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The Orphic Hymns
the Orphic tradition · Hymn 55, lines 27–28 · I call you with holy words
55.27
The Orphic Hymns 55.27 · I call you with holy words
The closing prayer asks Aphrodite to come to the altar in her lovely form.
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ἐλθέ1
elthé
Come
, μάκαιρα2
mákaira
blessed
θεά3
theá
goddess
, ἔχουσα4
échousa
withhaving
your
μάλʼ5
mál’
most
ἐπήρατον6
epḗraton
lovely
εἶδος7
eîdos
form
; γάρ8
gár
for
καλῶ9
kalô
I call
σε10
se
you
with a
σεμνῇ11
semnêi
reverent
ψυχῇ12
psychêi
soul
and
ἁγίοισι13
hagíoisi
holy
λόγοισιν14
lógoisin
words
. Come, blessed goddess, with your most lovely form; for I call you with a reverent soul and holy words.
Come, blessed goddess, with your most lovely form; for I call you with a reverent soul and holy words.
Interpretation
Come, blessed goddess, in your most lovely form; for I call you with a reverent soul and holy words.
After twenty-six lines of names and places, the request is short: come. The singer asks her to come "having her lovely form," as if she might appear at the altar, and he says how he calls her: with a reverent soul and with holy words, logoi, the words of the hymn itself.
56.1
The Orphic Hymns 56.1 · Maiden and youth
A hymn to Adonis, the young lover of Aphrodite, spoken to as a growing plant, a nourisher, and both girl and boy.
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Of Adonis. Incense: aromatics. Hear me as I pray, many-named, noblest power, soft-haired, lover of lonely places, teeming with the longed-for seasons, Eubouleus, many-shaped, far-seen nourisher of all, maiden and youth, sapling ever shining on all, Adonis,