peoples are not victorious’; 2. 16. 2 yásma ̄d Índra ̄d br
̇
hatáh
̇kím
̇caném r
̇té,
‘great Indra, without whom nothing’; 7. 11. 1 ná rté tuvád amr ́
̇
ta ̄ ma ̄dayante,
‘not without thee (Agni) do the immortals carouse’; 10. 112. 9 ná r
̇
té tvát
kriyate kím
̇
cana ̄ ́ré, ‘not without thee (Indra) is anything accomplished far
off’; Hymn. Hom. 29. 4 ο1 γwρ Eτερ σου
| ε!λαπναι θνητοι
σι, ‘for not without
thee (Hestia) are there feasts for mortals’; Pind. Nem. 7. 2 f. Eνευ σθεν | ο1
φα ́ ο,ο1 μλαιναν δρακντε ε1φρο ́ ναν | ... $λα ́ χομεν qγλαο ́ γυιον Η= βαν, ‘with-
out thee (Eleithyia) we see not the day, not the dark night, to obtain bright-
limbed Youth’.^8
The following strike a more personal note: RV 8. 24. 12 nahí an ̇gá nr
̇
to
tuvád | anyám
̇
vinda ̄ ́mi ra ̄ ́dhase, ‘for indeed, O dancer, I find none other than
thee for bounty’;MBh. 1. 223. 9 na nas tra ̄ta ̄ vidyate ,gne tvad anyah
̇
, ‘no other
protector is found for us than thou, Agni’; Y. 29. 1 no ̄it
̃
mo ̄i va ̄sta ̄ xsˇmat
̃anyo ̄,‘I
(the cow) have no herdsman other than you’; 34. 7 nae ̄cı ̄m tə ̄ m anyə ̄ m yu ̄sˇmat
̃
vae ̄da ̄ asˇ
̇
a ̄; aθa ̄ nåθra ̄zdu ̄m!, ‘I do not know any such one other than you in
truth; so protect us!’; 50. 1 kə ̄ mo ̄i ... θra ̄ta ̄ visto ̄ anyo ̄ Asˇ
̇
a ̄t
̃θβat
̃ca ̄?‘who has
been found as my... protector other than Truth and thee?’; Aesch. Ag. 163–6
ο1κ #χω προσεικα ́ σαι πα ́ ντ, $πισταθμ.μενο | πλ^ν ∆ιο ́ ,ε! τ: μα ́ ταν qπ:
φροντδο Eχθο | χρ^ βαλει
ν $τητ3μω, ‘I have nothing to compare, weighing
everything up, but Zeus, if the useless burden is to be shed from my mind in
very truth’. However, this cannot be called a typical motif in Greek, and if a
source is to be sought, recent Graeco-Iranian contact seems a more probable
solution than Indo-European inheritance.
Emphasis on the god’s powers finds expression in anaphoric repetition of
the second-person pronoun.
udne zik duttuskisi, tarh
̆
uwilatar zikpat peskisi, zikpat h
̆
andanza anda genzu ̄ daskisi,
zikpat mugawar, zikpat essatti, zikpat genzuwalas Istanus, nu genzu zikpat daskisi;
h
̆
andanzakan antuh
̆
sas tukpat assus, nan zikpat sariskisi.
Toi, tu ne cesses de diriger le pays, toi seul accordes la victoire, toi seul dans ton
équité prends toujours pitié, toi seul, oui, toi seul donnes satisfaction à la supplication,
toi seul (es) le Soleil miséricordieux, toi seul manifestes toujours de la pitié. A
toi seul l’homme juste est cher et toi seul l’exaltes (CTH 372 i 3–10, trs. Lebrun
(1980), 101).
tuvád vípro ja ̄yate va ̄jı ̄ ́ Agne, | tuvád vı ̄ra ̄so abhima ́ ̄tis
̇
a ́ ̄hah
̇
;
Vaís ́va ̄nara, tuvám asma ́ ̄su dhehi | vásu ̄ ni ra ̄jan spr
̇haya ̄yiya ̄n ́
̇i.
tuva ́ ̄m
̇
vís ́ve amr
̇
ta ja ̄yama ̄nam ́
̇
| s ́ís ́um
̇
ná deva ́ ̄ abhí sám
̇
navante:
táva krátubhir amr
̇tatvám a ̄yan, | Vaís ́va ̄nara, yát pitarór ádı ̄deh
̇.
Vaís ́va ̄nara, táva ta ́ ̄ni vrata ́ ̄ni | maha ́ ̄ni Agne nákir a ́ ̄ dadhars
̇
a.(^8) Cf also RV 1. 18. 7; 3. 30. 1; 9. 69. 6; Thgn. 171, Aesch. Supp. 823, Ag. 1487; more in Norden
(1913), 157–9, 175, 349 f., 391 f. There are parallels too in Akkadian hymns: West (1997), 268 f.
310 8. Hymns and Spells