Hesiod's Hawk and Nightingale (Op. 202-12): Fable or Omen?
Author(s): Steven H. Lonsdale
Source: Hermes, 117. Bd., H. 4 (1989), pp. 403-412
Published by: Franz Steiner Verlag
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HESIOD'S HAWK AND NIGHTINGALE (OP. 202-12):
FABLE OR OMEN?
In the Dinnerof the SevenWiseMenCleodorusthe physiciansaysthatAesop
can morejustlylay claimto beingthe pupilof Hesiodthanthe poet Epimenides
(one of the candidatesfor a placeon the list of sages)sincethe fableof the hawk
andthe nightingale(Op. 202-12)firstsuggestedto Aesopthe ideaof thisformof
proverbialwisdomspokenby manytongues.Fromthispassageit canbe inferred
that sinceantiquityHesiod'shawkandnightingalehas been hailedas the oldest
It is alsotheonlyacvosextantin Hesiod.
survivingbeastfablein Greekliterature1.
Thisin itselfis curious,sincethe didacticnatureof 'TheWorksandDays'makesit
receptiveto parable,allegory,proverbialmaxims,and other formsof wisdom
Is it a fablealone?Oris
literaturefromthe NearEastwherethe fableoriginated2.
it somethingmore?As a literaryformfable,in fact,is quitefluiduntilthe earliest
extantcollections,andfablesarein anycasedifficultto definegenericallybecause
of the diversityof materialson whichtheydraw3.In Greekliteratureup through
the classicalperiodthefableis a flexiblemediumhavingaffinitieswithotherpoetic
1 Plu. Mor. 158B; L. W. DALY, Hesiod's Fable, T.A.Ph.A. 92 (1961), 45. M. L. WEST,
Hesiod: Works and Days (Oxford 1978), 205, lists useful discussions of Hesiod's fable; this
commentary will hereafter be referred to as WEST. L. BONA QUAGLLA,Gli Erga di Esiodo (Turin
1973), 131-141 surveys interpretations of the passage. The fable has been subsequently treated by
F. R. ADRADOS, Historia de la fabula greco-latina (Madrid 1979), I, 45, 47, 167, 193 (hereafter
referred to as Historia de la fabula); A. BONNAFE,Le rossignol et la justice en pleurs (Hesiode,
>Travaux<,203-12), B.A.G.B. (1983), 260-264; J. U. SCHMIDT, Hesiods Ainos von Habicht und
Nachtigall, W&D 17 (1983), 55-76, cf. Addressat and Paraineseform, Hypomnnemata86 (Gottingen 1986), 102-103, 134-35; F. LASSERRE, La fable en Grece dans la poesie archaique, Fondation
Hardt Entretiens (Geneva 1984), 82-83; W. J. VERDENIUS, A Commentary on Hesiod, Works and
Days, w. 1-382, Mnemosyne Suppl. 86 (Leiden 1985), 117-123; this commentary will hereafter be
referredto as VERDENIUS.
2 It has been assumed that Hesiod's hawk and nightingale is influenced by wisdom literature of
the Near East. (For representative points of view on the question of Near Eastern influences on
the fable in archaic Greek poetry in general, see La Fable, Fondation Hardt Entretiens, ed. 0.
REVERDIN [Geneva 1984], 25-32). Various intepreters have compared the Hesiodic passage with
Sumerian fables (e.g., C. Bradford WELLES, Hesiod's Attitude toward Labor, G.R.B.St. 8
[1967],19; West, 205). But in the rhetoric collections published by E. I. GORDONand others, birds
are rarely subjects of what is discernably a fable. Talking birds, however, figure prominently in
non-proverbial forms of Near Eastern wisdom literature, such as oracles and mythical narratives.
A possible parallel is the conversation between the eagle and the vixen in the myth of Etana, which
perhaps transformed into the partnership of the eagle and the fox in Archilochus fr. 174 West.
3 B. E. PERRY,Fable, Studium Generale 12 (1959), 18-20, stresses the importance of defining
fable by its purpose, not by its material. Theon, Progymnasmata 3, first defined the fable in
antiquity as X6yo; EVcu6e rixovilwv &XaOrLav.E. FRAENKEL, Zur Form der atvot, Rh.M. 73
(1920-24), 366-70. For an overview of fable in antiquity and a bibliographic note, see P. E.
EASTERLING, The Fable, in: Cambridge History of Classical Literature I (Cambridge 1985),
699-703, 886-87.
