Studies in Greek epic diction, metre and language: the augment use in The Homeric Hymn to Hermes (HH 4)

In this article I discuss the use of the augment in the Homeric Hymn to Hermes (HH 4). First, I determine which forms are secured by the metre, using permitted elisions, metrical bridges and caesurae, and these metrically secure forms are called “type A” (with a certain augment (absence)). In a second step I investigate the forms that are not secure and check if their value can be established by comparing them to other forms in the epic corpus and/or certain morphological and metrical criteria; forms that can be analysed as such are called “type B” (with a preferred augment (absence)) and the forms for which this is not possible are called “type C” (“insecure”). Once the corpus has been compiled, I proceed to the actual analysis and (briefly) discuss the previous scholarship and the morphological, syntactic and semantic factors influencing the presence and absence of the augment, using examples from this Hymn and occasionally also from other epic works. In the last paragraph I apply these findings to the entire Hymn.