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The Orphic Hymns
the Orphic tradition · Hymn 55, lines 8–10 · Seen and unseen
55.8
The Orphic Hymns 55.8 · Seen and unseen
More titles: the goddess of feasts and weddings, of persuasion and secrecy.
· · ·
τερπομένη1
terpoménē
delighting
θαλίῃσι2
thalíēisi
in feasts
, γαμοστόλε3
gamostóle
maker of weddingspreparing a wedding
, μῆτερ4
mêter
mother
ἐρώτων5
erṓtōn
of desires
, λεκτροχαρές6
lektrocharés
delighting in the marriage-bed
πειθοῖ7
peithoî
through persuasion
, κρυφίη8
kryphíē
secret
, ἄνασσα9
ánassa
queen
χαριδῶτι10
charidôti
giver of joy
, φαινομένη11
phainoménē
seenappearing
and
ἀφανής12
aphanḗs
unseen
, ἐρασιπλόκαμʼ13
erasiplókam’
with lovely tressesdecked with love-locks
, εὐπατέρεια14
eupatéreia
daughter of a noble father
, delighting in feasts, maker of weddings, mother of desires, delighting in the marriage-bed through persuasion, secret, queen, giver of joy, seen and unseen, with lovely tresses, daughter of a noble father,
delighting in feasts, maker of weddings, mother of desires, delighting in the marriage-bed through persuasion, secret, queen, giver of joy, seen and unseen, with lovely tresses, daughter of a noble father,
Interpretation
delighting in feasts, maker of weddings, mother of desires, delighting in the marriage-bed through persuasion, secret, queen and giver of joy, seen and unseen, with lovely tresses, daughter of a noble father,
The list holds opposites together. She is phainomenē and aphanēs, seen and unseen, as Prothyraia was in the second hymn: a power no one sees, whose work everyone sees. Peithō, persuasion, was a goddess too, Aphrodite's companion in poetry and in cult, and here it is the way love reaches the marriage-bed. Eupatereia, "daughter of a noble father," is a Homeric word, used in the epics of Helen.
55.11
The Orphic Hymns 55.11 · Unbridled necessities
Aphrodite gives life and heirs, and binds every mortal and every beast with the force of desire.
· · ·
bridal, companion at the feast, sceptre-bearer of the gods, wolfish one, giver of heirs, lover of men, most longed for, giver of life, who have yoked mortals in unbridled necessities, and the great tribe of beasts by love-maddening charms;