The Orphic Hymns

by Apostolos N. Athanassakis (Translator), Benjamin M. Wolkow (Translator)

Overview

The best-selling English translation of the mysterious and cosmic Greek poetry known as the Orphic Hymns.

At the very beginnings of the Archaic Age, the great singer Orpheus taught a new religion that centered around the immortality of the human soul and its journey after death. He felt that achieving purity by avoiding meat and refraining from committing harm further promoted the pursuit of a peaceful life. Elements of the worship of Dionysus, such as shape-shifting and ritualistic ecstasy, were fused with Orphic beliefs to produce a powerful and illuminating new religion that found expression in the mystery cults. Practitioners of this new religion composed a great body of poetry, much of which is translated in The Orphic Hymns.

The hymns presented in this book were anonymously composed somewhere in Asia Minor, most likely in the middle of the third century AD. At this turbulent time, the Hellenic past was fighting for its survival, while the new Christian faith was spreading everywhere. The Orphic Hymns thus reflect a pious spirituality in the form of traditional literary conventions. The hymns themselves are devoted to specific divinities as well as to cosmic elements. Prefaced with offerings, strings of epithets invoke the various attributes of the divinity and prayers ask for peace and health to the initiate. Apostolos N. Athanassakis and Benjamin M. Wolkow have produced an accurate and elegant translation accompanied by rich commentary.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781421408828
Publisher:	Johns Hopkins University Press
Publication date:	07/31/2013
Pages:	280
Sales rank:	320,428
Product dimensions:	6.20(w) x 9.10(h) x 0.50(d)
Age Range:	18 Years

About the Author

Apostolos N. Athanassakis is the Argyropoulos Chair in Hellenic Studies and a professor emeritus of classics at the University of California, Santa Barbara. He is the translator of several books, including Hesiod: Theogony, Works and Days, Shield and The Homeric Hymns, both published by Johns Hopkins. Benjamin M. Wolkow is a lecturer in the Classics Department of the University of Georgia.

Table of Contents

Preface vii

Introduction ix

The Orphic Hymns

Orpheus to Mousaios 3

1 To Hekate 5

2 To Prothyraia 5

3 To Night 6

4 To Sky 7

5 To Ether 8

6 To Protogonos 8

7 To the Stars 9

8 To the Sun 9

9 To Selene 11

10 To Physis 11

11 To Pan 13

12 To Herakles 14

13 To Kronos 15

14 To Rhea 16

15 To Zeus 16

16 To Hera 17

17 To Poseidon 18

18 To Plouton 18

19 To Zeus the Thunderbolt 19

20 To Astrapaios Zeus 21

21 To the Clouds 21

22 To the Sea 21

23 To Nereus 22

24 To the Nereids 23

25 To Proteus 23

26 To Earth 24

27 To the Mother of the Gods 25

28 To Hermes 25

29 Hymn to Persephone 26

30 To Dionysos 27

31 Hymn to the Kouretes 28

32 To Athene 28

33 To Nike 29

34 To Apollon 30

35 To Leto 31

36 To Artemis 32

37 To the Titans 33

38 To the Kouretes 33

39 To Korybas 34

40 To Eleusinian Demeter 35

41 To Mother Antaia 36

42 To Mise 37

43 To the Seasons 37

44 To Semele 38

45 Hymn to Dionysos Bassareus and Triennial 39

46 To Liknites 39

47 To Perikionios 40

48 To Sabazios 40

49 To Hipta 40

50 To Lysios Lenaios 41

51 To the Nymphs 41

52 To the God of Triennial Feasts 42

53 To the God of Annual Feasts 43

54 To Silenos Saryros and the Bacchae 44

55 To Aphrodite 44

56 To Adonis 46

57 To Chthonic Hermes 47

58 To Eros 47

59 To the Fates 48

60 To the Graces 49

61 Hymn to Nemesis 50

62 To Dike 50

63 To Justice 51

64 Hymn to Nomos 52

65 To Ares 53

66 To Hephaistos 53

67 To Asklepios 54

68 To Hygeia 54

69 To the Erinyes 55

70 To the Eumenides 56

71 To Melinoe 57

72 To Tyche 57

73 To Daimon 58

74 To Leukothea 59

75 To Palaimon 59

76 To the Muses 60

77 To Mnemosyne 60

78 To Dawn 61

79 To Themis 62

80 To Boreas 63

81 To Zephyros 63

82 To Notos 63

83 To Okeanos 64

84 To Hestia 64

85 To Sleep 65

86 To Dream 65

87 To Death 66

Notes 69

Select Bibliography 221

Index Nominum 225

Index Locorum 239