The Orphic Hymns

translated into English by
Tiberius Caelius Quadratus
for Orphicaeum © MMXXVI
All Rights Reserved

ORPHEUS TO MOUSAIOS

Use with good fortune, friend

Learn indeed, Mousaios, a ritual most reverend,
a prayer, which indeed for you is better than all.
Zeus the King and Gaia and heavenly pure flames
of Helios, and the sacred light of Mene and every Star;
And you, Poseidon the earth-holder, blue-haired,
pure Phersephone and Demeter of glorious fruit,
and arrow-pouring Artemis, the maiden, and Eios Phoibos,
who inhabits the sacred ground of Delphi; And you who the greatest
honors among the blessed ones have, Dionysos the dancer;
And Ares mighty-of-heart and Hephaistos' pure strength
and the foam-born Goddess, allotted glorious gifts;
And you, King of those below the earth, great superior daimon,
Hebe and Eileithyia and Herakles' noble might;
And that great benefit of Righteousness and Piety;
I call upon the famous Nymphs and Pan the greatest,
and Hera, aegis-bearing Zeus' vigorous wife;
And loving Memory and the pure Muses I call upon,
nine, and the Graces and also the Seasons and the Year,
and Leto with beautiful braids, Theia and revered Dione,
Kouretes in armor and Korybantes and also Kabeiroi,
and the great Saviors together, Zeus' imperishable children,
and Idaean Gods and the herald of the Heavenly,
Hermes, and Themis, prophetess of men,
and eldest Night I call, and light-bringing Day,
Faith and also Justice and the blameless Lawgiver,
Rheia and also Kronos and dark-robed Tethys,
and Okeanos the great and also Okeanos' daughters,
and of the so-superior strength of Atlas and of Aion
and ever-flowing Chronos and that splendid stream of the Styx;
And gentle Gods, and in addition to them good Foresight,
and the Daimon most holy and the Daimon baneful to mortals,
Daimons of the heavens and the skies and the seas
and the earth and the underworld and fire-walking,
and Semele and of Bacchos' every reveler,
Ino, Leukothea, and Palaimon giver of bliss,
and sweet-speaking Victory and Queen Adrasteia,
and the great Lord Asklepios the cure-giver,
and Pallas the battle-rousing maiden, and the whole of the Winds
and Thunderclaps of the cosmos and its four-pillared parts I call;
And the Mother of the immortals, Attis and Mēn I call,
and Ourania the Goddess, plus pure and undying Adonis,
and the Principle and the Limit (for this proved greatest to all),
come kindly, having a happy heart,
to this sacred sacrifice and solemn sponde.

1. Hekate

Roadside Hekate I call, of the three ways, lovely,
of the heavens, of the earth, and also of the sea, saffron-cloaked,
sepulchral, with souls of the dead, reveling among them,
Perseian, loving loneliness, delighting in deer,
nocturnal, dog-loving, unconquerable Queen,
animal-roaring, unbound, having an irresistible form,
bull-herder, key-keeping Queen of the whole cosmos,
guide, bride, child-rearing, mountain-roaming,
I beg the maiden to our sacred ceremonies attend,
being forever favorable to the herdsman, with a happy heart.

2. of Prothyraia

storax incense

Hear me, O much-revered Goddess, many-named daimon,
who helps with birth-pangs, welcome sight to women in labor,
women's sole savior, child-loving, mild-minded,
speedy in birth, present to young mortal women, Prothyraia,
keeper of keys, approachable, loving nourishment, gentle to all,
you who occupies the homes of everyone and rejoices in festivities,
unbinder, unseen, but in action you shine to all,
you sympathize in birth-pangs and rejoice in easy births,
Eileithyia, undoing pain in dreadful necessities:
for you alone women in labor call the soul's repose;
for in you the troubles of child-bearing are soothed,
Artemis Eileithyia, holy maiden, Prothyraia,
hear me, happy one, and grant children, acting as ally,
and save them, as your nature is always savior of all.

