Hymnic Fragments to Pallas AthenaἈποσπάσματα
Lamprocles the Athenian Hymnic Fragments to Pallas Athena PDF
The Hymnic Fragments to Pallas Athena are nine fragmentary passages of lyric poetry attributed to the Athenian dithyrambic poet Lamprocles, who was active in the late 5th century BCE. These pieces, classified as hymns or paeans to the city’s patron goddess, survive exclusively as quotations embedded in the works of later authors, primarily the lexicographer Hesychius of Alexandria and the Neoplatonist philosopher Proclus. The work has no independent manuscript tradition; the fragments are preserved as excerpts within these scholarly texts and are collected in modern editions such as Poetae Melici Graeci. While the extant fragments are not described in detail, their hymnic classification indicates a formal, reverential style, with likely themes of devotion to Pallas Athena, celebration of Athens’ patron deity, and religious praise intended for ceremonial performance. Although the hymns’ direct influence is untraceable, Lamprocles was a noted musical innovator. His modification of the Mixolydian mode, mentioned by Aristotle, secured his legacy in music theory. The preservation of these fragments underscores his status as a subject of later grammatical and philosophical study.
| book 1a.1 | Παλλάδα |
| book 1a.2 | περσέπολιν κλήιζω |
| book 1a.3 | πολεμαδόκον ἁγνάν |
| book 1a.4 | παῖδα Διὸς μεγάλου δαμάσιππον |
| book 1b.1 | Παλλάδα |
| book 1b.2 | περσέπολιν δεινὰν θεὸν ἐγρεκύδοιμον |
| book 2.1 | αἵ τε |
| book 2.2 | ποταναῖς ὁμώνυμοι |
| book 2.3 | πελειάσιν αἰθέρι κεῖσθε. |