Hymn to Mises #HymnsOfOrpheus

Translated by Catherine Proppe
December 16, 2014


This hymn includes a mish-mash of epithets, including:

-       Thesmophoron/Law-Bearer (Demeter)

-       Dionysos

-       Euboulos/Good Counselor (Pluto)

-       Kyprian/Kythera (Aphrodite)

-       Phrygian Mother (Rhea/Kybele)

-       Isis.

This may be a hymn invoking numerous deities to bring blessings to the athletes, who, perhaps, represent many different regions and presumably their respective local temples. It seems to suggest that such a conglomeration of deities is both male and female.

 

42. Μίσης, θυμίαμα στύρακα.

To the Medium of Divine Power Synchronized[1]

Divine medium: styrax, storax

 

Θεσμοφόρον καλέω ναρθηκοφόρον Διόνυσον,

Law-bearer[2] I call, fennel-stalk bearing Dionysian[3],

 

σπέρμα πολύμνηστον, πολυώνυμον Εὐβουλῆος,

Seed of many memories, many-realmed Euboulos[4]

 

ἁγνήν εὐίερόν τε Μίσην ἄρρητον ἄνασσαν,

Pure holy then unspoken Anassan[5]

 

ἄρσενα καὶ θῆλυν, διφυῆ, λύσειον Ἴακχον·

Male and female, of two natures, releasing shouting

 

εἴτ' ἐν Ἐλευσῖνος τέρπηι νηωι θυόεντι,

Whether in Eleusis[6] joyfully dwelling divine

 

εἴτε καὶ ἐν Φρυγίηι σὺν Μητέρι μυστιπολεύεις,

Whether in Phrygia[7] with the Mother of many mysteries

 

ἢ Κύπρωι τέρπηι σὺν ἐυστεφάνωι Κυθερείηι,

Or Kypros[8] rejoicing with well-crowned Kytheria[9]

 

ἢ καὶ πυροφόροις πεδίοις ἐπαγάλλεαι ἁγνοῖς

Or the wheat-bearing[10] plain upon proclamations pure

 

σὺν σῆι μητρὶ θεᾶι μελανηφόρωι Ἴσιδι σεμνῆι,

With thou Mother divine, black-bearing Isis-directed[11] revered

 

Αἰγύπτου παρὰ χεῦμα σὺν ἀμφιπόλοισι τιθήναις·

Egyptian stream[12] together the amphipolis[13] nursing

 

εὐμενέουσ' ἔλθοις ἀγαθοῖς τελεουσ' ἐπ' ἀέθλοις.

Graciously come good, complete, upon the athletes.


[1] Although Μίσης is often translated as “hate,” that translation makes no sense in the context of this hymn. A more likely homonym may be “moon” (μείς). Literally, the name Μίσης translates as “medium of (Μ) + divine-power (ί) + synchronized (σης).”


[2] Thesmosphoros means law-bearer, an epithet of the immortal Goddess Demeter.


[3] Dionysos is the immortal God of wine and its effects. Wine is a medium of union with the divine.


[4] Euboulos means “Good Counselor,” an epithet of Pluto, the immortal God of the afterlife.


[5] Anassa means Queen, Lady; addressed to Goddesses.


[6] Eleusis is a holy city on the Rarian Plain of Greece, home of the Eleusinian Mysteries of Demeter and her daughter, Kore.


[7] Phrygia is in modern day Turkey.


[8] Kypros (Cyprus) is a Greek island sacred to the immortal Goddess of love, Aphrodite.


[9] Kythera (Cythera) is also a Greek island sacred to Aphrodite.


[10] Interestingly, the word for fire and root are identical: puro (πυρο).


[11] Isis is the celebrated immortal Goddess of Egypt.


[12] The Egyptian stream is presumably the Nile River.


[13] Amphipolis means “surrounding the city.”