The Politics of Composition and Performance of the Homeric Hymn to Apollo

The article deals with the Hymn to Apollo, composed by Cynaethus for a festival in honour of Delian and Pythian Apollo, held only once at Delphi (532-522) on the basis of two different traditions, Eastern or Homeric and mainland or Hesiodic. It focuses on the Polycratean commitment and on the Pysistratid influence perceivable in the hymn itself. As many other sources confirm, the cult of Apollo in Delos is crucial to the Pysistratids' anti-Delphic policy, which results in the modification of the hymn's whole narrative structure, different indeed from traditional standards. But it is mostly up to some formal traits to disclose the complex anti-Delphic strategy of the composition: the emphasis on the priests from Crete, proverbial example of mendacity, triggers effects of comicity and of ironic distancing from the Delphic authority. These elements, featuring as they do in the Odyssey as well, constitute a peculiar and effective narrative way typical of the singer and support the conclusion that the same author is to be held reponsible for both the hymn and the poem.