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The Orphic Hymns

the Orphic tradition · Hymn 83, lines 1–3 · Ocean, father of gods and men

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Hymn 83 · Ocean

ΩΚΕΑΝΟΥ, θυμίαμα ἀρώματα Of Ocean · incense: aromatics

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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ΩΚΕΑΝΟΥ¹

Ōkeanoû

Of Ocean

θυμίαμα²

thymíama

Incense

ἀρώματα³

arṓmata

aromatics

καλέω⁴

kaléō

I call

Ὠκεανὸν⁵

Ōkeanòn

Ocean

ἄφθιτον⁶

áphthiton

imperishableunwithering

πατέρʼ⁷

patér’

father

αἰὲν⁸

aièn

ever

ἐόντα⁹

eónta

existing

γένεσιν¹⁰

génesin

origincoming-to-be

ἀθανάτων¹¹

athanátōn

of the immortal

τε¹²

—

θεῶν¹³

theôn

gods

τʼ¹⁴

t’

and

θνητῶν¹⁵

thnētôn

of mortal

ἀνθρώπων¹⁶

anthrṓpōn

men

ὃς¹⁷

hòs

who

περικυμαίνει¹⁸

perikymaínei

surges around

περιτέρμονα¹⁹

peritérmona

the bounding

κύκλον²⁰

kýklon

circle

γαίης²¹

gaíēs

of the earth

;

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;

Interpretation

Of Ocean. Incense: aromatics. I call Ocean, imperishable father, who always is, the origin of the immortal gods and of mortal men, who surges around the circle that bounds the earth;

Ocean, for Homer and Hesiod, is a river that flows in a ring around the flat disc of the earth. The second line borrows Homer's own words. In the Iliad Hera calls Ocean "the origin of the gods," theōn genesis, and later in the same book Sleep calls him the origin of all things; the hymn adds mortal men to the gods. The address to Musaeus already named Ocean and Tethys, the old pair from whom the gods descend.

Roman mosaic from Acholla in Tunisia. Ocean rises from the sea with claws sprouting from his hair and a long beard like flowing water, among sea creatures and a small fishing boat.Bardo National Museum, Tunis · photo M. Rais, public domain (via Wikimedia Commons)

83.4

The Orphic Hymns 83.4 · From whom all rivers flow

All rivers, the whole sea, and the springs under the earth come from Ocean.

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from whom come all rivers and all the sea, and the holy, spring-fed underground waters of the earth.

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