Human Suffering In Hesiod's Works and Days, he identifies human suffering in its many forms and explains why humans seem to live squalid, painful lives. It suggests that a man who stole and thus angered Zeus was the primary cause of humanity's suffering. He also explains that humanity was not always a bad race. He tells readers about the times before the age he was currently in: the Iron Age. Hesiod tells readers why humanity experiences suffering and what suffering means to him through poetry and mythology. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on "Why Violent Video Games Shouldn't Be Banned"? Get an original essay Hesiod identifies human suffering as a mixture of several things. He says that human beings are condemned to work hard all their lives, to fall ill, to live in pain, and to live as a mixture of good and evil: “Neither day nor night will give them rest as they waste themselves in toil and pain . The gods will provide them with increasing worries and their lot will be a mixture of good and evil” (Hesiod 193). Men are condemned to waste away working the land and growing crops. They have to work all their lives to survive. They will grow old and weak and eventually die a painful death. But why was humanity condemned to live life this way? In the dawn of civilization, a powerful and devious mortal named Prometheus decided to steal fire for humans. Fire is, of course, a symbol of knowledge. Prometheus stole fire and hid it from Zeus, and as punishment, the king of the gods punished humanity with the gift of Pandora. Pandora was a beautiful young woman created from earth and water and given a gift of some kind by each of the gods. Athena taught her to weave, Aphrodite gave her beauty, Hermes gave her a treacherous nature and the ability to lie. She was created to be beautiful and innocent. It was given to Epimetheus, who was warned by Prometheus to never accept a gift from Zeus, because he might be evil. Epimetheus accepted the gift, despite Prometheus' warning, and Pandora opened a jar, releasing all evil: "Hope was the only spirit that remained there in the indestructible seal of the jar, under its rim, and could not fly out, because the lid of the great jar closed first and contained it; this happened by the will of the cloud-gathering Zeus of the aegis;” (Hesiod 190) Hope was all that was not given to humanity, leaving the species without hope. Suffering for humanity was not always prevalent. Before the Iron Age there was a human species that was superior and experienced little or no suffering. The golden age existed during the reign of Kronos, father of Zeus, and these humans lived happy and carefree lives, feasted as much as they wanted, did not suffer the pangs of old age and died a painless death, similar to sleep. After the golden age, there also lived a divine race of heroes, called demigods, who arrived shortly before the iron age. They were all wiped out in battle and by evil and thus the age of iron. Keep in mind: this is just one example. Get a custom paper from our expert writers now. Get a custom essay Hesiod lived in the Iron Age and, presumably, so does present-day humanity. era of suffering, pain and hard work, perhaps all because of the will of Zeus. “So there is no way to avoid what Zeus wanted” (Hesiod 191).