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Homeric Hymns (Penguin Classics)
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Homeric Hymns (Penguin Classics) Paperback - 2003

by Homer

  • Used
  • Paperback

From the abduction of Persephone by Hades to Hermes' theft of Apollo's cattle, the Homeric Hymns recount some of the most compelling and significant episodes in Greek mythology. They were recited at festivals to honor the Olympian gods and goddesses, to pray for divine favor, and for victory in singing contests. They stand now as works of great poetic force, full of grace and lyricism, ranging in tone from irony to solemnity, ebullience to grandeur. Enhanced with an informative introduction that explores the hymns' authorship, performance, literary qualities, and influence on later writers, this collection gives an intriguing view of the ancient Greek relationship between humans and the divine.

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Penguin Classics, 2003-10-28. 4th Printing. paperback. Used: Good.
Used: Good
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Details

  • Title Homeric Hymns (Penguin Classics)
  • Author Homer
  • Binding Paperback
  • Edition 4th Printing
  • Condition Used: Good
  • Pages 174
  • Volumes 1
  • Language ENG
  • Publisher Penguin Classics, U.S.A.
  • Date 2003-10-28
  • Features Bibliography, Table of Contents
  • Bookseller's Inventory # SONG0140437827
  • ISBN 9780140437829 / 0140437827
  • Weight 0.39 lbs (0.18 kg)
  • Dimensions 7.78 x 5.08 x 0.56 in (19.76 x 12.90 x 1.42 cm)
  • Ages 18 to UP years
  • Grade levels 13 - UP
  • Themes
    • Chronological Period: Ancient (To 499 A.D.)
  • Library of Congress subjects Gods, Greek, Hymns, Greek (Classical)
  • Library of Congress Catalog Number 2004296681
  • Dewey Decimal Code 883.01

Summary

From the abduction of Persephone by Hades to Hermes' theft of Apollo's cattle, the Homeric Hymns recount some of the most compelling and significant episodes in Greek mythology. They were recited at festivals to honor the Olympian gods and goddesses, to pray for divine favor, and for victory in singing contests. They stand now as works of great poetic force, full of grace and lyricism, ranging in tone from irony to solemnity, ebullience to grandeur. Enhanced with an informative introduction that explores the hymns' authorship, performance, literary qualities, and influence on later writers, this collection gives an intriguing view of the ancient Greek relationship between humans and the divine.

From the publisher

Homer was probably born around 725BC on the Coast of Asia Minor, now the coast of Turkey, but then really a part of Greece. Homer was the first Greek writer whose work survives.

He was one of a long line of bards, or poets, who worked in the oral tradition. Homer and other bards of the time could recite, or chant, long epic poems. Both works attributed to Homer – the Iliad and the Odyssey – are over ten thousand lines long in the original. Homer must have had an amazing memory but was helped by the formulaic poetry style of the time.

In the Iliad Homer sang of death and glory, of a few days in the struggle between the Greeks and the Trojans. Mortal men played out their fate under the gaze of the gods. The Odyssey is the original collection of tall traveller’s tales. Odysseus, on his way home from the Trojan War, encounters all kinds of marvels from one-eyed giants to witches and beautiful temptresses. His adventures are many and memorable before he gets back to Ithaca and his faithful wife Penelope.

We can never be certain that both these stories belonged to Homer. In fact ‘Homer’ may not be a real name but a kind of nickname meaning perhaps ‘the hostage’ or ‘the blind one’. Whatever the truth of their origin, the two stories, developed around three thousand years ago, may well still be read in three thousand years’ time.


Jules Cashford writes and lectures on mythology and is the author of The Myth of the Goddess.


Nicholas Richardson is a fellow in English at Merton College, Oxford.


Nicholas Richardson is a fellow in English at Merton College, Oxford.

Media reviews

"The purest expression of ancient Greek religion we possess. Jules Cashford is attuned to the poetry of the Hymns." (Nigel Spivey, Cambridge University)

About the author

Originally attributed to Homer because of their style and quality, the hymns are now thought to have been written by of a number of different poets of the 7th and 6th centuries BC.

Jules Cashford is a writer and lecturer on Mythology. She is the author of The Myth of the Goddess (Arkana, 1991) & The Myth of the Moon (Weidenfeld & Nicholson, forthcoming.

Dr Nicholas Richardson is a Fellow in English at Merton College, Oxford

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