A type of Gr. hymn whose name derives from ié paián, a cry addressed to Apollo as the god of healing, which often forms the refrain (cf. Homer, Hymn to Apollo). Ps. were sung on numerous occasions: to Apollo in his role as healer or protector, as a song of hope before going into battle (Pindar, Paeans 2) or of joy after victory, and at the beginning of a symposium (Alcman, fr. 98; Ariphron, “P. to Health”). Ps. were addressed to gods other than Apollo (e.g. Zeus, Poseidon, Dionysus, and Hygeia) and even, in the late 5th c. and Hellenistic period, to victorious generals (e.g. Lysander and Titus Flamininus). Composed for both choral and monodic performance, ps. were accompanied by lyres or woodwinds or both. The ancient debate whether Aristotle’s poem to Hermias was a p. or a skolion (q.v.) shows that the distinctions between p. and other lyric genres were not precise (Harvey).
Although many early Gr. lyric poets wrote ps., the only substantial remains are papyrus fragments of 22 ps. by Pindar, of which Paeans 2,4, and 6, written for Abderitans, Ceans, and Delphians, respectively, are the best preserved. A number of Hellenistic ps. surviving as inscriptions are collected in Powell. Although some poems of Horace resemble ps., the genre was moribund by his time, and in modern usage p. refers loosely to any song of joy or triumph.
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