Library › Greek: Epic › Hymn 28 to Athena
Fully armed and gleaming in gold, Athena springs from the head of Zeus in Hymn 28 to Athena, a short Ancient Greek epic hymn from the Homeric collection. As the goddess leaps forth brandishing her sharp spear, great Olympus reels, the earth resounds, the sea heaves, and the son of Hyperion halts his horses until she lays her armor from her shoulders — and Zeus rejoices.
This is the fullest telling of Athena’s marvelous birth among the Homeric Hymns, a scene beloved of Greek vase painters and sculptors, including the east pediment of the Parthenon. The cosmic shudder that greets her arrival memorably conveys the goddess’s power.
About this edition. The Greek text is that of the Perseus Digital Library. Every word has been analyzed with odyCy, a neural language model for Ancient Greek — click or tap any word for its dictionary form, part of speech, and complete morphology, together with the full entry from the Liddell–Scott–Jones Greek–English Lexicon (LSJ).