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The Orphic Hymns

the Orphic tradition · Hymn 25, lines 1–3 · Proteus, who changes holy matter into many forms

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Hymn 25 · Proteus

ΠΡΩΤΕΩΣ, θυμίαμα στύρακα Of Proteus · incense: storax

25.1

The Orphic Hymns 25.1 · Proteus, who changes holy matter into many forms

Proteus, the shape-changing sea god, is called as the first-born, who brought to light the beginnings of nature.

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ΠΡΩΤΕΩΣ¹

Prōtéōs

Of Proteus

θυμίαμα²

thymíama

Incensewhat is burned

στύρακα³

stýraka

storax

κικλήσκω⁴

kiklḗskō

I call

Πρωτέα⁵

Prōtéa

Proteus

ἔχοντα⁶

échonta

who holds

κληῖδας⁷

klēîdas

the keys

πόντου⁸

póntou

of the sea

the

πρωτογενῆ⁹

prōtogenê

first-born

ὃς¹⁰

hòs

who

ἔφηνεν¹¹

éphēnen

revealedbrought to light

ἀρχὰς¹²

archàs

the beginnings

πάσης¹³

pásēs

of all

φύσεως¹⁴

phýseōs

nature

ἀλλάσσων¹⁵

allássōn

changing

ἱερὴν¹⁶

hierḕn

holy

ὕλην¹⁷

hýlēn

matterwood

into

πολυμόρφοις¹⁸

polymórphois

many-shaped

ἰδέαις¹⁹

idéais

forms

Of Proteus. Incense: storax. I call Proteus, who holds the keys of the sea, the first-born, who revealed the beginnings of all nature, changing holy matter into many-shaped forms,

Interpretation

Of Proteus. Incense: storax. I call Proteus, who holds the keys of the sea, the first-born, who brought to light the beginnings of all nature, changing holy matter into forms of many shapes;

In the Odyssey Proteus is an old sea god of Egypt who knows the depths of the whole sea and will speak only when he is caught; Menelaus has to hold on while he turns into a lion, a snake, a leopard, a boar, running water and a tree. The hymn describes his shape-changing in the terms of philosophy: he changes hylē, "matter," into many ideai, "forms." Hylē is an everyday word for wood that Aristotle first used for the stuff things are made of, and idea is the word Plato used for his Forms.

Wenceslaus Hollar after Francis Cleyn, Aristaeus and Proteus, 1653. Etching for John Ogilby's English Virgil. Aristaeus grips Proteus, shown with a lion's head as he changes shape, at the mouth of his sea cave; the Latin verse below, from Virgil, says he turns himself into every kind of wonder.Thomas Fisher Rare Book Library, University of Toronto, Hollar P302 · public domain (via Wikimedia Commons)

25.4

The Orphic Hymns 25.4 · Knowing what is, what was, and what will be

Proteus knows the present, the past and the future.

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all-honored, wise in counsel, knowing both the things that are and all that was before and all that will be in time to come;

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