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The Orphic Hymns
the Orphic tradition · Hymn 19, lines 18–19 · Throw your anger on the sea and the mountains
19.18
The Orphic Hymns 19.18 · Throw your anger on the sea and the mountains
The prayer at last: let the storm fall on the open sea and the mountain tops, where it harms no one.
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ἀλλά1
allá
But
μάκαρ2
mákar
blessed one
, ἔμβαλε3
émbale
cast
your
βαρὺν4
barỳn
heavy
θυμὸν5
thymòn
anger
κύμασι6
kýmasi
on the waves
πόντου7
póntou
of the sea
ἠδʼ8
ēd’
and
κορυφῇσι9
koryphêisi
on the peaks
ὀρέων10
oréōn
of the mountains
; ἅπαντες11
hápantes
we all
ἴσμεν12
ísmen
know
τὸ13
tò
—
σὸν14
sòn
your
κράτος15
krátos
might
. But, blessed one, cast your heavy anger on the waves of the sea and on the peaks of the mountains; we all know your might.
But, blessed one, cast your heavy anger on the waves of the sea and on the peaks of the mountains; we all know your might.
Interpretation
But, blessed one, cast your heavy anger on the waves of the sea and on the mountain peaks; we all know your might.
After seventeen lines of storm comes the one thing the singers ask: let it fall somewhere else. The waves of the open sea and the tops of the mountains are the places where a thunderbolt hurts no one, and the prayer turns the god's anger toward them, as the hymn to Rhea sent pollution away "to the ends of the earth" (14.14). The last words admit what the whole hymn has shown: "we all know your might."
19.20
The Orphic Hymns 19.20 · Peace, the nurse of children
In return for the libation, the singers ask for a glad life, health, peace, and cheerful thoughts.
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But you, in return for the libation, grant all things fitting to our hearts, and a heart-gladdening life, and with it queen Health, and Peace the goddess, nurse of the young, splendidly honored, and a life always flourishing with cheerful thoughts.