The Orphic Hymns

by Unknown

  8 Erotes: A divinity may sometimes be conceived as a plurality, as for example Pan and Eileithyia (see OH 2i and Burkert 1985, pp. 170–171). Pindar also makes Aphrodite the mother of Erotes (fragment 122.4), and Proclus gives the group a Neoplatonic interpretation in his second hymn at line 3 (see van den Berg 2001, pp. 199–200).

  9 Persuasion: Sometimes Persuasion is conceived as a separate goddess. She was worshipped together with Aphrodite at Athens (Pausanias 1.22.3). Sappho makes her the daughter of Aphrodite (fragment 200). In the decking out of Pandora, Persuasion joins the Graces in placing necklaces around her neck, while the Seasons crown her with a garland of spring flowers (Hesiod Works and Days 73–75). She is thus conceived as part of the traditional retinue of Aphrodite. One of the Okeanids is named Persuasion (Hesiod Theogony 349), and this might be the same Persuasion in the Pandora episode. In Orphic theogony, Eros and Persuasion are the parents of Hygeia (see OH 68i). Aphrodite’s connection with persuasion is a function both of its utility in amatory pursuits as well as its benefits in forging a consensus in public affairs.

  15–28: The second half of this poem, equal in length to the first half, is an extended invocation to the goddess to appear, and it includes a list of places where the goddess might be. It is typical of the hymnic style to attract the attention of the addressee by calling to mind their favored locales, which often have specific cultic importance. This is the significance of the mention of Kypros, one of her most important cult sites and traditionally the place where she first stepped onto land after she was born. The other locations broaden her associations. Olympos is mentioned first, as she is naturally conceived above all as a Greek goddess. This also places her in the sky, and the further mention of land and sea recalls the three realms over which Aphrodite was earlier said to have dominion (lines 4–7). Syria points to her connection with the Semitic goddess Astarte, already identified with Aphrodite by Herodotos (1.150), while Egypt alludes to Isis. Aphrodite is included in a long list of deities identified with Moon/Isis in Apuleius Metamorphoses or The Golden Ass 11.2 and 11.5, as well as an even longer list in the first hymn to Isis by Isidoros (line 24, and note that the Syrian Astarte appears in line 18).

  20: Sappho imagines that the golden chariot of the goddess is pulled by sparrows (fragment 1.8–10), birds that were considered in antiquity to be particularly promiscuous.

  56. To Adonis

  Adonis is an old Near Eastern divinity of vegetation and fertility. His name is derived from the Semitic “adon” (“lord”), and he is a counterpart to the Babylonian Tammuz, who is loved by a fertility goddess (Ishtar), dies an untimely death, and is ritually lamented. Another similar figure is Attis, who is a lover of the great mother goddess Kybele; see OH 27i. The worship of Adonis seems to have come first to Kypros and from there to have spread to Greece. Therefore, not only his nature but also his earlier sojourn to Kypros explains his special connection with Aphrodite (see OH 55i; for her similarity with Ishtar, see Burkert 1985, p. 155). However, it appears that the Greeks, as they often did with foreign imports, adapted Adonis and his worship to their own mythological and religious framework. His Eastern connection is made clear by the various genealogies given by Apollodoros (3.13.3–4): his father is either Phoinix, Kinyras (a refugee from the East who became king of Kypros), or Theias, king of Assyria. He is the product of an incestuous union between a father and his daughter, named Myrrh or Smyrna, who is transformed into a myrrh tree out of which Adonis is born (see also Antoninus Liberalis 34 and Ovid Metamorphoses 10.298–518; note that the story in Ovid is narrated by Orpheus). Endowed with exquisite beauty, he catches the eye of Aphrodite herself and becomes her paramour. In one account, Aphrodite is already in love with Adonis as an infant. She places him in a chest and hands him over to Persephone for safekeeping. Persephone also becomes enamored of the child and later refuses to give him back to Aphrodite. They appeal to Zeus for a resolution. He decrees that Adonis must spend one third of the year with Persephone, another third with Aphrodite, and the remaining third with the goddess of his choice; he opts to spend this third with Aphrodite. Thus Adonis, like Persephone, spends part of his time in the land of death and the other part in the land of living, and, insofar as he is a god of vegetation, this tale corroborates the dying of plant life in the sweltering heat of the summer (see also OH 53i). The story is also reminiscent of the dispute between Hermes and Apollon in the longer Homeric Hymn to Hermes (no. 4): the younger half-sibling appropriating the property of the older one, their squabble, and the appeal to their father, Zeus. As a young man, Adonis becomes quite fond of hunting, which eventually leads to his death at the tusks of a wild boar. This boar is sometimes said to have been sent by a jealous Ares (or is Ares himself disguised) or Artemis.

