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The Orphic Hymns
the Orphic tradition · Hymn 50, lines 7–10 · To whom you choose to show yourself
50.7
The Orphic Hymns 50.7 · To whom you choose to show yourself
More names of the god of release and of wine, and then the call: come to the initiates.
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χάρμα1
chárma
joy
βροτοῖς2
brotoîs
to mortals
, φιλάλυπον3
philálypon
carefreefond of being free from grief
, ἐπάφιε4
epáphie
Epaphios
, καλλιέθειρε5
kalliétheire
with beautiful hair
, λύσιε6
lýsie
Releaser
, θυρσομανές7
thyrsomanés
raving with the thyrsus
, βρόμιʼ8
brómi’
Bromiosroaring
, εὔιε9
eúie
Euios
, ἐύφρον10
eúphron
kind
πᾶσιν11
pâsin
to all
θνητῶν12
thnētôn
of mortals
ἠδʼ13
ēd’
and
ἀθανάτων14
athanátōn
immortals
οἷς15
hoîs
to whom
ἐθέλεις16
ethéleis
you wish
πιφαύσκειν17
piphaúskein
to revealto make known
σε18
se
yourself
; νῦν19
nŷn
now
καλῶ20
kalô
I call
σε21
se
you
μολεῖν22
moleîn
to come
μύστῃσι23
mýstēisi
to the initiates
, ἡδύν24
hēdýn
sweet
, φερέκαρπον25
pherékarpon
fruit-bearing
. joy to mortals, carefree, Epaphios, with beautiful hair, Releaser, raving with the thyrsus, Bromios, Euios, kind to all of mortals and immortals to whom you wish to reveal yourself; now I call you to come to the initiates, sweet, fruit-bearing.
joy to mortals, carefree, Epaphios, with beautiful hair, Releaser, raving with the thyrsus, Bromios, Euios, kind to all of mortals and immortals to whom you wish to reveal yourself; now I call you to come to the initiates, sweet, fruit-bearing.
Interpretation
a joy to mortals, carefree, Epaphios, with beautiful hair, Releaser, raving with the thyrsus, Bromios, Euios, kind to all, mortals and immortals, to whom you choose to show yourself: now I call you to come to the initiates, sweet and fruit-bearing.
The hymn ends on a condition: the god is kind to all "to whom you wish to reveal yourself", mortals and immortals alike. In Greek stories Dionysus is the god who arrives unrecognized. In the Bacchae he comes to Thebes in the form of a young stranger from Lydia, and only at the end does he show who he is. Some titles here are old names of the god, Bromios, "the roaring one", and Euios, from the cry euoi; one, Epaphios, is found only in these hymns, and its meaning is uncertain.
51.1
The Orphic Hymns 51.1 · Daughters of Ocean
A long hymn to the Nymphs, daughters of Ocean and spirits of springs, caves, meadows and woods, who were the nurses of the infant Bacchus.
· · ·
Of the Nymphs. Incense: aromatics. Nymphs, daughters of deep-gulfed Ocean, who have your homes in the depths of the earth with watery paths, dwelling in hidden places, nurses of Bacchus, dwellers in the earth, joyful,