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The Orphic Hymns
the Orphic tradition · Hymn 60, lines 4–5 · Mothers of joy
60.4
The Orphic Hymns 60.4 · Mothers of joy
The Graces are praised as the source of joy, always young and always longed for.
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γενέτειραι1
genéteirai
mothers
χαρμοσύνης2
charmosýnēs
of joy
, ἐράσμιαι3
erásmiai
lovely
, εὔφρονες4
eúphrones
cheerful
, ἁγναί5
hagnaí
pure
, αἰολόμορφοι6
aiolómorphoi
of changing form
, ἀειθαλέες7
aeithalées
ever-bloomingevergreen
, ποθειναί8
potheinaí
longed for
θνητοῖσι9
thnētoîsi
by mortals
; mothers of joy, lovely, cheerful, pure, of changing form, ever-blooming, longed for by mortals;
mothers of joy, lovely, cheerful, pure, of changing form, ever-blooming, longed for by mortals;
Interpretation
mothers of joy, lovely, cheerful, pure, of changing form, ever-blooming, longed for by mortals;
Their name is the word charis, one of the richest in Greek. It means grace and charm, and also a favor done and the gratitude that answers it, so the pleasure of a gift given and returned belongs to the Graces. The hymn calls them "mothers of joy," charmosynē, a word from the same root as chara, "joy," and chairō, "rejoice." They are also aeithaleis, "ever-blooming," a word used of evergreen trees.
60.6
The Orphic Hymns 60.6 · Without you, no joy
Nothing in life gives joy without the Graces. In the manuscripts these four lines stand in the hymn to the Erinyes; editors moved them here.
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For neither the swift flames of the sun nor of the moon, nor the ease of wisdom, of virtue and of active boldness, nor of life's sleek, lovely youth, wakes the joys of life without you.