Echoes of Hesiod’s Works and Days in T. S. Eliot’s The Waste Land

On a close reading, the parallels between Hesiod’s "Works and Days" and Eliot’s "The Waste Land" seem abundant enough to warrant comprehensive treatment. In this paper I discuss a range of textual and thematic coincidences between them. Indeed, besides any recognizable textual, mythological and thematic convergence, I would suggest that Hesiod’s epic gave Eliot a mirror with which to compare ancient and modern civilization. Whilst the latter is in his view devoid of ethical and social norms, Hesiod on the contrary portrays a sober and orderly archaic agrarian society that abides by traditional rules.