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 wordἘγείρω means to rouse or awaken.
- In the Orphic HymnsHermes wakes those whom he has put to sleep (LVII.9), a direct contrast of bodily states.
- TranslationThe form ἐγρόμενον in LIII.2 is an aorist middle participle, accessed under ἐγείρω rather than a separate invented present.
- A place to readHermes reverses sleep by waking sleepers.
- English renderings
- rouse, awaken, bring into activity
Meaning
Ἐγείρω means to rouse or awaken. It can describe waking sleepers, but the hymns also use it when an activity, mental response or desirable outcome is brought into being. Active and middle forms distinguish rousing something from awakening oneself.
Use in the book
Hermes wakes those whom he has put to sleep (LVII.9), a direct contrast of bodily states. Oneiros wakes the mind while the person remains in quiet sleep (LXXXVI.4). This second passage prevents a purely physical gloss: dream can activate understanding without bringing ordinary waking consciousness.
The Charites are necessary for rousing the joys of living (LX.9), and Nomos rouses a good end of life for mortals (LXIV.7). The verb gives these desirable conditions an active emergence. In the Dionysian hymn LIII, the god wakes with the Nymphs (LIII.2) and later rouses the trieteric revel again (LIII.5). The movement from his awakening to renewed communal celebration is especially clear, while the repeated again marks recurrence rather than a first creation of the activity.
Places to read
- Hymn LVII · Line 9Hermes reverses sleep by waking sleepers.
- Hymn LXXXVI · Line 4Dream awakens the mind within sleep.
- Hymn LX · Line 9The verb activates joys rather than a sleeping body.
- Hymn LIII · Line 2The god himself awakens with the Nymphs.
- Hymn LIII · Line 5His action renews the trieteric revel.
Translation
The form ἐγρόμενον in LIII.2 is an aorist middle participle, accessed under ἐγείρω rather than a separate invented present. The apparatus at LIII.5 reports ἐγείροις against adopted ἐγείρῃς, affecting mood in the temporal clause but not the verb’s object, the renewed revel.
Attested forms
ἐγείρει; ἐγείρεις; ἐγείρῃς; ἐγρόμενον
Occurrence inventory
6 in total. LIII.2; LIII.5; LVII.9; LX.9; LXIV.7; LXXXVI.4