Translated by Catherine Proppe, September 30, 2015

16. Ἥρης, θυμίαμα ἀρώματα.
 
Κυανέοις κόλποισιν ἐνημένη, ἀερόμορφε,
Deep blue vault enthroned, aereal-formed,
 
Ἥρη παμβασίλεια, Διὸς σύλλεκτρε μάκαιρα,
Hera[1], all-Basileia[2], Dios’[3] blessed bed-partner[4],
 
ψυχοτρόφους αὔρας θνητοῖς παρέχουσα προσηνεῖς,
Soul[5]-nurturing breath, mortal foundation, gentle
 
ὄμβρων μὲν μήτηρ, ἀνέμων τροφέ, παντογένεθλε·
Mother of rainstorms, wind-nurturer, giving birth to all.
 
χωρὶς γὰρ σέθεν οὐδὲν ὅλως ζωῆς φύσιν ἔγνω·
Separate, for of thou, and not the whole, life’s origin[6] is engendered;
 
κοινωνεῖς γὰρ ἅπασι κεκραμένη ἠέρι σεμνῶι·
In common, for all mixes by means of air divine;
 
πάντων γὰρ κρατέεις μούνη πάντεσσί τ' ἀνάσσεις
Overall, for by your power alone all four[7] are ruled.
 
ἠερίοις ῥοίζοισι τινασσομένη κατὰ χεῦμα.
Winds, sounds, motion, the power of every stream.
 
 
ἀλλά, μάκαιρα θεά, πολυώνυμε, παμβασίλεια,
Yet, blessed Goddess, multi-realmed all-Basileia[8],
 
ἔλθοις εὐμενέουσα καλῶι γήθουσα προσώπωι.
Come, kindly Lady, grace beautiful Ge’s[9] sweet-smelling countenance.
 

[1] Hera is the immortal Goddess of air (Empedocles, Poeta Philosophus (On Nature) 6.1-3; Aetius, Opinions 1.3.20 Diels; Plato, Cratylus (404c); Theophrastus; other references in Pease ND vol.2, p.716)
 
“And first the fourfold root of all things hear! –
White gleaming Zeus, life-bringing Hera, Dis [sic: Aidoneus],
And Nestis whose tears bedew mortality.”
Note: Zeus is fire, Hera air, Aidoneus earth, and Nestis water.
(Empedocles. Poeta Philosophus 6.1-3, cited in The Fragments of Empedocles, translated by William Ellery Leonard (Chicago: Open Court Publishing, 1908) 17.)
 
“’Zeus is his name for the seething [zesis] of heavenly fire, ‘life-bearing Hera’ for air [aer], ‘Aidoneus’ for earth, and ‘Nestis’ and ‘the springs of mortals’ for seed, so to speak, and water.” (Aetius, Opinions 1.3.20 Diels)
 
“But perhaps the lawgiver had natural phenomena in mind, and called her Hera as a disguise for air…” (Plato, Cratylus (404c))
 

[2] Basileia means Queen, ruler, seat of governance.

[3] Dios refers to Zeus, the immortal God of lightning/spark-of-fire/spark-of-life.

[4] Hera, the Goddess of air, is wed to Zeus, the God of the spark-of-life, because a spark without air will perish.

[5] Psyche is the immortal Goddess of the soul.

[6] Phusis is the immortal Goddess of nature, of physics, of the elementary substance, of the originating power.

[7] “All four” referes to the four “root” elements: earth, air, fire, and water.

[8] Basileia means Queen, the “base” or seat of rule..

[9] Ge is the immortal Goddess of generative earth.

Translated by Catherine Proppe  September 22, 2015


12. Ἡρακλέος, θυμίαμα λίβανον.
To Herakles
Divine connection: libanon (frankincense)

 

Ἥρακλες ὀμβριμόθυμε, μεγασθενές, ἄλκιμε Τιτάν,

Herakles[1], mighty, impassioned, powerful, courageous[2] Titan[3]

 

καρτερόχειρ, ἀδάμαστε, βρύων ἄθλοισι κραταιοῖς,

Strong-armed, indominatable, teeming athletic power,

 

αἰολόμορφε, χρόνου πάτερ, ἀίδιέ τε ἐύφρων,

Eternally changing father Time[4], eternal wisdom,

 

ἄρρητ', ἀγριόθυμε, πολύλλιτε, παντοδυνάστα,

Inexplicable untamed spirit, much entreatied, all-dynastic,

 

παγκρατὲς ἦτορ ἔχων, κάρτος μέγα, τοξότα, μάντι,

All-powerful heart, foundational power, majestic archer of inspiration,

 

