The Orphic Collection, Volume I: The Hymns

Name: The Orphic Collection, Volume I: The Hymns
Author: Attributed to Orpheus

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The Orphic Collection, Volume I: The HymnsXXXVI. To Artemis · Lines 1–8

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Facing Pages · Branch 68 of 147

XXXVI. To Artemis · Lines 1–8

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Ancient Greek

p. 130

XXXVI. ΑΡΤΕΜΙΔΟΣ

θυμίαμα μάνναν

Κλῦθί μευ, ὦ βασίλεια, Διὸς πολυώνυμε κούρη,

Τιτηνίς, βρομίη, μεγαλώνυμε, τοξότι, σεμνή,

πασιφαές, δᾳδοῦχε, θεὰ Δίκτυννα, λοχείη,

ὠδίνων ἐπαρωγὲ καὶ ὠδίνων ἀμύητε,

λυσίζωνε, φίλοιστρε, κυνηγέτι, λυσιμέριμνε,

εὔδρομος, ἰοχέαιρα, φιλαγρότι, νυκτερόφοιτε,

κλησίη, εὐάντητε, λυτηριάς, ἀρσενόμορφε,

ὀρθίη, ὠκυλόχεια, βροτῶν κουροτρόφε δαῖμον,

The Orphic Collection, Volume I: The Hymns: XXXVI. To Artemis

p. 131

XXXVI. To Artemis

fumigation from manna

Hear me, O queen, of many names daughter of Zeus,

Titaness, roaring, of great renown, archer, august,

shining on all, torch-bearer, goddess Diktynna, of childbed,

helper in the birth-pangs, and uninitiated in the birth-pangs,

looser of the girdle, lover of the goad, huntress, looser of cares,

good at running, arrow-pourer, lover of the chase, night-walking,

of the summons, kindly met, releaser, of male form,

Orthia, bringer of swift delivery, nurse of the young of mortals, daimon,

4.ὠδίνων ἐπαρωγὲ καὶ ὠδίνων ἀμύητε — helper in the birth-pangs, and uninitiated in them. The same noun twice in one line, once as what she assists at and once as what she has not undergone. The collection states the contradiction and leaves it; compare ἀρρήτη, ῥητή of Athena at XXXII.3, another virgin goddess given her paradox in two words.

5, 7.λυσίζωνε and λυτηριάς both belong to other goddesses elsewhere in the book: λυσίζων’ to Prothyraia at II.7 and λυτηριάς to Rhea at XIV.8, and λυσιμέριμνε in this same line to Night at III.6 and to Hermes at XXVIII.6. Loosing the girdle is a childbirth act, which is what ties the three together.

5, 12.The Artemis hymn builds its register out of epithets already spent elsewhere in the book, and not only on goddesses: φίλοιστρε of the Mother at XXVII.13 and Athena at XXXII.9, but αἰολόμορφε of Ouranos at IV.7, Kronos at XII.3, Zeus at XV.10 and Athena at XXXII.11 before it reaches her here. Of the five αἰολόμορφοι in the collection, three are male.

7.ἀρσενόμορφε, of male form — said of Artemis in a run of childbirth epithets. It is not the double nature of VI.1, IX.4, XXX.2 and XXXII.10, which is always a both; this is a single displacement, and the hymn does not explain it either.

3, 6, 7, 8, 9.Abel’s Ionic normalization is heavy here: πασιφαές, λοχείη, εὔδρομος, κλησίη, λυτηριάς, Ὀρθίη, ἀμβροσίη all replace the codices’ forms, and at 9 the manuscripts’ χθονία, θηροκτόνε (a vocative) becomes the nominative-form register the rest of the line keeps.

8.The page prints ὠκυλόγεια, a gamma where ὠκυλόχεια needs a chi — settled against the χ of χθονίη on the next line, which is a clear x-shape where this letter is a y. A third misprint of the same kind as οἰστροῖσα and γλαυκῶφ’ on p. 75; recorded, not adopted. The word is causative — she makes the delivery swift, as λοχείη at 3 and λυσίζωνε at 5 are causative — which is also why it does not contradict ὠδίνων ἀμύητε at 4.

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.