Ponos
Ponos /ˈpoʊˌnɒs/ or Ponus /ˈpoʊnəs/ (Ancient Greek: Πόνος Pónos) is the personification of Hardship and Toil. According to Hesiod's Theogony, Ponos was the son of the goddess Eris ("Discord"), who was the daughter of Nyx ("Night"). In the epic poem the Shield of Heracles, attributed to Hesiod, Phonos (singular) was one of the many figures, depicted on Heracles' shield. Ponos' siblings include Forgetfulness (Lethe), Stories (Logoi), Lies (Pseudea), Broken Oaths (Horkos), Quarrels (Neikea), Dispute (Amphillogiai), Manslaughter (Androktasiai), Battle (Hysminai) and War (Makhai), Anarchy (Dysnomia), Starvation (Limos), Pain (Algea), and Ruin (Ate).
Mythology
According to Hesiod's Theogony (226–232):
- And hateful Eris bore painful Ponos ("Hardship"),
- Lethe ("Forgetfulness") and Limos ("Starvation") and the tearful Algea ("Pains"),
- Hysminai ("Battles"), Makhai ("Wars"), Phonoi ("Murders"), and Androktasiai ("Manslaughters");
- Neikea ("Quarrels"), Pseudea ("Lies"), Logoi ("Stories"), Amphillogiai ("Disputes")
- Dysnomia ("Anarchy") and Ate ("Ruin"), near one another,
- and Horkos ("Oath"), who most afflicts men on earth,
- Then willing swears a false oath.[1]
Philosophy
The Cynics promoted living a life of ponos. For the Cynics, this did not seem to mean actual physical work. Diogenes of Sinope, for example, lived by begging, not by doing manual labor. Rather, it means deliberately choosing a hard life — for instance, wearing only that thin cloak and going barefoot in winter.[2]
Notes
- Caldwell, p. 42 lines 226-232, with the meanings of the names (in parentheses), as given by Caldwell, p. 40 on lines 212–232.
- Adamson, Peter (2015). Philosophy in the Hellenistic and Roman Worlds. Oxford University Press. p. 14. ISBN 978-0-19-872802-3.
References
- Caldwell, Richard, Hesiod's Theogony, Focus Publishing/R. Pullins Company (June 1, 1987). ISBN 978-0-941051-00-2.