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The Orphic Hymns
the Orphic tradition · Hymn 51, lines 7–9 · Leaping with Pan over the mountains
51.7
The Orphic Hymns 51.7 · Leaping with Pan over the mountains
Seen and unseen, the Nymphs leap over the mountains with Pan and raise the Bacchic cry. Their springs pour from the rock with a clear, humming sound.
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φαινόμεναι1
phainómenai
seen
and
ἀφανεῖς2
aphaneîs
unseen
, αὐλωνιάδες3
aulōniádes
of the glensglen-nymphs
, πολυανθεῖς4
polyantheîs
rich in flowers
, σκιρτῶσαι5
skirtôsai
leaping
σὺν6
sỳn
with
Πανὶ7
Panì
Pan
ἀνʼ8
an’
over
οὔρεα9
oúrea
the mountains
, εὐάστειραι10
euásteirai
crying euoi
, πετρόρυτοι11
petrórytoi
flowing from the rocks
, λιγυραί12
ligyraí
clear-voiced
, βομβήτριαι13
bombḗtriai
hummingbuzzing
, οὐρεσίφοιτοι14
ouresíphoitoi
roaming the mountains
, seen and unseen, of the glens, rich in flowers, leaping with Pan over the mountains, crying euoi, flowing from the rocks, clear-voiced, humming, roaming the mountains,
seen and unseen, of the glens, rich in flowers, leaping with Pan over the mountains, crying euoi, flowing from the rocks, clear-voiced, humming, roaming the mountains,
Interpretation
seen and unseen, nymphs of the glens, rich in flowers, leaping with Pan over the mountains, crying euoi, flowing from the rocks, clear-voiced, humming, roaming the mountains,
Plato's Phaedrus is set at a place like this, a spring under a plane tree by the river Ilissus, sacred, Socrates says, to some Nymphs and to Achelous. Later he jokes that he may become nympholēptos, "caught by the Nymphs", and before he leaves he prays to Pan. The hymn puts Pan and the Nymphs together too, leaping over the mountains, and gives the Nymphs the clear, humming voice of their water.
51.10
The Orphic Hymns 51.10 · Friends of goatherds and wild beasts
The Nymphs as goddesses of the countryside, wild maidens of fountains and woods and friends of the herdsmen and the wild animals.
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wild maidens of the fountains and of the woods, fragrant maidens, dressed in white, airy with breezes, of the goatherds, of the shepherds, dear to wild beasts, with splendid fruit,