From the edition in J. U. Powell, Collectanea Alexandrina.
Aristonous’ (hymn) to Hestia.
Of the sacred queen of sacrifices,¹
Hestia, I shall sing, who possess Olympus
And the mid-navel cave of the Earth forever,²
And, holding the Pythian laurel,
Dance around the high-gated temple of Phoebus,³
Delighting in the oracles of the tripods,⁴
And whenever Apollon, striking his golden,
Seven-toned lyre,
May praise, after you,⁵ the
Joyful gods with hymns.
Greetings,⁶ daughter of Kronos
And Rhea, who alone envelop in flames⁷
The honored altars of the immortals,
Hestia! Grant as rewards⁸
Great wealth to us from pious works,⁹
Since we forever keep dances
Around your bright-throned altar.¹⁰
Notes
1: Probably a reference to the first share of offerings Hestia is meant to receive.
2: Hestia’s apparently contradictory connections to heavenly Olympus and the Earth are both maintained; while at the same time, the expression ‘mid-navel’ calls to mind Delphi, the ‘navel’ of the Earth.
3: Perhaps building on Homeric Hymn 24, Aristonous (whose hymn was found inscribed at Delphi) paints Hestia as a goddess especially concerned with the Pythian oracle of Delphi, holding the laurel (the attribute of Apollon, the Pythian god), etc..
4: Tripods were a kind of censers on three legs, associated with Apollon and divination, and especially with Delphi.
5: Or ‘with you’. If ‘after you’, then because Hestia is praised first.
6: Or ‘be glad!’
7: Because she has power over fire.
8: Or ‘in exchange’, i.e., for worship.
9: I.e., honestly acquired wealth.
10: It seems that the fire of the altar is being imagined as a shining throne on which the goddess reposes, in lieu of a cult image – unless I am reading too much into this expression.
Ἀριστονόου Ἑστίαι.
Ἱερὰν ἱερῶν ἄνασσαν
Ἑστίαν ὑμνήσομεν, ἃ καὶ Ὄλυμπον
καὶ μυχὸν γαίας μεσόμφαλον ἀεὶ
Πυθίαν τε δάφναν κατέχουσα
ναὸν ἀν’ ὑψίπυλον Φοίβου χορεύεις
τερπομένα τριπόδων θεσπίσμασι,
καὶ χρυσέαν φόρμιγγ’ Ἀπόλλων
ὁπηνίκ’ ἂν ἑπτάτονον
κρέκων μετὰ σοῦ θαλιάζον-
τας θεοὺς ὕμνοισιν αὔξῃ.
Χαῖρε Κρόνου θύγατερ
καὶ Ῥέας, μούνα πυρὸς ἀμφιέπουσα
βωμοὺς ἀθανάτων ἐριτίμους,
Ἑστία, δίδου δ’ ἀμοιβὰς
ἐξ ὁσίων πολὺν ἡμᾶς
ὄλβον ἔχοντας ἀεὶ λιπαρόθρονον
ἀμφὶ σὰν θυμέλαν χορεύειν.
SARTRIX 