HESIOD’S THEOGONY: RISE OF RATIONAL MIND AND PATRIARCHY IN ANCIENT GREECE

Year 2020, Issue: 40, 417 - 425, 29.06.2020

Meltem Uzunoğlu Erten

https://doi.org/10.30794/pausbed.641690

Abstract

Hesiod’s Theogony is composed of several myths about the origins of gods and
men with an emphasize on the turning points in their relations. It is clear
that Theogony is a collection of
common narrations of oral tradition. What makes it significant is that it is a
first attempt to gather all these myths together in a written form. However,
writing them down means giving them a stabilized form and content as well.
Shaped in accordance with the political and social realities of his time,
Hesiod’s narration gains an ideological character which puts the reign of Zeus
over all local gods and goddesses while praising a rational understanding and patriarchal
order in Greek society. Therefore, this paper aims to give an opinion on how to
trace the rational and patriarchal transformation of the Greek society in
Hesiod’s text and to observe how ideologies are forced upon texts through
writing process.

 

Keywords

Hesiod, Theogony, Greek society, Rationality, Patriarchy

HESIOD’UN THEOGONY ESERİ: ANTİK YUNAN’DA RASYONEL AKLIN VE ATAERKİLLİĞİN YÜKSELİŞİ

Abstract

Hesiod’un Theogony
eseri tanrıların ve insanların ilk hikayelerini anlatırken, tanrılar ve
insanlar arasındaki ilişkilerin dönüm noktalarını da vurgulayan pek çok mitin
bir araya gelmesi ile oluşmuştur. Theogony’nin
sözlü geleneğe ait pek çok yaygın anlatının toplamından oluştuğu açıktır. Onu
önemli kılan şey ise bu mitleri yazılı halde bir araya getiren ilk
girişimlerden oluşudur.  Ancak, bu
mitleri yazıya geçirmek aynı zamanda onlara değişmez bir biçim ve içerik vermek
anlamına da gelir. Zamanının politik ve sosyal gerçekliklerine uygun biçimde
şekillendirdiği anlatımı ile Hesiod, Zeus’un hükümdarlığını tüm yerel tanrı ve
tanrıçaların üzerinde tanırken Yunan toplumunda rasyonel bir anlayışı ve
ataerkil düzeni öven ideolojik bir karakter kazanır. Bu sebeple, bu çalışmanın
amacı Hesiod’un metninde Zeus hükümdarlığı altındaki Yunan toplumunda bu
rasyonel ve ataerkil dönüşümün izlerini sürmeye yönelik bir fikir ortaya koymak
ve ideolojilerin yazıya geçirme sürecinde metinlere empoze edilişini
gözlemlemektir.

Keywords

Hesiod, Theogony, Yunan toplumu, rasyonalite, ataerkillik

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