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404
STEVENH. LONSDALE
devices, including omens, similes, and parables; analysis of the eagle and lion
imageryin the >Agamemnon<,for example, revealsthat fable and other devices are
often indistinguishable4.
The >>or<in the title of this paper is not meant to be disjunctive but rather
conjunctive. I don't intend to argue that the passage at Op. 202-12 is either a fable
or an omen, but influenced by both. Analysis of the text suggests that if it was
adapted from a pre-existing fable, Hesiod has altered it to stunning effect in
response to the demands of his narrative; comparison of the passage with epic
contexts involving bird subjects shows Hesiod's creative response to traditional
material5.That the passage could be read as both is not unlikely, since there are in
effect two audiences. Although the poet says he will tell the aLvogfor the kings, he
in fact tells it to Perses, who, despite his ambitions, representsthe bi4[og. I would
suggest that to the kings the passage is a fable - a mere children's story, but to
Perses and whoever else will harken to Hesiod's message, the passage carries a
more ominous meaning.
According to the so-called >>autobiographical<<
interpretation of the passage
argued by PUELMA, Pucci, and others the hawk represents the {UfeQL of the
ja3cLXEL;, and the nightingalethe voice of the poet6. Like the poet, the nightingale
heroicallyresists a mightieraggressor.This interpretationcomplements PUELMA'S
observation that the hawk's speech resembles the boasting words of Iliad warriors
who have at their mercy a victim on the battlefield7.But in the Hesiodic passage
the victim in effect turns tables on the assailant. The hunter becomes the hunted.
As Pucci shows, the nightingale undergoes a metaphorical transformationinto
Dike, who as the informantof Zeus sings (y'Q'vrT', 260) to him about the unjust
intention of men8. If the fable is conceived of as a narrativein which a conversion
or change in status occurs between the two opposed characters,it is necessary to
4 ADRADOS, Historia de la fdbula, 204-16, discusses the overlap between fable and omens and
similes. B. M. W. KNox, The Lion in the House, Cl.Ph. 47 (1952), 17 and 25, n. 1 (reprinted in:
Word and Action [Baltimore and London 1979], 27 and 37, n. 1), calls the lion cub story in Ag.
717-36 a parable, while noting that W. HEADLAM refers to it as a fable; he believes that the passage
falls somewhere in between naQapoki and Xoyo;.
5 On Aeschylus' response to epic bird similes, see P. E. EASTERLING,Notes on Tragedy and
Epic, in: Papers Given at a Colloquium on Greek Drama in Honour of R. P. Winnington-Ingram,
ed. by L. RODLEY, Society for the Promotion of Hellenic Studies, Supplementary Paper 15
(London 1987), 52-62.
6 M. PUELMA, Sanger und Konig, M.Helv. 29 (1972), 86-109; Pucci, Dike the Goddess, in:
Hesiod and the Language of Poetry (Baltimore and London 1977), 61-81.
7 PUELMA,op. cit. 89,93 and n. 32, cf. VERDENIUS 120-21, >>Thehawk's whole speech has a
mock-heroic ring in so far as it resembles the boasts of the Homeric warriors ... before or after
combat.
8 Pucci, op. cit. 71 and 80, n. 30.
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Hesiod'sHawkandNightingale(Op. 202-12)
405
lookfora transformation
notinthehawkandnightingale,butinitslargercontext9.
Thepassageis not an independent,self-contained
narrativewithan internalconversion,butinteractsthematically
andlinguistically
withitsplaceinthepoem.This
observationsuggeststhatwe are dealingwithsomethingmorethana fable.
Thehawkandnightingaleoccurstowardsthe endof the firstpartof thepoem,
whichis aimedat inculcatingin Persesthe principleof fairdealingandthe importanceof earningone'sliving.Thepoetstrenghtens
hisnaQaL'vEoLg
to Persesandthe
whithmyth,parable,allusion,andthe aLvog.Thehawkandnightingale
paa3ckELg
constitutesthefifthin a seriesof exemplato instructPersesaboutjustice.Theother
four - the'EQL&Fg,Prometheus, Pandora, and the Myth of Ages - are mythologi-
calin content.As anillustrationof the IronAge theversessmoothethetransition
betweenthe finalage (176-201)and a virtualgoldenage in the just community
(225-237).Themythological
contextshouldalertusto thepossibilityof something
otherthanfableinfluencingthe passage.
Still, thereare severalobviousfeaturesto commendthe passageas a fable'0.
