Homeric Hymns

by Unknown (traditionally attributed to Homer, but likely composed by various poets)

Also known as: Hymnoi Homērikoi

"The hymns reflect the living religious devotion of archaic Greece, showing the gods as powerful, present, and intertwined with human fate, while celebrating the art of song and storytelling itself as a sacred act."
Homeric Hymns cover
Type:Collection of Hymns (Epic-style poetry)
Source:Ancient Greece
Original Date:Oral tradition, 7th–6th century BCE
Written Date:c. 6th–5th century BCE
Length:1 books, varies (longest is 495 lines, many under 20) lines (~2 hours)

Summary

The Homeric Hymns are a collection of 33 poems in the epic meter (dactylic hexameter), dedicated to various Greek gods. Despite their name, they were not written by Homer, but they share stylistic features with the Homeric epics. They served as preludes or invocations recited by rhapsodes before longer epic performances. The most significant are the longer hymns: to Demeter (Persephone’s abduction and the origin of the Eleusinian Mysteries), to Apollo (birth of Apollo and his oracle at Delphi), to Hermes (the trickster god’s theft of Apollo’s cattle), to Aphrodite (her seduction of Anchises), and to Dionysus (various adventures of the god of wine). They blend cosmogony, myth, and cultic origins, offering unique windows into early Greek religion.

Themes

Praise of the godsDivine power and presenceTrickster and cunningAbduction and return (Demeter/Persephone)Sacred origins of cult and ritualThe role of poetry and song

Major Characters

DemeterPersephoneHadesZeusApolloHermesAphroditeAnchisesDionysusMaia

Notable Quotes

"Blessed is he among men who has seen these mysteries; but he who is uninitiated in the rites and has no share in them never has the same lot once dead in the gloomy darkness."

Line 480

"Muse, sing of Hermes, the son of Zeus and Maia, lord of Cyllene and Arcadia rich in sheep, the messenger of the gods."

Line 1

"But when the blessed gods saw her, they all desired her, each praying that she might be his wedded wife."

Line 60

Notable Translations

Hugh G. Evelyn-White(1914)

Loeb Classical Library edition, includes Hesiod.

Charles Boer(1970)

Readable poetic version.

Apostolos N. Athanassakis(1976)

Standard academic translation, widely cited.

Diane Rayor(2004)

Modern, accessible, feminist perspective on Demeter and Aphrodite.

Martin West(2003)

Critical Oxford edition.