From the book
The Orphic Collection, Volume I: The Hymns
Attributed to Orpheus · Diotimos Editions · 2026
Browse this book’s lexicon →Orientation
At a Glance
- The wordThe printed παράρυθμος concerns relation to rhythm or measure, but the direction of that relation is disputed.
- In the Orphic HymnsThe Kouretes are leapers with armed steps, foot-stampers, whirlers and criers of euhoi.
- TranslationLSJ gives “out of time” as a general orientation but specifically recognizes “in time or measure” at this Orphic locus.
- A place to readThe musical and footfall context that makes the competing readings consequential.
- English renderings
- in measure; out of rhythm
Meaning
The printed παράρυθμος concerns relation to rhythm or measure, but the direction of that relation is disputed. The supplied spelling has one ρ after παρά; LSJ’s access form παράρρυθμος has two. The spelling difference is worth preserving, but it does not itself decide between movement with the beat and movement outside it.
Use in the book
The Kouretes are leapers with armed steps, foot-stampers, whirlers and criers of euhoi. At XXXI.3 they become lyre-strikers, παράρυθμοι and treaders with light footfalls. A rhythmic interpretation connects music to coordinated movement. The English “out of rhythm” gives a contrasting, disruptive quality to the same scene. The surrounding energetic dance vocabulary can accommodate vigorous movement, but vigour alone cannot establish rhythmic disorder. The word therefore deserves more than an unqualified gloss borrowed from the translation.
Places to read
- Hymn XXXI · Line 3The musical and footfall context that makes the competing readings consequential.
Translation
LSJ gives “out of time” as a general orientation but specifically recognizes “in time or measure” at this Orphic locus. The edition’s apparatus additionally asks about πολύρυθμοι, “of many rhythms”; that is an editorial query, not the adopted verse or a securely reported manuscript reading. Keep the source’s παράρυθμοι, the translation’s choice and the lexical alternative separate. None of these words by itself identifies a human musical performance witnessed by the hymn.
Attested forms
παράρυθμοι
Occurrence inventory
1 in total. XXXI.3
Consequential readings
Lexical references
Further source
LSJ, παράρρυθμος. Lexical sense or textual qualification checked in the official Perseus LSJ entry; the supplied Greek remains primary.