παμφάγε, παγγενέτωρ, πανυπέρτατε, πᾶσιν ἀρωγέ,

All-slayer, all-parent, all-reigning, all-serving,

 

ὃς θνητοῖς κατέπαυσας ἀνήμερα φῦλα διώξας,

Arresting death, fulfilling fate, tribally impelled,

 

εἰρήνην ποθέων κουροτρόφον, ἀγλαότιμον,

Eirene’s[5] peace desiring, child-nurturer, gloriously honored,

 

αὐτοφυής, ἀκάμας, γαίης βλάστημα φέριστον,

Singular in nature, unbending, Gaia’s[6] offshoot born,

 

πρωτογόνοις στράψας βολίσιν, μεγαλώνυμε Παιών,

Protogonos twister[7], launching, mighty-realmed Savior,

 

ὃς περὶ κρατὶ φορεῖς ἠῶ καὶ νύκτα μέλαιναν,

All-encompassing power bearing both Eos[8] light and Night’s[9] darkness,

 

δώδεκ' ἀπ' ἀντολιῶν ἄχρι δυσμῶν ἆθλα διέρπων,

Twelve[10] spring from the east uttermost, setting westward the battle and completing the course,

 

ἀθάνατοις, πολύπειρος, ἀπείριτος, ἀστυφέλικτος·

Immortals of many trials, impervious, unbludgeoned.

 

ἐλθέ, μάκαρ, νούσων θελκτήρια πάντα κομίζων,

Come with blessings, incline toward soothing all life’s cares,

 

ἐξέλασον δὲ κακὰς ἄτας κλάδον ἐν χερὶ πάλλων,

Expel the evil, the ruinous, club in hand brandish,

 

πτηνοῖς τ' ἰοβόλοις κῆρας χαλεπὰς ἀπόπεμπε.

Let fly poison arrows at cruel death from your hand.

[1] Herakles (Roman: Hercules) was a strong, athletic, courageous figure celebrated in Greece, Rome, Anatolia (Turkey), and Phoenicia (Israel/Palestine) for his feats of strength and bravery, literally “center (Ἥ) + flow (ρα) + core (κ) + release (λ)ες.”

Among other accomplishments, Herakles completed 12 labors as ordered by the oracle of Delphi. Herakles is considered by some to be originally an Egyptian God. Some fragments in the Orphica equate Herakles with Kronos, the God of Time. http://www.theoi.com/Cult/HeraklesCult.html  

This hymn seems to reflect the interpretation of Herakles as Kronos/Time.

[2] The Greek Herakles is the son of Zeus, the God of lightning/spark of life, and the mortal Alkmene, whose name means courageous, mighty.


[3] While Zeus is an Olympian God, Zeus’ father, Kronos, is a Titan. Also, in some Orphic creation texts Herakles is the primordial deity Time/Kronos.


[4] Kronos is the immortal God of Time. According to some Orphica fragments, Herakles is the same as Kronos (Orphica, Theogonies Fragment 54 (from Damascius) and Orphica, Theogonies Fragment 57 (from Athenogoras)). These passages say that in the beginning water and earth formed a fantastic multi-headed creature by the name of Kronos or Herakles who acted in concert to form the sky and earth and everything else.

 “For, according to [Orpheus], water was the beginning of all things, and from water mud was formed, and from both was produced an animal, a dragon with the head of a lion growing to it, and between the two heads there was the face of a [G]od, named Heracles and Kronos. This Heracles generated an egg of enormous size, which, on becoming full, was, by the powerful friction of its generator, burst into two, the part at the top receiving the form of heaven (οὐρανός [Ouranos]), and the lower part that of earth (γῆ [Ge]).” (Athenagoras A Plea for the Christians Chapter 18, (trans. by Rev. B.P. Pratten.] (Vol. II. Ante-Nicene Fathers: The Writings of the Fathers down to A.D. 325, 10 vols., edited by A. Cleveland Coxe (1885. http://www.sacred-texts.com/chr/ecf/002/0020188.htm  )

“The theology according to Hieronymus or Hellanicus, even if the latter is not the same personage, is as follows. In the beginning, he says, there were water and matter, from which earth was coagulated, and these he establishes as the first two principles, water and earth… But as for the third principle after the two, it arose from these, I mean from water and earth, and it is a serpent with the heads of a lion and a bull grown upon it, and in the middle the countenance of a [G]od, and it has wings on its shoulders, and the same [G]od is called Ageless Time, and Heracles.

