Translated by Catherine Proppe
March 30, 2015
85. Ὕπνου, θυμίαμα μετὰ μήκωνος.
To Hypnos
Divine connection: meta meekonos (opium poppy)
Ὕπνε, ἄναξ μακάρων πάντων θνητῶν τ’ ἀνθρώπων
Hypnos[1], ruler, blessing all mortals and immortals
καὶ πάντων ζώιων, ὁπόσα τρέφει εὐρεῖα χθών·
And all living beings, as many as are fostered on the wide earth
πάντων γὰρ κρατέεις μοῦνος καὶ πᾶσι προσέρχηι
Ruler over all alone and everything before commencing
σώματα δεσμεύων ἐν ἀχαλκεύτοισι πέδηισι,
The bodily chains of non-metallic fetters.
λυσιμέριμνε, κόπων ἡδεῖαν ἔχων ἀνάπαυσιν
Releasing cares wearisome, pleasing foundation of rest,
καὶ πάσης λύπης ἱερὸν παραμύθιον ἔρδων·
And for every grief holy surrounding mythological deeds
καὶ θανάτου μελέτην ἐπάγεις ψυχὰς διασώζων·
And mortal cares collected in Psyche[2] the salavation,
αὐτοκασίγνητος γὰρ ἔφυς Λήθης Θανάτου τε.
Sole brother from the mother[3] begetting Lethe[4] and Death,
ἀλλά, μάκαρ, λίτομαί σε κεκραμένον ἡδὺν ἱκάνειν
But blessed one, with this simple prayer together mixed with pleasure, come
σώζοντ’ εὐμενέως μύστας θείοισιν ἐπ’ ἔργοις.
Heal illness, good power of the mystai’s sacred works.
[1] Hypnos is the immortal God of sleep.
[2] Psyche is the immortal Goddess of the soul.
[3] The Goddess Night is the mother of sleep.
[4] Lethe is the river of forgetting in the afterlife.