Thenarrativeis toldin the pasttenseandinvolvestalkinganimals.Moreover,the
hawkandnightingalerepresentanantithetical
pair,whichis emphasizedbythe use
of the masculinearticlefor the predatorandthe feminineforhis prey.Oneof the
characterspronouncesthe moral". There is a furtherblurringof humanand
animal worlds in the use of anthropomorphicvocabulary,such as 6dinvov (209)12
for the hawk'spotentialmeal, and &oLb6g
(cf. 208), whichbringsthe song-bird
closerto the poet13.At the sametimethe characters
behaveas animals.Butthere
are also severaldeparturesfromwhatcharacterizesa fable. Althoughthe poet
introduces his digression with the words >>NowI will tell a tale ... .<<the narrative
itself has no prologue. It begins in medias res'4. There is no display of wit or
9 This criterion is applied to certain Near Eastern fables by R. S. FALKOWITZ,The Fable in
Early Mesopotamian Literature, Fondation Hardt Entretiens 30 (Geneva 1984), 7.
10 It conforms to the narrative principles for fable (including narrative in the past tense, the
principle of two characters, and the law of contrast) defined by M. N0JGAARDin La fable antique
(Copenhagen 1964), I 186ff.
11 WEST208 discusses objections since Aristarchus to the fact of the hawk's pronouncing the
moral at Op. 210-11. But it is normal for the last character to pronounce the moral, cf. B. E.
PERRY, The Origin of the Epimythium, T.A.Ph.A. 71 (1940), 403; but PERRY, ibid. 400, believes
the two lines containing the hawk's moral are >>probablyspurious<, but nevertheless as old as
Aristarchus who rejected them, and they may be considerably older<<.
12 Although the word is largely used in a human context, VERDENIUS
122 disproves WEST'S
claim, ad loc., that 8ei3vov is used only of human meals in Homer by citing B 383 (horses).
13 Cf. VERDENIUS
119-20 point out that the epithet noLxLX6121. WEST206 and VERDENIUS
8CLQogdoes not suit the nightingale. WEST,who argues that the epithet is more appropriate for
thrushes (cf. Arist., H.A. 632bl9), may be right in thinking that the poet has substituted the
nightingale for the dove, which is associated with thrushes.
14 DALY, art. cit. (above, n. 1), 47; ADDRADos, Historia de la fabula, I 388, however, believes
that the poet's introductory words count as a prologue, brief as it is.
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406
STEVENH. LONSDALE
shrewdness on the part of either creature, as in the fable of the hawk and the
nightingale (PERRY 4) where the nightingaleargues that she is too small a bird to
satisfy the hawk's appetite. Whereas there is obviously an agon between the hawk
and nightingale, no resolution or motive for the contest is explicitystated, although
aoLbovin verse 208 may give a clue. The status of the hawk and nightingalesimply
remains static'5. In certain respects, then, the passage has affinities with the epic
simile which begins abruptly and often ends on a inconclusive or ominous note.
WILAMOWITZ,in his commentary, states that the passage is >>only
a simile<<
6.
Several indications encourage reading the text as an omen, some of them
suggested by the poem itself, and others by comparisonwith epic. First, the context
of the poem is receptive to bird lore. Although Aesop abjuredomens'7, Hesiod in
'The Works and Days' displays an interest in the craft of the diviner. The poem
ends at line 828 with a reference to bird prophecy that looks back to a passage 28
lines earlier on the importanceof consultingbirds of men at the time of marriage.
Proclus records the tradition that, according to some, the 'OQvLOo[tavTELa
followed after the final verse'8. Although Apollonius of Rhodes, according to the
scholiast, rejected the appended poem on bird divination as spurious, Pausanias
(9.31.5) recorded in his list of poems ascribedto Hesiod two separate works that
followed the 'The Works and Days', one of which was E3Enq,LavTLxa. The two
references to bird divinationtowardthe end of the poem, plus an earlier reference
to a bird omen at 747 strengthenthe possibility of a poem on divination. But even
without an appended 'OQvLOo[tavT4a the 'The Works and Days' shows a predisposition to treat birds in the context of prophecy'9.
Since there are no omens in Hesiod of the type encountered in Homer, it is
necessary to turn to epic examples to support a reading as an omen20.That a fable
could also be read as an omen is not a priori unlikely. The famous omen at B 308 ff.
15 ADRADOS,Historia de la fabula, 193, calls the type of fable in which the stronger imposes his
force on the victim without anything more happening as in Hesiod extremely rare or non-existent.
