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Diotimos Library · Greek Antiquity Collection · Bilingual Edition

Attributed to Orpheus

The Orphic Collection, Volume I: The Hymns

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The Orphic Collection, Volume I: The HymnsLI. To the Nymphs · Lines 1–9

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Facing Pages · Branch 87 of 147

LI. To the Nymphs · Lines 1–9

Ancient Greek

p. 168

LI. ΝΥΜΦΩΝ

θυμίαμα ἀρώματα

Νύμφαι, θυγατέρες μεγακήτεος Ὠκεανοῖο,

ὑγροπόροις γαίης ὑπὸ κεύθεσιν οἰκί’ ἔχουσαι,

κρυψίδομοι, Βάκχοιο τροφοί, χθόνιαι, πολυγηθεῖς,

καρποτρόφοι, λειμωνιάδες, σκολιόδρομοι, ἁγναί,

ἀντροχαρεῖς, σπήλυγξι κεχαρμέναι, ἠερόφοιτοι,

πηγαῖαι, δρομάδες, δροσοείμονες, ἴχνεσι κοῦφαι,

φαινόμεναι, ἀφανεῖς, αὐλωνιάδες, πολυανθεῖς,

σὺν Πανὶ σκιρτῶσαι ἀν’ οὔρεα, εὐάστειραι,

πετρόρρυτοι, λιγυραί, βομβήτριαι, οὐρεσίφοιτοι,

168

The Orphic Collection, Volume I: The Hymns: LI. To the Nymphs

p. 169

LI. To the Nymphs

fumigation from aromatics

Nymphs, daughters of great-gulfed Okeanos,

who keep your dwellings in the water-coursed hollows beneath the earth,

of hidden houses, nurses of Bakchos, of the earth, full of gladness,

fruit-nourishing, of the meadows, winding in your courses, holy,

glad in caves, rejoicing in caverns, walkers in the mist,

of the springs, runners, dew-clad, light of foot,

manifest, unseen, of the glens, rich in flowers,

leaping with Pan over the mountains, criers of euhoi,

flowing from the rock, clear-voiced, humming, mountain-roaming,

169

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.