  Adonis was worshipped by women throughout the Greek world, who would ritually lament his death every year. Our earliest reference to the practice comes from Sappho (fragment 140), but we know about it chiefly as it was practiced at Athens in the Classical period. In the summer, seeds were sown in broken pots and taken to the roofs of homes after the plants sprouted. There these “Gardens of Adonis” were left to wither and die. The women loudly and expressively mourned the death of the god. They then laid out figures representing Adonis in a symbolic burial and afterward disposed of the “body” and the pots into the sea. For references and details of this practice, see Burkert 1985, pp. 176–177, and Larson 2007, p. 124. Theokritos devotes an entire idyll to an elaborate festival at Alexandria (Idyll 15), and Lucian mentions the worship of Adonis at Byblos, where the women at first mourn the dead Adonis and then celebrate his rebirth (On the Syrian Goddess 6–7). The bucolic poet Bion (ca. 100 BC) wrote a Lament for Adonis that blends myth with ritual content.

  Our hymn alludes to this practice of lamenting Adonis in lines 2 and 6, and many of the traditional features of the myth of Adonis are incorporated. He is a hunter (line 7), and splits his time between life and death (lines 5, 10–11). He is repeatedly connected with vegetation: his hair is emphasized (lines 2 and 7), he is an “unwithering bloom” (line 4), the “spirit of growth” (line 6), and a “sweet blossom” (line 8). The emphasis, though, is not on his death but on his rebirth (line 10–11), as it seems to have been at Byblos. The similarities between Adonis and Dionysos have led to the identification of the two gods in this hymn. Just like Dionysos, Adonis has the epithet “many-named” (cf. OH 42.2, OH 45.2, OH 50.2+n, OH 52.1), is called Eubouleus (cf. OH 29.8, OH 30.6+n, OH 42.2, OH 52.4), is both male and female (cf. OH 30.2+n, OH 42.4), and wears horns (cf. OH 30.3+n). They are both conceived as vegetation (see OH 50i+5n and compare to lines 6 and 11 of this hymn). Furthermore, Dionysos is the “nursling” of the Nymphs and Aphrodite elsewhere in the collection (see OH 46.2–3+n), while Adonis in this hymn is the son of Aphrodite (see note to lines 8–9). He is also the son of Persephone, just as Dionysos is (cf. OH 30.6–7 and OH 30.2–3n), although Dionysos is also said to be reared by Persephone (see OH 46.6–7+n), just as Adonis is. This identification is also attested by Plutarch, who mentions that some people consider Adonis to be Dionysos (Quaestiones conviviales 671b).

  4 you vanish and then shine again: Very similar phrasing is used of Sun at OH 8.15. It is perhaps worth noting that Proclus in his hymn to Sun says that some people identified this divinity with Adonis (1.26, and see van den Berg 2001, pp. 173–174). Interestingly enough, Phaethon, who is usually the child of Sun, is made the son of Kephalos and Dawn by Hesiod and then is snatched away by Aphrodite to be an official in her temple (Theogony 986–991). Hesiod describes Phaethon as “a man of god-like beauty” and “still in the tender blossom of luxuriant youth,” and it is not hard to see how in later times the myths of Phaethon and Adonis might have blended. Indeed, Apollodoros lists Phaethon as the great-great-grandfather of Adonis, and the full patrilineal genealogy runs Kephalos, Tithonos, Phaethon, Astynous, Sandokos, Kinyras, and Adonis (3.14.3; granted, he cites Hesiod as a source that Phoinix is the father of Adonis). It is therefore possible that our poet
(and Proclus) is alluding to an identification that was made in a work now lost to us.

  6 spirit of growth: Asklepios is also described as such; see OH 67.5+n.

  8–9: An interesting twist to the usual genealogy—one, however, that keeps the theme of incest, insofar as Eros is the son of Aphrodite (see OH 55.8). That Persephone is also the mother of Adonis is probably intended as a metaphor based on the return of Adonis from the underworld every year, as well as allowing Adonis to be equated with Dionysos.

