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The Orphic Hymns
the Orphic tradition · Hymn 12, lines 11–13 · Twelve labors from east to west
12.11
The Orphic Hymns 12.11 · Twelve labors from east to west
Heracles wears dawn and night around his head and travels through his twelve labors from the east to the west, as the Sun travels across the sky.
· · ·
ὃς1
hòs
you who
φορεῖς2
phoreîs
wear
ἠῶ3
ēô
dawn
καὶ4
kaì
and
μέλαιναν5
mélainan
black
νύκτα6
nýkta
night
περὶ7
perì
around
your
κρατὶ8
kratì
head
, διέρπων9
diérpōn
passing through
δώδεκʼ10
dṓdek’
twelve
ἆθλα11
âthla
labors
ἀπʼ12
ap’
from
ἀντολιῶν13
antoliôn
the eastthe risings
ἄχρι14
áchri
to
δυσμῶν15
dysmôn
the west
, ἀθάνατος16
athánatos
immortal
, πολύπειρος17
polýpeiros
of long experience
, ἀπείριτος18
apeíritos
boundless
, ἀστυφέλικτος19
astyphéliktos
unshaken
; you who wear dawn and black night around your head, passing through twelve labors from the east to the west, immortal, of long experience, boundless, unshaken;
you who wear dawn and black night around your head, passing through twelve labors from the east to the west, immortal, of long experience, boundless, unshaken;
Interpretation
you who wear dawn and black night around your head, passing through twelve labors from the east to the west, immortal, rich in experience, boundless, unshaken:
This is the clearest sign that the hymn treats Heracles as a god of the sun. Dawn and night are his crown, and his twelve labors run from the east, where the sun rises, to the west, where it sets. The number twelve matches the months of the year, and some ancient interpreters did explain the labors of Heracles as the sun's course through the year; the hymn itself leaves the comparison unspoken.
12.14
The Orphic Hymns 12.14 · Drive out ruin, send away the dooms
The prayer: come with every charm against disease, drive away ruin with your club, and shoot the spirits of death away with your arrows.
· · ·
Come, blessed one, bringing all charms against diseases, and drive out the evil ruin, brandishing the branch in your hand, and with winged, venomous arrows send away the harsh dooms.