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The Orphic Hymns
the Orphic tradition · Hymn 84, lines 3–4 · Make your initiates ever-blooming
84.3
The Orphic Hymns 84.3 · Make your initiates ever-blooming
The singer asks Hestia to make the initiates shine in the holy rites: blooming, prosperous, glad and pure.
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may
σὺ1
sỳ
you
ἀναδείξαις2
anadeíxais
show forthlift up and show
τούσδε3
toúsde
these
μύστας4
mýstas
initiates
ἐν5
en
in
ὁσίαις6
hosíais
the holy
τελεταῖς7
teletaîs
rites
, θεῖσʼ8
theîs’
making them
αἰειθαλέας9
aieithaléas
ever-bloomingevergreen
, πολυόλβους10
polyólbous
rich in blessings
, εὔφρονας11
eúphronas
glad
and
ἁγνούς12
hagnoús
pure
; may you show forth these initiates in the holy rites, making them ever-blooming, rich in blessings, glad and pure;
may you show forth these initiates in the holy rites, making them ever-blooming, rich in blessings, glad and pure;
Interpretation
may you show forth these initiates in the holy rites, making them ever-blooming, rich in blessings, glad and pure;
The verb anadeiknynai means to lift something up and show it, and also to proclaim a winner or a newly chosen official. Hestia is asked to present the initiates in this way, made aeithaleis, "evergreen," like a plant that keeps its leaves all year. The hearth had its own place in the mysteries of Eleusis, where one child, called "the child from the hearth," was initiated on behalf of the whole city of Athens.
84.5
The Orphic Hymns 84.5 · House of the blessed gods
Hestia is called the house of the gods and the strong support of mortals, eternal and many-formed.
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house of the blessed gods, strong support of mortals, eternal, many-formed, most longed for, green as grass;