“And Necessity is united with it, which is the same nature as Adrasteia, stretching the arms of its bimorph body throughout the entire cosmos, touching the very boundaries of it. I think that this is said to be the third principle that functions as their substance, except that they represent it as male-female in order to show that it is the generating cause of all things.” (Translation of Damascius’ Problems and Solutions Concerning First Pinciples, trans. by Sara Ahbel-Rappe 123.2, (Oxford University Press, New York 2010 https://books.google.com/books?id=ovjUC1em8SgC&pg=PR2&lpg=PR2&dq=buy+translation+of+damascius+problems+and+solutions+sara+ahbel-rappe&source=bl&ots=WqiQMAJaOY&sig=Oo4ZV1Mq8MCOOX_BEqAyUyg74JA&hl=en&sa=X&ved=0CDQQ6AEwBWoVChMIr4CopK2IyAIVR56ACh1loQfN#v=onepage&q=%20heracles&f=false  )


[5] Eirene is the immortal Goddess of peace.


[6] Gaia is the immortal Goddess of generative earth.


[7] Protogonos is Phanes, characterized as a bi-gender “first-born” egg.

“This Heracles generated an egg [Protogonos] of enormous size, which, on becoming full, was, by the powerful friction of its generator, burst into two, the part at the top receiving the form of heaven (οὐρανός [Ouranos]), and the lower part that of earth (γῆ [Ge]).” (Athenagoras A Plea for the Christians Chapter 18, (trans. by Rev. B.P. Pratten.] (Vol. II. Ante-Nicene Fathers: The Writings of the Fathers down to A.D. 325, 10 vols., edited by A. Cleveland Coxe (1885. http://www.sacred-texts.com/chr/ecf/002/0020188.htm  )


[8] Eos is the immortal Goddess of dawn.


[9] Night is the immortal Goddess of night.


[10] The Twelve signs of the zodiac arise on the eastern horizon and set on the western horizon, each occupying the sky for approximately 30 days and comprising a 360 circle and accounting for the 365 days and twelve months of the year. 

78. Ἠοῦς, θυμίαμα μάνναν.
To Eos
Divine connection: manna

 
Κλῦθι, θεά, θνητοῖς φαεσίμβροτον ἦμαρ ἄγουσα,

I call the Goddess of arising mortal light, each day’s dawn,

 

Ἠὼς λαμπροφαής, ἐρυθαινομένη κατὰ κόσμον,

Eos[1], lamp-bearing light, blushing red upon the cosmos,

 

ἀγγέλτειρα θεοῦ μεγάλου Τιτᾶνος ἀγαυοῦ,

Herald divine, majestic Titan[2] exalted,

 

ἣ νυκτὸς ζοφόεντα κελαινόχρωτα πορείην

Slayer of Night’s[3] black-skin, marching from

 

ἀντολίαις ταῖς σαῖς πέμπεις ὑπὸ νέρτερα γαίης·

The east[4], stretching, sweeping, dispatching Night to the dark region of Gaia[5].

 

ἔργων ἡγήτειρα, βίου πρόπολε θνητοῖσιν·

Initiating work, life’s precursor of death,

 

ἧι χαίρει θνητῶν μερόπων γένος· οὐδέ τίς ἐστιν,

Eternally gracing mortal destiny at birth, and none are

 

ὃς φεύγει τὴν σὴν ὄψιν καθυπέρτερον οὖσαν,

Those who escape your view from the highest essence.

 

ἡνίκα τὸν γλυκὺν ὕπνον ἀπὸ βλεφάρων ἀποσείσηις,

When sweet sleep springs from fluttering eyelids,

 

πᾶς δὲ βροτὸς γήθει, πᾶν ἑρπετὸν ἄλλα τε φῦλα

All humanity of Ge[6] divine, all earth’s creatures, all progeny of

 

τετραπόδων πτηνῶν τε καὶ εἰναλίων πολυεθνῶν·

The four-footed, winged, and the sea’s many species,

 

πάντα γὰρ ἐργάσιμον βίοτον θνητοῖσι πορίζεις.

All commence the work life’s mortals provide.

 

ἀλλά, μάκαιρ’, ἁγνή, μύσταις ἱερὸν φάος αὔξοις.

Now then, blessed, pure mystae[7], holy light augment.

 



[1] Eos is the immortal Goddess of dawn.


[2] The Titans are the immortal deities who reside in Tartaros, the deepest realm beneath the earth, in contrast to the Olympian deities, who reside on Mount Olympos, the highest known place on earth.


[3] Night is the immortal Goddess of night.


[4] It is interesting to note that Anatolia is the ancient word for the country that is now Turkey, which lies to the east of Greece.


[5] Gaia is the immortal Goddess of generative earth.


[6] Ge is another name for the immortal Goddess of generative earth, “Mother Earth.”


[7] The mystae are initiates in the divine mysteries.

