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Classical Polytheism
Proclus’ Prayer to the Theoi
Proclos wrote a commentary on Plato’s Parmenides. The book opens with this prayer:
“I pray to all the gods and goddesses to guide my mind in this study that I have undertaken— to kindle
in me a shining light of truth and enlarge my understanding for the genuine science of being; to open
the gates of my soul to receive the inspired guidance of Plato; and in anchoring- my thought in the full
splendour of reality to hold me back from too much conceit of wisdom and from the paths of error by
keeping me in intellectual converse with those realities from which alone the eye of the soul is refreshed
and nourished, as Plato says in the Phaedrus (246e-251b).”
Source: https://press.princeton.edu/books/hardcover/9780691180403/proclus-commentary-onplatos-parmenides
There’s no reason why this prayer could not be used in religious practice.
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February 17, 2023
1 Minute
Greek Pagan Invocations
Zeus
“Oh Zeus father Zeus yours is the power in the sky
and you look down upon men’s deeds
the wicked and the lawful ones
even the animals’ right and wrong is your concern.”
-Archilochos
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Heracles
“O Heracles, energetic Alcidean, unwearied after so many labors, so they recall, even so You laid aside
Your cares and made delightful play with a tender girl, having forgotten the Nemean lion, and also the
Erymanthian boar. What should come afterward? Twisting spindles with Your thumbs, biting smooth
the rough threads in Your mouth. Lydian Omphale beat you for repeatedly knotting and breaking the
thread with Your rough hands. Often she would lead You as one of her spinning maidens dressed in
flowing robes. Your knotty club together with the lion’s skin was thrown down to the ground, and Amor
danced upon them with light feet. Who would have thought that would come about when as a babe You
strangled monstrous serpents with hands that could barely grasp, or when You swiftly cut off the heads
of the Hydra as each grew back again? or conquered the savage steeds of Diomede, or when alone You
fought the three brothers who shared a common body and contended with six hands? After the Lord of
Olympus routed the sons of Aloeus they say He rested on a bed until the bright of day, and then sent
His eagle in search and bring back anyone worthy to lovingly serve Jove, until in an Idaean valley he
found You, handsome priest, and gently carried You away in his talons.”
-Anonymous Elegy to Maecenus
Hebe
The goddess of youth who served as the cupbearer to the gods.
“O sovereign Hebe, herald of Aphrodite and her sweet passions born of heaven, thou that, resting on
the eyes of maidens and of boys, bearest one in the hands of gentle destiny, but handiest another far
otherwise. ‘Tis sweet for one who hath not swerved from due measure in aught that he doeth, to be able
to win the nobler prizes of love.”
-Pindar, Nemean Ode 8
Tethys
“Tethys! Agemate and bedmate of Okeanos, ancient as the world, nurse of commingled waters,
selfborn, loving mother of children”
-Nonnus, Dionysiaca 23. 280
Helios
“O all ruling Helios
Spirit of the cosmos
Power of the cosmos
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Light of the Cosmos
Khairete”
-Macrobius, Saturnalia
Physis
“O Nature, mighty mother of the gods, and thou, fire-bearing Olympus’ lord, who through the swift
firmament whirlest the scattered stars, and the wandering courses of the planets, who makest the
heavens on swift axis turn”
-Seneca, Phaedra
Dionysus
“Come hither, Dionysus, to thy holy temple by the sea
come with the Graces to thy temple,
rushing with thy bull’s foot, O goodly bull, O goodly bull!”
-Plutarch
Telesphoros
Telesphoros is one of Asclepius’ children and a healing deity.
“We hymn you lord giver of light and goodness
child of Paian, famed and skilled Telesphoros
Not only grateful Epidaurians sing your praise
with pain-removing hymns and called you Healer
because you bring men ease from painful woes
Athenians hymn you too ever since you drove
illness from earth’s crops and brought the comfort
of an ample harvest in the season’s ripeness, lord.
Nor is that the only reason for your name
Bakchos himself – hail, lord! – gave life-supporting
wine by virtue of the healing arts of long-haired Paian.”
-Anonymous inscription
“Immortal young offspring
Telesphoros your virtues
all knowing relieving pain
wake the generations of men from affliction
by driving away their deeply-troubling illness.
Long-haired Paian is delighted
with you, his offspring, Telesphoros, whom he dearly loves
and often, when from a serious illness
he leads a person into the clear light of day
He sports O progeny of Leto,
All hail! O healer, O
much-honored Telesphoros – with you.
You light our shining faces with the laughter
which goes with Holy merriment!”
-Anonymous inscription
Rustic Gods
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“What makes the crops joyous, beneath what star, Maecenas, it is well to turn the soil, and wed vines to
elms, what tending the cattle need, what care the herd in breeding, what skill the thrifty bees–hence
shall I begin my song. O most radiant lights of the firmament, that guide through heaven the gliding
year, O Dionysos and bounteous Demeter, if by your grace Earth changed Chaonia’s acorn for the rich
corn ear, and blended draughts of Achelous with the newfound grapes, and you Fauns, the rustics’ ever
present gods (come trip it, Fauns, and Dryad maids withal!), ’tis of your bounties I sing. And Poseidon,
for whom Earth, smitten by your mighty trident, first sent forth the neighing steed; you, too, spirit of
the groves Aristaeus, for whom thrice a hundred snowy steers crop Cea’s rich thickets; you too, Pan,
guardian of the sheep, leaving your native woods and glades of Lycaeus, as you love your own
Maenalus, come of your grace, Tegean lord! Come Athena, inventress of the olive; you, too,
Triptolemus, who showed to man the crooked plough; and you, Silvanus, with a young uprooted cypress
in your hand; and gods and goddesses all, whose love guards our fields–both you who nurse the young
fruits, springing up unsown, and you who on the seedlings send down from heaven plenteous rain!”
– Virgil, Georgics 1.1
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April 15, 2022
3 Minutes
Libanius’ Prose Hymn to Artemis
Libanius’ orations include this lengthy invocation to Artemis; a gem hidden among treasure – enjoy!
“Artemis was the daughter of Zeus and Leto, that is, of a father who was
the greatest of the gods, and of a mother whom he had chosen for such a
birth; and when Delos* gave support to Leto and made her stand and
strengthened her, Artemis came forth before Apollo, and aided her mother
in giving birth to Apollo. It is indeed a fair action for one who has been
born to make return for his rearing, at some later time, to those who bore
him; but this goddess, as soon as she came into being, requited the one who
bore her, at the time when she was especially in need of help. Thus, for the
good things for which Apollo is responsible among men, one must give
thanks to each of the two, to Apollo who granted these things as soon as he
was born, and to her who acted as midwife at his birth.
And just as, in her first days, she immediately became more courageous
than Apollo in facing Hera’s terrors- whence their names were given to
them, Artemis to her, Loxias to him – so let me be excused from praising
Leto gave birth to Artemis and Apollo on the island of Delos.
