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The Orphic Hymns
the Orphic tradition · Hymn 24, lines 1–3 · Fifty maidens reveling on the waves
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Hymn 24 · The Nereids
ΝΗΡΗΙΔΩΝ, θυμίαμα ἀρώματα
Of the Nereids · incense: aromatics
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.
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ΝΗΡΗΙΔΩΝ1
Nērēídōn
Of the Nereids
. θυμίαμα2
thymíama
Incensewhat is burned
ἀρώματα3
arṓmata
aromatics
. νύμφαι4
nýmphai
Nymphs
Νηρέος5
Nēréos
of Nereus
εἰναλίου6
einalíou
of the sea
, καλυκώπιδες7
kalykṓpides
rosebud-facedlike budding flowers
, ἁγναί8
hagnaí
pure
, φρικαλέαι9
phrikaléai
dread
, βύθιαι10
býthiai
of the deep
, χοροπαίγμονες11
choropaígmones
sporting in the dance
, ὑγροκέλευθοι12
hygrokéleuthoi
of watery paths
, πεντήκοντα13
pentḗkonta
fifty
κόραι14
kórai
maidens
βακχεύουσαι15
bakcheúousai
revelingas in the Bacchic rites
περὶ16
perì
on
the
κύμασι17
kýmasi
waves
, 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,
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,
Interpretation
Of the Nereids. Incense: aromatics. Nymphs of Nereus of the sea, with faces like rosebuds, pure, dread, dwellers in the deep, sporting in the dance on watery paths, fifty maidens reveling like bacchants on the waves,
The Nereids "revel like bacchants" on the waves, and the word is chosen with care. In the sixth book of the Iliad, when King Lycurgus chased the young Dionysus and his nurses with an ox-goad, the god leapt in terror into the sea, and Thetis, one of the Nereids, took him into her arms. The sea nymphs once sheltered Dionysus, and in this hymn they dance like his followers.
24.4
The Orphic Hymns 24.4 · Riding the Tritons
The Nereids ride on the backs of the Tritons and other sea creatures.
· · ·
delighting on the chariots of the Tritons, on the backs of beast-shaped forms, whose bodies the sea feeds;