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The Orphic Hymns
the Orphic tradition · Hymn 82, lines 6–7 · Send fruitful rain on mother earth
82.6
The Orphic Hymns 82.6 · Send fruitful rain on mother earth
The prayer: may the South Wind, pleased by the offerings, send rain that makes the crops grow.
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τοιγάρ1
toigár
So
τοι2
toi
—
λιτόμεσθα3
litómestha
we pray
you
,μάκαρ4
mákar
blessed one
, χαρέντα5
charénta
rejoicing
ἱεροῖσι6
hieroîsi
in the offerings
, πέμπειν7
pémpein
to send
καρποτρόφους8
karpotróphous
fruit-nourishing
ὄμβρους9
ómbrous
rains
ἐπὶ10
epì
upon
μητέρα11
mētéra
mother
γαῖαν12
gaîan
earth
. So we pray you, blessed one, rejoicing in the offerings, to send fruit-nourishing rains upon mother earth.
So we pray you, blessed one, rejoicing in the offerings, to send fruit-nourishing rains upon mother earth.
Interpretation
So we pray you, blessed one, rejoicing in the offerings, to send fruit-nourishing rains upon mother earth.
The request is a farmer's prayer. Grain and fruit in Greece depend on the autumn and winter rains, and the South Wind is asked to send karpotrophoi rains, "rains that feed the crops." The offerings, hiera, are the incense and gifts that go with the hymn; the god is asked to take pleasure in them and to answer with rain.
83.1
The Orphic Hymns 83.1 · Ocean, father of gods and men
The hymn to Ocean, sung over aromatic herbs. Ocean is the great river that flows around the whole earth.
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Of Ocean. Incense: aromatics. I call Ocean, imperishable father, ever existing, origin of the immortal gods and of mortal men, who surges around the bounding circle of the earth;