⸻ · ⸻
The Orphic Hymns
the Orphic tradition · Hymn 18, lines 16–19 · Judge of hidden and open deeds
18.16
The Orphic Hymns 18.16 · Judge of hidden and open deeds
Plouton alone judges what people did in secret and in the open. The hymn ends by asking him to come gladly to the initiates.
· · ·
you
μοῦνος1
moûnos
alone
ἔφυς2
éphys
arewere born to be
βραβευτής3
brabeutḗs
judgeumpire
of
ἔργων4
érgōn
deeds
ἀφανῶν5
aphanôn
hidden
τε6
te
and
φανερῶν7
phanerôn
open
, ἔνθεε8
énthee
divinefull of the god
, παντοκράτωρ9
pantokrátōr
almighty
, ἱερώτατος10
hierṓtatos
most holy
, ἀγλαότιμε11
aglaótime
splendidly honored
, χαίρων12
chaírōn
rejoicing
in the
σεμνοῖς13
semnoîs
solemn
μυστιπόλοις14
mystipólois
celebrants of the mysteries
τε15
te
and
in
ὁσίοις16
hosíois
holy
σεβασμοῖς17
sebasmoîs
worship
; ἀγκαλέω18
ankaléō
I call on
σε19
se
you
μολεῖν20
moleîn
to come
ἵλαον21
hílaon
gracious
, κεχαρηότα22
kecharēóta
rejoicing
, μύσταις23
mýstais
to the initiates
. you alone are judge of deeds hidden and open, divine, almighty, most holy, splendidly honored, rejoicing in the solemn celebrants of the mysteries and in holy worship; I call on you to come gracious, rejoicing, to the initiates.
you alone are judge of deeds hidden and open, divine, almighty, most holy, splendidly honored, rejoicing in the solemn celebrants of the mysteries and in holy worship; I call on you to come gracious, rejoicing, to the initiates.
Interpretation
You alone are judge of deeds hidden and open; divine, almighty, most holy, splendidly honored, rejoicing in the solemn celebrants of the mysteries and in holy worship: I call on you to come, gracious and glad, to the initiates.
The god below sees what people did in secret as well as what they did openly, and he alone judges both. Greek stories also had judges of the dead, Minos, Rhadamanthys and Aiakos in Plato's Gorgias; in this hymn the judge is Plouton himself. The hymn ends among the initiates, the mystai. The Homeric Hymn to Demeter promises that whoever has seen the rites at Eleusis will have a better lot below than the uninitiated, and so the god who rules through death is asked to come to them gladly.
19.1
The Orphic Hymns 19.1 · Father Zeus, driving the fiery world
The hymn to Zeus of the thunderbolt opens with the god at work in the storm: driving the sky, flashing, thundering, kindling fire in the rain clouds.
· · ·
Of Zeus of the Thunderbolt. Incense: storax. Father Zeus, you who drive the high-thundering, fire-bright world, flashing the supreme gleam of heavenly lightning, shaking the seat of the all-blessed with divine thunders, kindling the blazing lightning in all-cloudy waters,