[333] χειρὶ καταπρηΝεῖ=Il. 16.792 “, ν” 164. The Homeric formula explains the position of “δέ” (Hermann). ἔλασε χθόνα: to call the attention of the gods below: the action shews that her prayer is really addressed to Earth and the Titans, although she calls upon all the powers of Nature, including Heaven. For this manner of invoking chthonian deities or ghosts cf. Il. 9.568 “, Ξ” 272 f., Aesch. Pers.674 f., Troad. 1293 f., Plat. Crat. 423A, Plutarch Moral. 774 B, v. Soph. ii. 1. 10, Diog. Laert.vii. 26, Anth. Pal. vii. 117, Coluth.47 f., Cic. Tusc.ii. 25. 60, Livy vii. 6. 4, Aesch. Theb.54 f., Val. Flacc. vii. 312, Macrob. Sat. iii. 9. 12; Sittl Gebärden p. 190 f., Rohde Psyche p. 111, 693, Headlam in Class. Rev. xvi. 53.
For modern times cf. Lang Transl. Hom. Hymns; “the action was practised by the Zulus in divination, and, curiously, by a Highlander of the last century, appealing to the dead Lovat” (p. 121).
The Homeric Hymns, edited, with preface, apparatus criticus, notes, and appendices. Thomas W. Allen. E. E. Sikes. London. Macmillan. 1904.
The National Endowment for the Humanities provided support for entering this text.
This text was converted to electronic form by professional data entry and has been proofread to a medium level of accuracy.
This work is licensed under a
Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 3.0 United States License.
An XML version of this text is available for download, with the additional restriction that you offer Perseus any modifications you make. Perseus provides credit for all accepted changes, storing new additions in a versioning system.