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The Orphic Hymns
the Orphic tradition · Hymn 66, lines 12–13 · Calm the fire in our bodies
66.12
The Orphic Hymns 66.12 · Calm the fire in our bodies
The last request: stop the raging of fire, the fire that is also the heat of life inside us.
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παῦσον1
paûson
Stop
the
λυσσῶσαν2
lyssôsan
raging
μανίην3
maníēn
madness
of
ἀκαμάτοιο4
akamátoio
tireless
πυρὸς5
pyròs
fire
, ἔχων6
échōn
you who hold
καῦσιν7
kaûsin
the burning
φύσεως8
phýseōs
of nature
ἐν9
en
in
ἡμετέροισιν10
hēmetéroisin
our
σώμασιν11
sṓmasin
bodies
. Stop the raging madness of tireless fire, you who hold the burning of nature in our bodies.
Stop the raging madness of tireless fire, you who hold the burning of nature in our bodies.
Interpretation
Stop the raging madness of tireless fire, you who hold the burning of nature in our bodies.
The request can be read two ways at once. "The raging madness of tireless fire" fits the fires that burn down houses, and the burning "in our bodies" fits fever: the Greek word for fever, pyretos, is made from pyr, fire. Kausis, "burning," was also a doctors' word, used for cautery, burning a wound to make it heal.
67.1
The Orphic Hymns 67.1 · Healer of all
The hymn to Asclepius, the god of medicine, opens by calling him the healer of everyone, the one who charms pain away.
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Of Asclepius. Incense: frankincense powder. Healer of all, Asclepius, lord Paian, charming away people's painful sufferings from disease,