Hera, the wife of Zeus, became jealous of Leto when she learned that Zeus had been paying attention to
Leto; and when Leo was about to give birth to the children of which Zeus was the father, Hera pursued
her and would not let her rest until she reached the island of Delos. The names of Leto’s children were
supposed to reflect the hostility which had been felt them in the same fashion for other things. There
came to her as gifts of Earth, when she was born, bows and arrows, and the power of understanding the
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art at once, and deer appeared at once – and this, too, I believe, came from Earth – and they were
struck one after the other as practice in the art of shooting. And this, it seems, is what made Apollo an
archer, namely imitation of Artemis, so that Apollo was the pupil of Artemis in the art of shooting.
As she grew, the goddess both shone with beauty and fled marriage, and
swore by the head of her father that she would remain a maiden. To her
beauty all the poets bore witness, including the very prudent Homer, sometimes honoring the daughter of Alcinous by comparing her with this goddess, sometimes the daughter of Icarius, adding Aphrodite to Artemis so
as to bring the beauty of the two goddesses to equal terms. And of the
River Parthenios, in Paphlagonia, which was fair, there was a story that it
was fair because it became the bath of Artemis. And that she fled from association with men, a sufficient witness is the unhappy Orion, brought to
the grave by a scorpion, great as he was, because he laid hold of things which
it was not permitted to touch. It is in no way astonishing that Athena
should have chosen to be a maiden, since she came forth from her father
alone; but she who came into being through marriage nevertheless sought
virginity. And while Aphrodite, because of her beauty, both joined herself
to a man and set herself over marriages and bridal songs, beauty did not
persuade the other to live in wedlock with a god and conceive and give birth;
nor would she submit herself to the desires of a bridegroom.
Nor did she think fit to oversee the loom and wool and spinning, and
the labors of women, judging these things to be inferior to her nature, but
she gave herself over to the chase of wild animals, making her way through
valleys and mountains and groves and thickets, counting hunting as her
pleasure. Artemis needed no effort in order to shoot, but the skill that we
employ against captive birds, she used against boars and deer and whatever
wild beast she wished. And she is more completely mistress of wild
animals than we are of domestic ones. Of the animals, one or another
gazed
at her and was frightened when she spoke, and departed in flight,
while toward them. It is possible that he means that
others endure whatever she wishes and take pleasure in what comes from the
goddess. But she takes pleasure as she sees them running, takes pleasure
in pursuing them, and takes pleasure in shooting them. By means of this
pleasure she protects the human race, reducing to a smaller number the
animals that are hostile to the race, I am sure, and bringing it about
that they
do not run to the cities or fall upon them and tear them to pieces and empty
the cities of human beings. Who indeed could endure the tribes of
animals all together coming upon us, when if even one of those
unfortunate
beasts kept in the menageries leaps over the barrier and runs through a city,
he causes terror by his look alone and spreads consternation and causes each
of us to look and see where he may save himself; and people shout to each
other, and there is as much uproar as there would be from an attack of an
enemy? What then should we think would happen in assaults by wild
beasts, with lions in the lead? What happens at present is indeed a gift of
the goddess, namely that those animals which we could not withstand, if
they came upon us, remain in the forests.
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Some one may say that Ares and Athena are set over the great deeds
of war. No small part of the deeds of war belongs to Artemis, unless those
who fight view as a small thing the bow and arrow through which it is possible to conquer the enemy from a distance without suffering any harm.
If some of the combatants possessed bowmen, and some did not, the
infantry forces would be annihilated by the arrows with the utmost speed,
before they came together, and these bowmen would go off with the victory,
unmarked by wounds; and in a siege, the bowman can often bring down
the soldier fighting on the wall, and from the wall the besieged fighter can
often strike down the besieger. Think what the work of the foot soldier
would be in such a case.
One may learn admirably from Herakles how great is the power of
the bow, for he, setting out to cleanse the earth, did not put on a breastplate or take a shield as he went to his work, but a bow and quiver, by means
of which he accomplished most of his labors. And the army which after
his time went to Ilium enjoyed the benefits of his arrows for its victory. If
Philoctetes had not come from Lemnos with the arrows of Herakles, the
accomplishments of the foot-soldiers would have been small. In a word,
whoever is good at hunting, is good at fighting. Hunting is an effective
teacher of war. The man comes home from it valiantly, knowing both how
to save himself and to destroy his enemies, while he who has not hunted is
cowardly and useless, and a joy to his adversaries.
The good Xenophon in his book on hunting counts those who have
been hunters as blessed and worthy of admiration and able to overcome
dangers. And you, young men, know the men whom Xenophon enumerates. Admirable here also are the women whom Artemis loved and kept
at their exercises in hunting. These women, capturing in war men who
were without experience of hunting, seem to me to demonstrate beautifully
what a counterfeit soldier it is who undertakes to fight before he has hunted.
The city of the Lacedaemonians shows this. The more it seems to have
studied military matters, the more it shows that it has studied the art of
hunting. They have a law in the festival of Artemis that the man who comes
to the banquet without having hunted has plainly committed a crime and
should pay a penalty. And the penalty is that a man brings a jar of water
and pours it over the boy’s head, if it is a boy, but if it is a man
this is done
to the finger on his hand; and in Lacedaemon this water is a disgrace. Being
as we know eager to win with military weapons, they consider that this one
thing is the greatest preparation for victory, namely to conquer wild animals.
One might say that it is not with Ares and Athena alone that Artemis
should be compared, if one wished to do so, but with all the gods who, having presented skills to mankind, keep them at work at these and enjoy the
honors which come from this fact. If there were no men, these skills would
perish; indeed men would not suffer if the gods who brought their gifts also
destroyed what they brought. In such a case there would be a common ruin
for both, and this would be the state of affairs if the person who could bring
help did not exist. Who, indeed, if those who brought them to birth did
not exist, would have sailed the sea or worked the soil or written discourses
or healed bodies or forged bronze or built buildings or fought on ships or
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fought on foot or fought from horseback, if death had forestalled their coming into being? Or rather nothing would have come into existence, or at
most only a very limited number of creatures, and these not unmaimed.
For all those things which either did not escape the flood, or came to
the light in an imperfect condition, so that it was a loss when they failed to
die – it was without the help of the goddess that these creatures in some cases
did not travel over that path of life, or in other cases did not do it
properly.
It is to such a degree as this, in every respect, that the race of
mankind which has possessed the earth, or possesses it, or will possess it, in all
ages, is bestowed upon the earth by Artemis, both that which exists and that which does
not exist and that which will exist. And the praises which we are w’ont
to sing to the god Gamos at weddings, as being the father of mankindboth the work of this god and the work of Aphrodite would be in vain, if
Artemis did not stretch forth her hand in the pangs of delivery. For whenever you hear Eilithyia spoken of, you hear of Artemis. Thus too the
zeal of Aphrodite, which itself is devised for the sake of children, comes to
its fulfilment through this goddess, just as their goal comes to those who
sail the sea, in the form of harbors. If all regions were without harbors, and
there were nothing to receive them, it would be in vain to have made a voyage, if the vessels were wrecked on the headlands. Wherefore she is honored everywhere and by all men, and possesses magnificent temples and altars
and sacrifices and festivals. The Athenians also honor the goddess by naming
a month for her, which is Elaphebolion. And in another month, I mean
Munychion, they bring the maidens to her before marriage, so that, prepared beforehand by Artemis, they may proceed to the realm of Aphrodite.
