The Orphic Hymns

by Unknown

  As is the case with Sun in the previous hymn, Moon appears all but devoid of her religious and mythical heritage. The focus is almost exclusively on the moon as an astronomical phenomenon; in particular, the play of light and darkness seems to have captured the imagination of the author. This hymn should be compared with the short Homeric Hymn to the Moon. For Moon’s role in magic, of particular interest are a series of prayers and invocations to Moon/Hekate (PGM 4.2241–2358, 2441–2784). Theokritos’ second idyll is a literary account of love magic in which Moon is invoked. Lucian parodies the idea of the moon as another world in his True History 1.9–27. See also OH 1i, OH 36i, and OH 71i.

  1–2 Selene, / … Moon: The hymn in quick succession invokes the moon under the two names by which she was known. “Selēnē” is derived from the Greek noun “selas,” “light, brightness, gleam” (compare Latin “luna,” “moon,” from “lux,” “light”; see also OH 71i), and might have developed as a euphemism for the moon proper (Greek “mēnē”). If this is correct, the demonic Hekate/Moon found in the magical papyri would have quite an ancient pedigree. Orphic fragment 155, describing the creation of the world by Protogonos (or its recreation by Zeus), also uses both names in close proximity: “And he conceived another earth, boundless, which Selene/the immortals call, but those upon the earth Mene;/it has many mountains, many cities, many houses.” The idea that gods and mortals call the same thing by different names appears elsewhere in epic poetry (e.g., the river Skamandros, Iliad 20.74) and this also happens among different mortals (e.g., in the case of Hektor’s child, Iliad 6.402–403). The preference in our collection for “mēnē” instead of “selēnē” might be due to the Orphic fragment, where the former is the term that mortal men use.

  3 torch-bearing: Both Artemis and Demeter are called “torch-bearing” in their hymns (OH 36.3+n and OH 40.11+n); the same epithet is used of Hekate/Artemis/Moon in the magical papyri (PGM 4.2559, 2718). The torch is one of the standard attributes of Hekate. She, along with Sun, perceived Hades’ abduction of Persephone. This pairing implies Hekate’s capacity as a moon goddess; indeed, the Greek word used of the light of her torch is selas (Homeric Hymn to Demeter 2.52 see the note to lines 1–2 above and OH 1i). Torches are also standard in processions (see OH 40.11n) and the iconography of maenads (see OH 52i).

  4 feminine and masculine: A number of divinities are described as androgynous in the collection: Physis (OH 10.18), Athene (OH 32.10), Mise (OH 42.4), and Adonis (OH 56.4). The goddess Artemis is also called masculine at OH 36.7. Protogonos is “two-natured” (OH 6.1), and this probably refers to this being’s androgynous nature; see also Orphic fragment 80, 121, and 134. One might also compare two versions of an Orphic hymn to Zeus, where the god, invoked as the embodiment of the cosmos, is depicted by a number of complementary characteristics, including masculine and feminine features, and in particular is asserted to be the sun and the moon (Orphic fragment 31.4, 6; 243.3, 16). Likewise, Dionysos and Eros are also “two-natured” (OH 30.2 and OH 58.4) which probably indicates dual gender. In the magical papyri, we find Moon invoked thus: “I summon you, triple-faced goddess, Moon, lovely light, Hermes and Hekate together, an androgynous shoot” (PGM 4.2608–2610). The dual gender of Moon is curious, particularly since she is described as “mother of time” in line 5, while Sun, who is not depicted as androgynous, is called the “father of time” (OH 8.13). The masculine side of the moon might be an oblique reference to the non-Greek moon-god Men (pronounced “main”), whose worship was widespread in Asia Minor and who is mentioned in Orpheus’ address to Mousaios at OH O.39, admittedly, however, far removed from the Moon’s presence in line 4.

