From the book
The Orphic Collection, Volume I: The Hymns
Attributed to Orpheus · Diotimos Editions · 2026
Browse this book’s lexicon →Orientation
At a Glance
- The wordαὔρα names a breeze or current of air.
- In the Orphic HymnsThe western, sea-born breezes are addressed as powers at LXXXI.1 and asked to arrive favourably.
- TranslationAt LXXX.1 the apparatus reports αὔραισι against printed αὔρῃσι, a form variation.
- A place to readThe western breezes as direct recipients of invocation.
- English renderings
- breeze; moving air; breezes
Meaning
αὔρα names a breeze or current of air. “Breeze” can suggest gentleness in English, but the Greek occurrences include winter weather and the striking of the sea. Personification is strongest where the breezes themselves receive an invocation; elsewhere they supply a medium or instrument of motion.
Use in the book
The western, sea-born breezes are addressed as powers at LXXXI.1 and asked to arrive favourably. Their pleasant breath and relief from weariness make mildness central there. Hera supplies mortals with kindly, soul-nourishing breezes at XVI.3, a related sustaining function. The fragrant Nymphs and the dew-clad Clouds are also associated with well-breathing air.
The sea goddess is struck around Earth by sweet-breathing breezes at XXII.3, giving the air a visible effect on water. Boreas, however, shakes the deep air of the cosmos with wintry breezes (LXXX.1). The instrumental dative there concerns forceful weather, not merely a pleasant zephyr. These contrasts prevent a single mild or exclusively feminine divine identity from being imposed on every use of the noun.
Places to read
- Hymn LXXXI · Line 1The western breezes as direct recipients of invocation.
- Hymn XVI · Line 3Hera’s kindly currents that nourish souls.
- Hymn XXII · Line 3Breezes acting upon the sea.
- Hymn LXXX · Line 1Wintry currents in Boreas’s forceful weather.
Translation
At LXXX.1 the apparatus reports αὔραισι against printed αὔρῃσι, a form variation. A different note at LXVI.2 reports αὔραις where the printed verse has αὐγαῖς, “rays.” That rejected or alternative breeze-reading must not be counted among the six printed occurrences of αὔρα.
Attested forms
Αὖραι; αὔραις; αὔρας; αὔρῃσι
Occurrence inventory
6 in total. XVI.3; XXI.6; XXII.3; LI.11; LXXX.1; LXXXI.1