Of the two places which are most honored among them, Peiraeus and
the Acropolis, the one belongs to Athena, the other to Artemis. With the
Ephesians, the coin bore the stag, in requital to the goddess for her great
benefits.
That health comes to men from Artemis, her name itself proclaims,
and we learn from Homer that Aeneas was healed in the great shrine by
Leto and this goddess. That she cares for men in every way, the following is a great sign. For when men sacrificed to her, knowing that mortals
need to pay honor in the greatest way, in return for the greatest gifts, she
altered the law, because, when she was thus honored by men with a sacrifice
of blood, it was living blood with which she was honored. She herself was a lover of mankind and a lover of Greeks. When she came to the
Greeks, indeed, it was to leave the Scythians. And the good things which
come from Selene, both for plants and for men, are the gift of Aphrodite,
and the realm of Hekate, composed of those many divine beings, should be
thought of as the realm of Artemis; for those goddesses are the same as
Artemis.
Knowing how to benefit men, the goddess also knows how to punish
men, doing the work of her father, I mean, from whom come both wealth
and thunderbolts, the former for just men, and the fire for those who are
not so. See her brother also doing both things, as for example when the
Greeks made war upon the Trojans over Helen, and he both sent the plague
upon them and stopped it, in each case granting a favor to the priest, sendhttps://classicalpolytheism.wordpress.com
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ing the disease because he had been ill used, and the relief from it, because
he had received his daughter back. Of the same kind are the works of
Artemis. She sent the colony to Ionia because of a dog, and gave her approval to Alexander when he set forth for his campaign in Asia. That
it is better to honor her than to despise her, Niobe has shown, the daughter
of Tantalus, weeping for her six daughters slain by arrows, and Actaeon likewise has shown, he who saw what it was not right to see, and Oeneus the
ruler of Aetolia has shown, who, when he had deprived her of a sacrifice,
groaned for his trees which fell when their roots were destroyed by the
attack of one boar. When the beast was overcome, with difficulty, and to
the harm of those who captured him – for he destroyed many men – his skin
and his head created another evil, a war, so that among the honors of the
gods no one should either voluntarily neglect Artemis, or be forgetful of
her.
Moreover, she teaches men not to do or to say anything immoderate.
When Agamemnon boasted that he shot her fairest hind, she forced him to
bring his daughter to the sacrificial altar for the sake of his voyage, which
the goddess held up, punishing his arrogance by detention in port, since the
winds obeyed her no less than they did Aeolus, their own keeper; and here
the goddess mingled her love of mankind, transferring the sword from the
maiden to the deer, and the one vanished – the maiden- while the other was
left in their hands, the deer. Another thing was both like this and unlike
it. A certain man, considering that an Italian boar was a thing of the greatest
value, said to himself, “Now the head of the boar will not belong to Artemis
but this will be my own possession, since I captured it.” When he said this,
he hung the head from a tree, and slept under it, when midday came; but
the fastening broke and the head fell on his chest, and killed the hunter who
considered himself greater than the goddess.
What she is like when she is honored, if on the other hand you wish
to hear this – when the Athenians were about to hurry out against the barbarians who were landing in their country, the fleet of Darius, they promised
to the Huntress to sacrifice to her as many he-goats as they slew barbarians.
And they did slay the number that we hear of. Herakles too was among
those tens of thousands, and Pan was also, putting himself forward as greater,
I mean, than Artemis, who was the more powerful deity. And why
must one speak of other examples? This great city would have belonged to
the Scythians, and would have been captured in that campaign long ago. if
this goddess, joining herself to her brother, had not by her shooting put them
to flight when they already occupied Phlegrae here. We had no army to
await their attack when they came, but such was the power of those that
smote them that they, the Scythians, went off bawling, not able to withstand
these two archers.
And this great temple here, toward the east, in the suburb, was built
at the cost of the wife of Cambyses, in return for her eyes, which were saved
by the goddess. myself am aware of owing recompense, not for my eyes
alone or indeed for my hands or feet or any other part, but for my whole self
and my band of students. It was the month which is named for Artemis,
and the seventh day of the month was begun, on which it is the custom
in this suburb of Meroe to celebrate the festival of the goddess, whose
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principal feature is the blood shed in boxing. The boxers are as many as there
are tribes in the city, one from each, and there is amazing rivalry for the
victory, not for the sake of the great sums spent for these men by the tribes,
for this seems a mad way for men to give thanks to the goddess. In
ancient times everybody went out to the spectacle, and not to go was impious; but with time the festival became dull, and while the boxers boxed,
the teachers of literature continued meeting with their classes, not seeming to
most people to do wrong in acting thus, but merely giving way to the custom
of the time.
And so, recently, some people went to Meroe, namely the boxers, while
I summoned the young men to school. Some of them did not obey; there was
something which created fear, one could not say what it was. When I said
that it would be laziness, if they sought to act as they had on the previous
day, which was not a day devoted to work, a certain fear troubled their
souls, and they gave their word of honor not to absent themselves from the
class meetings. And so they came together. This was a favor of Artemis,
who put a stop to the harm which had taken place. And when the students
who had felt the fear of the goddess had gone away and I was alone in this
council-house, there arrived, not much later, a young man, in response to an
invitation which I had often given him, namely that if time allowed, he
should come with his book; and we discussed the discourse. So I rose
and went to the door, and stood listening to him, as he stood also. More than
two hundred lines were read, and I remembered the infirmity of my feet,
and it occurred to me that it would be much better to listen seated. I
went and sat on my professorial chair and bade him do the same on the other
side of the room; and before forty lines had been read, I saw dust coming
out of the wall above the great door in the middle of the chamber. Then the
great stone molding broke and fell and lay on the ground with most of the
stones broken. I was shaken by what I had seen, and I would have suffered more if my ears had received the whole of the crash. But I had had
enough foresight so that my hands protected them.
The man whose task it was to admit the students happened to be
coming in and was saved by seeing the shadow of what was falling, when
he happened to look up; he was rising on one foot and had the other already
inside, so that the tip of his shoe was struck. This architrave which shattered was placed above the door for the sake of ornament, and the gleaming
stone had been set on top of the one which was not so large. They had
hollowed this out for the reception of the larger piece, and had put the one
in place, and had allowed the other to project, so as to be a pleasing sight to
those who looked at it. So long as what held it was strong – this was a very
small piece of wood – it remained in place; but when that wood, with the
passage of time, became weakened, the portion which was fitted in, came out
of its place, and there lay on the ground a great heap of stones which did
not, I am sure, seem so many before the accident. These not only would have
destroyed the young men as they came in and went out, but not even the
heads of camels and elephants would have escaped if the stones had not
remained in place. But she saved us, as Homer would have said, and she
gave back the children to their parents and manifestly rescued me from such
a near blow, by means of the thought concerning my feet; and her father
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Zeus preserved this sacred building unsullied by deaths. If she had not come
to our aid, how many litters would have come here to lift up the flower of the
city! So I am now permitted to give thanks in the manner of Simonides.
