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Attributed to Orpheus

The Orphic Collection, Volume I: The Hymns

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The Orphic Collection, Volume I: The HymnsXXII. To the Sea · Lines 1–10

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Ancient Greek Page · Branch 47 of 147

XXII. To the Sea · Lines 1–10

Ancient Greek

p. 88

XXII. ΘΑΛΑΣΣΗΣ

θυμίαμα λιβανομάνναν

Ὠκεανοῦ καλέω νύμφην, γλαυκώπιδα Τηθύν,

κυανόπεπλον ἄνασσαν, εὔτροχα κυμαίνουσαν,

αὔραις ἡδυπνόοισι πατασσομένην περὶ γαῖαν,

θραύουσ’ αἰγιαλοῖσι πέτρῃσί τε κύματα μακρά,

εὐδίοις ἁπαλοῖσι γαληνιόωσα δρόμοισι,

νηυσὶν ἀγαλλομένη, θηροτρόφος, ὑγροκέλευθε,

μῆτερ μὲν Κύπριδος, μῆτερ νεφέων ἐρεβεννῶν

καὶ πάσης πηγῆς νυμφῶν νασμοῖσι βρυούσης·

κλῦθί μευ, ὦ πολύσεμνε, καὶ εὐμενέουσ’ ἐπαρήγοις,

εὐθυδρόμοις οὖρον νηυσὶν πέμπουσα, μάκαιρα.

88

The Orphic Collection, Volume I: The Hymns: XXII. To the Sea

p. 89

XXII. To the Sea

fumigation from frankincense-manna

I call the bride of Okeanos, grey-eyed Tethys,

dark-robed queen, swelling in fair-running waves,

struck by sweet-breathing breezes about the earth,

breaking your long waves on the beaches and the rocks,

growing calm again in soft and fair-weather courses,

glorying in ships, nurse of beasts, watery-pathed,

mother of Kypris, and mother of the dark clouds,

and of every spring that teems with the streams of nymphs;

hear me, most august, and come with favour to my help,

sending a following wind to straight-running ships, blessed one.

89

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.