Themis, a study of the social origins of Greek ... - Warburg Institute

i] The Invocation 11
It will now be necessary to examine in detail the three 1 factors
of the Hymn—the introductory refrain, the aetiological 2 myth, and
what for convenience we may call ' the resultant blessings.' The
gist of the ritual will be found in the second factor, the aetiological
myth, but we begin with the first.
1. The Invocation.
Meytare Kovpe, xa 'P
6 '
M04 )
Kpovie.
The opening words are enough to startle the seven mytho-
logical sleepers. From the circumstances of the finding of the
Hymn in the temple of Diktaean Zeus and from the title Kronian,
it is clear that Zeus 3 the Father of gods and men, is addressed
as ' Kouros most Great,' greatest of grown-up youths. To our
unaccustomed ears the title sounds strange and barely reverent.
' Father,' still more ' Mother,' and even ' Babe ' are to us holy
words, but a full-grown youth has to us no connotation of
sanctity. Moreover the words Full-grown Youth go ill with
' Kronian,' a title of reverend association. How these two
dissonant titles come to be unequally yoked together will appear
in the sequel.
When the Hymn was first discovered, the opening words as was
natural at once arrested attention, but—so crusted and stiffened
is the mind with traditional thinking—the full significance of
the title could not at first be seen. Zeus the Father was firmly
rooted in our minds, so it was natural at first to think, here we
have the young Zeus, Zeus the Divine Son. The Christian
religion has accustomed us to a god as Son. But it should at
once be noted, Kouros is not ino