The Brothers saved him also, who sprang from the same father as Artemis.
These things came to Simonides from the Dioscuri in return for an ode, but
in my case, what I have offered here may take the place of an ode.
But now we have made our return; it will rest with the goddess and
Apollo the leader of the Muses to determine whether we have spoken not
unworthily.”
-Libanius, Fifth Oration
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February 1, 2022
15 Minutes
Martianus Capella’s Hymn to Hera
Enjoy a prose hymn written by a late antiquity polytheist philosopher.
“Fair Hera although the heavenly host has given you a different name and we call you
Hera because of your help, from which we also name Zeus; or we call you Lucina,
because you give light to those being born, and it is appropriate to name you
Lucetia – for it is not necessary for me to invoke the names Fluvonia, Februalis,
and Februa, since I am a virgin and have suffered no physical pollution; mortal
brides ought to summon you to their marriages as Iterduca and Domiduca, as
Unxia or Cinctia, in order that you may protect their journeys and bring them
into the abodes that they desire; and when they anoint the doorposts
you should fix a favorable sign thereon; and you should not leave them when they
put aside their girdle in the bridal chamber; those whom you protect in the crisis
of childbirth will you Opigena; the common people ought to call you Poplona, and in
their battles ought to call upon Curitis; now I call upon you as Hera,
named from your kingdom of the air, grant my request to know what goes on in the vastness
of the sky and in these fields of living souls glowing with conflicting atoms and which
of the deities is said to fly here. I am not asking about that lower level of air which is
traversed by birds, which the crest of mount Olympus soars above which is barely ten stades high
I mean the higher air. I think it is now legitimate to see whatever I had understood from my
reading Peri Eudaimonias.”
-the Marriage of Philology and Mercury
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May 3, 2021
1 Minute
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Liturgy for Asclepius
Asclepius is one of the most prominent out of all the minor Olympians. Here is a set of hymns outside
of the homeric and orphic invocations to use for worshiping Asclepius and his children.
ASCLEPIUS
“Sing youths of famous Paian
son of Leto, long range archer
hear us Paian
who generated great relief for humans
through union in love with Koronis
in the land of Phlegyas
hear us Paian! Asclepius!
famed divinity, hear us Paian!
From whom descended Machaon
Podaleirios and Iaso
hear us Paian!
And lovely Aigla, Panakeia too
by Epione and the apple of his eye
most holy Health!
Hear Paian! Asclepius,
famed divinity, hear us Paian!
I beseech you; look kindly on
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our city with its choral worship,
hear us Paian!
grant that we enjoy the sun’s
abundant light accompanied
by most famous and holy Health
please, O Paian, Asclepius
famed divinity, hear our prayer!”
-Anonymous inscription
“Wake up Healer Asclepius, lord of the people
kind-hearted child of Leto’s son and holy Koronis
shake the sleep from your eyes, hear the prayer
of your worshipers who joyfully entreat you
kind Asclepius for your greatest blessing: health.
Wake up take pleasure in the hymn we sing,.”
-Anonymous inscription
“We greet you lord paian who rule in Trikka
and have founded lovely Kos and Epidaruos
And Koronis, who bore you and Apollo, greetings!
And on your right whose hand you hold
Health and you to whom belong these sacred altars
Panake and Epio and Ieso we salute you all!
And the sackers of Leomedon’s house and walls
brother healers of rampaging sickness
Podaleirios and Machaon we greet you
and all the gods who share your residence
and goddesses father Paieon! Come kindly
and receive this cockerel, crower on the rooftop
which I sacrifice to you as a tasty morsel.
For our resources are limited and poor:
we’d rather sacrifice an ox or piglet rich
in luscious fat and not this cock as doctor’s fee
for the diseases which you cured us of by laying
your healing hands upon us, O our deliverer!”
-Herodas
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“O Lord Asclepius, whom we
have invoked often and for many
causes, by day and by night, in private and in public, how glad, how
very eager we were when you granted us, out of a vast sea of despair
to reach a calm haven and address the common hearth of humanity,
where no one under the sun is not an initiate,
but I can firmly assert
that no Greek has ever yet had more benefit than I! Accustomed
though I am to say such things, I must not therefore be more hesitant.
We do not leave off our daily addresses to escape a habit, we maintain the practice just because we were
habituated to it from the start. To
me, indeed the gratitude and honor displayed in sacrifice and incense burning is of course a concern,
whether I offer it in accordance with Hesiod’s precept
or with more zeal than my means allow;
but it is the
service of speech
that seems most appropriate for me. If it is true
that the study of oratory is in general a profitable thing for a man in life,
and as it were his crowning achievement, and if oratory devoted to the
gods is the most vital and righteous of all, and if, moreover, for me oratorical success is seen to come
from the god himself, then, I think, there
is no fairer thank-offering to the god than that which comes from oratory, nor is there any better use to
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which I could put my oratorical powers.
Let us now start at the beginning, and say what I know is commonplace and trite – of course it is – but
is all the more our duty to repeat,
because we should do better service by enlarging and multiplying than
by leaving out what nobody thinks ought to be left unsaid.
Many and great are the powers of Asclepius, or rather they are all encompassing, beyond the scope of
human life. It was not for nothing
that the people have established the temple of Zeus Asclepius;
but if
my teacher spoke plainly (and he, above all, must surely have done so)
in what manner he taught this and how is explained in the Sacred
Tales
it is he who guides and governs all, savior of the universe and
guardian of the immortals – or, if you prefer a loftier style, ‘the helm’s
controller’,
keeping safe both what always is and what comes to be. If
we believe him to be the son of Apollo and third in descent from Zeus,
and yet again join them in name, we do not hold contradictory beliefs,
because men say that Zeus himself was once born and yet show
him to be the father and creator of the world.
However, as Plato says,
‘let these things be and be said as the gods themselves wish’.
Let us go back to the point from which we digressed.
Possessing, as he does, all powers, the god chose to benefit
mankind in every way, giving each his due. The greatest and most universal benefit he established for it
was by making the race immortal by
succession, working through Health to ensure marriage and procreation,
and sources and provisions of nourishment.
Individual gifts he has
distributed ‘with an eye to the man’
skills and pursuits and various
ways of life, using Health as a universal medicine for every labour and
every action. He has set up centers of healing for public use, and has laid
upon himself the practice of his art by night and by day, for the comfort
of any who at any time need it, or will come to need it.
