The Homeric Hymns

A mother searches the earth with torches for her stolen daughter, then lets the fields go barren until the gods give her back. A baby born at dawn invents the lyre by noon, steals his brother’s cattle by nightfall, and lies about it to Zeus. The goddess of desire is made to desire a mortal, and she has to explain why she will not ask immortality for him. These are the Homeric Hymns, the stories Greek singers told about how their gods came into their powers, and the book ends with the voice of a wandering poet asking strangers for a welcome.

What happens in The Homeric Hymns

The Homeric Hymns are thirty-three Greek poems addressed to the gods, followed in this edition by the short Epigrams of Homer. Ancient readers credited the hymns to Homer, but they were composed by various poets over several centuries after the Iliad and the Odyssey. The first hymn, to Dionysus, survives only in fragments: it says Zeus gave the god birth in secret, far from men, and mentions a mountain called Nysa. The long Hymn to Demeter follows. With Zeus’s consent, Hades, also called Aidoneus, carries off Demeter’s daughter Persephone as she reaches for a wondrous narcissus. Demeter searches for nine days with torches, learns the truth from Helios, and in anger stays away from the gods. Disguised as an old woman, she is taken into the house of Celeus at Eleusis to nurse his late-born son, Demophoon. Each night she secretly hides the child in the fire, meaning to make him deathless, but his mother Metaneira sees and cries out. The goddess reveals herself and orders a temple built. Sitting in it, Demeter keeps every seed from sprouting until Zeus sends Hermes to bring Persephone back. Before she leaves, Hades gives her a pomegranate seed, so she must spend a third of every year below the earth. Demeter restores the harvest and teaches her secret rites to the lords of Eleusis. The Hymn to Apollo tells how Leto wandered until the island of Delos agreed to receive her son, and how Apollo was born there. Later he searches for a home for his oracle. Misled by the spring Telphusa, he builds his temple at Crisa below Parnassus and kills a she-dragon whose rotting body gives the place its name, Pytho. Then, in the shape of a dolphin, he brings a ship of Cretans to keep his temple. In the Hymn to Hermes, the god is born at dawn, plays the lyre he has invented by midday, and steals fifty of Apollo’s cattle in the evening. He lies boldly to Apollo and to Zeus, then wins Apollo over by giving him the lyre, and the two become friends. In the Hymn to Aphrodite, Zeus makes the goddess desire the mortal herdsman Anchises. She sleeps with him in disguise, then reveals herself and foretells the birth of their son, Aeneas. Twenty-eight shorter hymns follow, and the epigrams close the book in the voice of a wandering poet.

Where and when The Homeric Hymns happens

Chapter by chapter summary + why it matters

1. 1

   Dionysus and Demeter (Hymns 1 to 2)

   The first hymn survives only in pieces. It dismisses rival stories of where Dionysus was born, says Zeus bore him in secret, far from men, names a mountain called Nysa, and shows Zeus sealing the god’s honors with a nod. The Hymn to Demeter tells how Aidoneus seizes Persephone, how Demeter grieves, nurses the baby Demophoon at Eleusis and then starves the earth, and how Zeus is forced to return her daughter. Because Persephone has eaten a pomegranate seed, she must spend a third of each year below, and Demeter teaches her mysteries to the lords of Eleusis.

   Why it mattersThe Demeter hymn gives a goddess’s grief the weight that epic gives a hero’s anger. It also explains two things at once: why Persephone returns each spring and how the rites at Eleusis began.

2. 2

   Apollo at Delos and Pytho (Hymn 3)

   Leto wanders through many lands, but only rocky Delos will receive her son, and only after she swears he will build his first temple there. Hera keeps the birth goddess Eilithyia away until the other goddesses send Iris with the promise of a great necklace strung with gold, and Apollo is born beside a palm tree. In the second part, Apollo looks for a site for his oracle, is steered by the spring Telphusa to Crisa below Parnassus, kills the she-dragon that once reared Hera’s monstrous son Typhaon, and then buries Telphusa’s stream for her trick. Taking the shape of a dolphin, he brings a ship of Cretans from Cnossos to keep his temple.

   Why it mattersThe translation gives the Delian and Pythian parts separate headings, and many scholars think they began as separate poems. The singer’s description of himself as a blind man from Chios helped ancient readers believe Homer wrote the hymn.

3. 3

   Hermes, the Infant Thief (Hymn 4)

   Born at dawn in a cave on Cyllene, Hermes makes the first lyre from a tortoise shell, then steals fifty of Apollo’s cows from Pieria, reversing their tracks and wearing sandals of twigs. He invents fire-sticks, slaughters two cows, and slips back into his cradle through the keyhole. When Apollo finds him, the baby swears he knows nothing, and before Zeus he lies again until Zeus laughs and orders him to show where the cattle are. Hermes charms Apollo with the lyre and gives it to him, receiving the care of the herds in return, and the two brothers swear friendship.

