How, then, shall I sing of you who in all ways are a worthy theme of song? For everywhere, O Phoebus, the whole range of song is fallen to you, both over the mainland that rears heifers and over the isles. All mountain-peaks and high headlands of lofty hills and rivers flowing out to the deep and beaches sloping seawards and havens of the sea are your delight.
Homeric Hymn (3) to Apollo 19–24, translated by Hugh G. Evelyn-White
This month’s selection comprises two of the Homeric Hymns: #3 to Apollo, and #4 to Hermes. These hymns relate myths connected with the gods; in the Hymn to Apollo there are two stories: one to Delian Apollo and the other to Pythian Apollo, while in the Hymn to Hermes, Apollo also makes an appearance.
As always, you can read any version you choose. Here are links to some free online translations:
- Translation by Hugh G. Evelyn-White, at Perseus, online
- Translation by Andrew Lang, at Project Gutenberg, online or to download
- Translation by Christopher Kelk, at Poetry in Translation, online or to download
- Translation by Daryl Hines, online, at The Chicago Homer
- The Homeric Hymn to Apollo, translation by Rodney Merrill, online.
In Pepper, Timothy, ed. 2011. A Californian Hymn to Homer. Hellenic Studies Series 41. Washington, DC: Center for Hellenic Studies.
https://nrs.harvard.edu/urn-3:hul.ebook:CHS_PepperT_ed.A_Californian_Hymn_to_Homer.2011
For those who prefer to listen, there is a Librivox recording read by Arthur Krolman of Hugh G. Evelyn-White’s translation: Sections 3 and 4 cover our Book Club selections.
Discussion will start and continue in the Forum, and we will meet via Zoom on Tuesday, March 29, at 11 a.m. EDT. The link will be posted on the day.
Happy readings!