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Homeric Hymns
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Hymn 1Chapter Summaries & Analyses
Hymn 1 Summary: “To Dionysus”
Only fragments of Hymn 1 remain, but they tell the story of the birth of Dionysus, god of wine and ecstasy. Dionysus is the son of Semele, a mortal woman impregnated by Zeus (unknown to Hera, his goddess wife). Semele, still pregnant, is burned to death when she insists Zeus visit her in his true lightning-bolt form, but Zeus takes the unborn Dionysus and stitches him into his thigh. Dionysus is thus the “stitched-in god” (1) or the “seam-born” (2). The poem ends by praising Dionysus and his mother Semele.
Hymn 1 Analysis
Context is important for this hymn, as only fragments remain. When Zeus stitches the unborn Dionysus into his thigh until the gestating god is ready for birth, it offsets traditional gender roles, with the male god carrying and birthing his own children. In so doing, he breaks the vicious cycle his father (the Titan Cronus) and grandfather (the deity of the heavens, Uranus) fell victim to, that is, the eventual fatal usurpation by a strong male offspring.
Hera, the wife and sister of Zeus and goddess of marriage, is also briefly referenced.
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