16 >>Es
ist eigentlich keine Tierfabel, sondern nur ein Gleichnis,<<Hesiodos Erga (Berlin 1928),
64; contra PERRY, art. cit. (above, n. 3), 18, who suspects that WILAMowrrzso interpreted the
passage because Hesiod's narrative was too short and not enough of a story.
17 Aesop (Vita Aes. 770), is made to interpret an omen of an eagle, and he thereby saves his
master Xanthus from humiliation. But he makes no claims to prophetic gifts and considers the
interpretation of omen an idle pursuit.
18 Scholia vetera in Hesiodi opera et dies, ed. by A. PERTUSI(Milan 1955), ad loc., cf. WEST
364-65.
19 The 'Works and Days' in general shows an interest in birds. Elsewhere in the poem birds
appear as a class to be distinguished from mammals and sea creatures (Op. 277), in an agricultural
context (Op. 470), and in a mythological allusion to the metamorphosis of the swallow who
appears at the onset of Spring (Op. 568-69).
20 In Homer there is, of course, no beast fable, but birds appear in similes, omens, epiphanies
and dreams. See WEST 27 and 205 on the similarity of Homeric and Hesiodic rhetorical techniques,
cf. P. WALCOT,Hesiod and the Near East (Cardiff 1966), 124-25 on borrowings.
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Hesiod'sHawkandNightingale(Op. 202-12)
407
of the snake and sparrowsin the tree has parallels with fables dating back to the
ancient Near East about a contest between a snake and a bird in a tree21.WEST,
who argues that one medium through which the fable came to Greece was Near
Eastern wisdom literature, observes >not only fable itself, but its admonitory
function was native to the orient<<22.
The specific parallels between the Hesiodic passage and Homeric bird omens
are of three kinds: thematic, structural, and linguistic. In Homer the actions of
animals which receive interpretion as omens or portents are those involving a
snake or a predatory bird attacking or devouring a small bird, exactly as in the
Hesiodic passage23.Among the predatorybirds are eagles and hawks which harry
sparrows, doves, and the like. WALCOT
believes that the hawk may been chosen
for the aggressorbecause of its association with bird-omens2A.The hawk accordingly would add gravity to the poet's message. In Homer, the hawk appears in a
portent that greets Telemakhos upon his return to Ithaka (o 525-28). There it is
called b 6t;og OpvLg(525, 531) and the messenger of Apollo. The hawk in the
portent carries a pigeon in its claws, much as in the Hesiodic passage. Theoklymenos interpretsthe hawk'ssupremacyover the pigeon as a sign of the sovereignty
of Telemakhos' family on Ithaka. The portent thus parallels our passage both in
terms of subjects, the hawk's action, and in its symbolic application to kingship.
Compare the word PacoLtXvmpQov
at o 533, with j3aoLke6a'(Op. 202)25.
In a simile at N 62-65 Poseidon is compared to a hawk as he departs from the
battlefield; moments before he was standingin the guise of the bird diviner Khalkas encouraging the Aiantes (N 45-58). The connection between the hawk and
prophecy here is suggested by context. Aias, son of Oileus, recognizes the footprints of the speaker to be those of a god, and remarksthat a god, not the famed
birdseer(OconQO63og
O'OVL1ovt , N 70), spoke. "Ieil, the genericwordforhawk,
occurs elsewhere in Homer in similes with divinities as subjects of comparison26.
Thus the hawk in Homer has divine and ominous connotations, and there is no
reason to think that the associations are markedly different in Hesiod.
In Homer, an omen is a supernaturalphenomenon that, like a dream, often
provokes or requires an interpretation.The interpreteris normallyhumanbut can
21
Cf. G. S. KIRK,The Iliad:A CommentaryI: Books 1-4 (Cambridge1985), 148-49.
The Ascriptionof Fables to Aesop in Archaicand ClassicalGreece, FondationHardt
Entretiens30 (Geneva 1984), 108.
23 Cf. ADRADOS, Historiade la fabula, I 204-205.
24 P. WALCOT,
GreekPeasants(ManchesterandNew York1970),115,cf. SO. 38 (1963),20,
cites examplesfromsimilesat N 62-5, 0 237-3, HI582-3, X 139-42and308-10(eagleandlambor
hare), and o 525ff.
25 Cf. M. L. WEST,
An UnrecognizedFragmentof Archilochus?,Z.P.E. 32 (1978), 1-5, who
believesthat the hawkin a fable is againa symbolfor the king.
