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The Orphic Hymns
the Orphic tradition · Hymn 28, lines 11–12 · A good end of life
28.11
The Orphic Hymns 28.11 · A good end of life
The prayer: a good end to life, grace in speaking, and memory.
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κλῦθί1
klŷthí
Hear
μευ2
meu
me
εὐχομένου3
euchoménou
as I pray
, ὀπάζων4
opázōn
granting
ἐσθλὸν5
esthlòn
a good
τέλος6
télos
endfulfillment
βιότου7
biótou
of life
ἐργασίῃσι8
ergasíēisi
in my labors
, χάρισιν9
chárisin
with the charmsgraces
λόγου10
lógou
of speech
καὶ11
kaì
and
μνημοσύνῃσιν12
mnēmosýnēisin
with memory
. Hear me as I pray, granting a good end of life in my labors, with the charms of speech and with memory.
Hear me as I pray, granting a good end of life in my labors, with the charms of speech and with memory.
Interpretation
Hear me as I pray, and grant my life a good end in my labors, with the charms of speech and with memory.
The prayer asks Hermes for a good end of life. The request suits him, because Hermes was also the guide of souls, who led the dead down to the underworld. It closes with memory, mnēmosynē, a word that mattered in Orphic circles: gold leaves buried with initiates in southern Italy tell the soul to pass by the first spring it finds in the underworld and drink from the lake of Memory. Here the request may simply be for a good memory, the gift every speaker needs, but it is made to the god who will meet the soul at the end.
29.1
The Orphic Hymns 29.1 · Daughter of great Zeus, come
The hymn to Persephone has no incense note. It calls her to come and receive the offerings.
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A hymn to Persephone. Persephone, daughter of great Zeus, come, blessed one, only-begotten goddess, and receive the welcome offerings,