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The Orphic Hymns
the Orphic tradition · Hymn 75, lines 3–5 · Come with a young face
75.3
The Orphic Hymns 75.3 · Come with a young face
The call: let Palaemon come to the rites in his youthful form and keep the initiates safe everywhere.
· · ·
κικλήσκω1
kiklḗskō
I call
σε2
se
you
Παλαῖμον3
Palaîmon
Palaemon
, ἐλθεῖν4
eltheîn
to come
εὐμενέοντα5
eumenéonta
kindly
ἐπʼ6
ep’
to
εὐιέροις7
euiérois
the holy
τελετῇσιν8
teletêisin
rites
, γήθοντα9
gḗthonta
rejoicing
with a
νέῳ10
néōi
young
προσώπῳ11
prosṓpōi
face
, καὶ12
kaì
and
σώζειν13
sṓzein
to save
μύστας14
mýstas
the initiates
τε15
te
both
κατά16
katá
on
χθόνα17
chthóna
land
καὶ18
kaì
and
κατὰ19
katà
on
πόντον20
pónton
sea
; I call you, Palaemon, to come kindly to the holy rites, rejoicing with a young face, and to save the initiates both on land and on sea;
I call you, Palaemon, to come kindly to the holy rites, rejoicing with a young face, and to save the initiates both on land and on sea;
Interpretation
I call you, Palaemon, to come kindly to the holy rites, rejoicing, with a young face, and to save the initiates both on land and on sea;
Palaemon is asked to come "with a young face," neōi prosōpōi, because he was a child when he went into the sea and became a god, and he stays a child; in art he appears as a boy carried by a dolphin. The prayer for safety "on land and on sea" suits a god of the sea whose own sanctuary stood on the Isthmus, the strip of land between two seas.
75.6
The Orphic Hymns 75.6 · Seen in the storm
Why he is called: in a storm at sea, Palaemon appears to the sailors and saves them from the waves.
· · ·
For always, when a storm appears, you alone appear in plain sight to sea-wandering ships as savior to mortals, warding off the harsh wrath over the swell of the sea.