26 Apollo: 0 237, Thetis:Y 616, cf. 1 494; see J. POLLARD, Birdsin Greek Life and Myth
(London1977) 144, on the hawkas a sacredbird.
22
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408
STEVENH. LONSDALE
be an animal. An eagle, the only talking bird in Homer, is given human voice to
interpret Penelope's dream of the eagle and the geese at T 546-7027.In analyzing
the dream the eagle performs the same role as the bird diviner in relating a
phenomenon in the naturalworld to a humanevent. In the Hesiodic passage there
are in effect two responses to the hawk's attack on the nightingale. The first is
spoken by the hawk at Op. 210 f. and the second by the poet himself in a postponed
response at 276ff. on Zeus' allotment of bixq to mortals, but not to fish, land
animals, and birds. The hawk'sspeech is called a RNOog,a word which is attested in
classical Greek as a fable for children28.In Homer it is the substantiveof the verb
[LvsooiaL used at f3159 of the superiorabilityof the divinerHalitherses to read an
eagle omen29.
The well-known overlap between omens and similes in Homer3oand the postposed response to the hawk and nightingaleinvite a comparisonwith a hawk simile
in the chase scene of the Iliad followed sometime later by Achilles' oaths parable.
The simile at X 139-42 is part of a sequence of similes with ominous import for
Hektor's eventual death31.It compares Achilles in pursuit of Hektor to a hawk
swooping down upon a tremulousdove. As in the Hesiodic passage the distinction
between predator and prey is emphasizedby the use of the contrastingmasculine
and feminine article. The verb a6oxwalso occurs in the simile, although here it
applies to the hawk instead of to the victim32.The simile seems to suggest that the
same lawlessness that applies in nature to predator and prey applies to Achilles'
pursuitof Hektor on the battlefield;like the hawk, Achilles will go on to express a
wish to eat Hektor raw (X 347). Fearing that something like this may be the case,
Hektor appeals to justice by attemptingto make Achilles swear an oath that the
victor return the corpse to the enemy. Achilles responds at X 261-72 in a boasting
speech of the kind that PUELMAcompares to the hawk's menacing words to the
nightingale. In his famous parablehe negates the institutionof oaths by placinghis
enmity with Hektor on the same plane as that between lions and men and wolves
and sheep.
Achilles' parable in effect interprets the simile in much the same way that the
poet offers a postponed interpretationof the hawk and nightingale at Op. 276 ff.
27 Cf. PEABODY, The WingedWord(Albany1975),251-52.
28
29
30
31
L.S.J.
Cf. .iivtv 'AUXokwvog,
A 75.
See, e. g., A. PODLECKI,Bird Omensin the Odyssey,G.&R. 14 (1967), 12-23.
The sequenceof similesbeginswiththe race-horsesimile(X 22-23), andcontinueswiththe
dog-starsimile(26-31), the snakesimile(93-95), the fireandhawkvs. dovesimiles(139-142),the
race-horsesimile (162-64), the dog vs. fawnanddreamsimiles(189-200), the eagle vs. lambor
hareandHesperossimiles(308-318).In additionto the hawksimilescited (above, n. 24), note P
755-59. M. BALTEs,Zur EigenartundFunktionvon Gleichnissenim 16. Buchder Ilias, A.&A.
(1983), 36-48, discussesthe ominousimportof the hawksimilein relationto othersimilesin II.
32 Cf. VERDENIUS 120, PUELMA, art. cit. (above, n. 6), 90f., 93, n. 33.
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Hesiod'sHawkandNightingale(Op. 202-12)
409
At this point Hesiod repeats >>listento justice<<(Op. 275, cf. 213). He reminds
Perses of the dangersof hybrisby statingthe law that Zeus ordainedfor men (Op.
277-80): ?[that] as for fish and wild animals, and the flying birds, / they feed on
each other, since there is no idea of justice among them; / but to men he gave
justice, and she in the end is proved the best thing<<33.
The mention of birdssuggests
that the poet still has the hawk and nightingale fresh in his mind34.The Homeric
and Hesiodic interpretationsof justice are similarfor the animalworld, but Achilles' moral lesson allows for no distinction between man and beast. Although
Achilles couches his moral in terms of a lack of oaths, while Hesiod expresses his in
terms of b&x, Hesiod follows up with a contrastbetween the disastrouseffects of
foreswearingoaths and the benefits of living by them35.The insistence on oaths in
both passages makes it temptingto ask if Hesiod's clarificationof the hawk's moral
is not also a reversal of the negation of oaths in the famous Iliad passage.
