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The Orphic Hymns
the Orphic tradition · Hymn 31, lines 6–7 · Come kindly to the herdsman
31.6
The Orphic Hymns 31.6 · Come kindly to the herdsman
The prayer, which repeats the closing words of the hymn to Hekate.
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ἔλθοιτʼ1
élthoit’
May you come
εὐμενέοντες2
eumenéontes
kindly
ἐπʼ3
ep’
at
our
λόγοισι4
lógoisi
words
εὐφήμοισι5
euphḗmoisi
of good omenwell-spoken
, εὐάντητοι6
euántētoi
gracious
βουκόλῳ7
boukólōi
to the herdsmanthe oxherd
, ἀεὶ8
aeì
always
with a
κεχαρηότι9
kecharēóti
rejoicing
θυμῷ10
thymôi
heart
. May you come kindly at our words of good omen, gracious to the herdsman, always with a rejoicing heart.
May you come kindly at our words of good omen, gracious to the herdsman, always with a rejoicing heart.
Interpretation
come kindly at our words of good omen, gracious to the herdsman, always with a rejoicing heart.
The last line repeats, almost word for word, the end of the hymn to Hekate: be kind to the herdsman, always with a rejoicing heart. The boukolos, "oxherd," is the initiate, and lines that come back like this are one reason the hymns are thought to have been made for a single community. "Words of good omen," euphēmoi logoi, are the careful speech of ritual: before a sacrifice the herald called euphēmeite, "speak well," which in practice meant "keep silent," so that no ill-omened word would spoil the rite.
32.1
The Orphic Hymns 32.1 · Pallas, only-begotten daughter of Zeus
The hymn to Athena, sung over aromatics, opens with her birth from Zeus and her love of battle.
· · ·
Of Athena. Incense: aromatics. Pallas, only-begotten, revered offspring of great Zeus, divine, blessed goddess, raising the din of war, strong of spirit, unspoken, spoken, of great name, cave-dweller,