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The Orphic Hymns
the Orphic tradition · Hymn 45, lines 4–7 · Come, leaping god
45.4
The Orphic Hymns 45.4 · Come, leaping god
He raves through Olympus with the Bacchic cry, honored by gods and men, and the prayer asks the leaping god to come and bring joy to all.
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εὐάζων1
euázōn
crying euoi
κατʼ2
kat’
through
Ὄλυμπον3
Ólympon
Olympus
, ἐρίβρομε4
eríbrome
loud-roaring
, μαινόλα5
mainóla
raving
Βάκχε6
Bákche
Bacchus
, θυρσεγχές7
thyrsenchés
with the thyrsus for spear
, βαρύμηνι8
barýmēni
heavy in wrath
, τετιμένε9
tetiméne
honored
πᾶσι10
pâsi
by all
θεοῖσι11
theoîsi
gods
καὶ12
kaì
and
θνητοῖσι13
thnētoîsi
mortal
βροτοῖσιν14
brotoîsin
men
, ὅσοι15
hósoi
all who
ναιετάουσιν16
naietáousin
dwell on
χθόνα17
chthóna
the earth
; ἐλθέ18
elthé
come
μάκαρ19
mákar
blessed
σκιρτητά20
skirtētá
leaper
, φέρων21
phérōn
bringing
πολὺ22
polỳ
much
γῆθος23
gêthos
joy
ἅπασι24
hápasi
to all
. crying euoi through Olympus, loud-roaring, raving Bacchus, with the thyrsus for spear, heavy in wrath, honored by all gods and mortal men, all who dwell on the earth; come, blessed leaper, bringing much joy to all.
crying euoi through Olympus, loud-roaring, raving Bacchus, with the thyrsus for spear, heavy in wrath, honored by all gods and mortal men, all who dwell on the earth; come, blessed leaper, bringing much joy to all.
Interpretation
crying euoi through Olympus, loud-roaring, raving Bacchus, armed with the thyrsus for a spear, heavy in your anger, honored by all the gods and by mortal men, all who live on the earth: come, blessed leaping god, and bring great joy to all.
The thyrsus, the god's wand, was a fennel stalk tipped with ivy or a pine cone, and in his hands it is a weapon: thyrsenchēs, "with the thyrsus for a spear". In the Bacchae a messenger tells how the women of Thebes drove off armed men with their wands; the men's spears drew no blood, while the thyrsi wounded them. The hymn ends with the god's other side, the "leaper" who brings joy to all.
46.1
The Orphic Hymns 46.1 · The god in the winnowing basket
Dionysus as Liknites, the infant who lay in the winnowing basket and grew up on Nysa among the Nymphs.
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Of Liknites. Incense: frankincense powder. I call Dionysus Liknites with these prayers, Nysian, blooming, longed for, kindly Bacchus, the lovely shoot of the Nymphs and of fair-crowned Aphrodite,