Zeus of Otricoli, Roman marble after a Greek original, Vatican Museums.Photograph: Marie-Lan Nguyen / Jastrow (2006); Public domain. · Source · Public domain. Detail shown.
Hymns of Callimachus · Hymn 01
Zeus
εἰς Δία
Callimachus · 96 lines · Zeus
Cosmic orderJusticeProsperity
Prayer and ritual
These hymns may be spoken as complete prayers to the Gods. Within the Temple’s practice, a ritual is a direct theurgical act; hymnody gathers the mind and turns it toward the Divine, helping the initiate enter reverent communion with the Gods.
Use a hymn on its own in place of another prayer, or add it to the prayer portion of a suitable ritual. Choose according to the deity addressed and the petition expressed in the hymn. When combining them, preserve the ritual’s prescribed sequence and let the hymn give voice to its purpose.
The petition of this hymn
For Zeus’s sovereign protection and the union of excellence with prosperity in personal and communal life.
This complete hymn may be recited as extended praise of Zeus and a prayer for excellence, prosperity, and freedom from harm. It may also supplement an existing rite for just governance, divine protection, or the flourishing of a community; its narrative and historical royal praise remain part of the ancient poem.
English hieratic rendering
Hymn 01 · An English rendering aligned with the Greek lines.
1At the pouring of libations, what better song could there be
2than of Zeus himself, the god forever mighty, forever sovereign,
3driver of the earthborn Giants, giver of judgment to the children of Heaven?
4But how shall we sing him: as lord of Dicte, or of Lycaeum?
5My heart is deeply divided, for his birthplace is disputed.
6O Zeus, some say you were born among the mountains of Ida,
7O Zeus, others in Arcadia. Which of them, Father, spoke falsely?
8The Cretans are ever liars: for even a tomb for you, O sovereign,
9the Cretans fashioned. Yet you have not died, for you live forever.
10Rhea bore you in Parrhasia, where the mountain
11was most thickly sheltered by shrubs; hence that place
12is sacred, and no creature needing Eileithyia’s aid,
13no woman, enters it; the Apidanian people call it
14Rhea’s primeval childbed.
15There, when your mother had set you down from her great bosom,
16at once she sought a flowing stream, in whose water
17she might wash away the stains of birth and bathe your body.
18But great Ladon did not yet flow, nor Erymanthus,
19whitest of rivers; all Arcadia was still
20without water, though afterward it was to be called
21rich in waters. For then, when Rhea loosened her girdle,
22moist Iaon still raised many oaks above its bed,
23and Melas carried many wagons upon its course;
24above Carnion, though now a watery river, many
25beasts made their lairs, and a man went
26on foot across Crathis and many-pebbled Metope,
27thirsting; yet abundant water lay beneath his feet.
28Then, held in helplessness, sovereign Rhea spoke:
29“Dear Earth, give birth, you also; your birth-pains are light.”
30She spoke, and the goddess stretched her great arm high
31and struck the mountain with her staff. It opened far apart for her,
32and poured forth a mighty stream. There she cleansed your skin,
33O sovereign, wrapped you, and gave you to Neda to carry
34into the Cretan hiding-place, that you might be reared in secret:
35Neda, eldest of the Nymphs who then attended her in childbirth,
36firstborn after Styx and Philyra.
37Nor did the goddess repay her kindness with an empty gift, but she named
38that stream Neda. Its abundant waters, by the very
39city of the Caucones called Lepreion,
40join Nereus, and the descendants
41of Lycaon’s daughter, the she-bear, drink that most ancient water.
42When the Nymph left Thenae, carrying you toward Cnossus,
43Father Zeus, and Thenae lay near Cnossus,
44then your navel-cord fell away, divine one; hence afterward
45the Cydonians call that plain the Plain of the Navel.
46O Zeus, the companions of the Cyrbantes took you in their arms,
47the Dictaean Meliae; Adrasteia laid you to sleep
48in a golden winnowing-cradle, and you drank the rich milk
49from the breast of the goat Amaltheia, and ate sweet honeycomb.
50For suddenly the works of the Panacrian bee had come forth
51on the mountains of Ida, which are called Panacra.
52Around you the Curetes fiercely danced the armed dance,
53clashing their weapons, that Cronus might hear with his ears
54the ringing of the shield, and not your infant voice.
55Fairly you grew, fairly you were nurtured, heavenly Zeus;
56swiftly you came to youth, and quickly your first beard appeared.
57Yet even while a child you devised all things in their perfection;
58therefore your brothers, though born before you,
59did not begrudge you heaven as the dwelling of your allotted portion.
60The ancient singers were not altogether truthful:
61they said a lot divided the dwellings three ways among the sons of Cronus.
62But who would cast lots for Olympus and Hades,
63unless altogether foolish? It is fitting to cast lots
64for equal portions, but these differ as widely as can be.
