“Starting From the Immortal Father”

Abstract

I propose a plausible supplement for the incipit of the Homeric Hymn to Dionysus (1) that is meant to illuminate the priamel structure of Fragment A. Consequently, I give a full account of how ring composition works in the surviving fragments of the opening and the end of the Hymn. I argue that the Nyse variant is corroborated in way concomitant with another Homeric Hymn to Dionysus (26). The hymnic instance is supported through recourse to interformular occurrences in the Homeric Hymns, in Nonnus’ Dionysiaca, in Callimachus’ Hymn to Zeus. I conclude with an appreciation of contextual parameters that make the priamel structurally cohere.