development may take the form of one or more relative clauses, giving a
characteristic structure:^5
s ́ám
̇sa ̄ maha ̄m Índ ́ aram
̇, yásmi vís ́va ̄
a ̄ kr ́
̇s
̇t
̇áyah
̇somapa ̄h ́
̇ka ̄mam ávyan, ́
yám
̇sukrátum
̇dhis
̇án
̇e vibhvatas
̇t
̇ám
ghanám ̇
̇vr
̇tra ́ ̄n
̇a ̄m
̇janáyanta deva ́ ̄h
̇;
yám...;
inátamah
̇sátvabhir yó ha s ́u ̄s
̇aíh
̇...
Praise great Indra, at whom all
Soma-drinking tribes direct their desire,
whom, intelligent, master-crafted, the two worlds,
the gods bore, hammer of foes;
whom...;
who, most mighty with his brave champions...
(RV 3. 49. 1 f.; cf. 2. 4. 1; 4. 9. 1, 33. 1, 54. 1;
- 1, 16. 1, 18. 1; 6. 5. 1)
Miθrəm vouru.gaoyaoitı ̄m yazamaide...
yim yazənte daiŋ ́hupatayo ̄
arəzahe ava.jasənto ̄
avi hae ̄nayå xrvisˇyeitı ̄sˇ.
Mithra of the broad pasture-lands we worship... [ten more epithets]...,
whom the leaders of regions worship
as they go off to battle
against the bloodthirsty hordes.
(Yt. 10. 7 f., cf. 10 f., 12 f., 17 f., 22, 25 f., etc.)
α!δοην χρυσοστφανον καλ^ν Lφροδτην
Eισομαι,u πα ́ ση Κ3πρου κρ δεμνα λλογχεν.
Of the reverend, gold-crowned, lovely Aphrodite
I will sing, who has been assigned the citadels of all Cyprus.
(Hymn. Hom. 6. 1 f., cf. 10. 1 f., Hes. Th. 1 f., etc.)
- 1, 16. 1, 18. 1; 6. 5. 1)
The word order in the Avestan hymn, god’s name –– epithet ––first-person
verb –– further epithets –– relative clause, can be paralleled exactly in Greek, as
in Hymn. Hom. 11. 1 f., 28. 1–4, 30. 1 f.; cf. Ar. Thesm. 1136–42.
The anaphoric series of relatives in the Vedic passage is paralleled in the
formulaic eulogies of Ahuramazda in the Achaemenid inscriptions: baga
vazraka Auramazda ̄, hya ima ̄m bu ̄mim ada ̄, hya avam asma ̄nam ada ̄, hya
martiyam ada ̄, etc., ‘a great god is Ahuramazda, who created this earth, who
created that heaven, who created man,’ etc. (DNa 1–3 et al.). It is found also
in Hittite prayers: h
̆
u ̄mandakan udne kuis asnuskizzi, walliskanzi kuin,(^5) Cf. Norden (1913), 168–76 (for Greek and Latin); Durante (1976), 46 f.
308 8. Hymns and Spells