65May any lies I tell be such as persuade the ear of the hearer.
66No lots made you the sovereign of the gods, but the works of your hands,
67your might, and your power, which you seated beside your throne.
68You made the bird far surpassing all others the messenger
69of your signs. May you show those signs auspiciously to my friends.
70You chose the foremost among men: not the seafarer,
71not the shield-bearing warrior, nor the singer;
72these you left to the lesser blessed gods,
73each to another’s care, but you selected the rulers of cities
74themselves, beneath whose hand stand the tiller and the master of the spear,
75the rower and all others. What lies beyond a ruler’s strength?
76We know at once that smiths belong to Hephaestus,
77armed warriors to Ares, and hunters to Artemis
78of the Tunic, while those who know the lyre’s paths belong to Phoebus.
79But kings come from Zeus, since nothing is more divine than Zeus’s kings;
80therefore you chose them as your own allotted charge.
81You gave them cities to guard, while you yourself took your seat
82upon the citadels, watching those who by crooked judgments
83guide their people, and those who guide them otherwise.
84You bestowed upon them overflowing means and plentiful prosperity,
85upon all, yet not equally. Our own ruler
86may serve as witness, for he has advanced far beyond the rest.
87By evening he fulfills what he conceives at dawn:
88by evening the greatest things, the lesser as soon as he conceives them.
89Others achieve some things in a year, others not even in one;
90and from some you yourself cut off achievement entirely, breaking their purpose.
91Great hail to you, highest son of Cronus, giver of good things,
92giver of freedom from harm. Who could sing your deeds?
93None has been born, none shall be, who could sing all the works of Zeus.
94Hail, Father; hail once more. Grant excellence and abundance.
95For prosperity without excellence cannot make people flourish,
96nor excellence without abundance. Grant excellence and prosperity.
✦
Ancient Greek & pronunciation
Read the English pronunciation spelling directly below each Greek line.
Every line beneath the Greek uses English pronunciation spellings. Say each hyphenated syllable in sequence and emphasize the syllable in CAPITALS. For example, οὐρανόθεν is oo-rah-NOH-thehn. Read adjacent vowels separately: theh-AH has two syllables; oo-rah-NEE-een has four. Hyphens guide the voice; they do not mark pauses.
Spelling
Sound to make
ah · eh · ee · oh · oo
father · met · see · go without its final glide · moon. Keep these vowels clear in unstressed syllables too.
th · dh
The unvoiced th in thin · the voiced th in this. Thus DHEE begins with the sound in “thee.”
kh
The ch in Scottish loch or German Bach: let air pass at the back of the mouth, without closing it into a k.
hy
The breathy beginning of a carefully spoken Hugh. Raise the middle of the tongue toward the roof of the mouth and let air pass without voice. In shy, sound s followed by hy; do not use the English sh sound or the English word “shy.”
gh
Make the kh sound above, then add voice. Keep the passage open; this is a flowing sound, not a hard g.
y · g
y as in yes, with gentle friction · always a hard g as in get.
r
Tap the tongue lightly behind the upper teeth, or use a light roll.
ks · ps
Sound both consonants, even at the beginning of a word: ks as in backs, ps as in lips.
n-g · m-b · n-d
Sound the nasal and the following consonant. In AHN-geh-leh, the n-g group is like finger, with the g audible.
Always sound s as in hiss, even at the end of DHEE-kees; z is voiced, as in zero. All other consonants have their usual English sounds. Initial consonant groups may be unfamiliar: sound every written consonant, without inserting an extra vowel. A word without capitals carries no written stress in the Greek. Where two syllables have capitals, both written accents are retained. An apostrophe marks a vowel already elided in the Greek; do not add it back. A hyphen at the end of a Greek verse joins the unfinished word to the next verse.
These spellings follow the Modern Greek liturgical reading used throughout this library. Breathings and iota subscripts are silent; separately pronounced vowels remain separate. The few Greek consonants without an exact English equivalent use the sound cues above. Ancient vowel length, pitch accent and metre are not reconstructed.
Hymn notes
Sacred meaning
The hymn moves from Zeus’s hidden birth and nurture to his sovereignty, achieved through divine strength and deeds. Kingship is presented as a charge under his sight, with the right ordering of human communities depending upon that relation. Its final prayer joins material flourishing to excellence, refusing to sever one from the other.
Textual note
The poem’s disputed birthplace, its rebuke of the Cretan tomb tradition, and its praise of the poet’s contemporary ruler are preserved as ancient narrative and historical voice. The devotional-use note is newly composed guidance, not an ancient ritual rubric. The supplied Greek follows Mair’s edited text, whose apparatus records conjectures and variant readings.
Text and attribution
Greek text: A. W. Mair, εἰς Δία (1921), Perseus Digital Library. Greek source. The English hieratic rendering and suggested devotional use are new editorial work. The applications are guidance for this library, not additional lines of the ancient poem.
