The author of the Hesiod Life is anonymous. The work is a biography of the early Greek poet Hesiod, not an autobiography, and no details of its author's life are recorded. It is traditionally dated to the 1st century BCE based on stylistic and contextual evidence within the Hellenistic biographical tradition.

The sole known work is the Hesiod Life, also called Vita Hesiodi or The Contest of Homer and Hesiod. This prose biography survives among the Lives of the Poets and incorporates the narrative of a poetic contest between Homer and Hesiod.

The Hesiod Life is a key document in the ancient biographical tradition surrounding early Greek poets. It reflects Hellenistic efforts to systematize legends about literary figures and is a primary source for the ancient reception of Hesiod. Its inclusion of the Contest story was particularly influential in shaping the canonical biographical lore for both Hesiod and Homer.