And that accordingly both types of values are well represented in the poems of Hesiod as well as those of Kallimachos, even if on the surface only one set stands out. Furthermore special attention should be paid to the fact that the structure of Hesiod’s second epic seems to be in accordance with the aesthetic principles of Kallimachos — it is “honey-like” — although this accordance is the outcome of totally different preconditions on the side of both poets.