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The Orphic Hymns
the Orphic tradition · Hymn 39, lines 9–10 · Stop the visions of a frightened soul
39.9
The Orphic Hymns 39.9 · Stop the visions of a frightened soul
The prayer: hear us, put away your anger, and stop the visions that torment a soul struck with terror.
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κλῦθι1
klŷthi
hear
φωνῶν2
phōnôn
our voices
, μάκαρ3
mákar
blessed one
, δʼ4
d’
and
ἀποπέμπεο5
apopémpeo
send away
χαλεπὴν6
chalepḕn
your harsh
μῆνιν7
mênin
angerwrath
, παύων8
paúōn
stopping
φαντασίας9
phantasías
the visions
ἐκπλήκτου10
ekplḗktou
of a terror-stricken
, ἀνάγνου11
anágnou
unclean
ψυχῆς12
psychês
soul
. hear our voices, blessed one, and send away your harsh anger, stopping the visions of a terror-stricken, unclean soul.
hear our voices, blessed one, and send away your harsh anger, stopping the visions of a terror-stricken, unclean soul.
Interpretation
hear our voices, blessed one, and send away your harsh anger; put an end to the visions of a soul that is struck with terror and unclean.
The prayer treats the frightening visions as the work of the god's anger, mēnis, the word the Iliad begins with, for the wrath of Achilles. The Korybantes were also known for curing this kind of terror. Plato, in the Laws, compares their rites to a mother rocking a restless baby to sleep: in both, he says, motion and music from outside calm a fear within. The soul here is also anagnos, "unclean", and in Greek belief such a madness could be a pollution, to be washed away by rites of purification.
40.1
The Orphic Hymns 40.1 · Deo, mother of all
The hymn to Demeter as she was worshipped at Eleusis, near Athens, home of the most famous mysteries in the Greek world, opens with her names and her gifts.
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Of Demeter of Eleusis. Incense: storax. Deo, goddess, mother of all, many-named power, revered Demeter, nurse of the young, giver of blessings, goddess, giver of wealth, nourisher of grain, giver of all,