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The Orphic Hymns
the Orphic tradition · Hymn 23, lines 7–8 · Turn earthquakes away
23.7
The Orphic Hymns 23.7 · Turn earthquakes away
The prayer to Nereus: keep earthquakes away, and send the initiates prosperity, peace and health.
· · ·
ἀλλά1
allá
But
μάκαρ2
mákar
blessed one
, μὲν3
mèn
—
ἀπότρεπε4
apótrepe
turn away
σεισμοὺς5
seismoùs
earthquakes
, δὲ6
dè
and
πέμπε7
pémpe
send
μύσταις8
mýstais
to the initiates
ὄλβον9
ólbon
prosperity
τʼ10
t’
—
τε11
te
and
εἰρήνην12
eirḗnēn
peace
καὶ13
kaì
and
ἠπιόχειρʼ14
ēpiócheir’
gentle-handedwith soothing hand
ὑγίειαν15
hygíeian
health
. But, blessed one, turn away earthquakes, and send to the initiates prosperity and peace and gentle-handed health.
But, blessed one, turn away earthquakes, and send to the initiates prosperity and peace and gentle-handed health.
Interpretation
But, blessed one, turn earthquakes away, and send the initiates prosperity, peace, and health with her gentle hands.
For a community in western Asia Minor, where these hymns were most likely composed, the request was practical. In AD 17 an earthquake brought down twelve famous cities of the province of Asia in a single night, Sardis worst of all; Tacitus records it, and Pliny the Elder calls it the greatest earthquake in human memory. Health here has "gentle hands," the soothing touch of a healer. The blessings are asked for the mystai, the initiates who sang these hymns.
24.1
The Orphic Hymns 24.1 · Fifty maidens reveling on the waves
The daughters of Nereus, the sea nymphs, dance on the waves like the followers of Dionysus.
· · ·
Of the Nereids. Incense: aromatics. Nymphs of Nereus of the sea, rosebud-faced, pure, dread, of the deep, sporting in the dance, of watery paths, fifty maidens reveling on the waves,