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The Orphic Hymns
the Orphic tradition · Hymn 3, lines 3–6 · Hear, dark-gleaming goddess
3.3
The Orphic Hymns 3.3 · Hear, dark-gleaming goddess
The prayer turns to Night herself: her stars, her quiet, her sleep and her dreams.
· · ·
κλῦθι1
klŷthi
Hear
μάκαιρα2
mákaira
blessed
θεά3
theá
goddess
, κυαναυγής4
kyanaugḗs
dark-gleamingwith a dark-blue sheen
, ἀστεροφεγγές5
asterophengés
starlitstar-bright
, χαίρουσα6
chaírousa
delighting
ἡσυχίῃ7
hēsychíēi
in quiet
καὶ8
kaì
and
ἠρεμίῃ9
ēremíēi
in stillness
πολυύπνῳ10
polyýpnōi
deep in sleepfull of sleep
, εὐφροσύνη11
euphrosýnē
cheergladness
, τερπνή12
terpnḗ
delightful
, φιλοπάννυχε13
philopánnyche
lover of night-long revels
, μῆτερ14
mêter
mother
ὀνείρων15
oneírōn
of dreams
, λυσιμέριμνʼ16
lysimérimn’
freeing from carecare-loosing
, τε17
te
and
ἔχουσα18
échousa
holdinghaving
ἀγαθήν19
agathḗn
welcomegood
ἀνάπαυσιν20
anápausin
rest
πόνων21
pónōn
from toil
, Hear, blessed goddess, dark-gleaming, starlit, delighting in quiet and in stillness deep in sleep, cheer, delightful, lover of night-long revels, mother of dreams, freeing from care, and holding welcome rest from toil,
Hear, blessed goddess, dark-gleaming, starlit, delighting in quiet and in stillness deep in sleep, cheer, delightful, lover of night-long revels, mother of dreams, freeing from care, and holding welcome rest from toil,
Interpretation
Hear, blessed goddess, dark-gleaming, starlit, delighting in quiet and in the stillness of deep sleep, gladness, delight, lover of the all-night revel, mother of dreams, freeing us from care, holding welcome rest from toil,
Kyanaugēs, "dark-gleaming," joins kyanos, the deep blue of lapis or enamel that Greek poets use for anything dark and shining, with augē, light. The night of this hymn is a kind one: quiet, sleep, dreams, rest from work. It is also a night of feasting, philopannyche, "lover of the pannychis," the all-night festival that some cults held, and the hymns themselves may have been sung at one.
3.7
The Orphic Hymns 3.7 · Giver of sleep, driver of horses
Night drives across the sky, half of the earth and half of heaven, playing chase through the air.
· · ·
giver of sleep, friend of all, driver of horses, shining by night, half-complete, of the earth, and you again of the sky, circling, who plays at chases through the air,