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To the Fates/Moirai (www.GreekAlphabea.com) #HymnsofOrpheus

9/9/2013

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This is a first-pass attempt to translate the Orphic Hymn to the Morai/Fates, three Goddesses (Lachesis, Klotho, Atropos) who confer the beginning/foundation, middle/coming together, and completion/turning point. (It's admittedly a bit of a muddled translation here.)

Children of Night, clothed in purple robes, in the heavens, the water, and the caves, from the very beginning of time concerned with Justice and Law, higher than the top of Olympos, giving all, all-seeing . . .


The Hymn requests kindness/gentleness and good counsel.

For some reason, the Hymn appears to end by introducing Orpheus, or perhaps it introduces music that is Orphic and therefore so enchanting that it will gain the favor of the Fates.

The three Goddesses are invoked, given great homage, offered drink offerings, and entertained with music.



59. Μοιρῶν, -  the Fates/Morai


θυμίαμα - incense
ἀρώματα. - aromatic

Μοῖραι - Morai
ἀπειρέσιοι, - arising above (ἀ) + pierce through, run through (πειρέ) + deities (σιοι) = "boundless, immense, profound, vast"
Νυκτὸς - Night's
φίλα - love, beloved
τέκνα - children, offspring, creation
μελαίνης, - black, dark

κλῦτέ - famous, renowned, glorious, noble, splendid
μου - muse/medium?
εὐχομένου, - "pray for, long for, wish for" = thing prayed for, object of prayer (εὐχο) + might, force (μένου)
πολυώνυμοι, - many, multi, poli (πολυώ) + name (νυμοι) = having many names, worshipped under many names
αἵτ' - ask, petition, request, beg
ἐπὶ - upon
λίμνης - pool of standing water, marsh, lake ?Limnae?

οὐρανίας, - heavenly
ἵνα - force, strength (of a swell or current at sea)
λευκὸν - white
ὕδωρ - water
νυχίας - night, dark as night
ὑπὸ - beneath, upward
θέρμης - heat, thermo

ῥήγνυται - break or burst forth, break asunder, rend, shatter, make ragged
ἐν - in
σκιερῶι - shade
λιπαρῶι - earnest begging/praying, supplication; persist, persevere, hold out; rich, bright, oily, shiny, fatty, greasy; fat, rich, fruitful
μυχῶι - innermost part, farthest corner, deepest depth
εὐλίθου - essence pure (εὐ) + stone, touchstone, magnet, marble, stones cut from a quarry (λίθου) 
ἄντρου, - cave

ναίουσαι - dwell, abide
πεπότησθε - ripe, mellow, cooked, mild, gentle (πεπό) + her (τησ) + divine (θε) βροτῶν - mortal, human 
ἐπ' - upon
ἀπείρονα - "boundless, endless, profound, vast" = arising above (ἀ) + pierce, run through, cleave (πείρονα) 
γαῖαν· - earth

ἔνθεν - thence, thereupon, then after, and then
ἐπὶ - upon
βρότεον - mortal, human 
δόκιμον - proven, tested, reliable, dependable
γένος - parent, genus, origin, source
ἐλπίδι - expectation, hopes, look for, expect
κοῦφον - light, nimble, insubstantial, airy; empty

στείχετε - walk, march in line or order, go, come, towards, march to war
πορφυρέηισι - purple-colored, purple dye obtained from the fish Murex trunculus and Purpura haemastoma (πορφυρ) + έηισι - also- give, bring, offer, destined to (πορ) + mix, mix something dry w/ something wet, knead, mixture (φυρ) + έηισι
καλυψάμεναι - covering, Calypso (Goddess of Island of Ogygia), cover, hide, conceal (καλυψά) + might, force (μεναι)
ὀθόνηισι - fine linen  (clothed/concealed in purple robes of fine linen?)