We know from the catalogue of Prometheus' gifts to mankind (P.V. 488-92)
that the artof divinationpressupposesknowledge aboutthe birds'habits and about
their loves and quarrels36.The Hesiodic narrative,of course, describesthe enmity
between the hawk and nightingale. The hawk and all thrush birds are natural
enemies37.But in one crucial aspect the nightingale is the specific enemy of the
hawk. When a nightingale is being pursued by a hawk it will blow its disguise by
33 Hesiod:The Worksand Days (Ann Arbor 1959),tr. R.
34 Cf. WEST 226.
LArrIMORE.
35 Ot&E TLg ?V6OQXOU
XaQSg(op. 190), cf. b; ovx ?a i ... 6Qc 3Oa (X 262). See M.
GAGARIN, Dike in the WorksandDays, Cl.Ph.68 (1973),90, on the connectionbetweenbcXqand
the swearingof oaths.
36 WEST 365 believes that >>information
about their enmitiesand loves must have involved
The metaphoricaltransformationof the nightingale
some referenceto metamorphosis-mythso.
into Dike (whomayhavebeen conceivedin popularthoughtin wingedform)mayhelp to explain
the choiceof subjectfor the fable. Fromthe divinebirdepiphaniesin Homerwe knowthatgods
frequentlyexchangeshapeswithbirds.WELLES, art.cit. (above,n. 2), 19andn. 45, pointsout that
the negative attitudetowardthe nightingalestems from myths in which a woman- Prokne,
into a nightingaleas punishmentforkillingherson
Aedon, Philomela- undergoestransformation
Itys. The mythis alreadyknownin Homer,whereit appearsin a simileat t 518-23;Hesiodalludes
to a versionof the myth(Op. 568), whichmentionsthe swallow,the nightingale'saccomplicein
the crimefor servingup Itys to Niobe. The referenceis to the swallow'ssong at the adventof
spring,EaQogveov oTaEvoLo, a phraseappliedsomewhatless exactlyto the nightingalein the
Homericversionat T 519;forwhereasthe swallow'spunishmentas accomplicewasto be sleepless
only halfof the year,the nightingalewasto go foreverwithoutsleep, the betterto mournthe loss
of her son. The detailsof the punishmentof Aedon andKhelidonwere knownto Hesiod, if one
can trustHes. Fr. 312 (= Ael., VH 12-20), wherethe illicitmeal is called a brzivov 'aOEoRov.
11570s. Itys,
Althoughwe have no proofthatAelian is reproducingHesiod'swords,ROSCHER,
believesit not unlikelythattheyarein facthis. If theyareactuallyHesiod'sthe 86?ivov(Op. 209)
whichthe hawkthreatensto makeout of the nightingalemayhaveanironicring.Theemphasison
illiciteatingmaybe relatedto the swindleovermeatalludedto in the Prometheusexemplum(Op.
48, cf. Th. 535).
37 Arist. H.A. 620a 17-33.
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410
STEVENH. LONSDALE
emitting a cry of alarmto warnthe other small birdsin the area that a predatoris in
pursuit. The smallerbirdsmay then mob the hawk and peck out its eyes38.I would
suggest that the hawk alludes to the nightingale'sannoying and potentially lethal
habit when he refers to her as aoLo6v Eob,oavin 208. This naturalisticmotive for
the hawk's attack avoids the awkwardnessof reconstructinga previous song-contest between the hawk and nightingale39.It also accords with PuccI's interpretation that like the nightingale, the poet heroicallystrugglesagainsthis oppressorsin
his mission to warn the 6i[tog, who will otherwise pay for the folly of the jcaoLkEi;
when they pass crooked judgments40.
From the Prometheus passage we also know that birdswith crooked talons are
of vital interest to the seer. In the Hesiodic passage the curved talons of the hawk
(Op. 205) participatein the dichotomy between crooked/straightjustice41in 194,
219, 221, 224-6, 230, whichis one of several Iron Age/Golden Age contrasts42.The
38 I owe this informationto Ch. TAMBIAH, Fellow in WildlifeConservation,Smithsonian
Institution.Despite the realism,thereis also a distortionof naturalismfor dramaticeffect in the
Hesiodic passage:Hawkscatchtheirprey with theircurvedtalons, but kill them upon impact.
