Translated by Catherine Proppe
February 16, 2015
6. Πρωτογόνου, θυμίαμα σμύρναν.
To Protogonos
Divine connection: myrrh (from Smyrna)
Πρωτόγονον καλέω διφυῆ, μέγαν, αἰθερόπλαγκτον,
Protogonos[1] I call, dual-natured[2], great, aether-roaming[3],
ὠιογενῆ, χρυσέαισιν ἀγαλλόμενον πτερύγεσσι,
Eggborn[4], golden, gloriously-powered winged essence
ταυρωβόαν, γένεσιν μακάρων θνητῶν τ' ἀνθρώπων,
Bull of bulls[5], genetive origin of blessed mortal humanity
σπέρμα πολύμνηστον, πολυόργιον, Ἠρικεπαῖον,
Sperma[6] of multiple marriages and multiple sacred rites, Herikapaion[7]
ἄρρητον, κρύφιον ῥοιζήτορα, παμφαὲς ἔρνος,
Unspoken secret flowing life-engraver, all-illuminated sprout
ὄσσων ὃς σκοτόεσσαν ἀπημαύρωσας ὁμίχλην
Seeing the dark essence, arising above ruinous blind mist
πάντῃ δινηθεὶς πτερύγων ῥιπαῖς κατὰ κόσμον
All-extending power divine, winged flight through the pure cosmos,
λαμπρὸν ἄγων φάος ἁγνόν, ἀφ' οὗ σε Φάνητα κικλήσκω
Lamp light pure, giving rise to birth, Phanes[8] I call
ἠδὲ Πρίηπον ἄνακτα καὶ Ἀνταύγην ἑλίκωπον.
And Priapos[9], arise and reflect dawn’s spiralling sight
ἀλλά, μάκαρ, πολύμητι, πολύσπορε, βαῖνε γεγηθὼς
Yet, blessed exceedingly wise many sower, dance with Ge[10] rejoicing,
ἐς τελετὴν ἁγνίαν πολυποίκιλον ὀργιοφάνταις.
Completely, purely the many various celebrated mysteries illuminate.
[1] Protogonos means “first/proto (Πρωτό) + born/created/generated/offspring/child (γονον); according to Pausanias I.31.4, a name of the Goddess Persephone, “Kore Protogona.”
[2] Protogonos/Phanes is considered bi-sexual.
[3] Aether is the ether, heavens, upper air, sky.
[4] Note that egghatching-shaped letter "omega" is the first letter in the very short Greek word for “egg (ὠιο).”
[5] The bull is the designated seed animal for breeding the herd.
[6] Sperma means seed.
[7] Herikapaion means “early core triumph”: Early/spring/morning (Ἠρι) + core (κε) + paion (παῖον). The paion is triumph over adversity, literally “under-the-same-roof (π) + arising (α) + divine power (ῖ) + entity (ο) + prevailing (ν).”
In Greek, paion (παῖον) means song of triumph after victory; medicine, antidote, healer, savior, deliverer; and peony, a spring flower with powerful medicinal value http://www.webmd.com/vitamins-supplements/ingredientmono-32-peony.aspx?activeingredientid=32&activeingredientname=peony
[8] Phanos (φᾱνός) means light, bright, torch, literally “divinely-animated-entity arising prevailing.”Phanes is the immortal God/dess of the first principle of life. The Derveni Papyrus describes Phanes as a male/female entity who emerged from an egg.
Guthrie, in Orpheus and the Greek Religion, describes how Time (Chronos) placed within Sky (Aither) an egg, from which emerged Phanes:
“Chronos fashions in Aither an egg. The egg splits in two and Phanes, the first-born of the [G]ods [and Goddesses] (Protogonos), springs forth.”
“. . . in the Orpheus of Athenagoras, the two halves of the egg from which Phanes sprang go to make Heaven and Earth.”
(W. K. C. Guthrie. Orpheus and the Greek Religion (New Jersey: Princeton University Press, 1952 by Methuen & Co., copyright 1993 by Princeton University Press) 80, 85.)
The Derveni Papyrus describes Phanes as a male/female entity who emerged from an egg:
“First, there was Chronos or Time (Chronology). From Chronos, Aither and Chasma or Chaos were born. Chronos places an egg in Aither. The egg is also called white tunic (argeeta chitona (άργῆτα χιτῶνα)) or cloud (nepheleen (νεφελήν)). The [G]od[/dess] Phanes breaks out from the egg . . . Phanes is a marvellous (sp. sic) creature. He/she is of both sexes . . .”
(Gabor Betegh, The Derveni Papyrus: Cosmology, Theology and Interpretation (New York: Cambridge University Press, 2004) 141-142.) http://books.google.com/books?id=5HaKQFeYSBEC&q=egg#v=snippet&q=egg&f=false
Phanes is illustrated as hatched from the world egg & circled by the zodiac. Phanes is winged and enwrapped by a serpent, suggesting both heavenly and earthly qualities. Greco-Roman bas relief circa 150 CE. Image located in Galeriea e Museo Eustense, Modena, Italy. http://www.theoi.com/Protogenos/Phanes.html
[9] "We shall at this point discuss Priapus and the myths related about him . . . certain writers say that when the ancients wished to speak in their myths of the sexual organ of males they called it Priapus . . .
“. . . the Egyptians in their myths about Priapus say that in ancient times the Titans formed a conspiracy against Osiris and slew him, and then, taking his body and dividing it into equal parts among themselves, they slipped them secretly out of the house, but this organ (the penis) alone they threw into the river, since no one of them was willing to take it with him.
“But Isis tracked down the murder(ers) of her husband, and after slaying the Titans and fashioning the several pieces of his body into the shape of a human figure, she gave them to the priests with orders that they pay Osiris the honours of a [G]od, but since the only member she was unable to recover was the organ of sex she commanded them to pay to it the honours of a [G]od and set it up in their temples in an erect position. Now this is the myth about the birth of Priapus and the honour paid to him, as it is given by the ancient Egyptians."
(Diodorus Siculus (of Sicily) (circa 50 BCE). Library of History (4 .6.1), translated by C. H. Oldfather, Loeb Classical Library Volume 303. (Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press; London: William Heinemann Ltd., 1935) 357-358.)
[10] Ge is the immortal Goddess of generative earth.
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