The Homeric Hymn to Aphrodite: Introduction, Text, and Commentary (Oxford Classical Monographs)

360 Pages·2008·11.95 MB·English

by  Andrew Faulkner

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The Homeric
Hymn to
Aphrodite
Introduction, Text, and Commentary
ANDREW FAULKNER
OXFORD
UNIVBR.SITY PR.BSS
OXFORD
\JNIVRRSITY PRP.SS
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Preface
THE Homeric Hymn to Aphrodite has received a good deal of
scholarly attention since it was first printed in Florence in 1488, but
no extensive commentary has ever been produced on the poem.
In the twentieth century, Allen, Halliday, and Sikes (AS 1904, AHS
1936), and CAssola (1975) treated the poem admirably in their
editions of the entire corpus of the Homeric Hymns, but the attention
that they were able to give to Aphr. was naturally limited by the broad
scope of their work. J. van Eck (VE) gave individual attention to the
hymn in his doctoral thesis presented to the University of Utrecht
in 1978 (a commentary with a short introduction), but, despite
many useful observations, he left much work to be done (N. van der
Ben also offered much of value in his short response to van Eck in
1986).
The present commentary, a substantially revised and expanded
version of my Oxford D.Phil. thesis, does not pretend to be exhaust
ive, but it does aim to be inclusive and draws upon linguistic, literary,
historical, and archaeological evidence in order to throw light on the
text of Aphr. and the questions that it raises. Ultimately, it is hoped
that this book will provide the reader with the necessary tools to
make informed decisions about the poem and related matters, and
serve as a base for further scholarship. A good deal of attention has
been paid to parallels (both linguistic and thematic) elsewhere in
Greek literature. These are often an indispensable aid to understand
ing and are also given in order to help situate the Hymn to Aphrodite
within the Greek poetic tradition. The purpose of including parallels
in later Greek poetry may be less immediately evident. As has
traditionally been the practice, these are at times provided where
there is the possibility of imitatio (such cases are summarized in the
Introduction). Later parallels are also, however, given when there
is no question of imitatio: these are provided for those scholars
working on later texts who will approach this commentary with an
interest in this information, and in the belief that the practice oflater
Greek poets can shed light on earlier poetry. In certain respects my
viii Preface
approach to the commentary might be described as traditional. I do,
however, make use of work in the field of narratology, which I have
become convinced is very profitably applied to ancient texts, and I
have dedicated a good amount of time to considering parallels in
Near Eastern literature, an avenue of research which has been fruit
fully expanded by scholars in recent years. I have been cautious not
to confine myself to minutiae. Textual problems and matters of
interpretation of individual words or lines are dealt with as they
arise, but an effort has always been made to indicate when and how
they affect the wider interpretation of the passage, or the whole
poem.
For a task of this kind, I have naturally benefited from the work
of many scholars who have come before me; my debt to them is
signalled throughout the book. I should also like to record here my
thanks to several individuals: I am most grateful to Dr Nicholas
Richardson, first my D.Phil. supervisor and then my adviser for the
press; his constant willingness to read and discuss my work, his acute
scholarship, and his many suggestions for improvement have greatly
clarified and expanded my thinking. Dr Richardson, who is now
preparing a commentary on three of the four long Homeric Hymns
(excluding Demeter) for the Cambridge Greek and Latin Classics
series, very kindly allowed me to see a draft of his own work on the
Hymn to Aphrodite once my thesis was complete; it was a great help
to compare our opinions on particular matters at this later stage.
To Dr Malcolm Campbell I am indebted for the suggestion that I
undertake work on Aphr., and for much else as well. During my time
as an undergraduate and research student at St Andrews University,
I also profited from the learning of Professor Stephen Halliwell and
the entire department there. I spent a very profitable six months
in Amsterdam working with Professor Irene de Jong. Also while in
Amsterdam, I benefited from the advice of Professor Jan Bremer and
the late Professor C. J. Ruijgh. Back in Britain, my D.Phil. examiners
Dr Richard Rutherford and Professor Alex Garvie both read my
thesis with great care and offered many very valuable suggestions for
improvement. I am grateful as well to Professor Gregory Hutchinson,
Professor Jasper Griffin, Dr Ewen Bowie, and Dr Bruno Currie, for
their helpful criticism and encouragement. Dr Martin West kindly
read my thesis and made many suggestions for improvement. Dr