Works and Days

Hesiod

Hesiod, creator; Homer, creator; Evelyn-White, Hugh G. (Hugh Gerard), d. 1924, translator

  • on which Leto bore Apollo with the blade of gold—each is a holy day. The eighth and the ninth, two days at least of the waxing month,[*](The month is divided into three periods, the waxing, the mid-month, and the waning, which answer to the phases of the moon.) are especially good for the works of man. Also the eleventh and twelfth are both excellent,
  • alike for shearing sheep and for reaping the kindly fruits; but the twelfth is much better than the eleventh, for on it the airy-swinging spider spins its web in full day, and then the Wise One,[*](I.e.the ant) gathers her pile. On that day a woman should set up her loom and get forward with her work.
  • Avoid the thirteenth of the waxing month for beginning to sow: yet it is the best day for setting plants. The sixth of the mid-month is very unfavorable for plants, but is good for the birth of males, though unfavorable for a girl either to be born at all or to be married.