  5 mother of time: Sun is called “father of time” in his hymn (OH 8.13). The ancients in general employed a lunisolar calendar. The months were calculated by the phases of the moon; indeed the words “moon” and “month” are cognate; compare also Greek “mēnē” (“moon”) and “meis, mēnos” (“month, moon”) as well as Latin “mensis” (“month”). However, in terms of a recurring pattern, a strictly lunar calendar quickly falls out of step with the seasons, which are tied to the earth’s circuit around the sun, so that the same month that occurs in winter will occur in summer within a generation. The ancients were well aware of this difficulty and so employed various means to keep the solar year in tune with the lunar months. For detailed information on Greco-Roman calendars, see Samuel 1972; for a more concise account on time reckoning, whose scope extends beyond ancient Mediterranean cultures, see Holford-Strevens 2005. The Demiurge in Plato’s Timaeus creates the sun, moon, the planets, and the stars to fix and measure time (38b–39e). Orphic fragment 156, in the context of the (re)creation of the cosmos, says that the moon was given a month-long orbit analogous to the year-long one of the sun.

  6 amber-colored: See OH 71i.

  7 all-seeing: Similar to Sun, Moon is able to see all things from her vantage point in the celestial sphere; see OH 8.1n.

  10 long-cloaked marshal of the stars: The moon, as the most conspicuous heavenly body in the night sky, can naturally be conceived as the leader of the lesser lights. At the start of the “Prayer to Moon” in the magical papyri, Moon is addressed as one “who in the triple shapes of the triple Graces, dances with the stars in festive revel” (PGM 4.2793–2795).

  12: Light in Greek literature often connotes deliverance from some trouble. This line seems to indicate that the rites performed with this collection took place at night (see OH 3i).

  10. To Physis

  Physis (Nature) was conceived by the Greeks since early times as the loosely personified sum total of the creative powers or creative genius of the cosmos at work. The word is derived from the Greek verb “phuō” which means “I grow, I am (by nature)” (a word, incidentally, cognate with English “be”). The notion, in both of its senses, was important from the earliest schools of philosophy. Indeed, there are a number of ancient philosophical treatises entitled “Peri phuseōs” (“On Nature”; cf. Lucretius’ Latin poem De rerum natura, “On the Nature of Things”). Our hymn conceives of Physis in such vague terms as to render it very difficult to point to a definite connection with any particular philosophical school. There do seem to be a number of resonances with the Zeus in the Stoic philosopher Kleanthes’ Hymn to Zeus, where the god is addressed as the “originator of nature [phuseōs]” (line 2). He is also “many-named” and “master of all” (line 1 ~ OH 10.4 and 13), “ruler” (2 ~ OH 10.3), mingled with celestial bodies (12–13; cf. OH 10.6), has powers over the earth, heaven, and sea (15–16; cf. OH 10.14), and is a “giver of all” (32 ~ OH 10.16), among other verbal overlaps. A familiarity with this work is likely. Interestingly enough, the so-called Pythagorean Golden Verses, a collection of moral precepts of unknown date but certainly well known by late antiquity, cast Physis in the role of a priestess in a mystery cult revealing secrets to the initiates: “But take courage, for mortals have a divine origin,/to whom Physis displays and shows each sacred object” (63–64, translation by Thom 1995). The language here is suspiciously Orphic, as Thom discusses in his commentary on these lines (pp. 205–212). An earlier pair of verses (52–53), which looks at the universality of nature (here probably not personified), also admits of potential Stoic, Pythagorean, or even Orphic provenance (see Thom 1995, pp. 190–191). Mesomedes composed a hymn to Physis, identifying this divinity with Sun towards the end. He apostrophizes Physis with “O you who kindle the whole world with your brilliant rays” (15–16) and calls Physis “Aion” (a figure sometimes equated with Sun in the magical papyri; see OH O.28–29n), “Paian” (= Apollon), and “Titan” (referring to Sun or his father, Hyperion; cf. OH 8.2, and for this relationship, see Hesiod Theogony 134). As in the Golden Verses, the language of mystery cults also appears in this hymn, as the poet calls on Sun-Physis to grant blessings “to your Bacchant” (19–20). Further points of contact are mentioned in the notes passim. The personified Physis also appears in the magical papyri in a number of associations. She is mentioned immediately following Ai
on in a long list of invocations (PGM 1.310), and possibly equated with Sun himself (PGM 4.939, but there is textual corruption). It is perhaps not too much of a surprise to find her identified with Aphrodite, given that goddess’ strong connection with generative powers (PGM 4.2917). This is perhaps comparable to the address as the “persuasion of the Graces” in line 13, as both the Graces and the personified Persuasion are traditionally connected with Aphrodite (see OH 55.9n and OH 60i). Also due to the association with fertility is the equation of Physis with Moon-Artemis-Hekate (PGM 4.2832). The Physis of the magical papyri shares some of the epithets used of this goddess in our hymn.

