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The Orphic Hymns
the Orphic tradition · Hymn 13, lines 9–10 · Send a blameless end to a prosperous life
13.9
The Orphic Hymns 13.9 · Send a blameless end to a prosperous life
The prayer: hear the pleading voice, and send a good, blameless end to a prosperous life.
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ἀγκυλομῆτα1
ankylomêta
crooked in counsel
, φέριστε2
phériste
noblest
; κλύων3
klýōn
hearing
ἱκετηρίδα4
hiketērída
the pleading
φωνὴν5
phōnḕn
voice
, πέμποις6
pémpois
may you send
an
αἰὲν7
aièn
ever
ἄμεμπτον8
ámempton
blameless
τέλος9
télos
end
εὐόλβου10
euólbou
of a prosperous
βιότου11
biótou
life
. crooked in counsel, noblest; hearing the pleading voice, may you send an ever blameless end of a prosperous life.
crooked in counsel, noblest; hearing the pleading voice, may you send an ever blameless end of a prosperous life.
Interpretation
crooked in counsel, noblest: hear our pleading voice, and may you send an ever blameless end to a prosperous life.
Like the hymn to Pan (11), this one ends by asking for a good end of life. The word is telos, "end, completion." It belongs to the same family as teleutē, the end of a life, and teletē, the rite at which these hymns were sung. A rite of initiation was itself a "completion," and those who passed through it most likely hoped that it would bring them a good end.
14.1
The Orphic Hymns 14.1 · Drawn by the bull-slaying lion
Rhea, wife of Kronos and mother of Zeus, rides in a chariot pulled by a lion, to the sound of drums and bronze cymbals.
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Of Rhea. Incense: aromatics. Lady Rhea, daughter of many-formed Protogonos, for whom the bull-slaying lion draws the holy-wheeled chariot, drum-beating, lover of frenzy, bronze-clashing maiden,