Homeric Hymns

At a glance

History, context & interpretation

The text and its story

Hymns to Demeter, Apollo, Hermes, Aphrodite and others. The Hymn to Demeter tells of Persephone taken to the underworld and is linked to the Eleusinian Mysteries.

Traditional attribution

Composed by Homer.

Historical scholarship

33 anonymous hymns in Homer's style, written over several centuries.

Context and curiosity

The Hymn to Demeter was rediscovered in 1777 in a Moscow stable.

Chronology and transmission

This text belongs to Greece & Rome (Archaic Greece). The catalogue gives its approximate dating as c. 7th–6th century BCE (most) and original language or script as Ancient Greek. The dated manuscript witnesses and traditional claims may not refer to the same historical event.

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Sources and further reading

• https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Homeric_Hymns

Historical descriptions are educational summaries. Religious traditions, scholarly interpretations and unverified claims are distinguished where possible; imagery may be illustrative rather than an artifact photograph.