Today (02/03/24) we are starting our next read: The Homeric Hymns.

The first poem we will be reading is the ‘Hymn to Demeter’. We will be reading it this week and discussing it next weekend. Please note that we are only reading the four longer hymns during this readalong: the Hymns to Demeter, Apollo, Hermes and Aphrodite, respectively.

See below for the reading/discussion post schedule. If you are interested in joining us but haven’t found a translation that works for you, here is my quick translation guide. If you want to check out our full reading schedule for 2024, click here.

Reading/Discussion Schedule:

Start Date: 02/03/24

Week 1: The Hymn to Demeter - 09/03/24

Week 2: The Hymn to Apollo - 16/03/24

Week 3: The Hymn to Hermes - 23/03/24

Week 4: The Hymn to Aphrodite - 30/03/24

Background Information:

The Homeric Hymns are a group of 33 hymns written to the gods during ancient Greek times. Despite the title, most scholars believe that Homer did not write them. However, all the hymns are written in the same poetic style as Homer – dactylic hexameter – so it is suspected that this is where the connection in the title comes from. The exact date of writing for many of the hymns is not known, but it is believed that most of them were written in the seventh or sixth centuries BCE. This includes the four hymns that we will be reading over the coming weeks: the Hymn to Demeter, the Hymn to Apollo, the Hymn to Hermes and the Hymn to Aphrodite.

About the Hymns:

Please note that the links below may contain spoilers for the hymns/other myths. Each of the gods mentioned is the god/goddess of more than one thing, so I've taken the liberty of mentioning the aspect they are most well-known for and adding links to more information.

The Hymn to Demeter:

'The Hymn to Demeter' is one of the most well-known stories from the ancient world. It is the story of Demeter (the goddess of agriculture) and her daughter, Persephone, during the period when Persephone is abducted by the god of the underworld, Hades. I don’t want to give away many spoilers, so I will just say that this poem is the inspiration for many modern-day Hades and Persephone retellings (whether the modern retellings stay true to the source material is up for debate, however).

The Hymn to Apollo:

'The Hymn to Apollo' tells the story of Apollo (the god of light and prophecy) and his twin sister, Artemis (goddess of the hunt), being born. It also shows how Apollo made a name for himself early on and became connected to the Oracle of Delphi.

The Hymn to Hermes:

Like the Hymn to Apollo, this poem tells us the story of Hermes’ (the messenger god) early life. We see just how much trouble one baby god can get up to, even as a newborn. This story also tells us about how Apollo and Hermes met and got to know each other.

The Hymn to Aphrodite:

'The Hymn to Aphrodite' tells the story of how Aphrodite, the goddess of love, fell in love with a mortal man from the kingdom of Troy. This hymn ties in, somewhat, with Homer’s Iliad and tells us about how one of the Trojan heroes came to be born.

Up Next:

Once we finish the Homeric Hymns mentioned we will be moving on to our next read: the Oedipus Trilogy of plays by Sophocles. Oedipus is one of the most misunderstood characters from Greek mythology, so getting to see more of his story should be really interesting.

We will be starting with the first play, 'Antigone' on April 1st.