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The Orphic Hymns
the Orphic tradition · Hymn 41, lines 6–8 · Guided below by the child of Dysaules
41.6
The Orphic Hymns 41.6 · Guided below by the child of Dysaules
Her guide below was the holy child of Dysaules, who showed her where Persephone lay with the king of the dead. Then the goddess gave birth, like a mortal woman, to a child, Eubouleus.
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λαχοῦσα1
lachoûsa
having gainedgetting by lot
ὁδηγητῆρα2
hodēgētêra
as your guide
ἁγνὸν3
hagnòn
the holy
παῖδα4
paîda
child
Δυσαύλου5
Dysaúlou
of Dysaules
, μηνυτῆρʼ6
mēnytêr’
revealerinformer
ἁγίων7
hagíōn
of the sacred
λέκτρων8
léktrōn
bed
ἁγνοῦ9
hagnoû
of holy
Διὸς10
Diòs
Zeus
χθονίου11
chthoníou
of the underworld
, τεκοῦσα12
tekoûsa
giving birth to
Εὐβουλῆα13
Euboulêa
Eubouleushe of good counsel
, θεὰ14
theà
a goddess
ὑπʼ15
hyp’
under
θνητῆς16
thnētês
mortal
ἀνάγκης17
anánkēs
necessity
. having gained as your guide the holy child of Dysaules, revealer of the sacred bed of holy Zeus of the underworld, giving birth to Eubouleus, a goddess under mortal necessity.
having gained as your guide the holy child of Dysaules, revealer of the sacred bed of holy Zeus of the underworld, giving birth to Eubouleus, a goddess under mortal necessity.
Interpretation
having gained as your guide the holy child of Dysaules, who revealed the sacred bed of holy Zeus of the underworld; and you, a goddess, gave birth to Eubouleus under a mortal's necessity.
Dysaules belongs to the stories of Eleusis. Pausanias, who described Greece in the second century AD, reports that verses going under the name of Orpheus made Dysaules the father of Triptolemos and Eubouleus, who told Demeter what had happened to her daughter, and that in return she let them sow her grain. The hymn calls the guide a mēnytēr, an "informer" or "revealer", one who tells what was hidden, and "Zeus of the underworld" is Hades. In the hymn's own version the goddess then gives birth herself, "under mortal necessity", as a woman does, and her child is Eubouleus, "good counsel", a name these hymns also give to Dionysus (30, 52).
41.9
The Orphic Hymns 41.9 · Come to your initiate
The prayer: come, gracious, to the initiate who prays.
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But I beg you, goddess, queen sought with many prayers, to come gracious to your devout initiate.