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The Orphic Hymns
the Orphic tradition · Hymn 17, lines 4–6 · Driving his chariot over the sea
17.4
The Orphic Hymns 17.4 · Driving his chariot over the sea
More titles for Poseidon, lord of the sea and shaker of the earth, as he drives his chariot through the waves.
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ποντομέδων1
pontomédōn
lord of the sea
, ἁλίδουπε2
halídoupe
sea-resounding
, βαρύκτυπος3
barýktypos
loud-thundering
, ἐννοσίγαιε4
ennosígaie
earth-shaker
, κυμοθαλές5
kymothalés
abounding in waveswave-blooming
, χαριτῶπα6
charitôpa
graceful of face
, διώκων7
diṓkōn
driving
a
τετράορον8
tetráoron
four-horse
ἅρμα9
hárma
chariot
, τινάσσων10
tinássōn
stirring
the
ἁλμυρὸν11
halmyròn
salt
ὕδωρ12
hýdōr
water
with
ῥοίζοισι13
rhoízoisi
surgesrushing sounds
εἰναλίοις14
einalíois
of the sea
, lord of the sea, sea-resounding, loud-thundering, earth-shaker, abounding in waves, graceful of face, driving a four-horse chariot, stirring the salt water with surges of the sea,
lord of the sea, sea-resounding, loud-thundering, earth-shaker, abounding in waves, graceful of face, driving a four-horse chariot, stirring the salt water with surges of the sea,
Interpretation
lord of the sea, sea-resounding, loud-thundering, earth-shaker, abounding in waves, graceful of face, driving a four-horse chariot and stirring the salt water with the surges of the sea,
Several of these titles are Homer's. Ennosigaios, "earth-shaker," is the epic name of Poseidon, the god of earthquakes as well as of storms. His chariot is Homer's too: in the thirteenth book of the Iliad he yokes his bronze-hoofed horses and drives out over the waves, and the sea parts gladly to let him through. The hymn adds compounds of its own, such as kymothalēs, built from kyma, "wave," and the root of thallō, "to bloom."
17.7
The Orphic Hymns 17.7 · The third share, won by lot
Poseidon received the sea as his share when the world was divided, and he delights in its waves and its creatures.
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you who won by lot, as your third share, the deep flood of the sea, delighting in the waves and in the beasts alike, god of the sea;