Paean to Apollo and AesculapiusΠαιὰν πρὸς Ἀπόλλωνα καὶ Ἀσκληπιόν
Macedonius the Lyric Poet Paean to Apollo and Aesculapius PDF
The Paean to Apollo and Aesculapius is a Greek hymn attributed to Macedonius the Lyric Poet. As a formal song of praise intended for performance, it jointly addresses Apollo and his son Asclepius, the god of medicine, indicating a context related to healing or thanksgiving. The work survives only in two fragmentary passages. Its themes involve the direct praise and invocation of the two deities, supplication for or thanksgiving regarding health and salvation from illness, and the celebration of their divine kinship and shared function in healing. The poem is absent from major textual catalogs and is not attested for any known Macedonius in standard references. Its survival in two passages suggests fragmentary preservation, likely through indirect transmission such as quotation in later grammatical or anthological works, rather than a continuous manuscript tradition. This paean represents the enduring composition of traditional pagan hymnody, possibly in the late antique period. Its primary significance lies in its contribution to the corpus of Greek religious poetry dedicated to healing deities.
| unit_1 | Δήλιον εὐφαρέτρα[ν ἑκατηβόλον] εὔφρονι θυμῷ εὐφημ[εῖτε, φέροντες, ἰὴ ἰέ, ὢ ἰὲ Παιάν,] ἱκτῆρ[α] κλάδον ἐν παλά[μαις, Διὸς] ἀ[γλ]αὸν ἔρνος, κοῦροι Ἀθη[ναίων, ἰὴ ἰέ, ὢ ἰὲ Παιάν,] ..υ..αμε.....ος ὕμνος ἀεί[δ....] κλυτόν, ἤπ̣[ι]ον υ̣[.....] [ἰὴ Παιάν,] ἐπιτάρροθον ὅν π[οτε γεί]νατο νούσω[ν] [μήτηρ ἠδὲ] δύης Ἀσκληπιὸν εὔφ[ρονα] κοῦρον, [ἰὴ Παιάν.] Τὸν δ’ ἀνὰ Πηλιάδας κορυφὰς ἐδίδαξε [τέ]χνη[ν τε] [καὶ σο]φίαν Κένταυρος ἀλεξίπονον μερόπεσσιν, [ἰὴ Παιάν,] παῖδα Κορωνίδος, ἤπιον ἀν[δ]ράσι, δαίμονα σεμνότα[τον.] [ἰὴ Παιάν·] Τοῦ δ’ ἐγένοντο κό[ρ]οι Ποδαλείριος ἠδὲ Μαχάων, Ἕλλη[σιν κοσμήτορε] λόγχης, ἰὴ Παιάν, ἠδ’ Ἰασὼ Ἀκεσώ τε καὶ Αἴγλη καὶ Πανάκεια, Ἠπιόνης [θύγατρες σὺν] ἀριπρέπτῳ Ὑγιείᾳ, ἰὴ Παιάν. Χαῖρε, βροτοῖς μέγ’ ὄνειαρ, δαῖμον κλεινότατε, ὢ [ἰὲ Παιάν,] Ἀσκληπιέ, σὴν δὲ δίδου σοφίαν ὑμνοῦντας ἐς αἰ[εὶ] [θ]άλλειν ἐν βιοτῇ σὺν τερπνοτάτῃ Ὑγιείᾳ, ἰὴ Παιά[ν]· σῴζοις δ’ Ἀτθίδα Κεκροπίαν πόλιν αἰὲν ἐπερχόμ[εν]ος, |
| unit_2 | ἰὲ Παιάν. Ἤπιος ἔσσο, μάκαρ, στυγερὰς δ’ ἀπερύκεο νούσους, [ἰὴ] ἰέ, ὢ ἰ[ὲ] Παιάν. |