A Prelude to Natural Philosophy
As discussed in my last post, the ancient Greek poet Hesiod was granted his superior poetical powers in a miraculous encounter with the Muses. At least that is how Hesiod himself says it happened. We may not take his word for it, but we should be glad that he (or one of his successors), unlike most of his poetical contemporaries, took the trouble to learn how to write, and to write his poems down.