Translated by Catherine Proppe August 27, 2015
58. Ἔρωτος, θυμίαμα ἀρώματα.
To Eros[1]
Divine connection: aromatics
Κικλήσκω μέγαν, ἁγνόν, ἐράσμιον, ἡδὺν Ἔρωτα,
I call great pure beloved sweet Erota,
τοξαλκῆ, πτερόεντα, πυρίδρομον, εὔδρομον ὁρμῆι,
Mighty-archer of flying, flaming, swift-coursed assault,
συμπαίζοντα θεοῖς ἠδὲ θνητοῖς ἀνθρώποις,
Playing with deities and mortal humans,
εὐπάλαμον, διφυῆ, πάντων κληῖδας ἔχοντα,
Handily skillful, bisexual[2], the key to all foundations[3]:
αἰθέρος οὐρανίου, πόντου, χθονός, ἠδ' ὅσα θνητοῖς
The etherial sky, the sea, the earth, and so many mortals.
πνεύματα παντογένεθλα θεὰ βόσκει χλοόκαρπος,
Aerial breath[4], all-generative Goddess[5], nourishing tender green fruits,
ἠδ' ὅσα Τάρταρος εὐρὺς ἔχει πόντος θ' ἁλίδουπος·
Dear one of Tartaros’[6] good river[7], foundation of the sea, the abundantly roaring sea,
μοῦνος γὰρ τούτων πάντων οἴηκα κρατύνεις.
Alone bring forth thence, all, then, rudder make firm
ἀλλά, μάκαρ, καθαραῖς γνώμαις μύσταισι συνέρχου,
Now, blessed pure knowledge of the mystai join as one
φαύλους[8] δ' ἐκτοπίους[9] θὁρμὰς ἀπὸ τῶνδ' ἀπόπεμπε[10].
Receive a paltry drink of semen from thence toward the ground sent forth.
[1] Eros is the immortal God/dess of the force that pulls things together, in contrast to Eris/Strife, the immortal force that pulls things apart:
“[Hippolytus] For when the things which come to be by strife’s [Eris] agency die, love [Eros] receives them and draws them towards, puts them with, and assimilates them to the universe, so that the universe might remain one, always being organized by love in one manner and form.”
(Empedocles (circa 450 BCE). The Poem of Empedocles, translated by Brad Inwood (University of Toronto Press, 2001.) 31-32)
[2] Eros is two-natured, androgynous. Ancient love poetry contained both hetero- and homosexual themes. http://www.theoi.com/greek-mythology/primeval-gods.html
[3] The foundations of the sky, sea, earth are the immortal deities.
[4] Pneumatic means of the breath, aerial, wind. This hymn may be describing a “blow job.”
[5] May refer to the immortal Goddess Hera (Air) in reference to the wind’s role in fertilizing plants. Empedocles, in Physics(7(6).2-3) and in Poeta Philosophus (6.1), equates Ἢρη, Hera, with air, one of the four roots/elements
(earth, air, fire, water). Note that Eros is a winged (aerial) deity.
[6] Tartaros is the deepest realm beneath the earth.
[7] The river may be a reference to Lethe, the river of forgetfulness in the afterlife. A deceased soul who drinks from Lethe is reincarnated in a new life on earth, a life which is instigated by the activities of love.
[8] The Greek word is “phaulous” a homonym of “phallus.”
[9] Without the apostrophe, this reads, “receive a drink.”
[10] Without the apostrophe, this reads, “toward the floor send forth.”
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