Men sing, and will always sing, of many different things; for my
part, I wish to record in this way what was given to me. Some say they
have risen again when they lay as dead, and this is a thing acknowledged and long practiced by the god:
I have enjoyed this benefit not
once, but more times than it is easy to tell.
To some, by his predictions,
he has added years and length of days. I am one of these – this is the
least painful way to speak of it.
Some, both men and women,
claim that limbs have developed on their bodies, by the god’s provision,
when their natural limbs had perished: they tell various stories, some by
word of mouth, some by statements on their dedications:
for me, it
was not a part of my body but the whole of it that he himself put together and made firm and gave me as
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a gift – just as Prometheus of old
is said to have fashioned man!
From many people – no one could say
how many – he has taken away pains and discomforts and problems,
both of the day and of the night.
My storms of this kind he knows
well, and it is plainly he who has put an end to them.
There is very much that is paradoxical in the god’s prescriptions
that one, for instance, should drink chalk, one hemlock, one should strip naked and
take a cold bath when one would think that what he manifestly
needed was heat. He has honoured me in this way too, stopping catarrhs
and chills by baths in rivers and the sea,
curing helpless confinement
to bed by long journeys, administering unheard of purges after continuous fasting, and ordering me to
speak and write when I found it difficult to breathe; so, if those who have been so cured have cause to
boast, I
am not without such cause either. Some speak of their patience and
all they endured under the god’s guidance, while others tell how they
found ease in the fulfillment of their needs.
I have indeed endured, in
many and various ways, but I have also experienced great ease and delight – a life of luxury would come
nowhere in comparison! While I
could tell of other cities in Europe and Asia
as to the company here
of those who share my joy as if it were a blessing to themselves, how
could I fail to reckon this as above all luxury? And what can one say of
the applause in council chambers
and the unexampled enthusiasm?
As to my being believed to excel even before I spoke, is not this a divine
grace, the very summit of ease? So should I say, were it permissible to
mention the higher powers.
I have heard some say that the god appeared to them and
stretched out his hand to them when they were at sea and in trouble and
others will say that they have succeeded in some business by following
the god’s advice. This too I have experienced; I can speak of it, rather
than listening to others’ stories. {As much of this as is possible to record
is also in the Sacred Tales.}
It is even said that the god prescribed
certain boxing tricks to a boxer of our time who slept in the sanctuary
– tricks by means of which he was to knock out a very famous opponent.
To me he has suggested
items of learning, songs, themes for speeches
and also the actual thoughts and diction,
just like those who teach
children their letters.
Having made this the culmination of the god’s benefactions, I shall
now bring my speech to a conclusion.
Lord Asclepius, many gifts of all kinds have been granted to me
from you and your generosity; but the greatest, the gift that deserves
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most thanks and is, surely, the dearest to my heart, is my oratory.
You have turned Pindar’s experience upside down: Pan, they say, danced his
Paean, whereas I, if it is right to say so, was thought worthy to perform the speech you yourself
composed.
You encouraged me to take
up oratory, and were my guide in my training. But this was not
enough: you took care also for what was bound to follow – that your
work should be of high repute. There is no city, no private person, no one qualified to hold office, who
has not, having been with me for a
short time, greeted me warmly and praised me at length to the best of
his powers
though it was not my oratory, I am sure, that brought
this about, but my master’s – yours! The greatest blessing in this
connection is that I became so familiar with the divine emperors,
not only by written communications, but by my delivering speeches before
them and being received enthusiastically, as no one ever before, by the
emperors and the empresses alike, and indeed by all the imperial
court.
Odysseus, by Athena’s gift, was enabled to deliver a speech before
Alcinous and the Phoenicians
a great thing, no doubt, and very
timely – and my affair too was so brought about and there was a sign
which summoned me,
when you showed by deeds that you had
brought me forward for many reasons, so that I might be conspicuous
in oratory, and the most perfect of the highest people should personally
hear me. For these and many other blessings, I shall never cease
rendering what thanks I can either in public before many
or privately by myself or in conversation with those I meet, as long as I possess some share of memory
and mind. I should like to say that it is another favor from you that you, who are best in all things, are at
my side
and give my speech your approval.”
-Aelius Aristides
HYGIEA
“Hygieia, most revered of the blessed gods,
May I dwell with you for the rest of my life,
And may you be the gracious inmate of my house.
For if there is any delight in wealth or in offspring,
Or in royal dominion which makes men equal to gods, or in those desires
Which we seek to capture by Aphrodite’s hidden nets,
Or if any other joy or rest from toil has been revealed to men by the gods,
It is with your help, blessed Hygieia,
That they all flourish and shine in the Graces’ discourse;
But without you, no man is happy.”
-Ariphron
SONS OF ASCLEPIUS
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“O blessed ones in your ancestors on both sides, happy too in
those sprung from you, and indeed in yourselves and your siblings,
for Iaso, Panacea and Aigle are with you – and Hygieia too, who is a
match for them all – truly named children of Epione.
You have no seats of worship apart from one another, nor do you dwell apart.
O fairest choir of your father, bringing him many choirs of men, yourselves far the best choirmasters of
all, the best temple-wardens, too,
and masters of the mixing-bowl
and of every act of thanksgiving.
Other sacrifices and festivals are almost all set up by law; but those
that come from you and your workshop, while they are more in number every day compared with all
others, yet come purely from the
heart and bring contentment from our consciousness.
Your tracks
are very many and very plain to see: a light follows wherever you
move, as his shadow follows a man. O you who are equal to the Dioscuri
in fate, equal to them in age but in a different generation,
who have calmed many a stormy sea and lit many a bright light on
continent and island, this is my speech for you, composed straight
after my sleep and my dream. Do you, in your kindness and benevolence to men
make it better;
put an end to my sickness, give me
health enough to let my body obey my soul’s wishes, and, in a word,
give me ease of life.”
-Aelius Aristides
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TELESPHOROS
A healing deity typically depicted as a dwarf wearing a cloak.
“We hymn you lord giver of light and goodness
child of Paian, famed and skilled TELESPHOROS
Not only grateful Epidaurians sing your praise
with pain-removing hymns and called you Healer
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because you bring men ease from painful woes
Athenians hymn you too ever since you drove
illness from earth’s crops and brought the comfort
of an ample harvest in the season’s ripeness, lord.
Nor is that the only reason for your name
Bakchos himself – hail, lord! – gave life-supporting
wine by virtue of the healing arts of long-haired Paian.”
-Anonymous inscription
“Immortal young offspring
Telesphoros your virtues
all knowing relieving pain
wake the generations of men from affliction
by driving away their deeply-troubling illness.
Long-haired Paian is delighted
with you, his offspring, Telesphoros, whom he dearly loves
and often, when from a serious illness
he leads a person into the clear light of day
He sports O progeny of Leto,
All hail! O healer, O
much-honored Telesphoros – with you.
You light our shining faces with the laughter
which goes with Holy merriment!”
