⸻ · ⸻
The Orphic Hymns
the Orphic tradition · Hymn 44, lines 10–11 · Be gentle to the initiates
44.10
The Orphic Hymns 44.10 · Be gentle to the initiates
The closing prayer asks Semele, the mortal mother who became a goddess, to be gentle to the initiates.
· · ·
νῦν1
nŷn
Now
λίτομαι2
lítomai
I beg
σέ3
sé
you
, θεά4
theá
goddess
, κούρη5
koúrē
daughter
Καδμηίς6
Kadmēís
of Cadmus
ἄνασσα7
ánassa
queen
, καλέων8
kaléōn
calling
on you
αἰεὶ9
aieì
always
ὑπάρχειν10
hypárchein
to be
πρηύνοον11
prēúnoon
gentle-minded
μύστῃσιν12
mýstēisin
to the initiates
. Now I beg you, goddess, daughter of Cadmus, queen, calling on you always to be gentle-minded to the initiates.
Now I beg you, goddess, daughter of Cadmus, queen, calling on you always to be gentle-minded to the initiates.
Interpretation
Now I beg you, goddess, daughter of Cadmus, queen, and call on you to be always gentle toward the initiates.
The request is small and specific: that Semele be prēynoos, "gentle of mind", toward the initiates. She was born mortal and became a goddess, as Hesiod and Pindar already say. The gold leaves buried with some initiates in southern Italy, centuries older than these hymns, promise the dead person the same change: "you have become a god from a human being".
45.1
The Orphic Hymns 45.1 · Come, blessed Dionysus
A short hymn, with no incense in its heading, to Dionysus as Bassareus, the god of the festival held every other year. He delights in swords and blood and in his Maenads.
· · ·
Hymn to Dionysus Bassareus Trieterikos. Come, blessed Dionysus, born in fire, bull-faced, Bassaros and Bakcheus, many-named, all-powerful, you who delight in swords and in blood and in holy Maenads,