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The Orphic Hymns

the Orphic tradition · Hymn 40, lines 1–3 · Deo, mother of all

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Hymn 40 · Demeter of Eleusis

ΔΗΜΗΤΡΟΣ ΕΛΕΥΣΙΝΙΑΣ, θυμίαμα στύρακα Of Demeter of Eleusis · incense: storax

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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ΔΗΜΗΤΡΟΣ¹

Dḗmētros

Of Demeter

ΕΛΕΥΣΙΝΙΑΣ²

Eleusinías

of Eleusis

θυμίαμα³

thymíama

Incense

στύρακα⁴

stýraka

storax

Δηοῖ⁵

Dēoî

Deo

θεά⁶

theá

goddess

παμμήτειρα⁷

pammḗteira

mother of all

πολυώνυμε⁸

polyṓnyme

many-named

δαῖμον⁹

daîmon

powerdaimon

σεμνὴ¹⁰

semnḕ

revered

Δήμητερ¹¹

Dḗmēter

Demeter

κουροτρόφος¹²

kourotróphos

nurse of the young

ὀλβιοδῶτι¹³

olbiodôti

giver of blessings

θεά¹⁴

theá

goddess

πλουτοδότειρα¹⁵

ploutodóteira

giver of wealth

σταχυοτρόφε¹⁶

stachyotróphe

nourisher of grainnourishing the ears of corn

πανδώτειρα¹⁷

pandṓteira

giver of all

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,

Interpretation

Of Demeter of Eleusis. Incense: storax. Deo, goddess, mother of all, many-named power, revered Demeter, nurse of the young, giver of blessings, goddess who gives wealth, nourisher of the grain, giver of all,

Dēō is a short name for Demeter that first appears in the Homeric Hymn to Demeter. Three of the titles in these lines are words for a giver: of blessings, of wealth, of everything. For Demeter wealth means the harvest: in Hesiod's Theogony she is the mother of Ploutos, Wealth, born in a thrice-ploughed field in Crete.

Ten fragments of a Roman marble copy, about 27 BC to AD 14, set into a cast of the Great Eleusinian Relief found at Eleusis. Demeter, on the left with her scepter, and her daughter Persephone, holding a long torch, stand on either side of a boy usually identified as Triptolemos, whom Demeter sent to teach people to grow grain.The Metropolitan Museum of Art, 14.130.9 · CC0

40.4

The Orphic Hymns 40.4 · Seed, heap and threshing floor

Demeter of the farmer's year, from the seed and the heaps of grain to the threshing floor and the first green crop, at home in the vales of Eleusis.

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delighting in peace and in toilsome labors, lady of the seed, lady of the heaps, of the threshing floor, bringer of green fruit, you who live in the holy vales of Eleusis, lovely, beloved, nurse of all mortals,

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