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The Orphic Hymns
the Orphic tradition · Hymn 10, lines 8–10 · Common to all, and alone
10.8
The Orphic Hymns 10.8 · Common to all, and alone
A run of opposites: Nature is an end that never ends, shared by all things yet alone, her own father and fatherless.
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ἁγνή1
hagnḗ
holy
, κοσμήτειρα2
kosmḗteira
orderer
θεῶν3
theôn
of the gods
, τε4
te
and
ἀτελής5
atelḗs
endlesswithout end
τελευτή6
teleutḗ
end
, κοινὴ7
koinḕ
common
μὲν8
mèn
—
πάντεσσιν9
pántessin
to all
, δὲ10
dè
yet
μούνη11
moúnē
alone
ἀκοινώνητε12
akoinṓnēte
unsharedsharing with none
, αὐτοπάτωρ13
autopátōr
your own fatherself-fathered
, ἀπάτωρ14
apátōr
fatherless
, ἀργής15
argḗs
bright
, πολύγηθε16
polýgēthe
delightful
, μεγίστη17
megístē
greatest
, holy, orderer of the gods, and endless end, common to all, yet alone unshared, your own father, fatherless, bright, delightful, greatest,
holy, orderer of the gods, and endless end, common to all, yet alone unshared, your own father, fatherless, bright, delightful, greatest,
Interpretation
holy, orderer of the gods, endless end, common to all and yet alone, shared with none, your own father and fatherless, bright, delightful, greatest,
The lines are built from opposites. Nature is teleutē, "end," the word Greeks also used for the end of a life, and she is atelēs, "without end." She is common to all things and shares herself with none of them. She is autopatōr, "her own father," and so apatōr, "fatherless": nothing came before her to give her birth.
10.11
The Orphic Hymns 10.11 · Justice, and the persuasion of the Graces
Nature binds and mixes things together; she is Justice and Persuasion, and her rule reaches everywhere.
· · ·
gracious, intertwining, loving, of many mixtures, skilled, leader, accomplisher, life-giving, all-nourishing maiden, self-sufficiency, Justice, many-named persuasion of the Graces, ruling in the upper air, on the earth and in the sea,