Reddit reviews The Homeric Hymns: Revised 2nd Edition

I adore the Homeric Hymns and strongly encourage you to give them a try. It's true, as the other commenters wrote, that they're mostly narrative instead of devotional, but some of these narratives touch my soul.

If you want a good laugh, try Hymn 4, the adventures of the infant Hermes, possibly the funniest thing ever written in dactylic hexameter. An ambitious troublemaker from the day of his birth—imagine a divine Bart Simpson—Hermes endeavors to steal cattle from his elder half-brother Apollo. These sons of Zeus clash at first, then earn each other's respect.

For bittersweet drama, try Hymn 2, Demeter's search for her missing daughter, Persephone. For something sexy, try Hymn 5, where Aphrodite has her intimate encounter with Anchises.

In my opinion, Ares deserves more respect than he usually gets even from Hellenic polytheists. (As much as I loved the Wonder Woman movie of a few months ago, I found it rather unfair to recast the god of war as, essentially, Satan.) Paradoxically, counterintuitively, Hymn 8 credits him with the power to conquer our bloodlust and let us remain at peace.

Please give them a try. I recommend this translation by Charles Boer.