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The Orphic Hymns
the Orphic tradition · Hymn 42, lines 1–4 · Mise, male and female
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Hymn 42 · Mise
ΜΙΣΗΣ, θυμίαμα στύρακα
Of Mise · incense: storax
42.1
The Orphic Hymns 42.1 · Mise, male and female
A hymn to Mise, a little-known goddess, who is called on together with Dionysus. She is male and female at once, and she is named Iakchos, the god of the Eleusinian procession.
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ΜΙΣΗΣ1
Mísēs
Of Mise
. θυμίαμα2
thymíama
Incense
στύρακα3
stýraka
storax
. καλέω4
kaléō
I call
Διόνυσον5
Diónyson
Dionysus
Θεσμοφόρον6
Thesmophóron
the Lawgiverlaw-bringing
, ναρθηκοφόρον7
narthēkophóron
bearer of the fennel wand
, πολύμνηστον8
polýmnēston
the much-remembered
πολυώνυμον9
polyṓnymon
many-named
σπέρμα10
spérma
seed
Εὐβουλῆος11
Euboulêos
of Eubouleus
, τʼ12
t’
and
ἁγνήν13
hagnḗn
pure
τε14
te
and
εὐίερόν15
euíerón
holy
Μίσην16
Mísēn
Mise
, ἄρρητον17
árrēton
the secretnot to be spoken
ἄνασσαν18
ánassan
queen
, ἄρσενα19
ársena
male
καὶ20
kaì
and
θῆλυν21
thêlyn
female
, διφυῆ22
diphyê
two-natured
, Ἴακχον23
Íakchon
Iakchos
λύσειον24
lýseion
who sets free
; Of Mise. Incense: storax. I call Dionysus the Lawgiver, bearer of the fennel wand, the much-remembered, many-named seed of Eubouleus, and pure and holy Mise, the secret queen, male and female, two-natured, Iakchos, who sets free;
Of Mise. Incense: storax. I call Dionysus the Lawgiver, bearer of the fennel wand, the much-remembered, many-named seed of Eubouleus, and pure and holy Mise, the secret queen, male and female, two-natured, Iakchos, who sets free;
Interpretation
Of Mise. Incense: storax. I call Dionysus the Lawgiver, who carries the fennel wand, the much-remembered, many-named seed of Eubouleus, and pure and holy Mise, the secret queen, male and female, of double nature, Iakchos who sets free;
Thesmophoros, "bringer of laws", is the standing title of Demeter, whose festival for women was the Thesmophoria, and here it is given to Dionysus. The narthēx was the hollow fennel stalk his worshippers carried as a wand; in Plato's Phaedo Socrates quotes a saying of the mysteries, "many carry the fennel wand, but few are Bacchants". Mise herself is barely known outside this hymn. She is both male and female, and the hymn calls her Iakchos, the name that was shouted in the procession from Athens to Eleusis.
42.5
The Orphic Hymns 42.5 · From the temple at Eleusis to Cyprus
Mise is at home in many places: the temple at Eleusis, Phrygia with the Mother of the Gods, and Cyprus with Aphrodite.
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whether you delight in the fragrant temple of Eleusis, or in Phrygia you hold mysteries with the Mother, or in Cyprus you delight with fair-crowned Kythereia,