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The Orphic Hymns
the Orphic tradition · Hymn 61, lines 1–2 · All-seeing Nemesis
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Hymn 61 · Nemesis
ΝΕΜΕΣΕΩΣ ΥΜΝΟΣ
A hymn of Nemesis
61.1
The Orphic Hymns 61.1 · All-seeing Nemesis
A hymn to Nemesis, the goddess of retribution, who watches the lives of all mortals; its heading names no incense.
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ΥΜΝΟΣ1
hýmnos
A hymn
ΝΕΜΕΣΕΩΣ2
Neméseōs
of Nemesisretribution
. Ὦ3
Ô
O
Νέμεσι4
Némesi
Nemesis
, κλῄζω5
klḗizō
I call
σε6
se
you
, θεά7
theá
goddess
, μεγίστη8
megístē
greatest
βασίλεια9
basíleia
queen
, πανδερκής10
panderkḗs
all-seeing
, ἐσορῶσα11
esorôsa
who watch
βίον12
bíon
the life
θνητῶν13
thnētôn
of mortals
πολυφύλων14
polyphýlōn
of many tribes
; A hymn of Nemesis. O Nemesis, I call you, goddess, greatest queen, all-seeing, who watch the life of mortals of many tribes;
A hymn of Nemesis. O Nemesis, I call you, goddess, greatest queen, all-seeing, who watch the life of mortals of many tribes;
Interpretation
A hymn of Nemesis. O Nemesis, I call you, goddess, greatest queen, all-seeing, who watch over the life of mortals of many tribes;
Nemesis comes from nemō, "to deal out": properly the dealing out of what is due, and in use the anger roused by injustice. Hesiod makes her a daughter of Night. She had a famous temple at Rhamnous in Attica, and Smyrna, in the region where these hymns were probably composed, honored two Nemeseis side by side. The hymn calls her panderkēs, "all-seeing," and much of what follows is about what she sees.
61.3
The Orphic Hymns 61.3 · Hating the many-colored word
Nemesis delights only in the just and hates shifty speech; all mortals fear her and bow under her yoke.
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eternal, most revered, delighting only in the just, but hating many-colored speech, ever unstable; whom all mortals fear, having put the yoke on their neck;