⸻ · ⸻
The Orphic Hymns
the Orphic tradition · Hymn 42, lines 5–7 · From the temple at Eleusis to Cyprus
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.
· · ·
εἴτʼ1
eít’
whether
τέρπῃ2
térpēi
you delight
ἐν3
en
in
θυόεντι4
thyóenti
the fragrant
νηῷ5
nēôi
temple
Ἐλευσῖνος6
Eleusînos
of Eleusis
, εἴτε7
eíte
or
καὶ8
kaì
—
ἐν9
en
in
Φρυγίῃ10
Phrygíēi
Phrygia
μυστιπολεύεις11
mystipoleúeis
you hold mysteries
σὺν12
sỳn
with
μητέρι13
mētéri
the Mother
, ἢ14
ḕ
or
Κύπρῳ15
Kýprōi
in Cyprus
τέρπῃ16
térpēi
you delight
σὺν17
sỳn
with
ἐυστεφάνῳ18
eustephánōi
fair-crowned
Κυθερείῃ19
Kythereíēi
Kythereia
, 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,
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,
Interpretation
whether you take your delight in the fragrant temple of Eleusis, or hold your mysteries in Phrygia with the Mother, or delight in Cyprus with fair-crowned Kythereia,
The "whether ... or ..." of these lines is an old way of calling a god who might be anywhere: the singer names every place the god might be, so that the call will reach. Aristophanes makes fun of the habit in the Clouds, where Socrates summons the Clouds from the peaks of Olympus or from the mouths of the Nile. Each place here ties Mise to a goddess: Eleusis, which the Homeric Hymn to Demeter calls "fragrant" with the same word used here; Phrygia, home of the Mother of the Gods; and Cyprus, the island of Aphrodite.
42.8
The Orphic Hymns 42.8 · With your mother Isis by the Nile
Last comes Egypt, with its wheat fields along the Nile, where Isis is called Mise's mother, and the prayer asks Mise to come kindly to the rites.
· · ·
or in the holy wheat-bearing plains you exult with your mother, the goddess, revered, black-robed Isis, beside the stream of Egypt with your attendant nurses: may you come kindly, bringing about good things in our labors.