⸻ · ⸻
The Orphic Hymns
the Orphic tradition · Hymn 68, lines 6–7 · Only Hades hates her
68.6
The Orphic Hymns 68.6 · Only Hades hates her
One power hates Health: Hades, lord of the dead. For mortals she is rest, and their first prayer.
· · ·
δὲ1
dè
and
μοῦνος2
moûnos
only
Ἀίδης3
Aídēs
Hades
, ψυχοφθόρος4
psychophthóros
who destroys lifelife-destroying
, αἰεί5
aieí
always
στυγέει6
stygéei
hates
σʼ7
s’
you
, ἀιθαλής8
aithalḗs
ever-blooming one
, εὐκταιοτάτη9
euktaiotátē
most prayed for
, ἀνάπαυμα10
anápauma
rest
θνητῶν11
thnētôn
of mortals
; and only Hades, who destroys life, always hates you, ever-blooming one, most prayed for, rest of mortals;
and only Hades, who destroys life, always hates you, ever-blooming one, most prayed for, rest of mortals;
Interpretation
only Hades, the destroyer of life, hates you, always: you, the ever-blooming one, most prayed for, rest of mortals;
In the Iliad Agamemnon says that Hades is "implacable and unyielding, and so of all the gods the most hateful to mortals." The hymn turns the saying round: of all powers, only Hades hates Health. His title here, psychophthoros, joins psychē, life, with a word for destruction. Against him she is anapauma, "rest," the word the hymn to Prothyraia (2) used for the goddess who eases the pains of childbirth.
68.8
The Orphic Hymns 68.8 · Without health, nothing is worth having
Without health nothing helps, neither wealth at a feast nor a long life, because she alone rules over all.
· · ·
For without you all things are useless to people; for neither is Wealth, giver of bliss, sweet at feasts, nor without you does a man become an old man of many labors; for you alone rule over all and are queen over all.