Diotimos Library · Greek Antiquity Collection · Bilingual Edition
The Orphic Collection, Volume I: The Hymns
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Facing Pages · Branch 43 of 147
XIX. To Zeus of the Thunderbolt · Lines 9–16
Ancient Greek
p. 80XIX. ΚΕΡΑΥΝΙΟΥ ΔΙΟΣ
θυμίαμα στύρακα
αἰφνίδιον, βρονταῖον, ἀνίκητον βέλος ἁγνὸν
ῥοίζου ἀπειρεσίου δινεύμασι, παμφάγον ὁρμῇ,
ἄρρηκτον, βαρύθυμον, ἀμαιμάκετον, πρηστῆρος
οὐράνιον βέλος ὀξὺ καταιβάτου αἰθαλόεντος,
ὃν καὶ γαῖα πέφρικε θάλασσά τε παμφανόωντα,
καὶ θῆρες πτήσσουσιν, ὅτ’ ἂν κτύπος οὖας ἐσέλθῃ·
μαρμαίρει δὲ πρόσωπ’ αὐγαῖς, σμαραγεῖ δὲ κεραυνὸς
αἰθέρος ἐν γυάλοισι· διαρρήξας δὲ χιτῶνα
The Orphic Collection, Volume I: The Hymns: XIX. To Zeus of the Thunderbolt
p. 81XIX. To Zeus of the Thunderbolt
fumigation from storax
sudden, thundering, an unconquered and holy shaft
in the whirlings of a boundless whirr, all-devouring in its rush,
unbreakable, heavy in wrath, resistless — the whirlwind's
sharp heavenly shaft, smoky and rushing down,
at which, blazing forth, both earth and sea have shuddered,
and the beasts crouch, when the crash enters the ear;
and faces glitter in the flashes, and the thunderbolt crashes
in the hollows of the aither; and tearing the tunic,
Socrates
Reading The Orphic Collection, Volume I: The Hymns · XIX. To Zeus of the Thunderbolt · XIX. To Zeus of the Thunderbolt · Lines 9–16
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Socrates will begin with this book and its sources.About This Reading Edition
The eighty-eight Orphic Hymns and the Prayer to Musaeus, in Ancient Greek and English, with the supplied critical apparatus, explanatory notes, introduction, glossary and editorial matter.
Historical Text and Translation
Orphic Hymns, attributed to Orpheus. Greek text after Eugenius Abel, Orphica (Leipzig and Prague, 1885), pages 57–102.
About Diotimos Editions
This historical edition credits Diotimos Editions as its English translator.
Rights
The ancient Greek source and the 1885 Abel edition are public-domain material. The supplied new English translation and editorial matter are published with the site owner’s authorization. Both supplied original files remain unchanged.