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Didactic poetry

GCSE Classics · key term

Didactic poetry

Definition

Poetry intended to teach or instruct. Hesiod’s Works and Days uses myth to explain human suffering and convey lessons.

Used by OCR

How each exam board covers it

OCR GCSE Classical Civilisation · J199

Paper 2

Hesiod’s Works and Days, composed around 700 BC, is didactic poetry: poetry intended to teach. In lines 54–105, the Pandora story explains the presence of suffering in human life.
Revise: Greece

OCR Classical Civilisation past papers

Related key terms

Epimetheus
Female virtue
Helen of Troy
Misogyny
Pandora

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Didactic poetry — OCR GCSE Classical Civilisation Definition | GradeGen