Hymn to Aphrodite
Aphrodite · Zephyrus · the HoraeA short hymn on the birth of Aphrodite: the moist breath of Zephyrus carries her over the wave to Cyprus in soft foam, and there the Horae receive her.
The whole content lies in what the Horae do next. They clothe her in immortal garments, set on her head a well-made golden crown, put flowers of orichalc and precious gold in her "pierced lobes", place gold about her soft neck and silvery breasts. The goddess comes out of the sea naked and becomes Aphrodite once she has been dressed.
This is not decoration of the story but its point: divinity here is attire. The marks by which Aphrodite is recognised are put on her by others, and put on piece by piece, in a set order, as a bride is dressed.
Τρητοῖσι λοβοῖσιν — in pierced lobes. A detail from a woman's toilette, applied to a goddess a few minutes old. Homeric epic describes the divine in the same vocabulary as the human, and makes no difference of tone.
The hymn ends, as it should, with a request on the singer's own behalf: he asks for victory in the contest. The song itself is declared the offering, and the prize is the judges' verdict.