thatis,atabout830—820B。C。,andtheevidencestatedabovepointstothemiddleoftheninthcenturyastheprobabledateforthe\"WorksandDays\"。The\"Theogony\"mightbetentativelyplacedacenturylater;andthe\"Catalogues\"and\"Eoiae\"areagainlater,butnotgreatlylater,thanthe\"Theogony\":the\"ShieldofHeracles\"maybeascribedtothelaterhalfoftheseventhcentury,butthereisnotevidenceenoughtoshowwhethertheother`developed\'poemsaretoberegardedasofadatesolowasthis。
LiteraryValueofHomerQuintillian\'s（11）judgmentonHesiodthat`herarelyrisestogreatheights……andtohimisgiventhepalminthemiddle—classofspeech\'isjust,butisliabletogiveawrongimpression。
HesiodhasnothingthatremotelyapproachessuchscenesasthatbetweenPriamandAchilles,orthepathosofAndromache\'spreparationsforHector\'sreturn,evenashewasfallingbeforethewallsofTroy;butinmattersthatcomewithintherangeorordinaryexperience,herarelyfailstorisetotheappropriatelevel。Take,forinstance,thedescriptionoftheIronAge（\"WorksandDays\",182ff。）withitscatalogueofwrongdoingsandviolenceeverincreasinguntilAidosandNemesisareforcedtoleavemankindwhothenceforwardshallhave`noremedyagainstevil\'。Suchoccasions,however,rarelyoccurandareperhapsnotcharacteristicofHesiod\'sgenius:ifwewouldseeHesiodathisbest,inhismostnaturalvein,wemustturntosuchapassageasthatwhichhehimself——accordingtothecompilerofthe\"ContestofHesiodandHomer\"——selectedasbestinallhiswork,`WhenthePleiades,Atlas\'daughters,begintorise……\'
（\"WorksandDays,383ff。）。Thevalueofsuchapassagecannotbeanalysed:itcanonlybesaidthatgivensuchasubject,thisaloneistherightmethodoftreatment。
Hesiod\'sdictionisinthemainHomeric,butoneofhischarmsistheuseofquaintallusivephrasesderived,perhaps,fromapre—