Strategies for Naming the Gods in Greek Hymns

Abstract

ABSTRACT: An essential ingredient of Greek hymnic poetics is the choice of divine names and epithets. With a general goal of achieving «charis» for both the gods and the mortals who compose and sing a hymn, various strategies are deployed to address the gods: names and epithets may underline a single dimension of the god or emphasise his multidimensionality through «poluonumia»; they may be chosen to singularise the addressee or to relate a particular deity with other gods in the pantheon; they may express the self-confidence of the composer in choosing the right appellatives to please the god, or the lack of precision with which any name approaches the divine; they may imply benefits for the whole community or for specific people. Along these four axes, different strategies show the complexities involved in divine naming when composing any hymn in different contexts and genres in Greek antiquity.