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The Orphic Hymns
the Orphic tradition · Hymn 34, lines 16–19 · The lyre that tunes the heavens
34.16
The Orphic Hymns 34.16 · The lyre that tunes the heavens
Apollo plays the whole sky like a lyre, from the highest string to the lowest.
· · ·
παντοθαλές1
pantothalés
You who make all things bloom
, σὺ2
sỳ
you
δὲ3
dè
—
ἁρμόζεις4
harmózeis
tunefit together
πάντα5
pánta
the whole
πόλον6
pólon
heavenspivot, axis
with your
πολυκρέκτῳ7
polykréktōi
many-sounding
κιθάρῃ8
kithárēi
lyre
, ὁτὲ9
hotè
now
μὲν10
mèn
—
βαίνων11
baínōn
going
ἐπὶ12
epì
to
τέρματα13
térmata
the limits
νεάτης14
neátēs
of the highest stringthe lowest
, ἄλλοτε15
állote
at other times
δʼ16
d’
—
αὖθʼ17
aûth’
again
to
ὑπάτην18
hypátēn
the lowestthe highest
, ποτὲ19
potè
sometimes
κιρνάς20
kirnás
blending
πάντα21
pánta
the whole
πόλον22
pólon
heavens
ἐς23
es
into
Δώριον24
Dṓrion
the Dorian
διάκοσμον25
diákosmon
order
, κρίνεις26
kríneis
you distinguish
the
βιοθρέμμονα27
biothrémmona
life-sustaining
φῦλα28
phŷla
races
, You who make all things bloom, you tune the whole heavens with your many-sounding lyre, now going to the limits of the highest string, at other times again to the lowest, sometimes blending the whole heavens into the Dorian order, you distinguish the life-sustaining races,
You who make all things bloom, you tune the whole heavens with your many-sounding lyre, now going to the limits of the highest string, at other times again to the lowest, sometimes blending the whole heavens into the Dorian order, you distinguish the life-sustaining races,
Interpretation
You who make all things bloom, you tune the whole heavens with your many-sounding lyre, now going up to the highest string, now down again to the lowest, and now, blending the whole heavens into the Dorian order, you set apart the races of living things,
The whole sky becomes a lyre. The nētē and the hypatē were the outer strings of the Greek scale: the nētē, whose name means "lowest," gave the highest note, and the hypatē, "highest," gave the lowest, most likely because the names describe where the strings sat on the instrument. Plato uses the same strings in the Republic for a just soul, its three parts tuned together like the highest, the lowest and the middle note of a scale. Here Apollo tunes the heavens the same way, and the Dorian mode, one of the two Plato kept for his ideal city, is the harmony he sets them in.
34.20
The Orphic Hymns 34.20 · Winter, summer and spring on the strings
The seasons are set to the strings of his lyre: winter low, summer high, and spring in the Dorian mode.
· · ·
having blended with harmony a universal lot for men, mixing winter and summer, equally for both, assigning winter to the lowest strings, summer to the highest, the Dorian to the seasonable bloom of much-loved spring.