Also, as W. B. STANFORD,Homer:Odyssey2,(London1958)II, noteson the nightingalesimileat
T 518ff., the femalenightingaledoes not sing.
39 Conjecturedby DALY, art. cit. (above, n. 1), 47-48.
40 Pucci, op. cit., (above, n. 6), 64-69.
41 Crookedtalonsandjusticearejuxtaposedin a Homericcontextthatis illuminating
because
of its relationto Zeus. In a simileat Hl384-393Zeus sendsa floodwhenangeredat menwho pass
crookeddecreesand banishDike; Zeus' reappearancein the narrativeat H 431 and the epithet
&YXUXO'T?-u (cf. its use with Kronosat H 431) is all the more strikingbecause the epithet is
obviouslyan echo of the epithetayxvXoiXEkaL
usedof ya14d0vxe;(sc. aLyUnLoL)fourlinesearlier
in a similecomposedaccordingto ringcomposition.InHesiod'ayxvoko'Tiis
s appliednot to Zeus
but to Kronos(Th. 137, 168, 473, 495), cf. Prometheus(Th. 546, Op. 48).
42 Hesiod'sgolden age is characterized,amongotherthings,by peace, justice,familyunity,
abundantfood, freedomfrompainandtoil, andharmony.Eachof theseelementsis contrastedin
the descriptionof the IronAge, andin certaincases againin the hawkand nightingalepassage.
Thus, the negative portrayalof the familyin 182 - childrenand fatherswho are unalike- is
balancedby womenwho bearchildrenlike theirparentsin 235. The discordantwordsof children
in 186,reinforcedby the screamingof Envyin 195,areechoedin the screamsof the nightingalein
207 and the publicoutcryandwailingof outragedDike (220, 222). The themeof nurturein 188,
whichthe ungratefulchildrenwillnot even returnto the agingparents,is contrastedwithfreedom
from famine(230), Peace as a xovQorQopo;on earth (228), as well as the fertileflocks, honey
bees, and bountifulharvestof the just community(223-37). In the hawk and nightingalethe
predatorthreatensto make a meal of the helplesssong-bird(209). The painsthat are left in the
IronAge once Aidos andNemesishavedepartedfromthe earth(200)arereinforcedby the pains
whichthe hawkin his moralsaysthe weakersuffersfor opposingthe stronger(211).The 6einrvov
of the hawk can be comparedto the bribesthat the judges take (221). A furtherdistinction
betweenthe IronandGoldenAges canbe inferredby takingHesiod'sportrayalof the raptorand
preyas a responseto the oftenpositivelightin whichbirdsarerepresentedin epic, whereeven the
predatoryvulturesare held up as modelsof familyloyaltyin similesandomens,e. g. the vultures
bereftof theiryoung(3 216-18);cf. the self-sacrificing
motherbirdwhofeedsheryoungwhileshe
herselfgoeswithoutfood (I 232-34),themothersparrowwhoexperiencesanguishasshe standby
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Hesiod'sHawkand Nightingale(Op. 202-12)
411
crooked words (InvOoLoL
OxokLoig) of evil men in 194 are contrasted with the
straightjustice in 230 carriedout by honest men in the just community.In the hawk
and nightingale [tMo; is juxtaposed with the idea of crookedness in the adjective
yvacqiTog205 f. (Does this imply that the hawk's own p~Oogis a crooked, i. e.
untrue one?) This interactionbetween vocabularyfrom birdlore and the law court
encourages taking the verb xQivwin 221 in the phrase OxokLfl;& bFt g XQLVWOL
in its literal as well as in its technicalsense of readingbird omens, such as
04ILorraq
it appears in 801 (oowvobg xQivag) and in the final line of the poem (oQvLOag
xQLvwv)43.At one level the passage seems to be sayingthat it is Vi5QL; for the bribedevouringjudges to interpretlaws with crooked justice, just as it is outrageous for
the hawk to snatch up the nightingale in its crooked talons. But if we understand
xQIvw and [Oog in their prophetic senses, we can see that another act of i,SQL; is
being levelled at the hawk. As it is wrong for the judges to take justice into their
own hands and >>read<
the law to their advantage, so it is unlawfulfor the hawk to
interpretthe importof its own actions. The adverb 'nLxQaTEWg
in 206 supportsthis
interpretation44.Perhaps there is even some implied injunction against animals
talking now that they no longer live in the Golden Age of Kronos45,for later the
poet will recall the law that under Zeus' reign &ixqnow applies only to men.
