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The Orphic Hymns
the Orphic tradition · Hymn 73, lines 7–9 · A sweet and honored end
73.7
The Orphic Hymns 73.7 · A sweet and honored end
The prayer: drive away the sorrows that ruin lives, and grant an end of life that is sweet and honored.
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τοιγάρ1
toigár
So
τοι2
toi
—
μάκαρ3
mákar
blessed one
, ἁγνέ4
hagné
holy one
, ἐλάσσας5
elássas
driving away
the
πολύστονα6
polýstona
grievouscausing many sighs
κήδεʼ7
kḗde’
sorrows
ὅσσα8
hóssa
that
πέμπει9
pémpei
send
βιοφθορίην10
biophthoríēn
the ruin of life
κατὰ11
katà
over
ἅπασαν12
hápasan
the whole
γαῖαν13
gaîan
earth
, ὀπάζοις14
opázois
may you grant
a
ἐσθλὸν15
esthlòn
good
τέλος16
télos
end
βιοτῆς17
biotês
of life
, γλυκερὸν18
glykeròn
sweet
and
εὔδοξον19
eúdoxon
honored
. So, blessed one, holy one, driving away the grievous sorrows that send the ruin of life over the whole earth, may you grant a good end of life, sweet and honored.
So, blessed one, holy one, driving away the grievous sorrows that send the ruin of life over the whole earth, may you grant a good end of life, sweet and honored.
Interpretation
So, blessed one, holy one, drive away the grievous sorrows that send ruin of life over the whole earth, and grant a good end of life, sweet and honored.
Polystona kēdea, "grievous sorrows," is Homer's own phrase: in the first book of the Iliad it names the sorrows Apollo sent on the Greek army with his plague. The manuscripts have a different adjective here, and the Homeric phrase is a correction this edition adopts. The request at the end, a good end of life, closes the hymns to Pan (11) and Asclepius (67) as well.
74.1
The Orphic Hymns 74.1 · Nurse of Dionysus
Leukothea, the White Goddess of the sea, was once a mortal woman, Ino, who nursed the infant Dionysus.
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Of Leukothea. Incense: aromatics. I call Leukothea, daughter of Cadmus, revered goddess, mighty, nurse of well-crowned Dionysus.