The Orphic Hymns

by Unknown

  Pan was connected with sudden bouts of fear or madness (whence English “panic”), already in the Classical period (e.g., Euripides Medeia 1172). The Homeric Hymn to Pan alludes to this attribute in the birth of Pan. When the mother and nurse see the baby born with a beard and goat features, they run away screaming, while the father, Hermes, happily scoops up the infant in his arms and brings him to Olympos; all the gods delight in the baby, Dionysos most of all (19.27–47; see also OH 14i and OH 46.7n). Pan’s madness could overtake men and beasts in the lonely places of mountains, and sometimes the explanation is put forth that this was due to a sudden gust of wind from the instrument of Pan, the panpipes, constructed out of a number of reeds bound together and stopped with wax (see below and the notes to lines 7 and 9). In literature and iconography Pan is often portrayed carrying this instrument. It was also supposed that “panic” was a frenzy occasioned by being directly possessed by the god; see OH 52.7–8n and cf. OH 30i+4n.

  It is perhaps this notion of madness and possession that brought Pan into the orbit of ecstatic and mystery cults. As already mentioned, he is particularly tied to Dionysos in the Homeric Hymn to Pan, and he is often found in the Dionysian thiasos. Both divinities also share a connection with pastoral settings and nymphs. Pindar brings Pan together with Mother: he puts him in her retinue (Pythian Odes 3.77–79) and calls him the “attendant” (fragment 95) and “dog” (fragment 96) of the goddess. Pan is associated with other divinities connected with madness. The nurse in Euripides’ Hippolytos asks Phaedra if she is possessed by Pan, Hekate, the Korybantes, or Kybele, the mountain mother (141–144); see also OH 27.8n. Madness and frenzy play a role in our hymn and elsewhere in the collection with similar entities; see OH 27.13n and OH 71.11n. One obscure genealogy of Pan makes him the son of Ether and a nymph named Oinoe. Given the role of Ether in Orphic mythology, it is tempting to see an Orphic source for this notice. Mysterious, too, is the story of the death of Pan, told by Plutarch at De defectu oraculorum 419b–e. As a ship was heading up the coast of Epiros in northwest Greece at the time of the Emperor Tiberius, a voice from an island called out to the Egyptian helmsman Thamous, who ignored the voice twice but responded after a third time. The voice bade him to announce to the land by Lake Palodes that “Pan the Great has died.” Thamous does so, and even before he finishes his words, groaning and shouts of amazement were heard from somewhere on land.

  Possibly also in the context of mystery cults there developed the notion of the “cosmic” Pan as found in our hymn. It was sometimes claimed that he did not have any parents but was “without a father” or “autochthonic” and “earth-born.” One obscure writer calls Pan “celestial.” Of particular interest is a recurring notion that the physical constitution of Pan symbolizes the entire universe. The horns on his head represent both the rays of the sun and the horns of the moon. His ruddy complexion is the ether. The leopard or fawn skin he wears (a typical article of clothing for a follower of Dionysos), being spotted, refers to the stars in the sky. His hairy lower shanks correspond to the trees and shrubbery that clothe the earth, and his hard goat hooves suggest the stability of solid ground (cf. also OH 10.14–16n and OH 15.3–5n). Two other notable attributes are mentioned by Servius in his commentary on Vergil’s Eclogues 2.31. He says that the shepherd’s crook that Pan holds, because it is curved back, points to the recurring year and that the panpipes he holds are made up of seven reeds, corresponding to the seven notes of the cosmic harmony. In this context Servius refers to Vergil Aeneid 6.645, where Orpheus (the “Thracian priest”) is depicted in the Elysian Fields, playing his seven-stringed lyre. Note, too, that Sun in his hymn is represented as playing the cosmic harmony by the lyre and by piping (OH 8.11+n). It is unclear where Servius is drawing this connection between the music of “cosmic” Pan and Orpheus, although it is likely he has the poem entitled Lyre in mind, which was attributed to Orpheus (Orphic fragment 417–420; see also West 1983, pp. 29–32). It is also suggestive that in the Orphic theogony reported by Hieronymos, Protogonos was called Zeus, who, as master of the entire cosmos, was also known as Pan (Orphic fragment 86; see also note to lines 10–12). In this context, note that Silenos, a figure with much affinity with Pan, sings a song of creation at Vergil Eclogues 6.31ff. (see OH 10.14–16n).

