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The Orphic Hymns
the Orphic tradition · Hymn 86, lines 16–18 · Tell me the messages of the gods
86.16
The Orphic Hymns 86.16 · Tell me the messages of the gods
The prayer: may Dream bring the messages of the gods with right counsel, and never show anyone signs of evil in strange shapes.
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ἀλλά1
allá
But
, μάκαρ2
mákar
blessed one
, λίτομαί3
lítomaí
I pray
σε4
se
you
φράζειν5
phrázein
to tell
μηνύματα6
mēnýmata
the messagesindications
θεῶν7
theôn
of the gods
, ὡς8
hōs
so that
ἂν9
àn
—
πελάζῃς10
pelázēis
you may come near
, ἀεὶ11
aeì
always
ὀρθαῖς12
orthaîs
with right
γνώμαις13
gnṓmais
counsels
κατὰ14
katà
in
πάντα15
pánta
all things
, προφαίνων16
prophaínōn
showing
μηδένʼ17
mēdén’
to no one
σημεῖα18
sēmeîa
signs
κακῶν19
kakôn
of evils
ἐπʼ20
ep’
in
ἀλλοκότοισι21
allokótoisi
strange forms
. But, blessed one, I pray you to tell the messages of the gods, so that you may come near, always with right counsels in all things, showing to no one signs of evils in strange forms.
But, blessed one, I pray you to tell the messages of the gods, so that you may come near, always with right counsels in all things, showing to no one signs of evils in strange forms.
Interpretation
But, blessed one, I pray you to tell me the messages of the gods, so that you may always come near with right counsels in all things, showing no one signs of evil in strange forms.
The singer asks for the good kind of dream: clear messages from the gods, and no allokota, strange and monstrous images that leave a sleeper afraid and unsure what they mean. Reading such images was a profession. In the second century AD Artemidorus of Daldis, a town in Lydia not far from where these hymns were probably sung, wrote a whole handbook on interpreting dreams, and it survives.
87.1
The Orphic Hymns 87.1 · Hear me, you who steer the lives of mortals
The last hymn of the collection, to Death, sung over frankincense powder. Death holds the helm of every mortal life and grants each its time.
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Of Death. Incense: frankincense powder. Hear me, you who hold the helm of all mortals, giving holy time to all from whom you are far off;