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The Orphic Hymns

the Orphic tradition · Hymn 11, lines 1–3 · Pan, the whole of the world

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Hymn 11 · Pan

ΠΑΝΟΣ, θυμίαμα ποικίλα Of Pan · incense: various

11.1

The Orphic Hymns 11.1 · Pan, the whole of the world

Pan, the goat-legged god of shepherds, is called here the whole universe: sky, sea, earth and fire are his limbs.

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ΠΑΝΟΣ¹

Panós

Of Pan

θυμίαμα²

thymíama

Incense

ποικίλα³

poikíla

variousof many kinds

καλῶ⁴

kalô

I call

κρατερόν⁵

kraterón

mighty

Πᾶνα⁶

Pâna

Pan

νόμιον⁷

nómion

god of shepherdsof the pastures

τὸ⁸

tò

the

σύμπαν⁹

sýmpan

whole

κόσμοιο¹⁰

kósmoio

of the world

οὐρανὸν¹¹

ouranòn

sky

ἠδὲ¹²

ēdè

and

θάλασσαν¹³

thálassan

sea

ἰδὲ¹⁴

idè

and

χθόνα¹⁵

chthóna

earth

παμβασίλειαν¹⁶

pambasíleian

queen of all

καὶ¹⁷

kaì

and

ἀθάνατον¹⁸

athánaton

immortal

πῦρ¹⁹

pŷr

fire

;

γὰρ²⁰

gàr

for

τάδε²¹

táde

these

ἐστὶ²²

estì

are

τὰ²³

tà

the

μέλεʼ²⁴

méle’

limbs

Πανός²⁵

Panós

of Pan

Of Pan. Incense: various. I call mighty Pan, god of shepherds, the whole of the world, sky and sea and earth, queen of all, and immortal fire; for these are the limbs of Pan,

Interpretation

Of Pan. Incense: various kinds. I call mighty Pan, god of shepherds, the whole of the world, sky and sea and earth, queen of all, and immortal fire; for these are the limbs of Pan.

The hymn builds on a pun. Pan sounds like pan, "all," and Greeks played with this long before the hymns: the Homeric Hymn to Pan says the gods named him Pan because he delighted all of them, and in Plato's Cratylus Socrates explains Pan as "the all." Here the pun becomes a belief. Pan is to sympan, "the whole," and the parts of the world are his body.

Mikhail Vrubel, Pan, 1899. Oil on canvas. Pan, the horned god of shepherds, sits in a twilight landscape with his pipes in his hand, under a crescent moon low on the horizon.State Tretyakov Gallery, Moscow · public domain (via Wikimedia Commons)

11.4

The Orphic Hymns 11.4 · Playing the harmony of the world

Pan is asked to come: the leaping, goat-limbed god of revels and caves, who plays the harmony of the world in his songs.

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Come, blessed one, leaper, roamer, throned with the Seasons, goat-limbed, reveler, lover of inspired frenzy, cave-dweller, playing the harmony of the world in playful song,

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