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The Orphic Hymns
the Orphic tradition · Hymn 87, lines 3–5 · The long, eternal sleep
87.3
The Orphic Hymns 87.3 · The long, eternal sleep
The sleep of Death loosens the bonds that hold soul and body together, and brings the living the long sleep that does not end.
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γὰρ1
gàr
For
σὸς2
sòs
your
ὕπνος3
hýpnos
sleep
θραύει4
thraúei
breaks
ψυχὴν5
psychḕn
the soul
καὶ6
kaì
and
σώματος7
sṓmatos
the body's
ὁλκόν8
holkón
holda drawing, pull
, ἡνίκʼ9
hēník’
whenever
ἂν10
àn
—
ἐκλύῃς11
eklýēis
you loosen
κεκρατημένα12
kekratēména
the fast-heldfirmly mastered
δεσμὰ13
desmà
bonds
φύσεως14
phýseōs
of nature
, φέρων15
phérōn
bringing
τὸν16
tòn
the
μακρὸν17
makròn
long
αἰώνιον18
aiṓnion
eternal
ὕπνον19
hýpnon
sleep
ζωοῖσι20
zōoîsi
to the living
, For your sleep breaks the soul and the body's hold, whenever you loosen the fast-held bonds of nature, bringing the long, eternal sleep to the living,
For your sleep breaks the soul and the body's hold, whenever you loosen the fast-held bonds of nature, bringing the long, eternal sleep to the living,
Interpretation
for your sleep breaks the soul and the body's hold, whenever you loosen the fast-held bonds of nature, bringing the long, eternal sleep to the living,
Death is sleep made permanent, and the hymn calls it "your sleep," the "long, eternal sleep." What Death does is loosen, eklyein: soul and body are held together by the bonds of physis, nature, and he undoes them. Plato gives the same account in the Phaedo, where Socrates calls death the release and separation of the soul from the body.
87.6
The Orphic Hymns 87.6 · Common to all, unjust to some
Death comes to everyone, but to some he comes unfairly, cutting short their youth.
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common to all, but being unjust to some, cutting short the youthful prime in the swiftness of life;