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The Orphic Hymns
the Orphic tradition · Hymn 50, lines 1–3 · The god who sets free
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Hymn 50 · Lysios Lenaios
ΛΥΣΙΟΥ ΛΗΝΑΙΟΥ
Of Lysios Lenaios
50.1
The Orphic Hymns 50.1 · The god who sets free
Dionysus as Lysios, "the one who sets free", and Lenaios, the god of the wine-press, in a hymn whose heading names no incense.
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ΛΥΣΙΟΥ1
Lysíou
Of Lysiosthe Releaser
ΛΗΝΑΙΟΥ2
Lēnaíou
Lenaiosof the wine-press
. Κλῦθι3
Klŷthi
Hear
μάκαρ4
mákar
blessed one
, υἷʼ5
hyî’
son
Διὸς6
Diòs
of Zeus
, Βάκχε7
Bákche
Bacchus
ἐπιλήνιε8
epilḗnie
of the wine-press
, διμῆτορ9
dimêtor
twice-bornof two mothers
, πολύμνηστον10
polýmnēston
much-remembered
σπέρμα11
spérma
seed
, πολυώνυμε12
polyṓnyme
many-named
, δαῖμον13
daîmon
god
λύσιε14
lýsie
who sets free
, κρυψίγονον15
krypsígonon
secretly born
, ἱερὸν16
hieròn
holy
θάλος17
thálos
offshoot
μακάρων18
makárōn
of the blessed
, εὔιε19
eúie
Euios
Βάκχε20
Bákche
Bacchus
, Of Lysios Lenaios. Hear, blessed one, son of Zeus, Bacchus of the wine-press, twice-born, much-remembered seed, many-named, god who sets free, secretly born, holy offshoot of the blessed, Euios Bacchus,
Of Lysios Lenaios. Hear, blessed one, son of Zeus, Bacchus of the wine-press, twice-born, much-remembered seed, many-named, god who sets free, secretly born, holy offshoot of the blessed, Euios Bacchus,
Interpretation
Of Lysios Lenaios. Hear, blessed one, son of Zeus, Bacchus of the wine-press, twice-born, much-remembered seed, many-named god who sets free, secretly born, holy offshoot of the blessed gods, Euios Bacchus,
Lysios means "releasing", the god who sets people free. Plato's Republic mentions the "releasing gods" in a passage about wandering priests who brought "a heap of books by Musaeus and Orpheus" and promised to free the living and the dead from the penalties of wrongdoing by means of rites; this book itself opens with an address by Orpheus to Musaeus. Lēnaios, the other title, comes from lēnos, the wine-press, and gave its name to the Lenaia, a festival of Dionysus at Athens.
50.4
The Orphic Hymns 50.4 · A cure that ends toil
He makes the vine grow and its joyful fruit swell, and he comes to mortals as a cure for their toil.
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thriving, fruitful, increasing the joyful fruit, bursting from the earth, Lenaios, mighty, of changing form, appearing to mortals as a cure that ends toil, holy flower,