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The Orphic Hymns
the Orphic tradition · Hymn 25, lines 6–9 · All things were placed in Proteus
25.6
The Orphic Hymns 25.6 · All things were placed in Proteus
Proteus alone among the gods can change into anything, because Nature placed all things in him.
· · ·
γὰρ1
gàr
for
αὐτὸς2
autòs
he himself
, ἔχων3
échōn
holding
πάντα4
pánta
all things
, μεταβάλλεται5
metabálletai
changes
, οὐδέ6
oudé
nor
does
τις7
tis
any
ἄλλος8
állos
other
ἀθανάτων9
athanátōn
of the immortals
, οἳ10
hoì
who
ἔχουσιν11
échousin
hold
ἕδος12
hédos
the seat
νιφόεντος13
niphóentos
of snowy
Ὀλύμπου14
Olýmpou
Olympus
καὶ15
kaì
and
πόντον16
pónton
the sea
καὶ17
kaì
and
γαῖαν18
gaîan
the earth
, τε19
te
and
ποτῶνται20
potôntai
fly
ἐνηέριοί21
enēérioí
in the air
; γὰρ22
gàr
for
πρώτη23
prṓtē
primalfirst
φύσις24
phýsis
Nature
ἐγκατέθηκε25
enkatéthēke
placed
πάντα26
pánta
all things
ἐν27
en
in
Πρωτεῖ28
Prōteî
Proteus
. for he himself, holding all things, changes, nor does any other of the immortals, who hold the seat of snowy Olympus and the sea and the earth, and fly in the air; for primal Nature placed all things in Proteus.
for he himself, holding all things, changes, nor does any other of the immortals, who hold the seat of snowy Olympus and the sea and the earth, and fly in the air; for primal Nature placed all things in Proteus.
Interpretation
for he himself holds all things and changes into them, and no other of the immortals can, of those who hold the seat of snowy Olympus, the sea and the earth, or fly through the air; for primal Nature placed all things in Proteus.
The hymn plays on the god's name. Prōteus sounds like prōtos, "first"; the hymn has already called him prōtogenēs, "first-born," and now "primal Nature," prōtē physis, stores everything in him. Because he holds all things inside himself, he alone among the gods can turn into any of them. The line about the other gods borrows, with one word changed, Hesiod's line for the immortals "who hold the peaks of snowy Olympus" (Theogony 118).
25.10
The Orphic Hymns 25.10 · A good end after our labors
The prayer to Proteus: come to the initiates, and send a good end to a blessed life.
· · ·
But, father, come to the celebrants of the mysteries with holy forethought, sending a good end of a blessed life after our labors.