Table Of ContentCallimaChus
L L
CallimaChus
ThE hYmNs
L L
Edited with Introduction, Translation, and Commentary by
Susan A. Stephens
1
1
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Contents
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Preface vii
Illustrations ix
Abbreviations xi
Maps xv
Introduction 3
1. The Hymn to Zeus 47
2. The Hymn to Apollo 72
3. The Hymn to Artemis 100
4. The Hymn to Delos 157
5. The Hymn to Athena
On the Bath of Pallas 233
6. The Hymn to Demeter 263
Works Cited 299
Index of Subjects 307
Index of Selected Greek Words Discussed 311
Index of Passages Discussed 313
Preface
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My goal in writing this commentary is to provide readers with a convenient and
accessible edition of all six of Callimachus’ hymns in one volume, accompanied
by notes sufficient for ease of reading. That such an edition does not already exist
is my justification for undertaking the task, especially given the importance of
this poet and the fact that the hymns and epigrams are his only complete works.
In keeping with Callimachus’ own stated poetic practice this is not a μέγα βιβλίον;
thus constraints of space have required a certain amount of triage: the linguistic,
metrical, historical, geographic, and cultic material I provide will necessarily lack
the wealth of scholarly detail provided by those commentaries on individual
hymns produced mainly in the 1970s and 1980s. Like all writers of commentar-
ies I have depended heavily on my predecessors, though experience in teaching
and in writing on the hymns has led me considerably to reduce the amount of
linguistic detail (particularly about Homeric usage) and commensurately to in-
crease parallels from tragedy and lyric. Also I situate Callimachus’ divinities as
much as possible within the context of cult practices relevant to early Ptolemaic
Alexandria and Cyrene. I have tried to keep always before the reader the fact that
Callimachus was a poet; thus literary parallels are selected in the main for their al-
lusive potential and references kept, when possible, to easily accessed secondary
materials. The translations do no more than aim for clarity and are intended to
provide the reader with my understanding of the text.
It is my pleasure to acknowledge the colleagues who have offered encourage-
ment, advice, and the generous donation of their time in reading various versions
of this manuscript. Richard Martin has patiently enlightened me about many Ho-
meric minutiae. Jim Clauss and Alex Sens have provided comments on individual
hymns, but I am especially grateful for their perceptive advice about rethinking
the shape of the whole. Keyne Cheshire, Ivana Petrovic, and Massimo Giuseppetti
read and commented on individual hymns, and in addition provided me with their
own work in advance of publication, from which I learned more than I can say.
Flora Manakidou has very generously provided me with her forthcoming work on
viii Preface
the Hymn to Athena and with a copy of her 2013 commentary. Dirk Obbink and
Daniela Colomo very kindly facilitated my examination of hymns papyri. Israel
McMullin has given me the student’s perspective on what is useful (or more often,
not); Jon Weiland has drawn the maps. Aaron Palmore and John Richards have
helped with the proof reading. Andrew Dyck has done an exemplary job of edit-
ing and indexing (what errors remain are my own). Mark Edwards has read and
commented on the whole and been particularly helpful with the metrical sections
and in providing Homeric parallels. All of these individuals have facilitated the
process of writing this commentary. However, I owe a special debt of gratitude to
Marco Fantuzzi and Benjamin Acosta-Hughes, who have read through the whole
manuscript more than once. Their learned advice has considerably improved what
I now present, and I hope that in some measure it repays their efforts. Last but not
least, I would like to thank the Press for their patience and support.
Illustrations
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1. Hieroglyphic for king of Upper (sedge) and Lower (bee) Egypt. Detail of the
Rosetta Stone. © The Trustees of the British Museum. 68
2. Cyrene Apollo. © The Trustees of the British Museum / Art Resource,
NY. 88
3. Chariot carrying kalathos: coin, Catalogue 30.552. © The Trustees of the
British Museum. 276
Description:Callimachus was arguably the most important poet of the Hellenistic age, for two reasons: his engagement with previous theorists of poetry and his wide-ranging poetic experimentation. Of his poetic oeuvre, which exceeded what we now have of Theocritus, Aratus, Posidippus, and Apollonius combined, on