μορσίμωι - appointed by fate, destined
ἐν - in
πεδίωι, - with, among; bound by fetters; flat, level, plain, on the ground, earth
ὅθι - where; strange, foreign; whence; echoes "fine linen"
πάγγεον - all (πάγ) + of the earth (γεον) = "holding the whole earth"
ἅρμα - chariot, war-chariot; armaments, arsenal; a mountain district in Attica where omens from lightning were watched for; that which one takes: food; union, love
διώκει - pursue, chase, cause to run, set in quick motion, prosecute

δόξα - expectation; opinion, judgment, reputation
δίκης - Justice, Dike, Goddess of Justice
παρὰ - para, having-to-do-with
τέρμα - term, end, completion, boundary, goal
καὶ - and 
ἐλπίδος - hopes, expectation
ἠδὲ - and, both/and; at this time, forthwith
μεριμνῶν - care for, be anxious about, meditate upon, anxiety, care; pursuit, ambition, object of care

καὶ - and 
νόμου - law, sphere of command, Nomos, God of Law
ὠγυγίου - primeval, from earliest ages, primal; gigantic; legendary island of the Mediterranean Ogyges (the abode of Calypso); (Ogygos was first King of  Grecian Thebes, survived the Ogygian (epithet of Thebes) deluge/great flood) = brings forth/egg (ὠ) + generative pure (γυ) + generative divine-power + (γίου)
καὶ - and
ἀπείρονος - "boundless, endless, profound, vast" = arising above (ἀ) + pierce, run through, cleave (πείρον) 
εὐνόμου - essence pure (εὐ) + law, sphere of command (νόμου) = law-abiding, have good laws, be well-ordered, loyalty to divine law
ἀρχῆς· - origin, arch-, first place/power, sovereign, first principle/element, from the beginning, from the first (arising outflow-of foundation center)

Μοῖρα - Fate, Moira
γὰρ - for, because, generating
ἐν - in 
βιότωι - life, means of living, sustenance
καθορᾶι - able to see, keen-sighted, look down, have within view, see distinctly = pure (καθ) + sighted (ορᾶι) 
μόνη, - abiding, tarrying, staying, permanent, one-centered
οὐδέ - but not, not, and not, not even, in no way
τις - payment by way of return or recompense (good and bad), retribution, vengeance, punishment
ἄλλος - another, also

ἀθανάτων, - immortal = arising above (ἀ) + death, mortality (θανάτων)
οἳ - such as? omen from the flight of birds? entity divinely-powered
ἔχουσι - make secure, have, hold, possess   (?to go from?)
κάρη - head (of people or animals); peak, top
νιφόεντος - snowy, snowclad
Ὀλύμπου, - Olympos

καὶ - and
Διὸς - noble, divine; generally of Zeus
ὄμμα - eye, eye of the Gods and Goddesses
τέλειον· - complete, perfected, reach completion, entire, fully formed, fulfill, accomplish
ἐπεί - upon
γ' - generative
ὅσα - so far as, so much as
γίγνεται - born, come into being, generate, produce, become
ἡμῖν, - gentle, kind, favorable

Μοῖρά - Fate
τε - too then
καὶ - and 
Διὸς - noble, divine; generally of Zeus
οἶδε - swell, become swollen
νόος - mind, intellect, intelligence
διὰ - through
παντὸς - all 
ἅπαντα. - arising above all

ἀλλά - but
μοι - part, lot, portion
εὐκταῖαι, - "for prayer; invoked in prayer, prayed for; votive offerings, vows, prayers" = essence pure (εὐ) + procure for oneself, get, acquire, possess (κταῖαι)
μαλακόφρονες, - soft (μαλακό) + have understanding, be wise, prudent, have a mind/think, comprehend (φρονες)
ἠπιόθυμοι, - gentle, kind (ἠπιό) + soul, spirit (θυμοι) = "gentle of mood"

