The ''Megalai Ehoiai'' ( grc, Μεγάλαι Ἠοῖαι, ), or ''Great Ehoiai'', is a
fragmentary Greek
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Greece
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*Greeks, an ethnic group.
*Greek language, a branch of the Indo-European language family.
**Proto-Greek language, the assumed last common ancestor ...
epic poem that was popularly, though not universally, attributed to
Hesiod
Hesiod (; grc-gre, Ἡσίοδος ''Hēsíodos'') was an ancient Greek poet generally thought to have been active between 750 and 650 BC, around the same time as Homer. He is generally regarded by western authors as 'the first written poet ...
during antiquity. Like the more widely read Hesiodic ''
Catalogue of Women
The ''Catalogue of Women'' ( grc, Γυναικῶν Κατάλογος, Gunaikôn Katálogos)—also known as the ''Ehoiai '' ( grc, Ἠοῖαι, Ēoîai, )The Latin transliterations ''Eoeae'' and ''Ehoeae'' are also used (e.g. , ); see Title ...
'', the ''Megalai Ehoiai'' was a
genealogical
Genealogy () is the study of families, family history, and the tracing of their lineages. Genealogists use oral interviews, historical records, genetic analysis, and other records to obtain information about a family and to demonstrate kin ...
poem structured around the exposition of
hero
A hero (feminine: heroine) is a real person or a main fictional character who, in the face of danger, combats adversity through feats of ingenuity, courage, or strength. Like other formerly gender-specific terms (like ''actor''), ''her ...
ic
family tree
A family tree, also called a genealogy or a pedigree chart, is a chart representing family relationships in a conventional tree structure. More detailed family trees, used in medicine and social work, are known as genograms.
Representations of ...
s among which myths concerning many of their members were narrated. At least seventeen fragments of the poem are transmitted by quotations in other ancient authors and two second-century CE
papyri, but given the similarities between the ''Megalai Ehoiai'' and ''Catalogue of Women'' it is possible that some fragments attributed to the ''Catalogue'' actually derive from the less popular Hesiodic work.
[. In her recent edition of the ''Cat''. and ''ME'', for example, assigns to the ''ME'' eleven fragments which Merkelbach and West took to belong to the ''Cat''. On some of these fragments see and Doubtful and disputed fragments, below.] Indeed, most of the scholarly attention devoted to the poem has been concerned with its relation to the ''Catalogue'' and whether or not the title "''Megalai Ehoiai''" in fact referred to a single, independent epic.
Select editions and translations
Critical editions
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Translations
* . (The link is to the 1st edition of 1914.) English translation with facing Greek text of all the fragments in except for frr. 251(a) and 259(a).
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References
Bibliography
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External links
English translationat the Theoi Project, from the first edition (1914) of .
{{Authority control
Ancient Greek epic poems
Women in Greek mythology
Lost poems
Hesiod