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The Orphic Hymns
the Orphic tradition · Hymn 29, lines 7–8 · Born in an unspeakable union
29.7
The Orphic Hymns 29.7 · Born in an unspeakable union
Her secret birth from Zeus, and her son Eubouleus, a name of Dionysus.
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ἣν1
hḕn
whom
Ζεὺς2
Zeùs
Zeus
τεκνώσατο3
teknṓsato
fathered
κούρην4
koúrēn
as his daughter
ἀρρήτοισι5
arrḗtoisi
in an unspeakablenot to be spoken
γοναῖς6
gonaîs
begetting
, μῆτερ7
mêter
mother
ἐριβρεμέτου8
eribremétou
of loud-roaring
, πολυμόρφου9
polymórphou
many-shaped
Εὐβουλῆος10
Euboulêos
Eubouleusgood counsel
, whom Zeus fathered as his daughter in an unspeakable begetting, mother of loud-roaring, many-shaped Eubouleus,
whom Zeus fathered as his daughter in an unspeakable begetting, mother of loud-roaring, many-shaped Eubouleus,
Interpretation
whom Zeus fathered as his daughter in a union that may not be spoken of, mother of loud-roaring, many-shaped Eubouleus,
Arrhētos, "unspeakable," is the word for what could not be told outside the mysteries. The Orphic poems had a secret story here, which later writers report: Zeus fathered Persephone, and afterward, in the shape of a snake, fathered a son on her. That son is the "loud-roaring, many-shaped" god of the next line, called Eubouleus, "good counsel," one of the names of Dionysus. The very next hymn, to Dionysus, tells the same birth from his side.
29.9
The Orphic Hymns 29.9 · Playmate of the Seasons
Bright, horned, the companion of the Seasons and a maiden teeming with fruit: titles of a goddess of growth and of light.
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playmate of the Seasons, light-bringer, of radiant form, revered, ruler of all, maiden teeming with fruits, bright-shining, horned, alone longed for by mortals,