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 wordΔίδωμι expresses giving in a wide range of constructions.
- In the Orphic HymnsThe birth-helper is asked to grant offspring (II.13), Zeus to grant health (XV.10), and Athena to grant prosperous peace (XXXII.16).
- TranslationThe forms δίδου, δός and ἔδωκε belong to one verb despite their different appearance.
- A place to readThe imperative asks the birth-helper for offspring.
- English renderings
- give, grant, give forth
Meaning
Δίδωμι expresses giving in a wide range of constructions. The hymns often use its imperatives to request a divine benefit, but not every occurrence concerns the transfer of a material object. The object, recipient and accompanying infinitive specify what giving accomplishes.
Use in the book
The birth-helper is asked to grant offspring (II.13), Zeus to grant health (XV.10), and Athena to grant prosperous peace (XXXII.16). Nemesis is asked to grant the possession of good understanding (LXI.11), so the infinitive ἔχειν makes a desired condition, not a detachable object, the substance of the gift. Death’s distance from someone is itself expressed as giving a span of time (LXXXVII.2), a pointed reversal of the benefit normally sought from a god’s approach.
There are also descriptive, non-petitionary uses. In LIV.8 Silenos gives forth the cry of Bakchos: giving here is vocal production. In LVII.9 the past ἔδωκε introduces the grant to Hermes that explains his power over sleepers. The appended Ares hymn asks for the ability to remain within peace’s harmless statutes (LXXXVIII.16), extending the language of gift to sustained conduct.
Places to read
- Hymn II · Line 13The imperative asks the birth-helper for offspring.
- Hymn LXI · Line 11An infinitive specifies the condition to be granted.
- Hymn LIV · Line 8Giving means uttering a ritual cry.
- Hymn LXXXVII · Line 2Death gives time by remaining distant.
- Hymn LVII · Line 9A prior divine grant explains Hermes’s power.
Translation
The forms δίδου, δός and ἔδωκε belong to one verb despite their different appearance. English give or grant should be read with the whole clause. The apparatus at LIV.8 reports βακχεῖον against adopted Βάκχοιο, affecting whether the cry is described as Bacchic or as belonging to Bakchos, not changing δίδωμι into a different action.
Attested forms
δίδου; διδοὺς; δός; δὸς; ἔδωκε
Occurrence inventory
9 in total. II.13; XV.10; XIX.20; XXXII.16; LIV.8; LVII.9; LXI.11; LXXXVII.2; LXXXVIII.16