which the Theogony has come down to us is the original and genuine one, and whether it is complete or only a fragment, is a question which has been much discussed in modern times. There can be little doubt but that in the course of time the poets of the Hesiodic school and the rhapsodists introduced various interpolations, which produced many of the inequalities both in the substance and form of the poem which we now perceive; many parts also may have been lost. Hermann has endeavored to show that there exist no less than seven different introductions to the Theogony, and that consequently there existed as many different rescensions and editions of it. But as our present form itself belongs to a very early date, it would be useless to attempt to determine what part of it formed the original kernel, and what is to be considered as later addition or interpolation.
3. Eoæ, also called Catalogues of Women.⚫⚫The poem itself, which is lost, is said to have consisted of four books, the last of which was by far the longest, and was hence called the Greater Eoæ, whereas the titles of Catalogues and Eoæ belonged to the whole body of poetry, containing accounts of the women who had been beloved by the gods, and had thus become the mothers of the heroes in the various parts of Greece, from whom the ruling families derived their origin. The two last verses of the Theogony formed the beginning of the Eoae which, from its nature, might justly be regarded as a continuation of the Theogony, being, as a hero-ogony, the natural sequel of the Theogony. The work, if we may regard it one poem, thus contained the genealogies or pedigrees of the most illustrious Greek families. Whether the Eoæ or Catalogues was the work of one and the same poet was a disputed point among the ancients themselves. From a statement of the scholiast on Apollonius Rhodius it appears that it consisted of several works, which were afterwards put together; and while Apollonius Rhodius and Crates of Mallus attributed it to Hesiod, Aristophanes and Aristarchus were doubtful. An anonymous Greek grammarian states that the first fifty-six verses of the Hesiodic poem belonged to the fourth book of the Eoæ, and it is generally supposed that this poem, or perhaps fragment of a poem, originally belonged to the Eoæ. The Shield of Hercules, which is still extant, consists of three distinct parts; that from verse 1 to 56 was taken from the Eoæ, smd is probably the most ancient portion; the second from 57 to 140, which must be connected with the verses 317 to 480; and the third from 141 to 317 contains the real description of the Shield cf Hercules, which is introduced in the account of the fight between Hercules and Cycnus. When, therefore, Apollonius Rhodius and others considered the Shield to
