From the book
The Orphic Collection, Volume I: The Hymns
Attributed to Orpheus · Diotimos Editions · 2026
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At a Glance
- The wordΕἰλείθυια is a divine name associated here with assistance in childbirth.
- In the Orphic HymnsThe Prayer names Eileithyia beside Hebe and Herakles’s strength (Prayer.13) without expanding her role.
- TranslationThe supplied English retains Eileithyia rather than translating it into an asserted derivation.
- A place to readThe name appears in the general invocation.
- English renderings
- Eileithyia, birth-helper
Meaning
Εἰλείθυια is a divine name associated here with assistance in childbirth. Its local significance comes from the hymn’s actions and companion titles, not from an etymology of the name. The name can identify an invoked power in a list or contribute to a combined divine address.
Use in the book
The Prayer names Eileithyia beside Hebe and Herakles’s strength (Prayer.13) without expanding her role. Hymn II supplies the fuller setting. At II.9 she releases labour-pains amid dreadful necessities: the distress is acknowledged, and her help concerns its relief. The hymn has already described sympathy with birth-pangs and joy in easy births, so the name gathers the preceding practical assistance into a recognizable address.
II.12 places Artemis Eileithyia beside august Prothyraia. This is explicit local coordination of names and titles within one invocation. It supports reading the addressed birth-helper through more than one divine designation, but it need not become a universal claim that every occurrence of Artemis throughout the collection means only childbirth. The final request for offspring while she acts as helper gives the naming sequence a concrete outcome.
Places to read
- Prayer to Musaeus · Line 13The name appears in the general invocation.
- Hymn II · Line 9The birth-helper relieves pain within acknowledged necessity.
- Hymn II · Line 12Artemis Eileithyia and Prothyraia are explicitly coordinated.
Translation
The supplied English retains Eileithyia rather than translating it into an asserted derivation. The surrounding release, helper and offspring vocabulary explains her function more securely than a gloss attached to the name alone. Keep the name distinct from the related descriptions so that a reader can see precisely which relationship each line states.
Attested forms
Εἰλείθυια
Occurrence inventory
3 in total. Prayer.13; II.9; II.12