  57. To Chthonic Hermes

  The first hymn to Hermes already hinted at the god’s connection with the dead (OH 28.2), but this function has apparently taken a life of its own and achieved the status of a (quasi-)separate divinity in this hymn. Much like Hades can be called Chthonic Zeus, so here Chthonic Hermes is distinguished from Hermes, even though the two divinities are not kept entirely independent of one another (cf. also OH 73i). The role of Hermes as psukhopompos (guide of the souls) is well attested in the earliest Greek literature and is punned in the Greek on line 6 (“psukhais pompos,” translated as “the souls you bring”). In the Odyssey, the god shepherds the souls of the dead suitors to the underworld (24.1–14), and in the Homeric Hymn to Hermes, guiding the dead is listed among the god’s various functions (4.572). Hermes can also, when occasion calls for it, lead out from the land of the dead, as he does Persephone in the Homeric Hymn to Demeter (2.375–386). Hermes was also psukhopompos in Orphism (Orphic fragment 339), but it is curious that he is hardly mentioned in the extant sources and does not appear at all on the Bacchic gold tablets. The silence might very well be because his role is simply assumed. Perhaps, though, at least in some cases such as the gold tablets, the middleman might have been purposely left out in favor of the initiate’s soul proactively (with the help of the instructions) taking matters into its own hands (thus further differentiating the initiate from the uninitiated). Outside of Orphic cult, we find Hermes worshiped as Chthonic Hermes in connection with pouring libations to the dead; for details, see Burkert 1985, pp. 157–158, and Larson 2007, pp. 149–150. The hymn seems oddly placed, but the explicit mention of Tartaros, Aphrodite, and Dionysos (merged with Adonis in the previous hymn) appear to have been sufficient grounds for its inclusion among the Aphrodite group.

  1 the road of no return: This is normally true, but mythology is replete with heroic and divine exceptions, one being Adonis as seen in the previous hymn. The sentiment that one cannot return from Hades is a commonplace in Greek literature; see, e.g., Anakreon PMG 395.

  1 Kokytos: One of the rivers of the underworld, and where Melinoe was born; see OH 71.2+n.

  3–5: The genealogy given here is unique in literature and quite different from the conventional one as expressed at OH 28.1 (Zeus and Maia). It is also curious to find Dionysos in particular as the father of Chthonic Hermes, since in literature and art Hermes is at times depicted as bringing the newly-born infant Dionysos to the nymphs of Nysa and/or Silenos (e.g., Apollodoros 3.4.3, Boardman 1989, pl. 126). Hermes and Aphrodite are often linked in cult (see Burkert 1985, pp. 220–221), but not as mother and son. The source and significance of this parentage of Chthonic Hermes remains a puzzle. In any event, this makes Persephone, who gives him his “high office” (line 9–10), his grandmother.

  4 Paphian maiden: Paphos, a city on the island of Kypros, had one of the oldest and most famous cult centers of Aphrodite.

  6 destined harbor: Maybe a reference to Kharon, the one who conveys the dead across a river to the underworld proper, if not a general metaphor for the land of the dead.

  7–8: The wand of Hermes is one of his most prominent attributes. Its ability to lull to sleep and to awaken are already mentioned in Homer; in particular note Odyssey 24.2–5, where, after describing the powers of this wand, the poet shows Hermes leading the souls of the dead with it. In our text the powers of sleep merge with the powers of death; for the close connection of the two concepts in Greek thought, see OH 85i. It is not clear what is intended in these lines. It may refer to the Orphic belief that souls are reborn. Another possibility is that they refer to the initiate’s expectations in the afterlife—that it is in fact the prerogative of Chthonic Hermes, as the agent of Persephone, to “awaken” those souls who have been put to “sleep” so that they may find their way to their special place in the underworld, as the Bacchic gold tablets describe.