   Why it mattersThe comedy comes from a newborn who argues like a practiced liar. The ending is a serious settlement that divides music, herding and prophecy between the two gods.

4. 4

   Aphrodite and Anchises (Hymn 5)

   Aphrodite can bend every heart except those of Athena, Artemis and Hestia, so Zeus makes her desire a mortal, the herdsman Anchises on Mount Ida. She dresses at her temple in Paphos, comes to him claiming to be the daughter of a Phrygian king, and says Hermes has brought her to be his wife. After they sleep together she reveals herself, and Anchises begs her not to leave him a broken man. She promises him a son, Aeneas, tells the stories of Ganymedes and Tithonus to explain why she will not make him deathless, and warns him never to boast that he lay with a goddess.

   Why it mattersThe goddess of desire becomes its victim for once. Tithonus, given endless life without endless youth, shows why immortality is no simple gift for a mortal.

5. 5

   The Shorter Hymns (Hymns 6 to 33)

   Most of these twenty-eight hymns are brief greetings that name a god’s birth, powers or favorite places and then turn to another song. A few tell stories: the west wind carries Aphrodite over the sea in foam to Cyprus, pirates who seize Dionysus leap overboard and become dolphins while he spares the good helmsman, and Hermes’ goat-footed son is named Pan because he delighted all the gods. The Hymn to Ares stands apart as a personal prayer for self-control and peace that speaks of the planets. The hymns to Helios and Selene end by promising to sing next of men half-divine, the heroes.

   Why it mattersTheir closing lines, and one singer’s prayer for victory in a contest, suggest that many of these hymns were preludes sung before a longer performance.

6. 6

   The Epigrams of Homer

   Seventeen short poems, most only a few lines long, are spoken in the voice of a traveling singer. He asks the people of Cyme to honor a homeless stranger, complains that his song was scorned and resolves to leave, prays to Poseidon for a safe voyage, and threatens a kiln with ruin if the potters cheat him. There are also an inscription for the tomb of Midas, a begging song sung at a rich man’s door, and a closing exchange in which a fisherman answers Homer with a riddle.

   Why it mattersThe epigrams build a picture of Homer as a poor, wandering poet who depends on the kindness of strangers. It matches the blind singer of Chios who speaks in the Hymn to Apollo.

Characters and how they connect

Character Relationships who connects to whom, and the themes that bind them

Themes in The Homeric Hymns what the novel is really about

Symbols & motifs

Important quotes

The ending of The Homeric Hymns, explained

The collection has no grand finale. After the four long story hymns it runs through twenty-eight short ones, many only a few lines long, and most close the same way: the singer greets the god and says he will remember them and another song. That habit is the strongest clue to what these poems were for. A singer at a festival or contest would open with a hymn to a god and then move on to a longer performance. The short hymn to Aphrodite that asks for victory in this contest, and the hymns to Helios and Selene, which end by promising to sing of men half-divine, support this reading. Scholars disagree about how far it fits the long hymns, which read as complete poems, and many connect the Hymn to Demeter with the rites at Eleusis that it describes. The edition then closes with the Epigrams of Homer, and the focus shifts from the gods to the poet. The speaker is a homeless traveler. He asks the people of Cyme to respect a stranger, complains that his song was scorned, prays for a fair voyage, bargains with potters, and sings at a rich man’s door, returning each year like the swallow. This matches the self-portrait in the Hymn to Apollo, where the singer asks the girls of Delos to remember a blind man who lives on Chios. Ancient readers took such passages as Homer speaking about himself. Modern scholars treat the portrait as legend, since the hymns were composed by various poets long after the Iliad and the Odyssey, and almost nothing certain is known about Homer. The last lines are a riddle: a fisherman tells Homer that they left behind all they caught and carry home all they did not. The text gives no answer, though ancient stories about Homer’s life make it lice. Ending there, the book leaves Homer as tradition imagined him, a wanderer who lives by his wits and his songs.

Common misreadings

Test yourself

Flashcards flip, self-grade, and the deck remembers what you know

Long ago, Greek singers often began their performances with songs praising a god. People in ancient times said Homer wrote these songs, but they were really made by many different poets. In one long song, the god of the dead kidnaps Persephone, and her mother Demeter is so sad and angry that she stops all the crops from growing until her daughter comes back. In another, the baby god Hermes invents the lyre on the day he is born, steals his big brother Apollo’s cows, and then gives Apollo the lyre to make peace. Other songs tell how Apollo was born on a tiny rocky island and how Aphrodite fell in love with a human cowherd. Most of the rest are only a few lines long, and the book ends with little poems about a poor wandering poet the Greeks believed was Homer.

Compare & connect the story universe

Discussion & essay prompts for class, or your next paper

Key questions students ask

• Who wrote the Homeric Hymns
• What happens in the Homeric Hymn to Demeter
• Why does Persephone have to return to the underworld each year
• How does Hermes invent the lyre in the Homeric Hymn to Hermes
• What were the Homeric Hymns used for
• Who is the blind man of Chios in the Hymn to Apollo