Homeric Hymns · Hymn 10
Aphrodite, Giver of Gentle Gifts
Ἀφροδίτη
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
Seek Aphrodite’s gentle gifts and the grace of a song filled with longing.
Offer this brief hymn as a personal prayer of affection and gratitude to Aphrodite. It may supplement a rite for love or the cultivation of beauty, especially where the spoken or sung offering is itself central to the devotion.
English hieratic rendering
Hymn 10 · An English rendering aligned with the Greek lines.
- I shall sing Kythereia born in Cyprus, who grants to mortals
- gentle gifts; upon her lovely face
- she ever smiles, and a lovely bloom plays over it.
- Hail, Goddess, who rule Salamis with its noble dwellings
- and Cyprus in the Sea; grant a song filled with longing.
- And I shall remember both you and another song.
Ancient Greek & pronunciation
Read the English pronunciation spelling directly below each Greek line.
- κυπρογενῆ Κυθέρειαν ἀείσομαι, ἥτε βροτοῖσιkee-proh-yeh-NEE kee-THEH-ree-ahn ah-EE-soh-meh, EE-teh vroh-TEE-see
- μείλιχα δῶρα δίδωσιν, ἐφ’ ἱμερτῷ δὲ προσώπῳMEE-lee-khah DHOH-rah DHEE-dhoh-seen, ehf’ ee-mehr-TOH DHEH proh-SOH-poh
- αἰεὶ μειδιάει καὶ ἐφ’ ἱμερτὸν θέει ἄνθος.eh-EE mee-dhee-AH-ee KEH ehf’ ee-mehr-TOHN THEH-ee AHN-thohs.
- χαῖρε, θεά, Σαλαμῖνος ἐυκτιμένης μεδέουσαHYEH-reh, theh-AH, sah-lah-MEE-nohs eh-eek-tee-MEH-nees meh-DHEH-oo-sah
- εἰναλίης τε Κύπρου· δὸς δ’ ἱμερόεσσαν ἀοιδήν.ee-nah-LEE-ees teh KEE-proo· DHOHS dh’ ee-meh-ROH-eh-sahn ah-ee-DHEEN.
- αὐτὰρ ἐγὼ καὶ σεῖο καὶ ἄλλης μνήσομ’ ἀοιδῆς.ahf-TAHR eh-GHOH KEH SEE-oh KEH AH-lees MNEE-sohm’ ah-ee-DHEES.
Short sound guide for English speakers
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 links Aphrodite’s smile and flowering beauty to gifts received by mortals. Her sovereignty over Salamis and Cyprus gives this grace a sacred geography. The final request asks that desire become audible in song.
Text and attribution
Greek text: Hugh G. Evelyn-White, Hymn 10 To Aphrodite (1914), 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.