Homeric Hymn 9: To Artemis
A brief 9-line prooemial hymn to Artemis, describing the goddess watering her horses at the Meles river and driving her golden chariot from Smyrna to Claros to meet her brother Apollo.
About the Poem
The ninth Homeric Hymn is a complete prooemial hymn of 9 lines to Artemis. Short hymns of this type served as opening preludes before longer epic recitations at festivals — the poet would invoke the relevant deity before beginning the main poem.
What makes this short hymn distinctive is its geographical specificity: Artemis waters her horses at the Meles river (near Smyrna in Ionia), then drives her all-golden chariot to vine-clad Claros — a town on the Ionian coast where Apollo had a famous oracle. There her brother sits waiting for her. The hymn thus sets up a tender sibling reunion, closing with the poet’s standard “hail and farewell” formula.
The Meles river was associated in antiquity with Homer himself — one tradition held it was the birthplace of the poet, giving the short hymn an additional literary resonance. Claros (modern Ahmetbeyli, Turkey) was an important oracular sanctuary of Apollo, second only to Delphi, functioning from at least the 7th century BCE.
Complete Text
Greek (Homeric)
Μοῦσά μοι ἔννεπε κούρην ἰοχέαιραν ἁγνήν, κασιγνήτην ἑκατοίο, ἐλαφηβόλον ἰοχέαιραν, παρθένον αἰδοίην, ἐλαφηβόλον, ἰοχέαιραν, ἣ Μήλητος ἅμ’ ἵπποισι ποτίζεται ἄφθιτον ὕδωρ καὶ τότε δ’ αἰγλήεντι σὺν ἅρματι πάγχρυσον ἵπποις ὦκ’ ἐλάσαι Σμύρνης τε δι’ ἀμπελόεσσα Κλάρον δ’…
(Full Greek text at Perseus Digital Library, link below.)
English (Hugh G. Evelyn-White, 1914 — public domain)
[1] Muse, sing of Artemis, sister of the Far-shooter, the virgin who delights in arrows, who was fostered with Apollo. She waters her horses from Meles deep in reeds, and swiftly drives her all-golden chariot through Smyrna to vine-clad Claros where Apollo, god of the silver bow, sits waiting for the far-shooting goddess who delights in arrows.
And so hail to you, Artemis, in my song and to all goddesses as well. Of you first I sing and with you I begin; now that I have begun with you, I will turn to another song.
Artemis and Apollo: The Divine Twins
The pairing of Artemis and Apollo as divine twins, children of Leto and Zeus, is foundational to Greek religion. Born on Delos (Apollo) and Ortygia (Artemis) in most traditions, they share the sphere of the sun and moon, of music and the hunt, of plague and healing. The image of Artemis racing her golden chariot to meet her waiting brother at Claros is an unusually intimate and domestic moment — the goddess of the untamed wild driving to the oracle of civilization.
The Artemis of this hymn is titled ἰοχέαιρα (iocheaira, “arrow-pourer”), one of her standard epithets in Homer (see Iliad XXI.483), emphasizing her role as divine archer whose arrows bring painless death to women, just as Apollo’s bring it to men.
Citations
- Evelyn-White, H. G. (trans.). Hesiod, the Homeric Hymns and Homerica. Loeb Classical Library 57. Harvard University Press, 1914. Public domain. https://www.theoi.com/Text/HomericHymns3.html
- Callimachus, Hymn to Artemis (III). For the longer literary treatment of the same goddess. http://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Perseus:text:1999.01.0228:text=Hymn+3
- Fontenrose, Joseph. Didyma: Apollo’s Oracle, Cult, and Companions. University of California Press, 1988. (On Claros and Apollo’s Ionian oracles.)
- Perseus Digital Library, Homeric Hymns (Greek text): http://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Perseus:text:1999.01.0137:hymn=9