From the book
The Orphic Collection, Volume I: The Hymns
Attributed to Orpheus · Diotimos Editions · 2026
Browse this book’s lexicon →- English renderings
- Great; greatly; greatest
Meaning
μέγας enlarges power, honour, extent, or intensity according to its noun: Herakles’s might, Semele’s birth-pangs, the sea, heaven, and divine rulers all receive it. The neuter μέγ’ can also intensify another adjective adverbially, as with “greatly pre-eminent” in the Prayer. The superlative μέγιστος elevates different recipients and benefits in different hymns, from a greatest king to a greatest purification; these local praises do not supply one exclusive hierarchy for the whole collection.
Places to read
- Prayer to Musaeus · Line 8Read the word in its hymn.
Attested forms
μέγ’; μέγα; μεγάλας; μεγάλοιο; μεγάλου; μεγάλους; μέγαν; μέγας; μεγίστας; μέγιστε; μεγίστη; μέγιστον; μεγίστου
Occurrence inventory
29 in total. Prayer.8; Prayer.12; Prayer.14; Prayer.15; Prayer.21; Prayer.27; Prayer.28; Prayer.37; Prayer.42; VI.1; X.10; XII.5; XX.1; XX.5; XXIX.1; XXXII.1; XXXVIII.17; XXXIX.1; XLIV.4; LVIII.1; LXI.1; LXIV.5; LXX.2; LXXIII.3; LXXIV.4; LXXVIII.3; LXXXIII.6; LXXXIV.2; LXXXVI.2