-Anonymous inscription
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March 16, 2021
10 Minutes
18/18
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Classical Polytheism
Prayers From Classical Antiquity
Persephone
“O Persephone, grant us indeed a glorious victory!”
-aeschylus
Hermes
“Hail Hermes the Lord who dwellest in the city of the Corycians and look kindly on my simple offering”
-The Greek Anthology
Aphrodite
“Please, my goddess, goldencrowned Aphrodite,
let this lot fall to me”
-Sappho
Zeus
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“Now at my supplication, O Zeus, father of the Olympian gods, grant
that the fortunes of our house be firmly established, so that those
who rightly desire the rule of order may behold it. Every word of mine
has been uttered in justice. O Zeus, may you safeguard it!”
-aeschylus
“King zeus give unto us what is good whether we pray or pray not but what grievous, even if we pray for
it, do thou avert”
-Plato
“Father Zeus! I ask of thee,
Vain their evil counsels make!
And, though bold the prayer may be,
Right my wrongs, for Perseus sake. ”
-Simonides fragment 1
Rhea
“Gold-tressed Mater Theon (Mother of the Gods), save, I beseech you, my life, yes mine, for which
refuge is hard to find”
-Timotheus, Fragment 791
Chronos
The primordial god of time.
“Chronos father of the year and the months extend this year for us as far as you can, as once you
extended the night when Heracles was begotten”
-Libanius, 12th oration
Themis
To the righteous prayers o Themis we implore you tellus by what device our wreck and ruin may be
repaired bring most gentle goddess to sunk circumstance”
-Ovid, Metamorphises
Hestia
“O great and holy Goddess, I pray thee by thy plenteous and liberal
right hand, by thy joyful ceremonies of harvest, by the secrets of thy
sacrifice, by the flying chariots of thy Dragons, by the tillage of
the ground of Sicily which thou hast invented, by the marriage of
Proserpina, by the diligent inquisition of thy daughter, and by the
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other secrets which are within the temple of Eleusis in the land of
Athens (statement here)”
-Apuleius
Eros
“Eros, conqueror of hearts, with whom
Disport the blue-eyed nymphs and Cypris
fair:
With eyes uplift to Ida’s leafy gloom
I breathe to thee a prayer.
The maid for whom I glow thy power defies.
Her snow-cold bosom melt with thy fond
fire;
That she moved by my importunities
May grant my heart’s desire.”
-Anacreontea
Hera
“Holy Hera you who often descend from the heavens
visit your Lacinian sanctuary sweet-scented of incense
(statement here)”
-Nossis, palatina anthologia book 4
“O dear spouse and sister of the great God Zeus, which art adored and
worshiped among the great temples of Samos, called upon by women with
child, worshiped at high Carthage, because thou werest brought from
heaven by the Lion, the rivers of the flood Inachus do celebrate thee,
and know that thou art the wife of the great God and the Goddess of
Goddesses. All the East part of the world hath thee in veneration, all
the world calleth thee Lucina: I pray thee to be mine advocate in my
tribulations, deliver me from the great danger which pursueth me, and
save me that am wearied with so long labours and sorrow, for I know
that it is thou that succourest and helpest such women as are with
child and in danger.”
-Apuleius
“O Hera, you who rule the island of Samos
And have received Imbrasos too as your lot (statements here)”
–Anthologia Palatina 6.243
Artemis
“Artemis, which reign over Delos and the lovable Ortygia,
put back in the Charites’ lap the bow and the arrows intact,
purify your body in the waters of the Inopus and come
to the house of Alketis, to free her from the difficult labour pains.”
-Nossis, palatina anthologia book 4
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“Goddess, queen of the woodlands – for thy countenance and
honourable bearing proclaim thee of no mortal birth – thou who beneath
this fiery vault art blest in needing not to search for water, succour
a neighbouring people; whether the Wielder of the Bow or Latona’s
daughter hath set thee in the bridal-chamber from her chaste company,
or whether it be no lowly passion but one from on high doth make thee
fruitful – for the ruler of the gods himself is no stranger to Argive
bowers – look upon our distressed ranks. Us hath the resolve to
destroy guilty Thebes with the sword brought hither, but the unwarlike
doom of cruel drought doth bow our spirits and drain our exhausted
strength. Help thou our failing fortunes, whether thou hast some
turbid river or a stagnant marsh; nought is to be held shameful,
nought too mean in such a pass as ours. Thee now in place of the Winds
and rainy Jupiter do we supplicate, do thou restore our ebbing might
and fill again our spiritless hearts; so may thy charge grow under
suspicious stars! Only let Jupiter grant us to return, what high-piled
booty of war shalt thou be given! With the blood of numerous herds of
Dirce will I recompense thee, O goddess, and a mighty altar shall mark
this grove.”
-Statius, Thebaid
Pan
” O beloved Pan, and all ye other Gods, who are residents of this
place, grant that I may become beautiful within, and that whatever I possess externally may
be friendly to my inward attainments! Grant also, that I may consider the wise man as one
who abounds in wealth; and that I may enjoy that portion of gold, which no other than a
prudent man is able either to bear, or properly manage!”
-Plato
Misc
“You mighty Fates, through the power of Zeus grant fulfilment in the
way to which Justice now turns. “For a word of hate let a word of hate
be said,” Justice cries out as she exacts the debt, “and for a
murderous stroke let a murderous stroke be paid.” “Let it be done to
him as he does,” says the age-old wisdom.”
-aeschylus
“Glorious children of Olympian Zeus and Memory
Pierian Muses, hear me as I pray.
Grant me happiness from the blessed Gods and possession
Of a good reputation among all people forever.
In this may I be sweet to my friends and bitter to my enemies,
Revered by the former and terrible for the latter to see.
I long to have money, but I do not want to obtain it
Unjustly—punishment inevitably comes later.”
-Solon
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September 11, 2020
4 Minutes
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Agathos Daimon
The good spirit is typically honored on the second day of each Hellenistic month with libations of
unmixed wine. Veneration of the agathos daimon is part of simple, rustic household worship as
opposed to the more elaborate worship of Olympians. Orphic hymn number 72 (to the daimon) is
generally believed to be a hymnn to the entity but I’ve included other invocations to the good spirit.
Invocations
“HARPONKNOUPHI, BRINTANTÊNÔPHRI, BRISSKULMA, ARAOUAZARBA, MESENKRIPHI (or
MESINTRIPHI), NIPTOUMI, KHMOUMAÔPHI”
-Formula used to invoke the Agathos Daimon
Source
“Rejoice with me, You who are set over the East Wind and the World, for whom all the Gods serve as
Body-Guards at Your Good Hour and on Your Good Day, You who are the Agathos Daimon of the
World, the Crown of the Inhabited World, You who arise from the Abyss, You who Each Day rise a
Young Man and set an Old Man, HARPENKNOUPHI BRINTANTE’- NO’PHRI BRISSKYLMAS
AROURZORBOROBA MESINTRIPHI NIPTOUMI CHMOUMMAO’PHI.”