Translated by Catherine Proppe, September 15, 2015


8. Εἰς Ἥλιον, θυμίαμα λιβανομάνναν.
Welcome Helios
Divine connection: libanon mannan (frankincense and manna)

 

Κλῦθι μάκαρ, πανδερκὲς ἔχων αἰώνιον ὄμμα,

I call the blessed, all-seeing foundation, eternal eye,

 

Τιτὰν χρυσαυγής, Ὑπερίων, οὐράνιον φῶς,

Titan[1] of golden dawn, Hyperion’s[2] heavenly light,

 

αὐτοφυής, ἀκάμας, ζώιων ἡδεῖα πρόσοψι,

Singular in nature, arising arc, life-giving, cheerful countenance.

 

δεξιὲ μὲν γενέτωρ ἠοῦς, εὐώνυμε νυκτός,

On the right[3], giving birth to Dawn, on the left, Night,

 

κρᾶσιν ἔχων ὡρῶν, τετραβάμοσι ποσσὶ χορεύων,

Mixing the foundation’s four horizons, counting each circling

 

εὔδρομε, ῥοιζήτωρ, πυρόεις, φαιδρωπέ, διφρευτά,

Course, fire-hurtling, light-bestowing chariot,

 

ῥόμβου ἀπειρεσίου δινεύμασιν οἶμον ἐλαύνων,

Whirling without intermission on a wheeling path, driving

 

εὐσεβέσιν καθοδηγὲ καλῶν, ζαμενὴς ἀσεβοῦσιν,

A well-honored guided cycle, beautiful, powerful, impudent.

 

χρησολύρη, κόσμου τὸν ἐναρμόνιον δρόμον ἕλκων,

Golden lyre: the cosmos’ harmonic course follows.

 

ἔργων σημάντωρ ἀγαθῶν, ὡροτρόφε κοῦρε,

Signal the time for work, good hour-turning son,

 

κοσμοκράτωρ, συρικτά, πυρίδρομε, κυκλοέλικτε,

Cosmic ruler, trailing a fiery course, in a cycling spiral.

 

φωσφόρε, αἰολόδικτε, φερέσβιε, κάρπιμε Παιάν,

Light-bearer, eternally variable dictator, bringing life to Gaia’s[4] fruits,

 

ἀιθαλής, ἀμίαντε, χρόνου πάτερ, ἀθάνατε Ζεῦ,

Ethereal, exemplary father of time, eternal spark-of-life[5]

 

εὔδιε, πασιφαής, κόσμου τὸ περίδρομον ὄμμα,

Fair-coursing, all-light of the the cosmos, circumnavigating eye:

 

σβεννύμενε λάμπων τε καλαῖς ἀκτῖσι φαειναῖς,

From extinguished lamp to beautiful noonday brilliance.

 

δεῖκτα δικαιοσύνης, φιλονάματε, δέσποτα κόσμου,

Clear illuminator in league with Dike’s[6] justice, beloved streaming font, all-powerful despot of the cosmos,

 

πιστοφύλαξ, αἰεὶ πανυπέρτατε, πᾶσιν ἀρωγέ,

Trusted sentinel, eternally uppermost, giving aid to all,

 

ὄμμα δικαιοσύνης, ζωῆς φῶς· ὦ ἐλάσιππε,

Eye of justice, life’s illuminator, O steed-driver

 

μάστιγι λιγυρῆι τετράορον ἅρμα διώκων,

Whip sharply that four-horsed chariot, drive on!

 

κλῦθι λόγων, ἡδὺν δὲ βίον μύστηισι πρόφαινε.

I call with sweet words of life the mystae: come before the light[7].


[1] The Titans are the immortal deities who reside in Tartaros, the deepest realm beneath the earth, in contrast to the next generation Olympians, who reside on Mount Olympos, the highest known place on earth.


[2] Hyperion is the immortal God of the “upper air.” He is the father, by the Goddess Theia, of the God Helios (sun), Goddess Eos (dawn), and Goddess Selene (moon). (Theogony 371, Homeric Hymn To Helios, Apollodorus 1.9, Hyginus Pref)


[3] When facing north, east is to the right.


[4] Gaia is the immortal Goddess of generative earth.


[5] Zeus is the immortal lightning-storm God of the spark of fire, spark of life, a title also used to refer to other deities (Pluto, Ammon, Poseidon, Aphrodite, Helios) and to some mortals (Pericles, kings, emperors).


[6] Dike is the immortal, all-seeing Goddess of justice.


[7] This hymn may have been performed at dawn when the initiates in the mysteries, the “mystae,” emerge into the light of day from their night-long initiation rituals.