Note 1745 — HESIOD (continued 2)

(return) [ The Papyrus here marks the beginning of a second book possibly of the Eoiae. The passage (ll. 2-50) probably led up to an account of the Trojan (and Theban?) war, in which, according to Works and Days ll. 161-166, the Race of Heroes perished. The opening of the Cypria is somewhat similar. Somewhere in the fragmentary lines 13-19 a son of Zeus—almost certainly Apollo—was introduced, though for what purpose is not clear. With l. 31 the destruction of man (cp. ll. 4-5) by storms which spoil his crops begins: the remaining verses are parenthetical, describing the snake “which bears its young in the spring season”.]