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

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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