Ancient Greek hymns are of interest both to historians and to philologists. Their status is complex : if the context of their performance is not known to us, formal analysis is unlikely to distinguish between a cultic hymn actually sung during a ceremony and a literary hymn transmitted as a poem, for the hymnic genre conventions systematically create the enunciative fiction of a dialogue with the god or goddess. Besides, the status of a hymn is subject to change in the course of time. What was first a musical offering performed on a religious occasion can become a literary object or a monument. Therefore a historical study of their preservation is needed, as well as an examination of the patrimonial, religious or political reasons according to which they are being engraved or written down. This leads to the question of epigraphical or manuscript collections of hymns where an isolated poem is turned into an element contributing to the construction of a religious or poetical tradition. Finally, both historians and classicists must reflect upon the hymn's relation to its historical, social and ritual context. Beyond the important question of its representation of religious reality, they must determine hymnic poetry's specific function in ritual and the role of speech in defining the prerogatives of the gods. The efficiency of this theological discourse must be investigated and the literary analysis of enunciation can be of great help to the history of religion.