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 wordΕὐδύνατος describes ample power or capability.
- In the Orphic HymnsNike is powerful and desired by mortals at her hymn’s opening (XXXIII.1).
- TranslationThe edition’s repeated greatly able preserves a useful common thread across agents and faculties.
- A place to readNike’s power is linked to mortal desire for her aid.
- English renderings
- powerful, capable, greatly able
Meaning
Εὐδύνατος describes ample power or capability. The force can be divine, practical or mental. It does not by itself assert unlimited omnipotence, and a translation restricted to physical strength would miss important occurrences.
Use in the book
Nike is powerful and desired by mortals at her hymn’s opening (XXXIII.1). The Kouretes and Korybantes are capable lords (XXXVIII.20), Leukothea powerful as nurse of Dionysos and rescuer (LXXIV.2), and Plouton powerful in the destination named by Persephone’s hymn (XXIX.20). Kronos receives the adjective as Hestia’s father (LXXXIV.1), where praise of the parent contributes to the daughter’s invocation.
The Muses and Mnemosyne passages give the crucial contrast. The Muses guide the capable mind (LXXVI.6); Mnemosyne increases mortals’ strong and capable reasoning (LXXVII.5). Here the adjective qualifies a mental capacity, not a god’s muscles or jurisdiction. Its connection with guidance and increase also presents capability as something cultivated, rather than a static possession that needs no support. The divine and mental uses share effective power without becoming identical statements about the nature of thought.
Places to read
- Hymn XXXIII · Line 1Nike’s power is linked to mortal desire for her aid.
- Hymn LXXIV · Line 2Leukothea’s capability belongs to nurturing and saving activity.
- Hymn LXXVI · Line 6The adjective qualifies mind under the Muses’ guidance.
- Hymn LXXVII · Line 5Mortal reasoning can be strengthened and increased.
Translation
The edition’s repeated greatly able preserves a useful common thread across agents and faculties. Powerful is often more idiomatic in divine address, while capable clarifies the mental examples. Neither νόος nor λογισμός in these lines establishes a technical psychological system simply by bearing the same adjective.
Attested forms
εὐδύνατοί; εὐδυνάτοιο; Εὐδύνατον; εὐδύνατον
Occurrence inventory
7 in total. XXIX.20; XXXIII.1; XXXVIII.20; LXXIV.2; LXXVI.6; LXXVII.5; LXXXIV.1