Hymning the Gods in Western Anatolia: Regional Forms and Contexts in Antiquity
Franke Center for the Humanities
University of Chicago
Oct 31 – Nov 1, 2025
This conference poses the question of whether hymns composed in western Anatolia display regional features that differentiate them from hymns produced in other parts of the ancient world. Such hymns include, but are not limited to, the Homeric Hymn to Aphrodite, the epigraphic corpus of hymns from Asia Minor, the Orphic hymns (now generally considered a product of 3rd c. western Anatolia), and the prose hymns of Second Sophistic orators such as Aelius Aristides. We explore as well questions such as: To what degree have non-Greek traditions of hymning, for example, that of the Hittites, informed western Anatolian hymnography? How can islands close to the Anatolian shore, such as Lesbos, be situated in this regional poetic environment? What might have been the mechanisms of transmission of hymnic traditions both diachronically and within the region? How do we understand these hymns in the context of local cult practices?
We gratefully acknowledge support from the Franke Institute for the Humanities and the Classics Department of the University of Chicago.
Program information is below. There is no registration fee, but we ask that those interested please register so that organizers may estimate the expected number of attendees. Registration is processed separately for Friday and Saturday, so please register separately for either or both days.
Register here: https://www.eventbrite.com/e/hymning-the-gods-in-western-anatolia-tickets-1677224787489?aff=oddtdtcreator
Organizers:
Sophia Alkhoury ([email protected])
Julia Irons ([email protected])
Friday, October 31
3:30 PM - 3:45 PM
Introduction by conference organizers Sophia Alkhoury and Julia Irons
3:45 PM - 6:00 PM: Session 1: Representing Divinity
Ivana Petrovic (University of Virginia): “Anatolian Aspects of Artemis in Callimachus”
Sophia Alkhoury (University of Chicago): “The Ritual Context of the Orphic Hymns in their Anatolian Setting”
Leanna Boychenko (Loyola University): “The Best-Hymned Gods in Anatolia: Callimachus' Branchus and Hymnic Tradition”
6:00 – 7:00: Reception
Saturday, November 1
8:30 - 9:00: Coffee and tea
9:00 - 10:30: Session 2: Form and Performance
Mary Bachvarova (Willamette University): “Terpander in the West Anatolian Hymnic ‘Economy’”
Julia Irons (University of Chicago): “An Epichoric Narrative in the Homeric Hymn to Aphrodite”
10:30 - 11:00: Coffee break
11:00 - 12:30: Session 3: Contemporary Religious Contexts
Naomi Harris (University of Chicago): Plague Prayers of Mursili II (Title TBD)
Janet Downie (University of North Carolina): “Aelius Aristides’ Prose Hymns in their Contemporary Anatolian Context”
12:30 - 2:30: Lunch
2:30 - 5:00: Session 4: Diachronic Perspectives
Chris Faraone (University of Chicago): “The Cletic Hymn as a Regional Anatolian Form from Sappho to the Orphic Hymns”
3:15 - 3:30: Coffee break
3:30 - 5:00: Session 5
Dora Gao (University of Michigan): “I. Kyme 41 as a Mirror of the Cletic Hymn”
Ian Moyer (University of Michigan): “The Invocation to Anubis from Kios (IK Kios 21) in its Anatolian and Isiac Contexts”
5:00 - 6:00: Round table discussion
6:00 - 7:00: Reception
