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The Orphic Hymns
the Orphic tradition · Hymn 77, lines 4–5 · Housemate of the soul
77.4
The Orphic Hymns 77.4 · Housemate of the soul
Memory lives inside each person: she holds the mind together and makes reasoning grow.
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συνέχουσα1
synéchousa
holding together
πάντα2
pánta
every
νόον3
nóon
mind
σύνοικον4
sýnoikon
at home insharing a house with
ψυχῇσι5
psychêisi
the souls
βροτῶν6
brotôn
of mortals
, αὔξουσα7
aúxousa
increasing
εὐδύνατον8
eudýnaton
the mighty
κρατερὸν9
krateròn
strong
λογισμόν10
logismón
reasoningcounting, reckoning
θνητῶν11
thnētôn
of mortals
, holding together every mind at home in the souls of mortals, increasing the mighty, strong reasoning of mortals,
holding together every mind at home in the souls of mortals, increasing the mighty, strong reasoning of mortals,
Interpretation
holding together every mind that lives at home in the souls of mortals, making the strong and mighty reasoning of mortals grow,
These two lines put Memory to work inside each person. She holds the mind together: synechein is the verb for whatever keeps a thing from falling apart. The mind she holds is synoikos with the soul, a word for someone who shares your house, so memory is pictured as a member of the household. She also makes logismos grow. The word first meant counting and calculation, and so came to mean reasoning, the kind of thinking that keeps several things in view and adds them up.
77.6
The Orphic Hymns 77.6 · Wakeful, she brings all things to mind
Memory never sleeps. She reminds each person of what he has stored in his heart, and wakes the mind in everyone.
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sweetest, wakeful, and reminding us of all things of which each one ever lays up a thought in his heart, never straying, waking the mind in everyone.