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The Orphic Hymns
the Orphic tradition · Hymn 29, lines 15–16 · Life and death
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.
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you
μούνη1
moúnē
alone
are
ζωὴ2
zōḕ
life
καὶ3
kaì
and
θάνατος4
thánatos
death
to
πολυμόχθοις5
polymóchthois
toilingmuch-labouring
θνητοῖς6
thnētoîs
mortals
, Φερσεφόνη7
Phersephónē
Persephone
; γὰρ8
gàr
for
you
ἀεὶ9
aeì
always
φέρβεις10
phérbeis
nourish
καὶ11
kaì
and
φονεύεις12
phoneúeis
kill
πάντα13
pánta
all things
. you alone are life and death to toiling mortals, Persephone; for you always nourish and kill all things.
you alone are life and death to toiling mortals, Persephone; for you always nourish and kill all things.
Interpretation
you alone are life and death to toiling mortals, Persephone; for you always nourish all things, and you kill them all.
The poet hears the goddess's name in the two verbs of the last line: pherbeis, "you nourish," and phoneueis, "you kill." Phersephonē, the epic form of her name, begins like the first and ends like the second, so the line reads it as "she who feeds and kills." The line before says the same thing without the wordplay: to mortals she is life and death at once.
29.17
The Orphic Hymns 29.17 · A sleek old age
The prayer: crops, peace and health, and a long life that ends gently in her realm.
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Hear, blessed goddess, and send up fruits from the earth, flourishing with peace and gentle-handed health and a prosperous life, leading down a sleek old age to your realm, queen, and to mighty Plouton.