-Greek Magical Papyri
“Come to me you from the four winds god ruler of all who have breathed spirits into men for life master
of the good things in the world.
Hear me lord whose hidden name is ineffable. The daimons hearing it are terrified – the name
barbareich arsemphemphrothou – and of it the sun, of it the earth, hearing, rolls over, Hades hearing,
is shaken; rivers, sea, lakes, springs, hearing, are frozen, rocks hearing it are split.
Heaven is your head; ether, body, earth, feet and the water around you ocean.
O Agathos Daimon you are the lord, the begetter and nourisher and increaser of all.”
-Greek Magical Papyri
Prayer
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“May I have every grace, all accomplishment, for with Thee is the bringer of good, the messenger
standing by the side of Tyche.”
– Magic Papyri
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March 24, 2020
1 Minute
The Primordial God Aion
Aion is the primordial god of eternity who shouldn’t be conflated Chronos whose domain is linear time.
Aion is a highly esoteric deity who doesn’t have an orphic hymn, to compensate here are invocations to
the god of eternity compiled from the PGM. Worship of this god was more associated with the mystery
cults than mainstream religious practice.
Prayer to Aion
“Hither to me. King, I call you God of Gods, might, boundless, undefiled, indescribably, firmly
established Aion. Be inseparable from me from this day forth through all the time of my life.”
-Demotic spell
Alternate version
“Hither to me. King, I call you God of Gods, might, boundless, undefiled, indescribably, firmly
established Aion. (statement here)”
-Demotic spell
Hymns to Aion
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“I call upon thee that didst create the earth and bones and all flesh and all spirit, that didst establish the
sea and that shakest the heavens, that didst divide the light from the darkness, the great regulative
mind, that disposest everything, eye of the world, spirit of spirits, god of gods, the lord of the spirits, the
immoveable Aeon, Iao hear my voice.”
-PGM
“Come to me!
You who are master above the earth and below the earth, who look to the west
and the east and gaze upon the south and the north, O master of all, Aion of Aions!
You are the ruler of the universe, Ra, Pan, 271 (h)arpenchnoubi / brintatenophri briskylma arouzar bamesen kriphi niptoumi chmoumaophi
IA IOY IYO All OYO AEEIOYO BAUBO BAUBO PHORBA PHORBA OREOBAZAGRA
oyoieea er.”
-Greek Magical Papyri
“Hail, entire system of the acrid spirit,LSY PHOWOA. Hail, spirit who extends from heaven to earth,
ERDENEU, and from earth which is in the middle chamber of the / universe unto the borders of the
abyss, MEREMOGGA.’~’ Hail, spirit who enters into me, convulses me, and leaves me kindly according
to the will of god, 1013 ZANOPHIE. / Hail, beginning and end of the immovable naNre,
DORYGLAOPHON. Hail, revolution of untiring service by heavenly bodies, ROGYEU ANAMI
PELEGEON ADAKA EIOPH. Hail, radiance of thc universe subordinate / to the solar ray, IEO YEO IAS
AI EOY OEI. Hail, orb of the night-illuminating, unequdy shining moon, A10 RBMA R~DOUOPLA.
Hail, ail spirits of the acrid images i ROMIDOUE AGANASOU OTHAUA. Hail to those to whom the
greeting is given with blessing, to brothers and sisters, to holy men and holy women. 0 great, greatest,
round, incomprehensible figure of the universe, heavenly ENROCHESYEL; / in heaven, PELETHEU; of
ether, IOGARAA; in the ether, THOPYLEO DARDY; watery, IOEDES; earthy, PERBPHIA; fiery,
APHTHALYA; windlike, IOIE Ed AYA; luminous, UPIE; dark-looking, 1 IEPSERIA; shining with
heavenly tight, ADAMAU~R; moist, fiery, and cold spirit.1 glorify you, god of gods, the one who
brought order to the universe, AREO PIEUA; the one who gathered together the abyss at the invisible
foundation of its position, PERO MYSEL / o PENTONAX; the one who separated heaven and earth and
covered the heaven with eternal, golden wings, RODERY OYOA; the one who fixed the earth on eternal
foundations, ALEIOOA; the onc who hung up I the ether high above the earth, AIE OE IOYA; the one
who scattered the air with self-moving breezes, OIE OYO; the one who put the water roundabout,
OBPELYA; the one who raises up hurricanes, ORISTHAUA; I the one who thunders,
THEPHICHYONEL; the one who hurls lightnings, OURBNES; the one who rains, osIORNI
PHEUGALGA; the one who shakes, PERATONEL; the one who produces living creatures,
APZSIGYLOA; the god of the Aions; you are great, lord, god, rulcr of theMI, ARCHIZ~ / NYON
TH&NAR METHOR PARY PHEZOR THAPSAMYDO MAKOMI CHBLOPSA.”
-PGM IV. 1115-66
“I call on you, who are greater than all, the creator of all, you, the self-begotten, who see all and are not
seen. For you gave Helios the glory and all the power, Selene [the privilege] to wax and wane and have
fixed courses, yet you took nothing from the earlier-born darkness, but apportioned things so that they
should be equal. For when you appeared, both order arose and light appeared. All things are subject to
you, whose true form none of the gods can see; who change into all forms. You are invisible, Aion of
Aion. ”
–PGM XIII. 1-343
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“I praise you, the one and blessed of the eons and / father of the
world, with cosmic prayers. Come to me, you who filled the whole universe with
air, who hung up the fire from the [heavenly] water and separated the earth from
the water. Pay attention, form, spirit, / earth and sea, to a word from the one who is wise concerning
divine Necessity, and accept my words as fiery darts, because I am a man, the most beautiful creature of
the god in heaven, made out of spirit, / dew, and earth. ”
-Greek Magical Papyri
“Hail, whole cosmos of the aerial Spirit, ΦΩΓΑΛΩΑ
Hail, Spirit who extends from heaven unto earth, ΕΡΔΗΝΕΥ
Hail, Spirit who extends from earth which is in the middle of the cosmos unto the ends of the abyss,
ΜΕΡΕΜΩΓΓΑ
Hail, Spirit who enters into me, convulses me, and leaves me kindly according to the will of God, ΙΩΗ
ΖΑΝΩΦΙΕ
Hail, beginning and end of nature that cannot be moved, ΔΩΡΥΓΛΑΟΦΩΝ
Hail, revolution of untiring service by heavenly bodies, ΡΩΓΥΕΥ ΑΝΑΜΙ ΠΕΛΗΓΕΩΝ ΑΔΑΡΑ ΕΙΩΦ
Hail, radiance of the cosmos subordinate to the rays of the Sun, ΙΕΟ ΥΗΩ ΙΑΗ ΑΙ ΗΩΥ ΟΕΙ
Hail, orb of the night-illuminating, unequally shining Moon, ΑΙΩ ΡΗΜΑ ΡΩΔΟΥΩΠΙΑ
Hail, all spirits of the aerial images, ΡΩΜΙΔΟΥΗ ΑΓΑΝΑΣΟΥ ΩΘΑΥΑ
Hail to those whom the greeting is given with blessing, to brothers and sisters, to holy men and holy
women!
