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Homeric Hymns · Homeric Hymn 26 to Dionysus §1-13

The Nurturing of Dionysus by the Nymphs

Passage 1 of 1 · Greek

Summary

This hymn describes Dionysus, reared by the beautiful-haired Nymphs and numbered among the gods, as he roams the forests, and prays for a joyful return of the seasons and many years.

§1κισσοκόμην Διόνυσον ἐρίβρομον ἄρχομʼ ἀείδειν, §2Ζηνὸς καὶ Σεμέλης ἐρικυδέος ἀγλαὸν υἱόν, §3ὃν τρέφον ἠύκομοι Νύμφαι παρὰ πατρὸς ἄνακτος §4δεξάμεναι κόλποισι καὶ ἐνδυκέως ἀτίταλλον §5Νύσης ἐν γυάλοις· ὃ δʼ ἀέξετο πατρὸς ἕκητι §6ἄντρῳ ἐν εὐώδει μεταρίθμιος ἀθανάτοισιν.
I begin to sing of ivy-tressed, loud-roaring Dionysus, the glorious son of Zeus and very famous Semele, whom the lovely-haired Nymphs received from the lordly father into their bosoms and nurtured tenderly in the dells of Nysa; and he grew by the will of his father in a fragrant cave, being numbered among the immortals.
§7αὐτὰρ ἐπειδὴ τόνδε θεαὶ πολύυμνον ἔθρεψαν, §8δὴ τότε φοιτίζεσκε καθʼ ὑλήεντας ἐναύλους, §9κισσῷ καὶ δάφνῃ πεπυκασμένος· αἳ δʼ ἅμʼ ἕποντο §10Νύμφαι, ὃ δʼ ἐξηγεῖτο· βρόμος δʼ ἔχεν ἄσπετον ὕλην.
But when the goddesses had reared this one of many songs, then indeed he would constantly wander through the wooded glens, crowned with ivy and laurel; and they followed together, the Nymphs, and he led the way; and a vast din filled the boundless forest.
§11καὶ σὺ μὲν οὕτω χαῖρε, πολυστάφυλʼ ὦ Διόνυσε· §12δὸς δʼ ἡμᾶς χαίροντας ἐς ὥρας αὖτις ἱκέσθαι, §13ἐκ δʼ αὖθʼ ὡράων εἰς τοὺς πολλοὺς ἐνιαυτούς.
And so, hail to you, Dionysus of many clusters; and grant that we, rejoicing, may come again to these seasons, and from these seasons again into many years.

Notes

  1. §3τρέφον — An augmentless, uncontracted third-person plural imperfect (= ἔτρεφον) in the Epic/Ionic dialect. The subject is the following ἠύκομοι Νύμφαι.
  2. §8φοιτίζεσκε — An iterative imperfect containing the suffix -σκε-, which expresses repeated or habitual action. It denotes Dionysus's customary roaming through the wooded glens.
  3. §13ἐκ δʼ αὖθʼ ὡράων — The main verb δός and the infinitive ἱκέσθαι from the previous line (§12) are understood to be omitted here. Syntactically, the line is completed as [δὸς δʼ ἡμᾶς] ἐκ δʼ αὖθʼ ὡράων εἰς τοὺς πολλοὺς ἐνιαυτούς [ἱκέσθαι].

Cite this passage

Homeric Hymns, Homeric Hymn 26 to Dionysus §1-13. Humanitext Reader, https://reader.humanitext.ai/en/text/urn:cts:greekLit:tlg0013.tlg026.humanitext-grc2:1-13

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