The Hymn is hard to date. Hermes’ lyre
has seven strings and the invention of the seven-stringed
lyre is ascribed to Terpander (flor. 676 B.C.).
The hymn must therefore be later than that date,
though Terpander, according to Weir Smyth (16), may
have only modified the scale of the lyre; yet while
the burlesque character precludes an early date, this
feature is far removed, as Allen and Sikes remark,
from the silliness of the “Battle of the Frogs
and Mice”, so that a date in the earlier part
of the sixth century is most probable.
The “Hymn to Aphrodite” is not the least
remarkable, from a literary point of view, of the
whole collection, exhibiting as it does in a masterly
manner a divine being as the unwilling victim of an
irresistible force. It tells how all creatures,
and even the gods themselves, are subject to the will
of Aphrodite, saving only Artemis, Athena, and Hestia;
how Zeus to humble her pride of power caused her to
love a mortal, Anchises; and how the goddess visited
the hero upon Mt. Ida. A comparison of this
work with the Lay of Demodocus ("Odyssey” viii,
266 ff.), which is superficially similar, will show
how far superior is the former in which the goddess
is but a victim to forces stronger than herself.
The lines (247-255) in which Aphrodite tells of her
humiliation and grief are specially noteworthy.
There are only general indications of date.
The influence of Hesiod is clear, and the hymn has
almost certainly been used by the author of the “Hymn
to Demeter”, so that the date must lie between
these two periods, and the seventh century seems to
be the latest date possible.
The “Hymn to Dionysus” relates how the
god was seized by pirates and how with many manifestations
of power he avenged himself on them by turning them
into dolphins. The date is widely disputed,
for while Ludwich believes it to be a work of the fourth
or third century, Allen and Sikes consider a sixth
or seventh century date to be possible. The
story is figured in a different form on the reliefs
from the choragic monument of Lysicrates, now in the
British Museum (17).
Very different in character is the “Hymn to
Ares”, which is Orphic in character. The
writer, after lauding the god by detailing his attributes,
prays to be delivered from feebleness and weakness
of soul, as also from impulses to wanton and brutal
violence.
The only other considerable hymn is that to “Pan”,
which describes how he roams hunting among the mountains
and thickets and streams, how he makes music at dusk
while returning from the chase, and how he joins in
dancing with the nymphs who sing the story of his
birth. This, beyond most works of Greek literature,
is remarkable for its fresh and spontaneous love of
wild natural scenes.
The remaining hymns are mostly of the briefest compass,
merely hailing the god to be celebrated and mentioning
his chief attributes. The Hymns to “Hermes”
(xviii), to the “Dioscuri” (xvii), and
to “Demeter” (xiii) are mere abstracts
of the longer hymns iv, xxxiii, and ii.
