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The Orphic Hymns
the Orphic tradition · Hymn 62, lines 1–3 · The eye of Justice
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Hymn 62 · Dike, goddess of justice
ΔΙΚΗΣ, θυμίαμα λίβανον
Of Dike · incense: frankincense
62.1
The Orphic Hymns 62.1 · The eye of Justice
A hymn to Dike, Justice as a goddess, who sits beside the throne of Zeus and looks down on the life of mortals.
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ΔΙΚΗΣ1
Díkēs
Of DikeJustice
. θυμίαμα2
thymíama
Incense
λίβανον3
líbanon
frankincense
. μέλπω4
mélpō
I sing
Ὄμμα5
Ómma
the eye
of
πανδερκέος6
panderkéos
all-seeing
Δίκης7
Díkēs
Justice
, ἀγλαομόρφου8
aglaomórphou
of beautiful form
, ἣ9
hḕ
who
καὶ10
kaì
—
ἵζει11
hízei
sits
ἐπὶ12
epì
at
the
ἱερὸν13
hieròn
holy
θρόνον14
thrónon
throne
ἄνακτος15
ánaktos
of lord
Ζηνὸς16
Zēnòs
Zeus
, καθορῶσα17
kathorôsa
looking down
οὐρανόθεν18
ouranóthen
from heaven
on
βίον19
bíon
the life
θνητῶν20
thnētôn
of mortals
πολυφύλων21
polyphýlōn
of many tribes
, Of Dike. Incense: frankincense. I sing the eye of all-seeing Justice, of beautiful form, who sits at the holy throne of lord Zeus, looking down from heaven on the life of mortals of many tribes,
Of Dike. Incense: frankincense. I sing the eye of all-seeing Justice, of beautiful form, who sits at the holy throne of lord Zeus, looking down from heaven on the life of mortals of many tribes,
Interpretation
Of Dike. Incense: frankincense. I sing the eye of all-seeing Justice, of beautiful form, who sits at the holy throne of lord Zeus and looks down from heaven on the life of mortals of many tribes,
The hymn sings the eye of Justice before it sings Justice herself: Dikē is the one who sees what everyone does. Hesiod's Works and Days already sets her beside her father Zeus. When anyone does her wrong, he says, she sits down beside Zeus and tells him of the unjust minds of men, and the whole people pays for the wrongs of its rulers. The book comes back to her eye in the hymn to the Erinyes (69), who watch over it.
62.4
The Orphic Hymns 62.4 · Weight and balance
Justice falls heavily on the unjust, and brings unlike things together by the rule of equality.
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a just avenger to the unjust, falling heavily on them, bringing together unlike things by truth, on the basis of equality;