From the book
The Orphic Collection, Volume I: The Hymns
Attributed to Orpheus · Diotimos Editions · 2026
Browse this book’s lexicon →- English renderings
- Sole-born; unique in origin
Meaning
Athena is μουνογενές as Zeus’s offspring, and Demeter receives the same epithet beside “of many children” at XL.16. The juxtaposition is intelligible if the first concerns the goddess’s own origin and the second her offspring. The compound should not be translated “childless” to create a contradiction the Greek does not require.
Places to read
- Hymn XXXII · Line 1Read the word in its hymn.
Attested forms
μουνογενές
Occurrence inventory
2 in total. XXXII.1; XL.16