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The Orphic Hymns
the Orphic tradition · Hymn 30, lines 3–5 · Wild, secret, two-horned
30.3
The Orphic Hymns 30.3 · Wild, secret, two-horned
More titles: wild and secret, horned and bull-faced, wreathed in ivy and grapes, and eater of raw flesh.
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ἄγριον1
ágrion
wild
, ἄρρητον2
árrēton
unspeakable
, κρύφιον3
krýphion
secret
, δικέρωτα4
dikérōta
two-horned
, δίμορφον5
dímorphon
two-formed
, κισσόβρυον6
kissóbryon
ivy-covered
, ταυρωπόν7
taurōpón
bull-faced
, ἀρήιον8
arḗion
warlikeof Ares
, εὔιον9
eúion
Bacchichailed with euoi
, ἁγνόν10
hagnón
holy
, ὠμάδιον11
ōmádion
eater of raw flesh
, τριετῆ12
trietê
triennialof three years
, βοτρυηφόρον13
botryēphóron
grape-bearing
, ἐρνεσίπεπλον14
ernesípeplon
robed in young shoots
. wild, unspeakable, secret, two-horned, two-formed, ivy-covered, bull-faced, warlike, Bacchic, holy, eater of raw flesh, triennial, grape-bearing, robed in young shoots.
wild, unspeakable, secret, two-horned, two-formed, ivy-covered, bull-faced, warlike, Bacchic, holy, eater of raw flesh, triennial, grape-bearing, robed in young shoots.
Interpretation
wild, unspeakable, secret, two-horned, two-formed, covered in ivy, bull-faced, warlike, Bacchic, holy, eater of raw flesh, god of the feast that comes every other year, bearer of grapes, robed in young shoots.
Two titles point to cult. Ōmadios means "eater of raw flesh." In Dionysian worship the god's followers could tear a live animal apart and eat it raw, a rite Euripides puts on stage in the Bacchae, and Porphyry, citing an older writer, reports that the god once received human victims under this name on Chios and Tenedos. Trietēs refers to his festival, the trietēris, held "every third year": the Greeks counted inclusively, so the feast came round every other year.
30.6
The Orphic Hymns 30.6 · Son of Zeus and Persephone
He is the son of Zeus and Persephone, born in secret.
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Eubouleus, rich in counsel, begotten of Zeus and of Persephone in an unspeakable bed, immortal god;