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The Orphic Hymns
the Orphic tradition · Hymn 56, lines 5–8 · Honored with tears
56.5
The Orphic Hymns 56.5 · Honored with tears
Adonis dies away and shines again with the seasons, the hunter mourned by women, the darling of Aphrodite.
· · ·
σβεννύμενος1
sbennýmenos
dying awaybeing quenched
τε2
te
and
λάμπων3
lámpōn
shining
ἐνὶ4
enì
in
the
καλαῖς5
kalaîs
fair
κυκλάσιν6
kyklásin
circling
ὥραις7
hṓrais
seasons
, αὐξιθαλές8
auxithalés
giver of growthpromoting growth
, δίκερως9
díkerōs
two-horned
, πολυήρατε10
polyḗrate
much-loved
, δακρυότιμε11
dakryótime
honored with tears
, ἀγλαόμορφε12
aglaómorphe
of beautiful form
, χαίρων13
chaírōn
delighting
κυνηγεσίαις14
kynēgesíais
in hunting
, βαθυχαῖτα15
bathychaîta
thick-hairedwith long, thick hair
, ἱμερόνους16
himerónous
lovely of soul
, γλυκερὸν17
glykeròn
sweet
θάλος18
thálos
sapling
Κύπριδος19
Kýpridos
of Kypris
, ἔρνος20
érnos
offshootsprout
ἔρωτος21
érōtos
of love
, dying away and shining in the fair circling seasons, giver of growth, two-horned, much-loved, honored with tears, of beautiful form, delighting in hunting, thick-haired, lovely of soul, sweet sapling of Kypris, offshoot of love,
dying away and shining in the fair circling seasons, giver of growth, two-horned, much-loved, honored with tears, of beautiful form, delighting in hunting, thick-haired, lovely of soul, sweet sapling of Kypris, offshoot of love,
Interpretation
dying away and shining in the fair circling seasons, giver of growth, two-horned, much-loved, honored with tears, of beautiful form, delighting in the hunt, thick-haired, lovely of soul, sweet sapling of Kypris, offshoot of love,
Dakryotimos, "honored with tears," names the heart of his cult. At the festival of Adonis women mourned the dead youth with laments; Sappho already has a song in which girls are told to beat their breasts for "delicate Adonis." They also sowed "gardens of Adonis," pots of seeds that sprang up green in a few days and withered as quickly, and Plato's Phaedrus uses them as the picture of quick, shallow growth. The first line here says it in the hymn's own way: Adonis goes out and shines as the seasons turn. The hunting points to his death, since in the usual story he was killed by a wild boar.
56.9
The Orphic Hymns 56.9 · Below in Tartarus, then on Olympus
Born in the bed of Persephone, Adonis lives part of the time below the earth and part of it on Olympus, and the prayer asks him to bring the fruits of the earth.
· · ·
born in the bed of lovely-haired Persephone, you who at times live down in misty Tartarus, and again bring your body, ripe with fruit, to Olympus; come, blessed one, bringing fruits from the earth to the initiates.