Homeric Hymns

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Homeric Hymns

Homeric Hymns , name applied to a body of 34 hexameter poems falsely attributed to Homer by the ancients. Composed probably between 800 and 300 BC, they are complimentary verses addressed to the various gods, such as Aphrodite, Apollo, Demeter, and Hermes. Although sometimes of great beauty, they are important mainly as prime sources for information about Greek religion and cults. The Margites (7th or 6th cent. BC), a comic poem, and The Battle of the Frogs and Mice (5th-2d cent. BC), a mock epic, were also incorrectly attributed to Homer.

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Homeric Hymns

The Concise Oxford Companion to English Literature | 2003 | | Â© The Concise Oxford Companion to English Literature 2003, originally published by Oxford University Press 2003. (Hide copyright information) Copyright

Homeric Hymns, of unknown authorship and various dates, are ancient Greek hymns, addressed to various deities and recounting legends relating to them. The hymns were composed by various poets (not including Homer) from the 8th to the 6th cents bc. They do not figure seriously in English literature until the 19th cent., when Shelley, Peacock, Tennyson, Swinburne, and Bridges were all indebted to them.

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MARGARET DRABBLE and JENNY STRINGER. "Homeric Hymns." The Concise Oxford Companion to English Literature. 2003. Encyclopedia.com. 7 Nov. 2009 <http://www.encyclopedia.com>.

MARGARET DRABBLE and JENNY STRINGER. "Homeric Hymns." The Concise Oxford Companion to English Literature. 2003. Encyclopedia.com. (November 7, 2009). http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O54-HomericHymns.html

MARGARET DRABBLE and JENNY STRINGER. "Homeric Hymns." The Concise Oxford Companion to English Literature. 2003. Retrieved November 07, 2009 from Encyclopedia.com: http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O54-HomericHymns.html

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