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The Orphic Hymns
the Orphic tradition · Hymn 65, lines 1–3 · Lord Ares, stormer of walls
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Hymn 65 · Ares
ΑΡΕΟΣ, θυμίαμα λίβανον
Of Ares · incense: frankincense
65.1
The Orphic Hymns 65.1 · Lord Ares, stormer of walls
The hymn to the god of war opens with a string of his fiercest titles, some of them as old as Homer.
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ΑΡΕΟΣ1
Áreos
Of Ares
. θυμίαμα2
thymíama
Incense
λίβανον3
líbanon
frankincense
. Ἄρρηκτʼ4
Árrēkt’
Unbreakable
, ὀβριμόθυμε5
obrimóthyme
strong of spirit
, μεγασθενές6
megasthenés
great in strength
, ὄβριμε7
óbrime
mighty
δαῖμον8
daîmon
power
, ὁπλοχαρής9
hoplocharḗs
delighting in arms
, ἀδάμαστε10
adámaste
untamed
, βροτοκτόνε11
brotoktóne
killer of men
, τειχεσιπλῆτα12
teichesiplêta
stormer of wallsapproacher of walls
, ἄναξ13
ánax
lord
Ἆρες14
Âres
Ares
, ὁπλόδουπε15
hoplódoupe
rattling with armor
, αἰεί16
aieí
always
πεπαλαγμένος17
pepalagménos
spattereddefiled
φόνοις18
phónois
with slaughter
, Of Ares. Incense: frankincense. Unbreakable, strong of spirit, great in strength, mighty power, delighting in arms, untamed, killer of men, stormer of walls, lord Ares, rattling with armor, always spattered with slaughter,
Of Ares. Incense: frankincense. Unbreakable, strong of spirit, great in strength, mighty power, delighting in arms, untamed, killer of men, stormer of walls, lord Ares, rattling with armor, always spattered with slaughter,
Interpretation
Of Ares. Incense: frankincense. Unbreakable, strong of spirit, great in strength, mighty power, delighting in arms, untamed, killer of men, stormer of walls, lord Ares, rattling with armor, always spattered with slaughter,
Two of these titles come straight from the Iliad. Homer calls Ares obrimos, "mighty," and in Book 5 he is greeted twice with the same line, first by Athena and then by Apollo: "Ares, Ares, bane of mortals, blood-stained, stormer of walls." That last word is teichesiplētēs, the one who comes up against a city's walls. Ares was never much loved: in the same book Zeus tells him that of all the gods on Olympus he is the most hateful to him. The Homeric Hymn to Ares, which closes this book as an appendix, gives him the same obrimothymos, "strong of spirit."
65.4
The Orphic Hymns 65.4 · Strife without the Muses
More of Ares, the god who loves blood and the din of battle.
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and rejoicing in man-slaying blood, raiser of the din of war, dreadful one, you who long for the strife of swords and spears, that knows no Muse;