Hymn 16 To Asclepius

Ὕμνος εἰς Ἀσκληπιόν

Homeric Hymn 16 To Asclepius is a brief, five-line hexameter poem preserved within the collection of Homeric Hymns. This anonymous invocation addresses the healing god Asclepius, son of Apollo, opening with a declaration of its subject and immediately establishing his divine parentage. It recounts his birth to the mortal princess Coronis in the Dotian plain, a detail that anchors his mythic origins. The hymn’s core function is one of praise, characterizing Asclepius as a great joy to humanity and a soother of painful ills, thus encapsulating his essential role as a divine physician. The poem concludes with a direct salutation and a prayerful request, fulfilling the ritual purpose of honoring and summoning the deity. Transmitted through the medieval manuscript tradition of the Homeric Hymns, the text is complete and stable. As part of this corpus, the hymn serves as a concise example of early Greek cultic poetry, reflecting the contemporary religious veneration of Asclepius and likely functioning as a prelude to longer epic performances.