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Delahoyde & Hughes
Orpheus
THE HOMERIC
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Most of the Greek poems in the collection known as the Homeric
Hymns were composed around the 7th century b.c.e. These anonymous
works celebrate individual gods in dactylic hexameter (like the epics)
and in some cases provide narratives about episodes in the gods' lives.
They were attributed to Homer, as Thucydides records, and a reference
near the end of the Hymn to Delian Apollo to a blind singer cinched it
for some. Many of the hymns function as introductions, but it is not
known to what.
1 - To Dionysos -- fragments concerned with his controversial place of
birth and giving various aliases.
2 - To Demeter -- a long narrative offering the stories of the
abduction of Persephone and the rearing of Demophoön.
3a - To Delian Apollo -- probably one of the two earliest hymns,
possibly as early as the eighth century b.c.e.
3b - To Pythian Apollo -- concerned with where Apollo would establish
his first shrine, with references to Zeus slaying Typhon and Hephaistos
being born a cripple.
4 - To Hermes -- in this long narrative, Hermes uses a tortoise shell
to make a new musical instrument and bugs Apollo regarding cattle.
5 - To Aphrodite -- probably one of the two earliest hymns, possibly
as early as the eighth century b.c.e.; she cannot affect every goddess,
but can suffer love herself, as her relationship with Anchises, father of
Aeneas, shows.
6 - To Aphrodite -- a short tribute, asking that the poet be the
victor in the contest.
7 - To Dionysos -- the god's adventure with the sailors who turn into
dolphins, as Ovid recounts.
8 - Ares -- very late, possibly even the fifth century c.e.; oddly,
praying for "the courage to live in the safe ways of peace, / Shunning
strife and ill will and the violent fiends of destruction" (57).
9 - To Artemis -- "Virgin delighting in arrows" (58).
10 - To Aphrodite -- "Hail, goddess, guardian of strongly built
Salamis" (59).
11 - To Athene -- "the city's protectress" and goddess of war (60).
12 - To Hera -- supposedly honored equally with Zeus.
13 - To Demeter -- just three lines.
14 - To the Mother of the Gods
15 - To Heracles -- with mention of his post-deification marriage to
Hebe.
16 - To Asclepios -- physician son of Apollo.
17 - To the Dioscuri -- the twins, Castor and Polydeuces, sons of
Zeus and Leda.
18 - To Hermes -- messenger of the gods, son of Zeus and Maia.
19 - To Pan -- later, probably fifth century b.c.e.; describing the
birth of this goatish freak.
20 - To Hephaistos -- "Who ... taught to men upon earth / Arts of
great splendor, men who in former days lived / Like wild beasts in caves
in the mountains" (70).
21 - To Apollo -- even the swan sings in praise of Apollo.
22 - To Poseidon -- "tamer of horses and preserver of ships" (72).
23 - To Zeus -- "who brings all things to fulfillment / And holds
wise discourse with Themis" (73).
24 - To Hestia -- "you from whose hair / Drips forever moist scented
oil" (74).
25 - To the Muses and Apollo -- because of them there are bards "who
play on the lyre" (74).
26 - To Dionysos -- raised by nymphs.
27 - To Artemis -- who "Sends forth her arrows of anguish" to
wildlife (76).
28 - To Athene -- "ever ready with counsel" (77).
29 - To Hestia -- "without you / No feasts would there be for
mortals" (78).
30 - To Gaia -- "oldest of gods, / Firm of foundation" (79).
31 - To Helios -- "who shines upon men and undying gods / As he
drives his swift chariot" (80).
32 - To Selene -- the moon goddess.
33 - To the Dioscuri -- "Castor the tamer of horses and Polydeuces
the blameless" (82).
Sargent, Thelma, trans. The Homeric Hymns. NY: W.W. Norton & Co., 1973.
Wilkie, Brian, and James Hurt, eds. Literature of the Western World, Volume 1. 5th edition. Upper Saddle River, NJ: Prentice-Hall, Inc., 2001.