From the book
The Orphic Collection, Volume I: The Hymns
Attributed to Orpheus · Diotimos Editions · 2026
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At a Glance
- The wordλίβανος names frankincense as an offering material.
- In the Orphic HymnsMost occurrences have the direct instruction θυμίαμα λίβανον.
- TranslationThe verse-token inventory is empty because these occurrences belong to the rubrics, not because the word is absent from the supplied book.
- A place to readA straightforward prescription of frankincense.
- English renderings
- Frankincense
Meaning
λίβανος names frankincense as an offering material. Here the relevant evidence is the rubrical prescription, not a figurative occurrence in verse. The noun should be distinguished from the compound λιβανομάννα and from μάννα alone: related vocabulary does not make differently worded prescriptions interchangeable.
Use in the book
Most occurrences have the direct instruction θυμίαμα λίβανον. They accompany recipients as diverse as Ouranos, Hermes, the Titans, Justice, Fortune, the Muses, Mnemosyne, Themis, and the winds. The spread makes frankincense a repeated offering choice, not a private emblem of one deity. The decisive contrast is LIII.rubric: the Amphietes prescription explicitly allows every offering except frankincense and also commands a milk libation. The genitive λιβάνου there is governed by the excluding expression πλὴν. Omitting that syntax would reverse the practical meaning of the source.
Places to read
- Hymn IV · Incense rubricA straightforward prescription of frankincense.
- Hymn XXVIII · Incense rubricThe same material accompanies Hermes.
- Hymn LIII · Incense rubricFrankincense is explicitly excluded, with milk separately prescribed.
- Hymn LXXVII · Incense rubricThe prescription accompanying Mnemosyne.
- Hymn LXXX · Incense rubricOne of the wind hymns using the material.
Translation
The verse-token inventory is empty because these occurrences belong to the rubrics, not because the word is absent from the supplied book. The English “frankincense” identifies the ordinary material without specifying a modern commercial species, quality, or quantity. The contrast between λίβανον and πλὴν λιβάνου is consequential and must remain visible in any practical paraphrase of the instructions.
Heading and incense rubric evidence
λίβανον · IV.rubric. θυμίαμα λίβανον
λίβανον · XII.rubric. θυμίαμα λίβανον
λίβανον · XXVIII.rubric. θυμίαμα λίβανον
λίβανον · XXXVII.rubric. θυμίαμα λίβανον
λίβανον · XXXVIII.rubric. θυμίαμα λίβανον
λίβανον · XXXIX.rubric. θυμίαμα λίβανον
λιβάνου · LIII.rubric. θυμίαμα πάντα πλὴν λιβάνου, καὶ σπένδε γάλα
λίβανον · LXII.rubric. θυμίαμα λίβανον
λίβανον · LXIII.rubric. θυμίαμα λίβανον
λίβανον · LXV.rubric. θυμίαμα λίβανον
λίβανον · LXXII.rubric. θυμίαμα λίβανον
λίβανον · LXXIII.rubric. θυμίαμα λίβανον
λίβανον · LXXVI.rubric. θυμίαμα λίβανον
λίβανον · LXXVII.rubric. θυμίαμα λίβανον
λίβανον · LXXIX.rubric. θυμίαμα λίβανον
λίβανον · LXXX.rubric. θυμίαμα λίβανον
λίβανον · LXXXI.rubric. θυμίαμα λίβανον
λίβανον · LXXXII.rubric. θυμίαμα λίβανον
Local sense
frankincense prescribed as an offering
frankincense excluded in the Amphietes prescription