  Our composer, then, has apparently appropriated an idea found in a number of congenial contexts and adapted it to one suitable for the purposes of the collection. Physis is here presented as the mysterious and ineffable power that infuses all of creation. The position of the hymn is significant in this respect. There are many verbal reminiscences with the earlier hymns, and the birth motif makes yet another appearance. Given that Hekate and Moon are often fused together as one entity, they can be seen as functioning in the collection as a type of ring composition that bookends the hymns to the cosmic powers, who are primarily presented in abstract terms. The hymn to Physis, along with that of Pan, might very well have been intended as a summary of this earliest stage of personified abstractions, which afterward gives way to more anthropomorphic figures, starting with the twelfth hymn to Herakles. Note, too, that the hymns to Physis and Pan are also verbally connected through the frequent use of the Greek word “pan” (“all”) in this hymn, either as an independent word or as part of compound.

  1 mother of all: This is also used of Physis twice in the magical papyri: once in her identification with Aphrodite (PGM 4.2916–2917), the other time with Moon-Hekate-Artemis (PGM 4.2832–2833). An obscure poem from later antiquity on the powers of plants calls physis (probably not to be personified) by the same epithet. We find this and similar descriptive phrases applied throughout the collection to various fertility figures: Night (OH 3.1), Rhea (OH 14.8–9), Demeter (OH 40.1), Mother Antaia (OH 41.1–2), and Hygeia (OH 68.2). In particular, Earth can also have the same epithet used here (see Aeschylus Prometheus Bound 90 and Orphic fragment 243.27), and she is addressed as “mother of men and of the blessed gods” in her hymn (see OH 26.1+n).

  2 oldest of all: Mesomedes calls her the “oldest mother of the cosmos” in line 2 of his hymn.

  6–7: A similar sequence is found in line 3 of Mesomedes’ hymn: “[you who are] night, light, and silence.” Given the reference to mystic initiates in the following line of his hymn, Mesomedes might be alluding to nocturnal ritual.

  9: There are many instances of contradictory, or at least paradoxical, formulations throughout this hymn and, indeed, the collection as a whole. See lines 3, 6 (dark/bright), 8, 10, 17 (life/death), and 18. The idea of causing a quality without possessing that quality itself is already found in Aristotle’s notion of the “unmoved mover” (and note that Mesomedes calls Physis a “first principle” in line 1 of his hymn); see also line 21 of this hymn, where Physis is said to “[set] all in motion.”

  10 self-fathered: Physis is called “self-growing” (the Greek autophuē is a pun on phusis) in the magical papyri (PGM 1.310).

  14–16: Physis is not just a concretization of the powers of generation but also is responsible for the underlying ethical dimension of the world. She is Dike (meaning “right”) personified (compare OH 62 and OH 63), and “virtue” (Greek “arētē”) in line 10 might also be intended as a personification. See further OH 8.16n. Many divinities are connected with the realms of heaven, earth, and sea in this collection. Some, like Physis, are described as having dominion over them: Kybele (OH 27.4–8), Aphrodite (OH 55.4–7), and her son Eros (OH 58.5–7). Aphrodite is also said to be the source of these three spheres, as are Rhea (OH 14.9–10) and Zeus (OH 15.3–5), whose descent as the thunderbolt also affects the same areas (OH 19.12–19). Pan (OH 11.13–18) and Nomos (OH 64.2–4) keep everything in its place. Some divinities are described as dwelling in these locations: Hekate (OH 1.2), Pan (OH 11.2–3, where fire, probably a metonomy for ether, is also included), Proteus (OH 25.6–9, where he is the locus of creation by Physis), and the Kouretes (OH 38.2). In the opening address to Mousaios, Orpheus at one point invokes all the gods of the sky, air, water, earth, underworld, and ether (OH O.32–33). In a related vein, the animals that inhabit the land, air, and sea are listed at OH 37.5 and OH 78.11–12. This motif is related to that of the four elements (see in particular OH 11.2–3n). Heaven, earth, and sea figure prominently in various stories of creation. In particular, note the song of Orpheus at Apollonios of Rhodes Argonautika 1.493–502, and compare the song of Silenos at Vergil Eclogues 6.31ff., where, before his song begins, Silenos is compared favorably to Apollon and Orpheus. See also OH 34.11–15+n.

