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The Orphic Hymns
the Orphic tradition · Hymn 76, lines 11–12 · Bring glory and the love of excellence
76.11
The Orphic Hymns 76.11 · Bring glory and the love of excellence
The prayer: let the Muses come to the initiates and bring them good fame and the wish to excel.
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ἀλλὰ1
allà
But
θεαί2
theaí
goddesses
, μόλοιτε3
móloite
may you come
μύσταις4
mýstais
to the initiates
, πολυποίκιλοι5
polypoíkiloi
many-coloredmanifold
ἁγναί6
hagnaí
holy
, ἄγουσαι7
ágousai
bringing
εὐκλείην8
eukleíēn
glory
τʼ9
t’
and
ἐρατὸν10
eratòn
lovely
πολύυμνον11
polýymnon
much-sung
ζῆλόν12
zêlón
emulationeager rivalry
. But, goddesses, may you come to the initiates, many-colored, holy, bringing glory and lovely, much-sung emulation.
But, goddesses, may you come to the initiates, many-colored, holy, bringing glory and lovely, much-sung emulation.
Interpretation
But come, goddesses, to your initiates, many-colored and holy, bringing glory and the lovely, much-sung desire to excel.
Zēlos can be an ugly word, "jealousy," and Hesiod counts it among the evils of the last and worst age of mankind. Its better sense, the one here, is eager rivalry, the wish to equal what one admires, and the Muses bring it together with eukleia, good fame. They bring it polyhymnos, "much-sung," a word that recalls the name of one of the nine, Polymnia, "she of many hymns."
77.1
The Orphic Hymns 77.1 · Memory, queen, mother of the Muses
The hymn to Memory, sung over frankincense. Mnemosyne lay with Zeus and bore the Muses, and she keeps memory clear of the deceptions that harm the mind.
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Of Mnemosyne. Incense: frankincense. I call Mnemosyne, consort of Zeus, queen, who bore the Muses, sacred, holy, clear-voiced, always keeping memory free of mind-harming deception,