  58. To Eros

  Eros, better known under his Latin name Cupid, has become a familiar figure in the Western literary and iconographical tradition. He is the playful winged and cherubic child, flitting around with his little bow and arrows, capriciously shooting the unwitting and causing them to fall desperately in love—ofttimes, alas, with tragic effect. The fanciful juxtaposition of great power with the even greater irresponsibility of a child betrays a profound psychological insight in the experience of love that first takes root in the earliest of the lyric poets; see the references in the note to line 3. Our hymn elects not to ignore this poetic conceit but having paid sufficient homage to it, quickly passes over to the other side of Eros, the cosmic force of love and attraction that is essential to the chain of copulations that underlies the anthropomorphizing tales of creation. This Eros is among the oldest divinities in Hesiod, coming after Khaos and coeval with Earth and Tartaros (Theogony 116–122), and Sappho offers a similarly ancient pedigree by making him the son of Earth and Sky (fragment 198). In Orphism, Eros is identified with Protogonos, another primeval figure; see OH 6i+5–7n, and compare the mock theogony in Aristophanes’ Birds, where Eros’ role is analogous to that of Protogonos in Orphism (see OH 6.2n). It is perhaps a different Eros that becomes the companion to Aphrodite after her birth (Orphic fragment 261; compare Hesiod Theogony 201–202), and the father of Hygeia (with Persuasion her mother; see Orphic fragment 262 and further OH 68i). However, in more conventional genealogies he is the son of Aphrodite, as he is in our collection (OH 55.8), while the father is variously said to be Zeus, Hermes, or Ares (if a father is even mentioned, which often is not the case). Another account, attributed to the semi-legendary Olen, claims that Eros was the son of Eileithyia, the goddess of childbirth (see OH 2i). This is mentioned by Pausanias in his brief description of the worship of Eros at Thespiai, and he notes a few other cult centers (9.27.1–4). There is perhaps an allusion to Orphic myth in Simias’ (early third century BC) pattern poem Wings, where the winged child Eros is bearded and explains this anomaly by referring to his great antiquity, claiming to have been born in the earliest times when Necessity was in charge and denying to be the child of Aphrodite and Ares. Ether and Khaos are also mentioned, although textual corruption makes it difficult to know in what capacity. The poem ends with Eros describing his powers: he rules with gentleness (implicitly contrasting himself favorably to Necessity) and the earth, sea, and sky all yield to him. This assertion of wide-ranging power and the fusion of the cosmic with the literary are quite similar to what we find in this hymn.

  2 who runs swiftly on a path of fire: The Greek word used here, “puridromos,” is also used of the Stars (OH 7.9), Sun (OH 8.11), and Astrapaios Zeus (OH 20.2). It gives Eros a celestial coloring, anticipating the transition from the chubby archer boy to sublime cosmic power.

  3 who plays together with gods and mortal men: The description of the power of love as “play” occurs in early Greek lyric; see for example Alkman PMGF 58 and Anakreon PMG 358. Anakreon PMG 357 is a mock prayer to Dionysos asking the god to be a “good counselor” to Kleoboulos (with a pun on this name, which means “famous for counsel”—and possibly also a play on Eubouleus, an alternate name of Dionysos; see OH 41.8n). In this poem, Dionysos is described as playing with Eros, nymphs, and Aphrodite. The poem was composed for a symposiastic setting, a situation where wine and love frequently mingled. The setting is the same for Plato’s aptly named Symposium, where the nature of Eros is discussed (see also Plato’s Phaedrus). A natural link between Eros and Dionysos is their ability to cause madness. Indeed, another fragment of Anakreon calls the dice o
f Eros “madness and battle” (PMG 398); the word “battle” is Homeric, and Anakreon is probably suggesting the Trojan War, whose immediate cause was passion. Apollonios of Rhodes portrays Eros cheating at dice against Ganymede (Argonautika 3.111–130).

  4 two-natured: Other divinities in the collection are two-natured (which probably refers to their androgyny), the most relevant being Protogonos (OH 6.1+n), who is equated with (the cosmic) Eros in Orphism (see the introduction to this hymn). Antagoras of Rhodes (see the note to lines 5–7 below) employs a synonymous epithet. For other androgynous divinities in the collection, see OH 9.4n.

  5–7: Compare the geographical extent with Aphrodite’s at OH 55.4–7; for this theme elsewhere in the collection, see OH 10.14–16n. The reference to the underworld (“of all that lies in Tartaros”) perhaps is intended to recall Orpheus’ charming of Hades and Persephone when he descended to their realm in order to bring back his beloved Eurydike; see OH 87.9n and cf. Ovid Metamorphoses 5.359–384 and 10.25–29. The “goddess of grass and grain” is probably either Demeter or Persephone—more likely the latter, if our poet had in mind Kleanthes’ play on the name Persephone as warm air (see OH 29.15–16n). The mention of winds is interesting. In Aristophanes’ account of the birth of Eros from an egg in the Birds, the egg is a wind-egg (line 695) and Eros is described as being like the swift whirlwinds (line 697). The choice of a wind-egg may just be a joke on Aristophanes’ part, playing off the incongruity of one thing being born out of another that is unproductive by nature. However, in at least one version of Orphic myth, the parents of Eros are Time and all the winds (Orphic fragment 360), and Sappho’s younger contemporary Alkaios said that Eros was the son of Iris (Rainbow) and Zephyros, the west wind (see OH 81i). A later poet, Antagoras of Rhodes (early third century BC) in a literary hymn to Eros frankly expresses his puzzlement as to the god’s parentage. He lists four possibilities: (1) Erebos and Night (alluding to Aristophanes’ comic account), (2) Aphrodite, (3) Earth, and (4) the winds. See further the discussion at West 1983, pp. 200–201.