DiotimosReading Desk

Explained vocabulary

Key-holder — κλῃδοῦχος

κλῃδοῦχος

klēidoukhos

Hecate is the key-holding queen of the whole cosmos at I.7; Prothyraia is a key-holder among welcoming and nurturing titles at II.5.

From the book

The Orphic Collection, Volume I: The Hymns

Attributed to Orpheus · Diotimos Editions · 2026

Browse this book’s lexicon →
English renderings
key-holder

Meaning

Hecate is the key-holding queen of the whole cosmos at I.7; Prothyraia is a key-holder among welcoming and nurturing titles at II.5. The compound makes control of access an attribute of the goddess. Hecate’s range is explicit, while Prothyraia’s birth-helping context provides orientation without naming a literal lock.

Places to read

  1. Hymn I · Line 7Read the word in its hymn.

Attested forms

κληδοῦχ’; κληδοῦχον

Occurrence inventory

2 in total. I.7; II.5