The Homeric Hymns

The verses have influenced artists from the Renaissance onwards, from Botticelli to Shelley and Tennyson, Andre Gide and Stravinsky.

Composed for recitation at festivals, these 33 songs were written in honour of the gods and goddesses of the ancient Greek pantheon. They recount the key episodes in the lives of the gods, and dramatise the moments when they first appear before mortals. Together they offer the most vivid picture we have of the Greek view of the relationship between the divine and human worlds.