3. of Night

aromatic herbs incense

I will sing of Night, mother of the Gods and of mankind,
Night, origin of all things whom also we call Kypris.
Hear, blessed Goddess, blue-beaming, star-shining,
taking pleasure in peacefulness and in sleep-filled stillness,
Good-cheer, delightful, friend of all-night rites, mother of dreams,
Freer of care and of troubles and of toils and bringing respite,
giver of sleep, friend to all, horse-driver, glowing in the dark,
mid-way, of earth and of heaven she's one and the same,
cyclical, playful in sky-wandering pursuits,
you who dispatches light below the depths then in turn you depart
into Hades: for dreaded Necessity governs all things.
Now you, happy one, I call, much blessed, longed for by all,
Approachable, hearing the suppliant sound of speech
may you come, being benevolent and banishing dark-glowing dread.

4. of Ouranos

frankincense incense

Ouranos the all-father, part of the cosmos ever unfailing,
eldest-born, the Principle of all and of all things the purpose,
father of the cosmos, spherically spinning around the earth,
home of the happy Gods, with the rhombos' rotations journeying,
celestial and terrestrial, sentry surrounding it all,
in your chest bearing Nature's unbearable necessity,
cerulean, unsubdued, all-shimmering, shifting shape,
all-seeing, son of Kronos, happy one, the most-high daimon,
Listen, granting pious life to the initiate newly-revealed.

5. of Aither

saffron incense

O holder of Zeus' high-vaulted strength, always unwearied,
the stars' and sun's and moon's division,
all-tamer, fire-breathing, the spark of every living thing,
above-shining Aither, finest cosmic element,
O glorious off-growth, bearing brightness, star-shining,
summoning, I pray you to be temperate, serene.

6. of Protogonos

myrrh incense

I call Protogonos of dual-natures, great, roaming the aither,
egg-born, taking glory in your golden wings,
bull-roaring, genesis of the blessed ones and of mortal mankind,
much-remembered seed, of many mysteries, Erikepaios,
ineffable, hidden whirler, all-shining off-shoot,
you who from sight obscured the shadowy mist,
whirled everywhere by beating wings throughout the cosmos
leading radiant sacred light, since then Phanes I call you,
and also Priapos the king, and Antauges quick-glancing.
But, blessed one, of many counsels, fruitful, step cheerfully
to our sacred ceremony, manifold revealer of mysteries.

7. of the Stars

aromatic herbs incense

The heavenly Stars' sacred shine I summon
with hallowed sounds hearkening holy spirits:
Stars of heaven, black Night's beloved children
in circular whirls wheeling around the throne,
reflecting light, fiery, always generators of everything,
destined sign-givers of the fate of every being,
managing mortal mankind's divine path,
seven-shining zone overseers, air-roaming,
celestial and terrestrial, fire-coursing, always unwearied,
ever illuminating night's dusky peplos,
with glimmers glistening, benevolent and nocturnal;
Come to this sacred ceremony's much-learned labors,
bringing the noble path of glorious deeds to completion.

8. To Helios

francincense-manna incense

Hear blessed one, all-seeing, having eternal eye,
Titan gold-gleaming, Hyperion, heavenly light,
self-grown, unwearying, of living things sweet to the sight,
on the right indeed parent of dawn, well-named of night,
having the mixture of seasons, with four-stepping feet dancing,
running-well, buzzing one, blazing, bright-faced, charioteer,
of the limitless rhombos by whirlings the way driving,
for the pious guide of beautiful things, irate to the impious,
golden-lyred, of the cosmos that harmonious path pulling,
signaler of good deeds, season-feeding boy,
ruler of the cosmos, piper, fire-running, cycle-revolving,
light-bearer, swift-showing, life-bearing, fruitful Paian,
ever-blooming, untainted, father of time, immortal Zeus,
good-day, all-illuminating, the cosmos' around-running eye,
being extinguished and shining with beautiful rays radiant,
revealer of righteousness, lover of streams, master of the cosmos,
guardian of truth, always most-high, to all helper,
eye of justice, light of life; O horse-driver,
with whip whistling the four-yoked chariot driving,
hear the words, and sweet life to the initiates shine forth.