Ἄτροπε - Atropos (Goddess who inscribes fate and cuts thread of life, depicted with a scroll, a wax tablet, a sundial, a pair of scales, or a cutting instrument; according to Hesiod the eldest and highest ranking, Plato associates Atropos with the future, the "things that are to be") = arising (Ἄ) + way of life, custom, direction, way, keel of a ship; the signs of the zodiac in which the solstices and equinoxes are located (tropics); turn, turning, change, solstice, turning-point; way, mode, manner, style (τροπε)

καὶ - and 
Λάχεσι, - Lachesis (Goddess who points with a staff to the horoscope on the globe, indicating horoscope/fate at nativity, at onset); gives allotted portion, lot, destiny, appointed office, "loosen arising foundation"
Κλωθώ, - spinner, Klotho (Goddess who Clothes one in destiny, spins threads of fate) twist by spinning, make cloth, clothe, spin threads of fate, make cloth (These names suggest that Lachesis is the lot at the onset/the dispenser of lots/"things that were" (the raw wool), Klotho is how various lots come together throughout life/"things that are" (makes string, twists raw wool together), and Atropos is the Goddess of direction/"things that are to be" (perhaps the weaver? generally called the one who cuts the string/ends life) (Plato Republic 617c) 
μόλετ', - lead weight, lead; only just; taint, pollute; cut off and transplant suckers of plant (μόλ) + ετ'
εὐπατέρειαι, "daughter of a noble sire" + essence pure (εὐ) + father (πατέρειαι)

ἀέριοι, - aerial, in the air, like air
ἀφανεῖς, - arising above (ἀ) + light (φανεῖς) = "unseen" 
ἀμετάτροποι, - arising above (ἀ) + among, all (μετά) + turning points, direction (τροποι)
αἰὲν - eternal
ἀτειρεῖς, - "stubborn" + arising above (ἀ) + sign, wonder, marvel, portent, terror; distress, oppress, weaken (τειρεῖς)

παντοδότειραι, - all (παντο) + giver (δότειραι), giver of all
ἀφαιρέτιδες, - "one that takes away, take away from"  --- (arising above (a) + grey, dark (φαι) + flow direction/tides (ρέτιδες)
θνητοῖσιν - mortal
ἀνάγκη· - necessity, what is necessary, compelled to do, bodily pain/anguish (of childbirth), Ananke (Goddess of what is necessary, who existed at the beginning with Time and constricted the primordial egg of solid matter until it split into its constituent parts (earth, heaven, sea) and brought about the creation of the ordered universe)

Μοῖραι, - Fate, Moirai
ἀκούσατ' - listen, hear, acoustic
ἐμῶν - in, within, by means of (ἐμ) + bring forth (ῶν)
ὁσίων - hallowed, divinely sanctioned, permitted by divine law
λοιβῶν - libation, drink-offering, pouring
τε - too then
καὶ - and 
εὐχῶν, - essence pure (εὐ) + metal-casting, metal-work, molten wrought, smelter (χῶν)

ἐρχόμεναι - start, set out; come; go
μύσταις - mystae, initiates, mystery
λυσιπήμονες - loose, release (λυσι) + misery, calamity (πήμονες) 
εὔφρονι - "cheerful, merry; kindly, gracious" = essence pure (εὔ) + mind, spirit, sensible, thoughtful, have a mind, be disposed, think (φρονι)
βουλῆι. - counsel, advice; will, determination; deliberation, consideration; Council, Senate

[Μοιράων - Moirae, Fate
τέλος - complete, bring to completion, fulfill,
ἔλλαβ’ - Hellenic 
ἀοιδή, - song, music, singer
ἣν - here now
ὕφαν' - create, weave, contrive, plan, compose, write
Ὀρφεύς] - Orpheus

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    This blog is a first-pass attempt to translate the Hymns of Orpheus with the help of the Liddell-Scott Greek-English Lexicon.

    I am a research analyst and a native of Detroit, Michigan.  

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