⸻ · ⸻
The Orphic Hymns
the Orphic tradition · Hymn 79, lines 11–12 · Come gracious to your rites
79.11
The Orphic Hymns 79.11 · Come gracious to your rites
The prayer: may the maiden come with a kind will to her holy rites.
· · ·
ἀλλά1
allá
But
, μάκαιρʼ2
mákair’
blessed one
, ἔλθοις3
élthois
may you come
κεχαρισμένη4
kecharisménē
gracious
, εὔφρονι5
eúphroni
with kindly
βουλῇ6
boulêi
will
, ἐπὶ7
epì
to
σέο8
séo
your
εὐιέρους9
euiérous
holy
μυστιπόλους10
mystipólous
mysticcelebrating mysteries
τελετὰς11
teletàs
rites
, κούρη12
koúrē
maiden
. But, blessed one, may you come gracious, with kindly will, to your holy, mystic rites, maiden.
But, blessed one, may you come gracious, with kindly will, to your holy, mystic rites, maiden.
Interpretation
But, blessed one, come gracious and with a kindly will to your holy rites of the mysteries, maiden.
The hymn ends where it began, calling Themis kourē, "maiden." The rites she is asked to attend are her own, mystipoloi, "celebrating the mysteries." The edition prints kecharismenē, "gracious" or "welcome," an editor's correction; the manuscripts have kecharēmenē, "rejoicing," a word these hymns often use when they ask a god to come.
80.1
The Orphic Hymns 80.1 · Come from snowy Thrace
The hymn to Boreas, the North Wind, sung over frankincense. He is called to come down from Thrace, the cold land to the north of Greece.
· · ·
Of Boreas. Incense: frankincense. Shaking the deep air of the world with wintry gusts, freezing Boreas, come from snowy Thrace,