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The Orphic Hymns
the Orphic tradition · Hymn 54, lines 4–6 · Leader of the pastoral band
54.4
The Orphic Hymns 54.4 · Leader of the pastoral band
Silenus as the master of the Bacchic company, keeping the night watch with the nurses of the god and leading the Naiads and the Bacchae.
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ἁγνοτελές1
hagnotelés
worshipped in holy rites
, γεραρός2
gerarós
venerable
, τελετάρχα3
teletárcha
founder of the rites
of the
νομίου4
nomíou
pastoralof shepherds
θιάσου5
thiásou
band
, εὐαστής6
euastḗs
revelerone who cries euoi
, φιλάγρυπνε7
philágrypne
wakefulloving sleepless nights
σὺν8
sỳn
with
the
εὐζώνοισι9
euzṓnoisi
well-girdled
τιθήναις10
tithḗnais
nurses
, ἡγούμενε11
hēgoúmene
leading
the
κισσοφόροισι12
kissophóroisi
ivy-wreathed
Ναΐσι13
Naí̈si
Naiads
καὶ14
kaì
and
Βάκχαις15
Bákchais
Bacchae
; worshipped in holy rites, venerable, founder of the rites of the pastoral band, reveler, wakeful with the well-girdled nurses, leading the ivy-wreathed Naiads and Bacchae;
worshipped in holy rites, venerable, founder of the rites of the pastoral band, reveler, wakeful with the well-girdled nurses, leading the ivy-wreathed Naiads and Bacchae;
Interpretation
worshipped in holy rites, venerable, founder of the rites of the pastoral band, reveler, wakeful with the well-girdled nurses, leader of the ivy-wreathed Naiads and Bacchae;
A thiasos was a band of Bacchic worshippers, and it could also be a formal religious guild, with members and officers of its own. This one is nomios, "of the shepherds," a fitting word for a community whose initiates called themselves oxherds. Silenus is its teletarchēs, the founder and leader of its rites, and he is philagrypnos, "loving sleeplessness," a fit title in rites that went on through the night. The god's nurses keep the watch with him, and he leads the Naiads, the nymphs of springs, and the Bacchae with their ivy.
54.7
The Orphic Hymns 54.7 · Come with all the Satyrs
The prayer: come to the rite with the Satyrs and the Bacchae, raise the cry and reveal the night mysteries.
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Come here to the rite of all the gods, together with all the beast-shaped Satyrs, giving the cry of Bacchus the lord, escorting with the Bacchae the holy rites of the wine-press that bring fulfilment, revealing night-shining mysteries in holy initiations, crying euoi, lover of the thyrsus, calm among the bands.