8th century BC
8th century BC: the gods depart, poetry is born
What happened — and why
Hesiod: the first theology in Greek
The Theogony describes the origin of the gods. Works and Days is the first text about the justice of earthly labor. A simple peasant against an unjust world.
The philosophical cause
Hesiod — Homer sang of heroes. Hesiod sang of ordinary people and their hard lot. The first voice "from below" in European literature.
The myth of Prometheus (who stole fire for humankind and was punished with eternal torment) will become the symbol of intellectual rebellion for the next 2,700 years.
