The Overture
The first Hymn of Orpheus is addressed, in keeping with convention, to the Muse. This Hymn serves as an overture and introduces the Gods and Goddesses who will be addressed individually in subsequent Hymns.
It was a standard practice of the time for poets to begin their odes with an homage to the Muse to acknowledging that their inspiration comes from a place outside themselves and is channeled through the Muse to them. The Muse is the macro (divine) - micro (mortal) medium.
Oddly enough, Thomas Taylor chose not to translate the word for "Muse" and instead pretends that the first hymn is addressed to some character by the name of "Musaeus," interpreted to be a relative or protege of Orpheus, but with no historical record.
Then Taylor goes on to use Roman names to refer to the Greek Gods and Goddesses. This obscures the Greek origin of the Hymns.
In Taylor's defense, he adopts a clearly reverential tone in addressing the Gods and Goddesses.
This tone is threatened, however, by his tortured rhyme scheme, which gives the sense of a poet in a coffee house strumming a guitar.
The Hymns of Orpheus were performed in vast outdoor amphitheaters with dazzling special effects and costumes and pageantry and music. An earnest rhyme scheme would never hold an audience of 15,000 for hours on end.
It was a standard practice of the time for poets to begin their odes with an homage to the Muse to acknowledging that their inspiration comes from a place outside themselves and is channeled through the Muse to them. The Muse is the macro (divine) - micro (mortal) medium.
Oddly enough, Thomas Taylor chose not to translate the word for "Muse" and instead pretends that the first hymn is addressed to some character by the name of "Musaeus," interpreted to be a relative or protege of Orpheus, but with no historical record.
Then Taylor goes on to use Roman names to refer to the Greek Gods and Goddesses. This obscures the Greek origin of the Hymns.
In Taylor's defense, he adopts a clearly reverential tone in addressing the Gods and Goddesses.
This tone is threatened, however, by his tortured rhyme scheme, which gives the sense of a poet in a coffee house strumming a guitar.
The Hymns of Orpheus were performed in vast outdoor amphitheaters with dazzling special effects and costumes and pageantry and music. An earnest rhyme scheme would never hold an audience of 15,000 for hours on end.
Epidauros Theater.
In my next post, I will begin a word-by-word analysis of this initial introductory Hymn.
RSS Feed