From the book
The Orphic Collection, Volume I: The Hymns
Attributed to Orpheus · Diotimos Editions · 2026
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At a Glance
- The wordμυστιπόλος is an adjective for celebrating or tending mysteries and can stand substantivally for people engaged in that activity.
- In the Orphic HymnsPlouton delights in august μυστιπόλοι at XVIII.18, and Sabazios and Hygieia are asked to come as helpers to such people at XLVIII.6 and LXVIII.12.
- TranslationAt XVIII.18 the verse prints μυστιπόλοις.
- A place to readSubstantival human celebrants, but with a difficult apparatus.
- English renderings
- Mystery-celebrating; celebrant or keeper of mysteries
Meaning
μυστιπόλος is an adjective for celebrating or tending mysteries and can stand substantivally for people engaged in that activity. Its actual referent must be found in the sentence. It is not invariably a human office, and a single English label such as “celebrant” becomes misleading when the word qualifies a goddess or the rites themselves.
Use in the book
Plouton delights in august μυστιπόλοι at XVIII.18, and Sabazios and Hygieia are asked to come as helpers to such people at XLVIII.6 and LXVIII.12. The human-recipient interpretation suits these petitions. At XXV.10 Proteus is likewise most naturally asked to come to the celebrants with pure providence. However, the shared dative plural also permits adjectival agreement with προνοίαις; the translation cannot alone close that grammatical possibility.
Hipta is herself μυστιπόλον at XLIX.2, rejoicing in Sabos’s rites. This occurrence describes a goddess’s sacred activity, not an official standing beside her. LXXIX.12 is still more decisive: μυστιπόλους agrees with τελετάς, the rites to which Themis is invited. The same word can thus move among human celebrants, a divine participant, and mystery-celebrating rites. Its core describes a relation to sacred performance, while grammar supplies the bearer.
Places to read
- Hymn XVIII · Line 18Substantival human celebrants, but with a difficult apparatus.
- Hymn XXV · Line 10A probable human-recipient use with an open adjectival alternative.
- Hymn XLVIII · Line 6Celebrants as recipients of Sabazios’s help.
- Hymn XLIX · Line 2The adjective directly describes Hipta.
- Hymn LXVIII · Line 12Health invited to help the celebrants.
- Hymn LXXIX · Line 12The adjective agrees with rites, not personnel.
Translation
At XVIII.18 the verse prints μυστιπόλοις. The apparatus instead labels its adopted side μυστοπόλοις with an express query and reports μουσιπόλοις. These three strings must remain distinct; the reported form should not be silently respelled as a familiar Muse-service word. Elsewhere the English appropriately varies between keepers, celebrants, and mystery-celebrating rites, though XXV.10 retains real syntactic uncertainty.
Attested forms
μυστιπόλοις; μυστιπόλοισιν; μυστιπόλον; μυστιπόλους
Occurrence inventory
6 in total. XVIII.18; XXV.10; XLVIII.6; XLIX.2; LXVIII.12; LXXIX.12
Consequential readings
Lexical references
Further source
LSJ, n69482. Checked lexical range and formation against the official Perseus LSJ entry.