reference: RV 10. 72. 1 deva ̄ ́na ̄m
̇
nú vayám
̇ja ̄ ́na ̄ | prá voca ̄ma vipanyáya ̄,
‘the gods’ births we will now tell forth in admiration’. Birth stories form the
subject of the Delian portion of the Hymn to Apollo, the Hymn to Hermes, and
the shorter hymn to Aphrodite.
A motif common to the Vedic and Greek hymns is the joy of the other gods
at the new deity’s birth: RV 2. 40. 2 ‘when these two gods (Soma and Pu ̄s
̇
an)
were born they rejoiced’; 3. 1. 4 ‘the gods admired Agni at his birth’;Hymn.
Ap. 134 f. ‘all the goddesses looked on in wonder’;Hymn. Pan. 45 f. ‘all the
immortals were delighted, and especially Bacchic Dionysus’. When Zeus gave
birth to Athena out of his head, ‘all the immortals were struck with awe as
they watched; before Zeus the aegis-bearer she sprang quickly down from his
immortal head, with a brandish of her sharp javelin, and great Olympus
trembled fearfully at the might of the Grey-eyed one’ (Hymn. Hom. 28.
6–10). Similarly at Indra’s birth ‘heaven (and) earth trembled before him’
(RV 4. 22. 4). The two words for ‘trembled’ ($λελζετο,rejata) are perhaps
cognate.^12 In the preceding verse of the Vedic hymn it is said that when
Indra takes the eager vajra- in his arms, diya ̄ ́m ámena rejayat prá bhu ̄ ́ma,
‘heaven (and) earth he makes to tremble by his impetuousness’. Likewise
Zeus nodded, in the famous lines of the Iliad (1. 528–30), μγαν δ, $λλιξεν
Οn λυμπον.
In the longer Homeric hymns the greater part of the poem is taken up by a
long continuous narrative. This reflects the fact that they were the work of
poets whose main business was narrative epic. These hymns were recited at
festivals in honour of a deity, but not as part of the central religious ritual,
in association with a sacrifice, when his or her praises might have been sung
more intently by a chorus. In lyric hymns the narrative element is typically
more allusive. The poet does not tell the story but summarizes it in a few
lines with graphic images, or just refers to a part of it, the presumption being
that it is known to the hearers; or if it is not, that merely demonstrates the
superior learning of the poet. The story is not there for its intrinsic value as
entertainment or instruction, but as a reminder of some aspect of the god’s
nature.
This allusive technique is also characteristic of the Vedic hymns, and prob-
ably a feature of Graeco-Aryan if not of Indo-European hymnic poetry.^13
Even where the Rishi dwells at length on a single story, as in RV 1. 32 on
Indra’s defeat of Vr
̇
tra (quoted above, pp. 256 f.), it is a succession of
vignettes rather than a progressive narrative.
(^12) *leig: Durante (1976), 41. Pindar changes the verb: Ol. 7. 38 Ο1ραν: δ, #φριξ νιν κα?
Γα4α μα ́ τηρ.
(^13) Cf. Durante (1976), 164.
- Hymns and Spells 313