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 wordβαίνω is a verb of going or stepping, including movement toward the speaker when an imperative invites a god to come.
- In the Orphic HymnsProtogonos is invited to come rejoicing (VI.10), Pan to the libations (XI.21), and Leto and Bacchos to an all-divine rite (XXXV.7; LIII.9).
- TranslationThe English can use either “come” or “go” according to viewpoint.
- A place to readThe invitation that Protogonos come rejoicing.
- English renderings
- go; come; step; proceed
Meaning
βαίνω is a verb of going or stepping, including movement toward the speaker when an imperative invites a god to come. Its complement supplies the destination or the ordered sequence being traversed. The collection also applies it to processes and musical movement, so literal footsteps are not required in every use.
Use in the book
Protogonos is invited to come rejoicing (VI.10), Pan to the libations (XI.21), and Leto and Bacchos to an all-divine rite (XXXV.7; LIII.9). The repeated imperative makes the wished-for arrival part of the prayer’s structure: divine presence is sought with a favourable emotion or benefit accompanying it.
Within Pan’s hymn, the differentiated things of the world proceed easily by his commands (XI.18). The verb now describes ordered functioning rather than a deity approaching worshippers. Apollo goes to the limits of a musical register while tuning at XXXIV.17. That motion is intelligible through the musical arrangement being explored, not a walk to a geographical boundary. The same movement vocabulary thus links ritual approach, cosmic process and harmonic adjustment without conflating their objects.
Places to read
- Hymn VI · Line 10The invitation that Protogonos come rejoicing.
- Hymn XI · Line 21Pan invited to the libations.
- Hymn XI · Line 18Processes proceeding under divine commands.
- Hymn XXXIV · Line 17Apollo moving to the limits of a musical register.
- Hymn LIII · Line 9A divine arrival requested at the rite.
Translation
The English can use either “come” or “go” according to viewpoint. The forms βαῖν’ and βαῖνε are imperatives, whereas βαίνων is a participle and βαίνει a statement. Their shared stem should not hide those different roles in the hymn’s action.
Attested forms
βαῖν’; βαῖνε; βαίνει; βαίνων
Occurrence inventory
6 in total. VI.10; XI.18; XI.21; XXXIV.17; XXXV.7; LIII.9