  This identification of Pan and Zeus helps explain why Pan became a god whose domain extends over all creation. The Greek word for “all, whole, entire” is “pan,” and we find such etymologizing explanations mentioned elsewhere in the context of “cosmic” Pan (cf. OH 25i). This seems to be a later development, though, and other explanations of this god’s name were offered earlier. In the Homeric Hymn to Pan, it is explained he was called Pan because “all” the gods took delight in him (19.47). Writers who make “all” the suitors of Penelope the father of this god offer a more salacious hypothesis. The root “pa” seen in the Greek “*pasomai” (“I will acquire”) and Latin “pascor” (“I feed, graze on”) is a more likely ancestor to the name Pan. He is the god who nourishes the flocks and can increase their number.

  This hymn, like Pan himself, is a hybrid mix, combining a charming rustic materialism with the sublime power that permeates all creation. Similar to Physis in the previous hymn, Pan is connected with growth and nourishment of life (note the appearance of the birthing motif again). Indeed, the epithet “begetter of all” (“pantophuēs”) in line 10 combines words that are cognate with both divinities. And also like the previous hymn, this one serves as a summary of the cosmic powers already honored (see also OH 10i). Thus Pan functions as a transition to the more anthropomorphic figure of Herakles of the next hymn.

  One detail that perhaps is not directly relevant to this hymn but deserves mention is that Herodotos in his digression treating Egypt in book two of his Histories mentions that the Greek divinities Dionysos, Herakles, and Pan have a different chronology from their Egyptian counterparts (2.145). For the Greeks, the order of birth is Dionysos, Herakles, Pan (Herodotos making him the son of Penelope and Hermes, and thus born after the Trojan War), while the Egyptians place their Pan among the eight primeval gods (the Ogdoad), Herakles among the subsequent dynasty of the twelve gods, and Dionysos in a third dynasty. While admittedly there is little Egyptian influence on our collection, it is certainly possible that a distant source for the “Titan” Herakles in the subsequent hymn was influenced by the same account related by Herodotos (or even by Herodotos’ account itself).

  2–3: The sky, sea, land, and fire (probably the ether is meant) correspond to the four elements: air, water, earth, and fire (see lines 13–18, OH 5.4n and OH 14.9–10n). A similar broad range of domains is found in many hymns in the collection; see OH 10.14–16n.

  5 reveling: The word has distinct Bacchic connotations, and Pan has a special relation to Dionysos; see the introduction to this hymn and OH 52i.

  7 fantasies of dread: A reference to Pan’s madness, which he is asked to banish at the end of the hymn. A number of divinities in the collection have similar powers; see OH 71.11n.

  9 dance with the Nymphs, … lover of Echo: Pan is often found carousing with nymphs, and there are a number of similarities between this hymn and the one to the Nymphs (OH 51). The two are mentioned in the same line of Orpheus’ address to Mousaios (OH O.15). Despite Pan’s proud assertion of bachelorhood in Lucian’s humorous portrayal of the god (Dialogue of the Gods 22), in mythical tradition he is involved in a number of failed relationships. The most famous one is with the nymph Syrinx, memorably told by Ovid (Metamorphoses 1.689–712). She rejects Pan’s advances and, as she flees from him, is turned into a clump of reeds. When Pan reaches to grasp her, he finds instead the bunch of reeds in his hands. He sighs, and his breath goes through the reeds and produces sweet music. Thus did Pan invent the panpipes (Greek “surinx”), a common attribute of his evermore. Another nymph, named Pitys, rejected Pan and she was turned into a pine tree (Greek “pitus”). Our hymn directly refers to Echo, who is usually associated with Narcissus. However, she is sometimes an
amorous interest of Pan, and, like Syrinx and Pitys, rejects his advances. In Longus’ novel Daphnis and Chloe (3.23), Daphnis explains to his lover Chloe the origin of the “echo.” The nymph Echo was taught by the Muses in every sort of singing and musical instruments. Pan, in anger over her skills and at the fact that she fled from him, sent his madness to the shepherds and goatherds, who promptly tore Echo apart. As a favor to the Muses, Earth echoes back sounds just as the nymph was able to do when alive. This story has interesting parallels to that of Orpheus, famed for his music and, in some accounts, torn to shreds by maenads maddened by Dionysos, either because Orpheus had stopped venerating the god or because the nymphs themselves were enraged that Orpheus had sworn off women after the death of Eurydike; see also OH 87.9n. For the ripping apart of an animal as part of maenadic ritual (sparagmos), see OH 52i. Pan is sometimes considered to be the source of echoes himself. It is not always easy to determine whether a writer has in mind “echo” or “Echo” in connection with Pan (see, for example, Homeric Hymn to Pan 19.21). For Pan and nymphs in cult, see OH 51i.

