Homer, A short Hymn to Aphrodite, in ancient Greek (Hymn 10 Εἲς Ἀφροδίτην, from the Ὁμηρικοὶ ὕμνοι)

This hymn speaks of the importance of Aphrodite to the island of Cyprus, the lovely gifts which she gives to mankind, and of her own personal loveliness.

It is thought that Homer knew nothing of the story of Aphrodite's birth from the sea. ("Homer," says Jackson (2010:158), "does not recognize any connection between Aphrodite and the sea.") But it is nevertheless such a pleasing story that I have chosen the imagery for the concept of this video. In Homer, Aphrodite is the daughter of Zeus and Dione. The Iliad shows her mother as Dione (cf. book 5); and in the fifth Homeric hymn, she is called Διὸς θυγάτηρ Ἀφροδίτη (Aphrodite, the daughter of Zeus).

According to Hesiod, the name Aphrodite (Ἀφροδίτη) is related to the ancient Greek word for foam, ἀφρός. He adds that she grew amid the foam, and was born from it full-grown, "an awful and lovely goddess." (Theogony, 188-201.) He also says that Aphrodite "was born in billowy Cyprus," hence her name Cyprogenes; and that she is called Cythereia because "she came to holy Cythera first." (Cythera is an Ionian island.)

Martin West (2003:193) says of Salamis that it refers, not to the island, but to "the town in Cyprus." There is a climax, therefore, in lines 4 and 5, from Aphrodite's guardianship over a town in Cyprus, to the entire island. Hence an alternate reading makes good sense, which reads "πάσης Κύπρου" (all Cyprus). ("As preserved in ψ," Olson 2012:110.) But "εἰναλίης Κύπρου" (sea-girt Cyprus) is a more pleasing image.

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Transcript:

(This translation is free to use under CC BY 4.0.)

To Aphrodite

Of Cyprus-born Aphrodite (or Cythereia) I will sing, who to mortal men
gives kindly gifts. Upon her lovely face,
she ever wears a smile; and lovely is the bloom that runs over it.
Hail, goddess! the guardian-queen of well-built Salamis,
and sea-girt Cyprus. Give me a lovely song!
But as for me, I will remember both you and another song.

Εἲς Ἀφροδίτην

κυπρογενῆ Κυθέρειαν ἀείσομαι, ἥτε βροτοῖσι
μείλιχα δῶρα δίδωσιν, ἐφ᾽ ἱμερτῷ δὲ προσώπῳ
αἰεὶ μειδιάει καὶ ἐφ᾽ ἱμερτὸν θέει ἄνθος.
χαῖρε, θεά, Σαλαμῖνος ἐϋκτιμένης μεδέουσα
εἰναλίης τε Κύπρου: δὸς δ᾽ ἱμερόεσσαν ἀοιδήν.
αὐτὰρ ἐγὼ καὶ σεῖο καὶ ἄλλης μνήσομ᾽ ἀοιδῆς.