Finally, a phrase from the hawk and nightingaleresembles a Homeric omen in
linguistic detail. pEQwv
?i ptaQ0g (204) is the metrical equivalent of
o6vU5XEooL
at
M
ntXwQov
202,
220. It appearsin the eagle omen interpreted
OVvxlXEOL
p?Qwv
by Polydamas which Hektor disregardsto his peril.
In sum, the hawk and nightingalehas an affinitywith omens in subject, content,
structure,and linguisticdetail. A propheticbirdwith curved talons harriesa smaller bird. That action is interpretedin humanterms by the hawk, much as the eagle
in the Odyssey interpretsPenelope's dream of the eagle and geese. The word that
introduces the hawk's speech is related to a verb used of reading omens. The
prophetic overtones in the hawk and nightingalepassage in turn awaken the technical sense of xpivWin the ensuing narrative.A phrasefrom the hawk and nightingale resembles a Homeric omen in linguistic and metrical detail.
Since fable and omen have naturalaffinities, and since it appearsin the context
of a poem receptive to prophetic bird lore, it is not unlikely that the passage in
helplesslyobservingheryoungdevouredin the omenof the snakeandthesparrows(B 311-15), or
the eagle preventedfromreturninghome to feed its young(M 221-22);cf. EASTERLING,
art. cit.
(above, n. 5), 57-59.
43 Cf. the related form bVAxQ6Tou5, A., PV 458.
44 VERDENIUS 120 translatesthe adverb>>with
overwhelmingmight<and cites a Homeric
parallelin Agamemnon'sspeech to Chrysesintroducedby the words xQaceQ6vb' iii pvOov
?mXe (A 25).
45 On the conventionin fablesof representingthe actionas takingplacein the goldenage of
Kronos 6mTqp(ov'xa Av T'at,pa see B. E. PERRY, Demetriusof Phalerumand the Aesopic
Fables,T.A.Ph.A. 93 (1962), 314.
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412
STEVEN H. LONSDALE: Hesiod'sHawkandNightingale(Op. 202-12)
Hesiod can also be read as a warning to the b6jto;, represented by Perses. A
prophetic reading would then throw into an ironic light the poet's prefatory
remarks to Perses that he will tell a tale that the IacLkoX will understand (sc.
pQovEoiut, Op. 202). They will interpret it in a way favorable to them, i. e., as a
fable for children46,that would almost seem to sanction the hawk's behavior; but
taken in the context of the ensuing narrativein which the nightingaletransforms
into Dike, the passage has a more ominous meaning for the pmkcEl, who may
lose their power and impunity. Instead of being sanctioned by Zeus as in the
beginning, their very existence will be threatenedby destruction.If we think of an
omen as presagingsomethingthat will be accomplishedin the near future, whereas
a fable reveals a constantoccurence or traitof humanbehavior47,the import of the
hawk and nightingaleis much more urgent as an omen than as a fable. It is Hesiod
who clarifies the meaning of the fable/omen in retrospect when he says that Zeus
gave &Lxrto men alone while animalsare left to devour one another48.In using the
hawk's behavior as a model the iaaokpXcZ
act as beasts, not men. It is as if they
would prefer to see the blurringof animaland humanworldswhichis characteristic
of the fable, but not of the omen, where the natural world is analogous to but
distinct from the human. By disregardingit as a portent, they fail to perceive what
is revealed about the workings of the world under Zeus' control.
The interpretationof the hawk and nightingalein the context of a metaphorical
transformationinto 6(xr is not immediatelyapparent,and on its own the passage is
ambiguous. If the passage inspired as much discussion among its intended audience as it has among modern interpreters,its ambiguousimplicationswould have
served well the poet's larger purpose of rousing a clamorous debate among the
people, so that the question of might versus right might have a fair hearingbefore
Zeus. We have in Hesiod's hawk and nightingale yet another example of the
interplay between poetry and prophecy.
Davidson College, North Carolina
STEVENH. LONSDALE
46 Cf. Pi., Py. 2.72-73 Xa6og TOL
XaLoX.
aLE'L
3taLo^V,/
Jt0OV JTaQaQ
47 Cf. ADRADOS,Historia de la fabula, I 205.
48 Cf. Callicles' distinction in Plato's Gorgias 483c7-484c3 between justice according to conventional and natural law, with an allusion to the fable of the lion's whelp known from A., Ag.
737 ff., cf. Ar. Ra. 1431.
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