⸻ · ⸻
The Orphic Hymns
the Orphic tradition · Hymn 58, lines 1–4 · Holding the keys of all things
⸻ · ⸻
Hymn 58 · Eros
ΕΡΩΤΟΣ, θυμίαμα ἀρώματα
Of Eros · incense: aromatics
58.1
The Orphic Hymns 58.1 · Holding the keys of all things
A hymn to Eros, the winged archer who plays with gods and men, and the power who holds the keys of everything.
· · ·
ΕΡΩΤΟΣ1
Érōtos
Of Eros
. θυμίαμα2
thymíama
Incense
ἀρώματα3
arṓmata
aromatics
. Κικλήσκω4
Kiklḗskō
I call
μέγαν5
mégan
great
ἁγνόν6
hagnón
pure
, ἐράσμιον7
erásmion
lovely
ἡδὺν8
hēdỳn
sweet
Ἔρωτα9
Érōta
ErosLove
, τοξαλκῆ10
toxalkê
mighty with the bow
, πτερόεντα11
pteróenta
winged
, πυρίβρομον12
pyríbromon
roaring with fire
, εὔδρομον13
eúdromon
swiftrunning well
ὁρμῇ14
hormêi
in his rush
, συμπαίζοντα15
sympaízonta
who plays
θεοῖς16
theoîs
with gods
ἠδὲ17
ēdè
and
θνητοῖς18
thnētoîs
mortal
ἀνθρώποις19
anthrṓpois
men
, εὐπάλαμον20
eupálamon
ingeniousskilful of hand
, διφυῆ21
diphyê
twofoldof double nature
, ἔχοντα22
échonta
holding
κληῖδας23
klēîdas
the keys
πάντων24
pántōn
of all things
, Of Eros. Incense: aromatics. I call great, pure, lovely, sweet Eros, mighty with the bow, winged, roaring with fire, swift in his rush, who plays with gods and mortal men, ingenious, twofold, holding the keys of all things,
Of Eros. Incense: aromatics. I call great, pure, lovely, sweet Eros, mighty with the bow, winged, roaring with fire, swift in his rush, who plays with gods and mortal men, ingenious, twofold, holding the keys of all things,
Interpretation
Of Eros. Incense: aromatics. I call great, pure, lovely, sweet Eros, mighty with the bow, winged, roaring with fire, swift in his rush, who plays with gods and mortal men, ingenious, twofold, holding the keys of all things:
The hymn keeps two pictures of Eros side by side. One is the winged boy with the bow, who plays his games with gods and men. The other is much older and much larger. In Hesiod's Theogony Eros is one of the first powers to exist, beside Chaos and Earth, and here he is diphyēs, "twofold," the word Hymn 6 uses for Protogonos, the first-born god of the Orphic creation stories, and Hymn 42 explains as "male and female." This Eros holds the keys of everything, and the next lines say which doors they open.
58.5
The Orphic Hymns 58.5 · You alone hold the helm
The keys of Eros open the sky, the sea, the earth and Tartarus, and he alone steers them all.
· · ·
of the heavenly aether, of the sea, of the earth, and all the breaths of every kind that green-fruited Rhea feeds for mortals, and all that wide Tartarus holds, and the resounding sea; for you alone hold the helm of all these.