hymns

hymns in Greece, songs sung in honour of a god or hero. In earlier times the word had not acquired its later specialized meaning and included hexameter poetry that was mainly narrative, e.g. the Homeric Hymns. Of true cult hymns very little remains; there are a few fragments of those by Alcman, Alcaeus, Pindar, and Bacchylides. The clearest indications of their style are given by some of the choruses in tragedy which are hymnal in form. The cult form consists of an invocation of the god under his several names and titles (clearly the aim was to be comprehensive), and a recital of his deeds, followed by a short prayer. The Latin hymns of Catullus (see poem 34) and Horace were probably modelled on Greek hymns and written to be read rather than performed (but see CARMEN SAECULARE). Horace's hymn to a wine-jar (Odes III. 21) is an amusing parody. The greatest Latin hymn, in effect if not in form, is the invocation to Venus at the beginning of the De rerum natura of Lucretius.