Tom's Learning Notes

The Homeric Hymns (Greek: Ομηρικοί Ύμνοι) are a selection of hymns to the Greek Gods which, though attributed to Homer in antiquity, probably date to somewhat later in the archaic period. A few may even have been added in the Hellenistic period.

Their identification with Homer reflects the fact they were composed in dactylic hexameter, the same metre as the Iliad and Odyssey.

The hymns vary in length and state of preservation. Some of the longer narratives such as the Hymn to Demeter, are important for the understanding of the subject god or goddess.

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Free online texts

Aoidoi: Homeric Hymns

Bartleby: Hesiod, Homeric Hymns, Epic Cycle, Homerica, translated by Hugh G. Evelyn-White. HTML format.

Gutenberg: Hesiod, the Homeric Hymns and Homerica, translated by Hugh G. Evelyn-White. Multiple formats.

Gutenberg: The Homeric Hymns - A New Prose Translation; and Essays, Literary and Mythological, by Andrew Lang. Multiple formats.

Internet Archive: Hesiod, the Homeric Hymns and Homerica. Greek text and English translation by Hugh G. Evelyn-White. Multiple formats.

Loebulus. L496 - Hesiod, the Homeric Hymns, and Homerica. PDF of public domain Loeb edition in Greek and English.

Perseus: Homeric Hymns - Greek texts, edited by Hugh G. Evelyn-White. HTML and XML formats.

Theoi: Homeric Hymns, translated by Hugh G. Evelyn-White. HTML format.

University of Adelaide (Internet Archive): Hesiod, Homeric Hymns, and Homerica, by Hugh G. Evelyn-White. Multiple formats.

Wikisource: Ομηρικοί Ύμνοι. Greek text. HTML and other formats.

The Odyssey is an ancient Greek epic poem following the wanderings of Odysseus on his return from the Trojan War. As such, it is a sequel to the Iliad, although its exact relationship to the earlier poem is as controversial as the historical existence of Homer, the traditional author of both epics. As with the Iliad, the story opens 'in the middle of things' with Odysseus held captive by the goddess Calypso. His adventures in the ten years since the fall of Troy are recounted as the story advances towards his final homecoming.

Free online texts

Gutenberg: The Odyssey, translated by Alexander Pope. Multiple formats.

Gutenberg: The Odyssey, done into English prose, translated by Samuel Henry Butcher and Andrew Lang. Multiple formats.

Gutenberg: The Odyssey, Rendered into English prose for the use of those who cannot read the original, translated by Samuel Butler. Multiple formats.

Loebulus. L104 - Homer - Odyssey I: Books 1-12. PDF of public domain Loeb edition in Greek and English.

Loebulus. L105 - Homer -- Odyssey II: Books 13-24. PDF of public domain Loeb edition in Greek and English.

Perseus: Greek text (Loeb edition, 1919). English translation (Butler, 1900), revised by Timothy Power and Gregory Nagy. English translation (A.T. Murray, loeb edition, 1919).  Online texts.

Poetry in Translation: The Odyssey, translated by A.S. Kline (2004). Multiple formats.

Theoi.com:  The Odyssey. Translated by Murray, A T. Loeb Classical Library Volumes. Cambridge, MA, Harvard University Press; London, William Heinemann Ltd. 1919.

University of Adelaide (Internet Archive): The Odyssey, translated by by Samuel Butler. EPUB, HTML and MOBI formats.

Wikisource: Οδύσσεια - Greek text. English translations by Alexander Pope (1725), William Cowper (1791), Samuel Butler (1898). HTML and other formats.

'Sing, O muse, of the rage of Achilles, son of Peleus', the opening words of Homer's Iliad, have a strong claim to be the opening words of Western literature. Whether Homer ever existed, and what role he played in the text's emergence out of oral tradition have been debated for centuries.

Although full of allusions to the wider story of the Trojan War, the Iliad focuses on the events of a few weeks, Achilles dispute with Agamemnon and his withdrawal from battle, the death of his comrade Patroclus, his duel with Hector, and the eventual restoration of Hector's body to his father Priam; a series of incidents driven by the central theme of Achilles' wrath.

The Catalogue of Ships in Book Two is remarkable for a portrait of the Greek world with significant correspondences to the historical reality of the late Bronze Age, hundreds of years before the poem is believed to have been written down in the 8th Century BC.

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Free online texts

Gutenberg: The Iliad, translated into English blank verse by William Cowper (1791, Appleton & Co. edition 1860). Multiple formats.

Gutenberg: Iliad - books I-XII with an introduction, a brief Homeric grammar, and notes, by D.B. Munro (1890). Greek language edition with English notes in multiple formats.

Gutenberg: Iliad books 13-24 with notes, by D.B. Munro (1890). Greek language edition with English notes in multiple formats.

Loebulus. L170N - Homer -- Iliad I: Books 1-12. L171N - Homer -- Iliad II: Books 13-24. PDFs of public domain Loeb edition in Greek and English.

Poetry in Translation: The Iliad, translated by A.S. Kline. Multiple formats.

University of Adelaide (Internet Archive): The Iliad, translated by Samuel Butler. EPUB, HTML and MOBI formats.

Wikisource: The Iliad of Homer, translated by Alexander Pope (1715-20). Online text.

Wikisource: The Iliad of Homer, translated by Theodor Alois Buckley (1876). Online text, currently incomplete.

Wikisource: The Iliad of Homer rendered into English prose for the use of those who cannot read the original, translated by Samuel Butler (1898). Online text.

Wikisource: The Iliad, translated by Augustus Taber Murray (1924). Online text.