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The Orphic Hymns
the Orphic tradition · Hymn 79, lines 3–5 · The first oracle at Delphi
79.3
The Orphic Hymns 79.3 · The first oracle at Delphi
Before Apollo, Themis held the oracle at Delphi and was the first to prophesy there.
· · ·
ἣ1
hḕ
who
πρώτη2
prṓtē
first
κατέδειξε3
katédeixe
showedmade known
βροτοῖς4
brotoîs
mortals
ἁγνὸν5
hagnòn
the holy
μαντήιον6
mantḗion
oracle
, θεμιστεύουσα7
themisteúousa
giving oracles
θεοῖσι8
theoîsi
to the gods
ἐν9
en
in
Δελφικῷ10
Delphikôi
the Delphic
κευθμῶνι11
keuthmôni
hollowhiding place
, ἐν12
en
on
Πυθίῳ13
Pythíōi
the Pythian
δαπέδῳ14
dapédōi
ground
, ὅτε15
hóte
when
ἐμβασίλευεν16
embasíleuen
she reigned
Πυθοῖ17
Pythoî
at Pytho
; who first showed mortals the holy oracle, giving oracles to the gods in the Delphic hollow, on the Pythian ground, when she reigned at Pytho;
who first showed mortals the holy oracle, giving oracles to the gods in the Delphic hollow, on the Pythian ground, when she reigned at Pytho;
Interpretation
who first showed mortals the holy oracle, giving oracles to the gods in the Delphic hollow, on the Pythian ground, when she was queen at Pytho;
Pytho is the old name of Delphi. The Greeks remembered that the oracle there was older than Apollo, and the Eumenides of Aeschylus opens with the priestess telling its history: Earth held it first, then her daughter Themis, then the Titan Phoebe, who handed it on to Phoebus Apollo. This hymn gives Themis the first place. The verb for her prophesying, themisteuein, is built on her own name: to give an oracle is to declare themis, what is right.
79.6
The Orphic Hymns 79.6 · Teacher of Apollo
Themis taught Apollo how to give oracles, and then the hymn calls her by four titles.
· · ·
who also taught lord Phoebus oracular law; all-honored, beautiful, revered, roaming by night;