  10–12 many-named divinity... veritable Zeus with horns: Pan is called “many-named” and then in quick succession we have a number of identifications. Zeus is directly mentioned, and Pan’s role as “begetter of all” fits in well with Zeus’ role as father of gods and men in the tradition. As noted in the introduction to this hymn, Zeus is called Pan in Orphic fragment 86. Another fragment calls Zeus “the god of all and the mixer of all” (Orphic fragment 414); the Greek words for “mixer” and “horned” are the same (“kerastēs”), except they are accented differently. There may be a word-play here, and the second line of this fragment adds “whistling with winds and air-mingled sounds” (the Greek for “whistling is “surizōn,” cognate with “surinx”). Given Pan’s connection with a wind instrument, and the sounds in the mountain that cause his special kind of fear, it is possible that the author of this fragment intended an allusion to Pan. Another fragment from the same poem lists a number of gods and their domains, ending with the observation “all these things are one” (Orphic fragment 413.12). The reference to Paian is a bit vague. Normally, Paian is another name for Apollon (OH 34.1+n), but it is also attributed to Sun (OH 8.12), Dionysos (OH 52.11), and Apollon’s son Asklepios (OH 67.1). But as Sun is also called “fruit-bearing, Paian” (the Greek there is the same as in this hymn) and is also a piper (OH 8.11+n), the immediate identification here is most likely that between Sun and Pan. That leaves “light-bringing lord of the cosmos.” This could describe Sun, but a better candidate is perhaps Protogonos, who is a “begetter of blessed gods and mortal men” (OH 6.3) and also brings light to all (OH 6.8). It is very interesting in connection with Protogonos that our composer in the next line addresses him as Priapos, a rustic divinity similar to Pan (OH 6.9+n), and also that when Zeus is called Pan in Orphic fragment 86, he has earlier been identified with Protogonos, suggesting that all three were considered different names for the same deity. As mentioned in the introduction to this hymn, Pan’s presence seems to be meant as a more concrete realization of the abstract entities addressed in the earlier hymns and a transitional figure to more anthropomorphic ones.

  17: For the idea of the all-seeing eye of Sun, see OH 8.1+n.

  19 your providence alters the natures of all: Interestingly enough, the lovers who reject Pan often undergo transformation (see note to line 9). Compare, too, OH 10.21.

  12. To Herakles

  Herakles is the most storied of all the legendary Greek heroes. His popularity and the sheer bulk of his adventures, probably the result of accretions over a long period of time, have effaced the true origins of this figure (for his possible Eastern connections, see Levy 1934). He is already mentioned a few times in the Iliad and Odyssey, and a poem attributed to Hesiod, the Shield, focuses on his battle against the bandit Kyknos. For a summary of Herakles’ life, see Apollodoros 2.4.8–2.7.8. There is also a Homeric hymn in his honor. In the tradition, we find this larger-than-life hero represented in many different ways. He is the great slayer of the monsters in the wild, thus opening the world for the expansion of civilization. He can be seen as a paragon of virtue, as in the parable of the Sophist Prodikos, preserved by Xenophon, where the young Herakles chooses the Hesiodic rough road of Virtue over the easy path of Vice (Xenophon Memorabilia 2.21–34). For the Stoics, Herakles symbolized the endurance needed to face adversity with equanimity and the ability to persevere and ultimately prevail.

  The connection of Herakles with Dionysian cult is not easy to explain, but there are a number of factors that, when taken together, help illuminate his position in our collection. Herakles dies when he puts on a poisoned robe given to him by his jealous wife Deianira, who had been tricked into thinking it was a love charm. After Herakles builds his own pyre and immolates himself, he is translated to Olympos, where he becomes a god and takes Hebe (meaning “youth”), a daughter of Zeus and Hera, as his wife. In Homer, Odysseus encounters the shade of Herakles in the land of the dead, although the divine part of Herakles is said to be a god on Olympos (Odyssey 11.601–614). Herodotos reports that the Greeks worshipped Herakles both as a hero and as a god (2.44), and Pindar calls Herakles a “hero-god” (Nemean Odes 3.23). The golden apples of the Hesperides, which Herakles fetches in his eleventh labor, are sometimes interpreted as symbols of immortality (as are the labors as a whole), and even Hebe herself, the goddess of youth, might be understood to signify eternal life. This special status of Herakles is connected with his leading a virtuous life, and this pattern of achieving divine status after death, particularly tied to one’s virtue or goodness, is one of the concerns found in the Bacchic gold leaves (Graf/Johnston 2007, pp. 94–136); see also note to line 16. In fact, we find Herakles being initiated in mystery cults, such as the Eleusinian Mysteries (Xenophon Hellenika 6.3.6; see also Boardman 1989, pl. 392). Both he and Dionysos seem to have been worshipped together at Thasos, one of the oldest cult centers for Herakles (see Larson 2007, pp. 185–186). A cup painting shows the two of them together in a symposiastic setting, attended by satyrs (Boardman 1975, pl. 376; cf. also Boardman 1989, pl. 131). Herakles is often depicted as wearing the skin of the Nemean Lion, and Dionysos often wears the skin of an exotic animal (leopard, panther) in his iconography. Both have Theban connections, both are sons of Zeus by mortal women, and both are struck by their father’s lightning bolt (Dionysos, albeit indirectly, is struck while in Semele’s womb; Herakles, in some versions, has his pyre ignited by Zeus’ lightning). Herakles also has fertility associations (see Levy 1934, pp. 43–45).

