A comparison of this passage with, its parallel in Homer's shield of Achilles (II. xviii.), encourages the theory that both poets had a common ideal, though the representation is more full and prolix in Hesiod. We quote the Homeric description from an unpublished translation:[1]—
Marriage was made and revelry went on.
Here brides environed with bright torches' blaze
Forth from their bowers they lead, and loudly raise
The nuptial chant; and dancers blithely spring,
Cheered by the sweet-breathed pipe and harper's string,
And women at their doors stand wondering."
A distinct subject, having nothing to do with the nuptial procession, though perhaps an accessory illustration of a city at peace, is formed in the operations of husbandry; ploughers tucked up and close girt are making the furrow, as on the Homeric shield, yield before the coulter. The equipment of these ploughmen carries us back again to the 'Works,' where the husbandman is advised "to sow stripped, plough stripped, and reap stripped," if he would enjoy the gift of Ceres; and where "stripping" means probably getting rid of the cloak, and wearing only the close tunic:—
A field thick set with depth of corn: where some
With sharpened sickle reaped the club-like stalks,
Some bound them into bands, and strewed the floor
For thrashing."—E.
- ↑ By Mr Richard Garnett.
