Homeric Hymns (Ruden Edition)

In this new translation of the Homeric Hymns, Sarah Ruden employs a melodious and flexible non-rhyming line of eleven syllables, offering a close approximation of Greek hexameter verse in natural English rhythms.  The result is a Homeric Hymns marked by its accuracy, simplicity, and economy of movement.

Sheila Murnaghan's Introduction situates the Hymns within the mythological and performative traditions that gave rise to them.  Focusing on the longer Hymns, she perceptively illuminates these oddly charming and sometimes grave accounts of "defining episodes in the evolution of the cosmos."

Notes and a Glossary of Names are included.

Reviews:

"Sarah Ruden's translation is clear, lean, intelligent, and delightfully readable. The notes provide guidance without encumbering the text. This will be marvelous for classroom use, for reading aloud, or simply for reading for pleasure."
     —Pamela Gordon, Department of Classics, University of Kansas

"...the translation moves along at a smart and elegant pace. . . . Ruden is clearly a writer with considerable skill in poetic expression. . . . [Sheila Murnaghan's] introduction does a good job of introducing the Homeric Hymns to a general audience and assisting the inexperienced reader in reading the longer hymns, in particular. [This] new translation will clearly fill a niche for a convenient and inexpensive translation of the Homeric Hymns into English verse. . . ."
     —Roger S. Fisher, Bryn Mawr Classical Review

"Clear, inclusive, luminously helpful, the Ruden/Murnaghan Homeric Hymns is a text I'll use next time I teach my ever-expanding Mythology in Literature class.  Introduction, translation, and notes are all of superior quality."
     —Rachel Hadas, Department of English, Rutgers University

"Walks the line between accessibly familiar language and turns of phrase that preserve the distance between us and the august doings of the gods.  New twists on epithets keep the sense of awe fresh, and homey colloquialisms bring these figures almost within our grasp.  The footnotes are helpful without being intrusive or burdensome.  Those unfamiliar with the basic stories will find enough here to let them engage the text fully, but, happily, the notes do not suggest (or even hew to) any interpretive strategy. . . . In all, a worthy translation for classroom use or fireside contemplation."
     —Michael Atkinson, Department of English and Comparative Literature, University of Cincinnati

About the Authors:

Sarah Ruden is a classically trained poet and translator.  Her translations of Petronius' Satyricon and Aristophanes' Lysistrata are also published by Hackett Publishing Company.

Sheila Murnaghan is Professor of Classical Studies, University of Pennsylvania.