  Finally, there are a few indirect ways Herakles might have been brought into connection with Orpheus. Both are numbered among the Argonauts, and both return alive from a journey to the underworld. The legendary poet and musician Linos taught music to Herakles, who eventually killed his teacher in a paroxysm of rage; Linos is variously related to Orpheus in the tradition as brother, grandfather, teacher, or disciple. Lastly, there is a connection with the Idaian Dactyls from Krete. These were famous magicians and metalworkers who were also priests of mystery cults; in some cases, they are considered the teachers of Orpheus (see Graf/Johnston 2007, pp. 170–172). Pausanias calls one of the Dactyls Herakles (9.19.5, 9.27.8), adducing elsewhere as an authority the legendary poet Onomakritos (8.31.3). Pausanias also says that the men of Elis reported to him that this Herakles was the first to hold an athletic contest at Olympia during the time when Kronos was the ruler of the cosmos (5.7.6–7), while other authors make Herakles the founder of the Olympian Games. Indeed, his twelve labors feature on the metopes of the temple of Zeus at Olympia (early- to mid-fifth century). In this context it should be noted that Herodotos was already aware of a multitude of Herakleis (2.43).

  The curious fact that this hymn to Herakles immediately precedes the one to Kronos is probably to be understood along these lines. Despite the nominal association with the hero who was the son of Zeus, Herakles seems to have been conflated with an older generation of divinities in Orphic
mythology. In one Orphic theogony Herakles was another name for Time (see note to line 3). Our hymn, which calls Herakles a Titan (line 1), seems also to associate him with Sun (see note to line 10). He is here an anthropomorphized cosmic force, the last in a series that starts from an abstraction (Physis) and continues through a hybrid creature (Pan). He thus bears a close resemblance to the Herakles supposed to have been invoked by Pythagoras (alongside Zeus and the Dioskouroi) as the “force of nature” in libations before a meal (Iamblichus Life of Pythagoras 155).

  1 mighty, powerful Titan: Kronos is similarly addressed in the following hymn (OH 13.2). It is possible that “child of the earth” in line 9 (also used of Kronos at OH 13.6) is meant to reinforce Herakles’ connection with the Titans.

  3 father of time: In the Orphic theogony attributed to Hieronymos, Herakles is sometimes another name for Time (Orphic fragment 76 and 79; note, too, the “primordial scales” in line 10, a characteristic of the Orphic Time). An obscure arithmological treatise that has come down to us among the writings of the Neoplatonist Iamblichus (mid-third / fourth century AD), The Theology of Arithmetic, lists the significance of the numbers one through ten. For the “tetrad” (number four), we find, “And again, they call the tetrad ‘Heracles’ with regard to the same notion of the year, as giving rise to duration, since eternity, time, critical time and passing time are four, as moreover are year, month, night and day, and morning, midday, evening and night” (translation by Waterfield 1988, p. 62). Sun is also called “father of time” (OH 8.13), and there are other parallels connecting both figures, e.g., both are addressed as Titan, both are “self-born” and “untiring” (OH 8.3), and both are invoked by alternate forms of a name usually associated with Apollon (Paian and Paion). In the Dionysiaca of Nonnus, a hymn to Sun begins “star-cloaked Herakles, lord of fire, marshal of the universe” (40.369). At lines 11–12 in our hymn, dawn and dusk are worn on Herakles’ head, and the twelve labors are said to “stretch from east to west,” the same path Sun takes on his daily journey. Sun is connected with Herakles in myth as well, as the former lent the latter his cup, in which he rides on the river Okeanos (which flows counterclockwise) during his return journey from west to east (see Stesikhoros PMGF S17; Boardman 1975, pl. 300). Herakles had gone west to retrieve the cattle of Geryon, and the suggestion of a cycle in Herakles’ wanderings (east-west-east) might have facilitated a connection with the sun’s circuit in antiquity. The twelve labors of Herakles could also be seen as representing the twelve months of the year (see Morand 2001, p. 84). Thus in these two lines, the idea of four time periods, as mentioned in the Theology of Arithemetic (“year, month, night and day”), might be intended; see also OH O.18n.