The ancient Greek poet credited with Works and Days is Hesiod.
Works and Days is a didactic poem generally dated to around 700 BC. It presents advice about farming, justice, work, household management, and responsible living, often addressing Hesiod’s brother Perses after a dispute over their inheritance. The poem treats honest labor as essential and condemns idleness and corrupt judgment.
It also preserves several influential myths. Among them are the stories of Prometheus and Pandora and the account of the successive Ages of Man, including the Golden Age. These myths are woven into practical and moral instruction rather than presented as an independent collection of legends.
The poem is written in dactylic hexameter, the traditional meter of Greek epic, and is often studied alongside Hesiod’s Theogony. Readers sometimes confuse Hesiod with Homer because both were foundational archaic Greek poets and used epic language and meter. Their subjects differ: Homer is associated with heroic epics such as the Iliad and Odyssey, while Works and Days focuses on labor, justice, agriculture, and everyday conduct.