The Reception of the Homeric Hymns

Overview

Title: The Reception of the Homeric Hymns

Editors: Andrew Faulkner, Athanassios Vergados, Andreas Schwab

Publisher: Oxford University Press

Date: 2016

Extent: 424 pages

Resources:

Summary

The Reception of the Homeric Hymns is the first comprehensive study devoted to the afterlife of the Homeric Hymns from the late Hellenistic period through Late Antiquity, Byzantium, the Renaissance, and into modern literary traditions. While the Hymns have long been recognized as foundational texts of early Greek hexameter poetry, their reception after the classical period has received comparatively little sustained attention.

Bringing together an international group of established and emerging scholars, the volume explores how the Homeric Hymns were read, interpreted, transformed, and redeployed across a wide range of cultural, intellectual, and artistic contexts. Contributions examine their influence on Greek and Latin literature, imperial and late antique scholarship, Byzantine hymnography, Renaissance humanism, and modern European literary traditions.

By extending the study of the Hymns beyond their archaic origins, this volume demonstrates their enduring significance within the Western literary canon and provides a vital resource for scholars interested in reception studies, ancient religion, literary history, and the transmission of classical texts.

Table of Contents

  • Introduction – Andrew Faulkner, Andreas Schwab, Athanassios Vergados
  • Part I: Narrative and Art
  • Visualizing Divinity: The Reception of the Homeric Hymns in Greek Vase Painting – Jenny Strauss Clay
  • Part II: Latin Literature
  • The Hercules and Cacus Episode in Augustan Literature – James J. Clauss
  • The Homeric Hymns and Horatian Lyric – Stephen Harrison
  • Ovid’s Bacchic Helmsman and Homeric Hymn 7 – John F. Miller
  • The Homeric Hymn to Aphrodite in Augustan Literature – Alison Keith
  • Hercules and Apollo in Ovid’s Metamorphoses – Jason S. Nethercut
  • Part III: Imperial and Late Antique Literature
  • Lucian’s Dialogues of the Gods – Polyxeni Strolonga
  • The Reception of the Homeric Hymns in Aelius Aristides – Athanassios Vergados
  • The Homeric Hymns in Late Antiquity – Robbert M. van den Berg
  • Praising the Gods: Homeric Hymns in Late Antiquity – Gianfranco Agosti
  • Part IV: Byzantine, Renaissance, and Modern Reception
  • The Homeric Hymns in Byzantium – Christos Simelidis
  • Hymnic Celebration under the Komnenoi – Andrew Faulkner
  • Fifteenth-Century Approaches to the Hymns – Oliver Thomas
  • The Rebirth of Venus in Renaissance Poetry – M. Elisabeth Schwab
  • The Homeric Hymns in English Romanticism – Nicholas Richardson

About the Editors

Andrew Faulkner is Associate Professor of Classics at the University of Waterloo. His research focuses on Greek poetry, hymnography, Hellenistic literature, and the reception of early Greek texts.

Athanassios Vergados is Professor of Classics at Heidelberg University. His scholarship centers on Greek poetry, performance, and the reception of archaic literature.

Andreas Schwab is Visiting Professor for Ancient Greek Literature and Religious Studies of Antiquity at Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität Munich. His work explores Greek religion, literature, and classical reception.

Bibliographic Data

  • Publisher: Oxford University Press
  • Publication date: 2016
  • Format: Hardcover
  • Length: 424 pages
  • Language: English