From the book
The Orphic Collection, Volume I: The Hymns
Attributed to Orpheus · Diotimos Editions · 2026
Browse this book’s lexicon →- English renderings
- breast; chest
Meaning
Mortals lay purposes in their breast in Mnemosyne’s hymn, and Ouranos holds Nature’s necessity in his (LXXVII.7; IV.6). The bodily image supplies an interior place of holding. Its extension to a cosmic deity should be kept visible rather than reduced either to literal anatomy or to a wholly abstract noun.
Places to read
- Hymn IV · Line 6Read the word in its hymn.
Attested forms
στέρνοις; στέρνοισιν
Occurrence inventory
2 in total. IV.6; LXXVII.7