WORK AND JUSTICE WITHOUT MORAL CONTENT IN HESIOD’S WORKS AND DAYS

Year 2020, Issue: 72, 239 - 254, 15.12.2020

Refik Guremen

Abstract

According to Michael Gagarin, Hesiod’s notion of dikê is not a moral notion, and it has to be disassociated from the moral connotations that it will start to assume later in the fifth century. For Gagarin, an ad hoc settlement of particular disputes in city courts is all there is to Hesiodic dikê. This article objects to this interpretation of Hesiod and claims that Hesiod is working with a more substantial idea of dikê in his Works and Days. According to my reading, however, Hesiod’s more substantial notion of dikê still does not have moral content. I provide my reasons for this latter claim by showing that “work”, for Hesiod, does not have a moral significance, either.

Keywords

Hesiod, work, justice, morality, Prometheus, five racesHesiod

HESİODOS’UN İŞLER VE GÜNLER’İNDE AHLAKİ İÇERİĞİ OLMAYAN İŞ VE ADALET ANLAYIŞI

Abstract

Michael Gagarin’e göre Hesiodos’taki dikê anlayışı ahlaki değildir; ve Hesiodos’un dikê anlayışı bu kavramın daha sonra beşinci yüzyılda alacağı ahlaki anlamlardan ayrıştırılmalıdır. Gagarin’e göre, Hesiodosçu dikê, sitenin mahkemelerindeki şahsi ihtilaflara ad hoc çözümler bulunması ile sınırlıdır. Bu makale Hesiodos’un bu yorumuna itiraz etmekte ve İşler ve Günler’de Hesiodos’un daha tözel bir dikê anlayışına sahip olduğunu iddia etmektedir. Ancak burada savunulan yoruma göre de, Hesiodos’un bu daha tözel dikê anlayışı ahlaki değildir. Bu iddia için gerekçelerimi Hesiodos’a göre “iş”in de ahlaki bir içeriği bulunmadığını göstererek açıklamaya çalışıyorum.

Keywords

Hesiodos, iş, adalet, ahlak, Prometheus, beş ırk

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