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The Orphic Hymns
the Orphic tradition · Hymn 19, lines 20–23 · Peace, the nurse of children
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.
· · ·
ἀλλὰ1
allà
But
σὺ2
sỳ
you
, χάριν3
chárin
in return for
the
λοιβῆς4
loibês
libation
, δίδου5
dídou
grant
πάντα6
pánta
all things
αἴσιμα7
aísima
fitting
φρεσὶν8
phresìn
to our hearts
, τʼ9
t’
and
a
ὀλβιόθυμον10
olbióthymon
heart-gladdening
ζωήν11
zōḗn
life
, θʼ12
th’
and
ὁμοῦ13
homoû
with it
ἄνασσαν14
ánassan
queen
ὑγίειαν15
hygíeian
Health
, τε16
te
and
εἰρήνην17
eirḗnēn
Peace
the
θεάν18
theán
goddess
, κουροτρόφον19
kourotróphon
nurse of the young
, ἀγλαότιμον20
aglaótimon
splendidly honored
, καὶ21
kaì
and
βίον22
bíon
a life
ἀεὶ23
aeì
always
θάλλοντα24
thállonta
flourishing
with
εὐθύμοισιν25
euthýmoisin
cheerful
λογισμοῖς26
logismoîs
thoughts
. 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.
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.
Interpretation
But in return for the libation, grant all that is fitting to our hearts, a life that gladdens the heart, and with it queen Health and Peace the goddess, nurse of the young, splendidly honored, and a life always flourishing with cheerful thoughts.
Peace is called kourotrophos, "nurse of the young," a title given to goddesses who protect children. The Athenians had a famous statue of Peace holding the child Wealth (Ploutos) in her arms, which Pausanias describes in the Agora.
These closing lines also travelled. One manuscript ends the first hymn to Zeus (15) with a line of its own followed by exactly these four lines, and Abel prints that ending in brackets.
20.1
The Orphic Hymns 20.1 · I call the loud-thundering one
A short hymn to Zeus of the lightning, one sentence long. It begins with a pile of titles for the god of the flash.
· · ·
Of Zeus of the Lightning. Incense: frankincense powder. I call the great one, holy, loud-thundering, renowned, high in the air, flaming, roaring with fire, shining through the air, flashing a blaze from the clouds with a clattering voice,