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Hesiod (Greek: Ἡσίοδος Hesiodos) was an early Greek poet and rhapsode, who presumably lived around 700 BC. Hesiod and Homer, with whom Hesiod is often paired, have been considered the earliest Greek poets whose work has survived since at least Herodotus's time (Histories, 2.53). Historians have debated which lived first, and some authors have even brought them together in an imagined poetic contest. Aristarchus first argued for Homer's priority, a claim that was generally accepted by later antiquity. Modern scholars disagree as to which was earlier; because both lived centuries before recorded history (Herodotus admits that his date for the two is his own opinion), this question may never be resolved. Hesiod's writings serve as a major source for knowledge of Greek mythology, farming techniques, archaic Greek astronomy and ancient time-keeping.
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