From the book
Empedocles’ Complete Fragments, Volume I
Empedocles of Acragas · Diotimos Editions · 2026
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At a Glance
- The wordHymnopoloi are makers or performers of hymns, rendered “singers of hymns” here.
- In EmpedoclesB146 includes hymn-singers among the final human roles from which beings grow into gods.
- In this editionThe English “singers of hymns” retains the specific activity.
- A place to readSingers of hymns belong to the last human stage.
Meaning
Hymnopoloi are makers or performers of hymns, rendered “singers of hymns” here. Their activity belongs to a valued verbal art. The expression is more specific than simply naming anyone who produces sound, yet the verse does not identify an institution or repertoire.
Use in the book
B146 includes hymn-singers among the final human roles from which beings grow into gods. Song is thus placed beside divination, healing, and leadership in the account of honoured life. The poem's own voice helps explain why song matters: B352 describes a return to the path of hymns while resuming a physical argument, and the Muse invocations frame inquiry as elevated poetic speech.
These correspondences allow the singer's art to encompass teaching about the world rather than restricting it to praise detached from knowledge. They do not prove that every hymn-singer performs Empedocles' poem or that a particular metrical technique effects liberation. The surviving lines establish honour and a connection with divine ascent, while the conditions of practice remain unstated.
Places to read
Translation in this edition
The English “singers of hymns” retains the specific activity. Translating only “poets” would be a broad explanatory gloss rather than the edition's wording.