Unknown author

The Greek Anthology (ca. 100 BCE), translation by W. R. Paton

A Hymn to Apollo

Let us hymn Paean the great god, Apollo;

Immortal, gloriously formed, unshorn, soft-haired,

Stern-hearted, king, delighting in arrows, giver of life,

Joyous, laughing, slayer of giants, sweet-hearted,

Son of Zeus, slayer of the dragon, lover of the laurel,

Sweet of speech, of ample might, far-shooter, giver of hope,

Creator of animals, divine, Jove-minded, giver of zeal,

Mild, sweet-spoken, sweet-hearted, gentle-handed,

Slayer of beasts, blooming, charmer of the spirit, soft speaking,

Shooter of arrows, desirable, healer, charioteer,

Weaver of the world, Clarian, strong-hearted, father of fruits,

Son of Leto, pleasant, delighting in the lyre, resplendent,

Lord of the mysteries, prophet, magnanimous, thousand-shaped,

Lover of the bow-string, wise, stiller of grief, sober,

Lover of community, common to all, taking thought for all, benefactor of all,

Blessed, making blessed, Olympian, dweller on the hills,

Gentle, all-seeing, sorrowless, giver of wealth,

Saviour from trouble, rose-coloured, man-breaker, path-opener,

Glittering, wise, father of light, saviour,

Delighting in the dance, Titan, initiator, revered,

Chanter of hymns, highest, stately, of the height,

Phoebus, purifier, lover of garlands, cheerer of the spirit,

Utterer of oracles, golden, golden-complexioned, golden-arrowed,

Lover of the lyre, harper, hater of lies, giver of the soul,

Swift-footed, swift-voiced, swift of vision, giver of seasons.

Let us hymn Paean the great god, Apollo.

Clarian - an epithet of Apollo related to his worship in Claros; he had a large temple complex there

"Titan" - perhaps the author used this to somewhat enhance or better show Apollo's might

"Giver of the soul" [ψυχοδοτήρ] - an epithet of Apollo

"Lord of mysteries" - we could compare this epithet to another similar one [Loxias] derived by some from his intricate and ambiguous oracles.

Two posts in a row because I`m already behind on schedule!

If you`ve ever been to Apollo`s list of epithets on theoi.com you know there are A LOT of them. Apollo had a huge cult spread all over the hellenic world, and he presided over many different areas of life, so it`s no wonder. Even if I tried, I would not be able to talk about them all in one tumblr post. Instead, I`ll be talking about 7 different ones. Why 7? Well, it`s the seventh day of this series, and 7 is a number associated with Apollo.

I`ll be doing this a bit differently than on my other posts, however. Instead of just saying my thoughts about them, I`ll try to write something a bit more devotional to each of these epithets, so as to form a poem of sorts. You might notice that I`ve mostly gone for the same epithets that I use as titles for my drawings and paintings of Apollo, and that`s intentional.