Cleanthes' Hymn to Zeus

This book, the first complete monograph to be devoted to the Hymn to Zeus by the Stoic philosopher Cleanthes, contains a new critical text edition and English translation of the Hymn. In addition to the usual questions of authorship and date, Johan Thom analyses the composition, genre and function of the poem in depth, arguing that the Hymn should be considered a genuine prayer and that it was intended for a non-specialist audience. In the line-by-line philological commentary, attention is paid to the literary, philosophical, and religious aspects of the hymn. It should therefore be of interest to classical philologists, philosophers, as well as scholars of Hellenistic and Greco-Roman religions.

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This book is the student edition of the first complete monograph to be devoted to the Hymn to Zeus by the Stoic philosopher Cleanthes, which contains a new critical text edition and English translation of the Hymn . In addition to the usual questions of authorship and date, Johan Thom analyses the composition, genre and function of the poem in depth, arguing that the Hymn should be considered a genuine prayer and that it was intended for a non-specialist audience. In the line-by-line philological commentary, attention is paid to the literary, philosophical, and religious aspects of the hymn. It should therefore be of interest to classical philologists, philosophers, as well as scholars of Hellenistic and Greco-Roman religions.