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The Orphic Hymns
the Orphic tradition · Hymn 3, lines 12–14 · Come kindly, drive away the fears of the night
3.12
The Orphic Hymns 3.12 · Come kindly, drive away the fears of the night
The prayer: come kindly to those who pray, and send the night fears away.
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δέ1
dé
But
νῦν2
nŷn
now
, ὦ3
ô
O
μάκαιρʼ4
mákair’
blessed
Νύξ5
Nýx
Night
, πολυόλβιε6
polyólbie
rich in blessings
, ποθεινή7
potheinḗ
longed for
πᾶσι8
pâsi
by all
, εὐάντητε9
euántēte
gracious oneeasy to approach
, κλύουσα10
klýousa
hearing
ἱκετηρίδα11
hiketērída
the pleadingsuppliant
φωνὴν12
phōnḕn
voice
λόγων13
lógōn
of our words
, ἔλθοις14
élthois
may you come
εὐμενέουσα15
eumenéousa
kindly
, δʼ16
d’
and
ἀπόπεμπε17
apópempe
drive away
φόβους18
phóbous
the fears
νυχαυγεῖς19
nychaugeîs
that glimmer in the nightnight-shining
. But now, O blessed Night, rich in blessings, longed for by all, gracious one, hearing the pleading voice of our words, may you come kindly, and drive away the fears that glimmer in the night.
But now, O blessed Night, rich in blessings, longed for by all, gracious one, hearing the pleading voice of our words, may you come kindly, and drive away the fears that glimmer in the night.
Interpretation
But now, blessed Night, rich in blessings, longed for by all, gracious one, hear the pleading voice of our words: come kindly, and drive away the fears that glimmer in the dark.
The hymn ends with a request anyone can understand. The word used of Night in line 7, nychaugēs, "shining by night," is now used of the fears: Night shines, and so do the things we are afraid of in the dark. The prayer asks the goddess to keep her own light and send the other kind away.
4.1
The Orphic Hymns 4.1 · Heaven, father of all
Ouranos, the sky, receives the first of the hymns to the great powers of the world. He is the father of all, the beginning and the end of everything, and he turns round the earth like a ball.
· · ·
Of Heaven. Incense: frankincense. Heaven, father of all, part of the world ever unwearied, first-born, beginning of all things and end of all things, ruler of the world, whirling like a sphere around the earth,