The Earliest Phases in the Reception of theHomeric Hymns

AbstractThis chapter examines the earliest phases of the transmission and reception of the Homeric Hymns from the perspective of oral poetics and performance. Particular attention is given to the long Homeric Hymn to Apollo and the quotations and commentary on that Hymn by the fifth‐century historian Thucydides. Close attention is given to the performance context of the Homeric Hymns and their relationship to longer epic recitation. It is argued that the hymn did not form an independent genre in its earliest attested phases.