  18 father and mother of all: The earlier hymns to Night and Sky (OH 3 and OH 4) form a generative pair. Sun and Moon, as father and mother of time (OH 8.13 and OH 9.5), are similarly related, while Moon herself is both masculine and feminine (see OH 9.4+n). Mesomedes addresses Physis in line 2 of his hymn as the “oldest mother” but his later identification of the goddess with Sun-Aion-Apollon (15–20) suggests that he also saw this first principle (see line 1 of his hymn) as androgynous.

  19 swift birth: Prothyraia-Eileithyia in OH 2.4 and Artemis in OH 36.8 are also called goddesses “of swift birth.”

  19 giver of wealth of seeds: The same Greek epithet is used of Protogonos (OH 6.10, where it is translated as “of many seeds”); see also OH 6.3n.

  21–24: Possibly a reference to the river Okeanos, whom Homer calls the “begetter of all” (see OH 83i). Physis, like this river and other personified celestial phenomena (Sky in OH 4.4, the Stars in OH 7.4, Moon in OH 9.10; see further OH 8.7n), is also conceived as moving in a circle (also compare Kleanthes Hymn to Zeus 7). She is constantly changing her form in the sense that she produces an astonishing variety of living beings (cf. OH 3.8–11n).

  26 those who hold the scepter: Mortal kings are the ones who usually hold the scepter. In the Rhapsodies, we find mention of a six-part scepter (Orphic fragment 166), which seems to refer to the sequence of six rulers of the cosmos (Protogonos, Night, Sky, Kronos, Zeus, and Dionysos), while Night is explicitly said to hold the scepter she obtained from Protogonos (Orphic fragment 168 and 170, and see OH 3i and OH 15.6+n).

  27 all-taming, … fire-breathing: The same epithets are used of Ether at OH 5.3. The association with fire is perhaps related to the identification of Physis with Sun in other sources (see the introduction to this hymn) and, along with the following line (“you are life everlasting”), perhaps also is to be connected with the idea that the soul is composed of fire (also OH 5.3; see further OH 66.9+n).

  11. To Pan

  Pan is a divinity with an interesting history. He originally appears to have been a woodland god in Arkadia, one who roamed the mountains, hunted small game, and frolicked in song and dance with nymphs. He is traditionally represented as a bearded man with horns on his head, whose upper body is human and whose lower parts are capriform. Later considered to be the quintessential symbol of paganism, his features were adopted in representations of the Christian devil. Pan was worshipped in Arkadia with the traditional accoutrements of Greek religion (see, e.g., Pausanias 8.37.10), but outside of this area he was typically venerated in sacred caves or grottos. Herodotos (6.105) narrates a tale from the Persian invasion of Attika: the Athenians sent an accomplished runner, Philippides, to the Spartans in order to solicit their help, and, while he was passing through a mountain in Arkadia, the god appeared to him and asked why the Athenians did no honor to him, although he had helped them in the past and would do so again in the future. After the battle of Marathon, the Athenians decided to make good their past neglect by dedicating a cave on the northwest slope of the Akropolis to Pan. One feature of their worship of Pan was a torch-race, and it is interesting that one of the sanctuaries of Pan in Ark
adia had a racetrack, according to Pausanias (8.38.5).

  Pan was often invoked along with Hermes and the nymphs. Indeed, like Hermes, he can multiply flocks and bring good fortune to those he chooses. An example of this may be seen in one of the caves of the ancient marble quarry on Paros; there at the entrance one finds a Hellenistic frieze depicting Pan and the nymphs. A further connection with Hermes is found in many of the versions of Pan’s genealogy. He is usually represented as the son of Hermes, often through a nymph, as in the Homeric Hymn to Pan, where the mother is the daughter of Dryops. We also find Penelope, the wife of Odysseus, claimed to be the mother, with Hermes, Apollon, or even all the suitors as the father. The Arkadian connection is also seen in variations that make Zeus the father and Kallisto, a nymph and mother of Arkas, the eponymous hero of Arkadia, the mother. Other parentages are considered below.