"For the gods keep the means of life concealed from humans. Otherwise you would easily be able to work in just one day as to have enough for a whole year without even working."
-Hesiod (Loeb Classical Library Leader; Works and Days)
Work is overrated. This is an obvious statement; you might think "True, I'm lazy, I hate work". I very much agree. Our society, however, does not agree with this. Work, not family, not happiness, not love, nor any other unquantifiable, yet fundamentally more rewarding quality, has become the foundation of western society. Students spend hours working on assignments and studying for exams not to learn or to expand their minds, but to prepare themselves for university and eventually a career, in hopes of earning as much money as they can dream of. This is not to say that the Greeks envisioned this type of society, but they did value work over and above everything else. This quote, to me, says that if the gods are concealing the means of life and work is something that isn't concealed, then work is not to means of life. What the means are though, I am not sure.
Tuesday, March 2, 2010
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You prove a very excellent point here Fraser but I have to say that the Greeks also valued a balanced lifestyle. While working hard in order to do what needed to be done, they truely believed that they would reap rewards because they deserved it. By this I mean that they knew that if they worked hard, they would deserve positive things.
ReplyDeleteIn accordance to the quote, if mortal humans had the special powers and qualities of the gods they would be able to work in a way that is inhumanly possible so as to only work for one day, yet reap the benefits of that for a year.
In terms of the definition of "means", I totally agree that it is debate-ably unknown.