9. To Selene

aromatic herbs incense

Hear me, Goddess Queen, light-bearer, divine Selene,
bull-horned Mene, night-runner, air-roamer,
of-the-night, torch-bearer, maiden, well-starred Mene,
waxing and waning, both female and male,
illuminator, lover-of-horses, mother of time, bringer-of-fruit,
amber, heavy-spirited, shining-down, nocturnal,
all-seeing, lover-of-wakefulness, brimming with beautiful stars,
rejoicing in peace and in blessed-fated kindly-time,
lustrous, grace-giver, completion-bearer, night's agalma,
star-ruler, with-long-peplos, spiral-runner, all-wise maiden,
come, blessed one, kindly, well-starred, with three-fold light
shining, saving your suppliants, noble-maiden.

10. of Nature

aromatic herbs incense

O Nature, all-mother Goddess, many-skilled mother,
heavenly, eldest, much-establishing daimon, Queen,
all-tamer, untamed, steerswoman, all-shining,
ruler-of-all, always honored, all-highest to all,
undecaying, first-born, spoken-of-old, glory-bringing,
of-the-night, many-starred, light-bearer, dread-holding,
with astragaloi the track of noiseless feet rolling,
pure, orderer of Gods and incomplete completion,
common indeed to everyone, but unshared alone,
self-fathered, fatherless, virtue, much-gladdened, the greatest,
well-flowered weaving, love, much-mingled, knowing,
commander, accomplisher, bearing-life, all-feeding maiden,
self-sufficiency, justice, the Graces' many-named persuasion,
of-the-aither, of-the-earth and of-the-ocean ruling,
bitter indeed to the wicked, but sweet to the persuaded,
all-wise, all-giver, caretaker, all-Queen,
growth-feeding rich one and of-ripening-things the loosener.
Of all things indeed you are father, mother, nourisher and nurse,
swift-birthing, blessed one, many-seeded, seasonal impulse,
all-artful, sculptor, much-establishing, open-sea's daimon,
eternal, motion-bearing, much-experienced, prudent,
with ever-flowing whirl the swift stream spinning,
all-flowing, cyclical, living-in-different-shapes,
well-throned, honored, alone that-which-was-judged fulfilling,
of scepter-bearers above the heavy-thundering strongest,
intrepid, all-tamer, fated-one, destiny, fire-breathing,
eternal life and also immortal providence;
everything you are, Queen; for you alone create these things.
But, Goddess, I pray you in blessed seasons
to bring peace, health, growth of all things.

11. of Pan

various incense

Powerful Pan I call, pastoral, that totality of the cosmos,
the sky and the sea and the all-ruling soil
and deathless fire; for these are the limbs of Pan.
Come, blessed one, leaper, around-runner, enthroned with the Seasons,
goat-limbed, Bacchic reveler, lover-of-enthusiasm, dwelling-in-the-stars,
harmony of the cosmos, weaving with fun-loving song,
helper of fantasies, terrifying-one of mortal fears,
with goat-herds rejoicing up fountains and also cowherds,
sharp-sighted, hunter, Echo's friend, dance-partner of the nymphs,
all-growing, parent of everything, many-named daimon,
ruler-of-the-cosmos, increaser, light-bearer, fruitful Paian,
delighting in caves, heavy-in-anger, that true Zeus the-horned-one.
For in you the earth's limitless foundation is established,
and submits of the untiring open sea that deep-flowing water
and Okeanos around in whirlpools winding the earth,
and the airy division of nourishment, the spark for the living,
and of the highest point from above the eye of lightest fire.
Since proceeds these divine things much-decided by your commands;
and you change the natures of all things by your forethought
tending the generation of mankind down the limitless cosmos.
But, blessed one, Bacchic reveler, lover-of-enthusiasm, come to the libations
much-holy, and grant a good completion of life
sending out panic madness towards the ends of the earth.