version sees in her seed the hope of the salvation that is to overcome the evils of the fall. Even stronger is Hesiod's invective against the female sex in the _Theogony_, where he repeats the story of Pandora, and concludes with the following reflections: "From her the sex of tender woman springs; Pernicious is the race; the woman tribe Dwells upon earth, a mighty bane to men; No mates for wasting want but luxury; And as within the close-roofed hive, the drones, Helpers of sloth, are pampered by the bees; These all the day, till sinks the ruddy sun, Haste on the wing, 'their murmuring labors ply,' And still cement the white and waxen comb; Those lurk within the covered hive, and reap With glutted maw the fruits of others' toil; Such evil did the Thunderer send to man In woman's form, and so he gave the sex, Ill helpmates of intolerable toils. Yet more of ill instead of good he gave: The man who shunning wedlock thinks to shun The vexing cares that haunt the woman-state, And lonely waxes old, shall feel the want Of one to foster his declining years; Though not his life be needy, yet his death Shall scatter his possessions to strange heirs, And aliens from his blood. Or if his lot Be marriage and his spouse of modest fame Congenial to his heart, e'en then shall ill Forever struggle with the partial good, And cling to his condition. But the man Who gains the woman of injurious kind Lives bearing in his secret soul and heart Inevitable sorrow: ills so deep As all the balms of medicine cannot cure." This passage contains in brief Hesiod's general ideas concerning woman. Pandora brought infinite ills to mortals, for from her sprang the tribe of woman, "a mighty bane to men." If a man marry, he will be sorry; and if he refrain from marriage, he will regret it. A wretched old age awaits the bachelor; and his possessions, at his death, are dissipated by indifferent kindred. Even if he marry, and get a good wife, sorrows and blessings are mingled in his lot; while if his wife be bad, ills so deep are his "as all the balms of medicine cannot cure." So woman is a being whose presence is a necessary evil; without her, man's destiny is not complete, but he must endure the ills she brings for the sake of the possible blessing that may come by sharing one's lot with her. A man, says the bard of Ascra, cannot be too cautious in choosing his helpmate, as the following sage counsel indicates: