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The Orphic Hymns
the Orphic tradition · Hymn 29, lines 12–14 · Spring shoots and an autumn wedding
29.12
The Orphic Hymns 29.12 · Spring shoots and an autumn wedding
In spring she shows herself in the green shoots; in autumn she was carried off to her marriage.
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εἰαρινή1
eiarinḗ
of spring
, χαίρουσα2
chaírousa
delighting
πνοῇσιν3
pnoêisin
in the breezes
λειμωνιάσιν4
leimōniásin
of the meadows
, ἐκφαίνουσα5
ekphaínousa
showing
your
ἱερὸν6
hieròn
holy
δέμας7
démas
bodyframe
in
χλοοκάρποις8
chlookárpois
green-fruited
βλαστοῖς9
blastoîs
shoots
, νυμφευθεῖσα10
nympheutheîsa
wedded
μετοπωρινὰ11
metopōrinà
in autumn
in
λέχη12
léchē
a marriagebed
ἁρπαγιμαῖα13
harpagimaîa
by abductionravished, stolen
, of spring, delighting in the breezes of the meadows, showing your holy body in green-fruited shoots, wedded in autumn in a marriage by abduction,
of spring, delighting in the breezes of the meadows, showing your holy body in green-fruited shoots, wedded in autumn in a marriage by abduction,
Interpretation
goddess of spring, delighting in the breezes of the meadows, showing your holy body in shoots green with fruit, wedded in autumn in a marriage by abduction,
The hymn ties Persephone to the farming year. In spring she shows her holy body in the green shoots, and she was married in autumn, when Hades carried her off. In Greece grain was sown in autumn, when the seed went down into the earth, and it came up green in spring, so her descent and return most likely follow the seed. The Homeric Hymn to Demeter tells it in its own way: Persephone spends part of each year below with Hades and comes back up when the earth blooms with spring flowers.
29.15
The Orphic Hymns 29.15 · Life and death
She is life and death to mortals, and the poet finds both in her name.
· · ·
you alone are life and death to toiling mortals, Persephone; for you always nourish and kill all things.