O great, greatest, round, incomprehensible figure of the cosmos,
of heaven ΕΝΡΩΧΕΣΥΗΛ
in heaven ΠΕΛΗΘΕΥ
of the ether ΙΩΓΑΡΑΑ
in the ether ΘΩΠΥΛΕΟ ΔΑΡΔΥ
of water ΙΩΗΔΕΣ
of earth ΠΕΡΗΦΙΑ
of fire ΑΦΘΑΛΥΑ
of air ΙΩΙΕ ΗΩ ΑΥΑ
of light ΑΛΑΠΙΕ
of darkness ΙΕΨΕΡΙΑ
shining with celestial light ΑΔΑΜΑΛΩΡ
moist, dry, hot, and cold Spirit!
I glorify you, God of gods,
the one who brought order to the cosmos, ΑΡΕΩ ΠΙΕΥΑ
the one who gathered together the abyss at the invisible foundation of its position, ΠΕΡΩ ΜΥΣΗΛ Ο
ΠΕΝΤΩΝΑΞ
the one who separated heaven and earth and covered the heaven with eternal, golden wings ΡΩΔΗΡΥ
ΟΥΩΑ
the one who fixed the earth on eternal foundations ΑΛΗΙΟΩΑ
the one who hung up the ether high above the earth ΑΙΕ ΩΗ ΙΟΥΑ
the one who scattered the air with self-moving breezes ΩΙΕ ΟΥΩ
the one who put the water roundabout ΩΡΗΠΗΛΥΑ
the one who raises up hurricanes ΩΡΙΣΘΑΥΑ
the one who thunders ΘΕΦΙΧΥΩΝΗΛ
the one who hurls lightning ΟΥΡΗΝΕΣ
the one who rains ΟΣΙΩΡΝΙ ΦΕΥΓΑΛΓΑ
the one who shakes ΠΕΡΑΤΩΝΗΛ
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the one who produces living creatures ΑΡΗΣΙΓΥΛΩΑ
the God of the Aiōns!
You are great, Lord, God, Ruler of the All!
ΑΡΧΙΖΩ ΝΥΟΝ ΘΗΝΑΡ ΜΕΘΩΡ ΠΑΡΥ ΦΗΖΩΡ ΘΑΨΑΜΥΔΩ ΜΑΡΩΜΙ ΧΗΛΩΨΑ”
-Greek magical papyri
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January 26, 2020
4 Minutes
Sacred Hymns
This post features a wealth of invocations from the Greek Magical Papyri as well as hymns to nymphs.
Ares
“Father of Arms and first in warlike might
Be still propitious in the fields of fight
So from the combat and blood battened plain
May Aphrodite clasp thee firmly in her chain
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Thy sparkling eyes a keener lustre shed
Than the bright steel that glitters on thy head
Thou shinest afar conspicuous by thy crest
Helm on thy brow and corslet on thy breast
Not that thou fearest the weapons of thy foes
But armour grace and dignity bestows
And when thou strikest the circle of thy shield
Earth groans and trembles waves of ocean yield”
-Claudian, Selections from the Latin Anthology
Tethys
“O Tethys! Agemate and bedmate of Okeanos, ancient as the world, nurse of commingled waters,
selfborn, loving mother of children”
-Nonnus, Dionysiaca
Helios
“Hail, O Lord, Great Power, Great Might,
King, Greatest of gods,
Helios, the Lord of heaven and earth,
God of gods: mighty is your breath; mighty is your strength”
-PGM
“Hail, fire’s dispenser, world’s far-seeing king,
0 Helios, with noble steeds, the eye
Of Zeus which guards the earth, all-seeing one,
Who travel lofty paths, 0 gleam divine,
Who move, through the heaven, bright, unattainable,
Born long ago, unshaken, with a headband
Of gold, wearing a disk mighty with fire,
With gleaming breastplate, winged one, untiring
With golden reins, coursing a golden path,
And you who watch, encircle, hear all men.
For you day’s flames that bring the light give birth
To Dawn, and as you pass the midmost pole,
Behind you rosy-ankled Sunrise goes
Back to her home in grief; in front, Sunset
Meets you and leads your team of fire-fed steads
Down into Ocean Night darts down in flight
From heaven whenever she hears the crack of whip
That strikes with force around the horses’ flanks”
-PGM
Apollo
“Laurel Apollo’s holy plant of presage,
Whose leaves the scepter-bearing lord once tasted
And sent forth songs himself, Ieios,
Renowned Paian, who live in Kolophon,
Give heed to holy song. And quickly come
To earth from heaven and converse.
Stand near and from ambrosian lips inspire
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My songs; come,lord of song, yourself; renowned
Ruler of song. Hear, blessed one, heavy
In wrath and stern. Now, Titan, hear our voice,
Unfailing one, do not ignore. Stand here,
Speak presage to a suppliant from your
Ambrosian mouth, quickly, all-pure Apollo.”
-PGM
Chaos
Hymn to the primordial god.
“Chaos was generated first, and then
The wide-bosomed Earth, the ever stable seat of all
The Immortals that inhabit the snowy peaks of Olympus,
And the dark aerial Tartarus in the depths of the permeable Earth,
And Eros, the fairest of the immortal Gods,
That relaxes the strength of all, both gods and men,
And subjugates the mind and the sage will in their breasts.
From Chaos were generated Erebus and black Night,
And from Night again were generated Ether and Day,
Whom she brought forth, having conceived from the embrace of Erebus.
And Earth first produced the starry Heaven equal to herself,
That it might inclose all things around herself.”
-Hesiod
Hermes
“I call thee Hermes, immortal god, who cuttest a furrow down Olympus and who presidest over the
sacred boat, O!”
-PGM
Eros
“The god of love I sing
Who garlands bears of many – coloured flowers ;
Hearts ever conquering,
Mightiest of masters, subtle power of powers,
Thou rul’st the gods and all
Mortals thy wiles enthrall.”
-Anacreontea
Hesperides
An invocation to the nymphs of evening.
“Ye queens divine, so fair and
kind, be gracious, whether ye are counted amongst the
goddesses of heaven, or those of earth, or are called the
nymphs that tend the sheep-fold ; come, maidens, holy
race of Oceanus, appear to us face to face, and show us at
our desire some fount of water gushing from the rock, or
some holy stream bubbling up from the earth, whereat,
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ceasingly. And if we come again some day o’er the sea to
the land of Achsea, then will we offer you gladly countless
gifts amongst the first of goddesses, with drink-offerings
and rich feasts.”
-Argonautica
Nymphs
“‘O you bright sky of heaven, you swift-winged breezes, you
river-waters, and infinite laughter of the waves of sea, O universal
mother Earth, and you, all-seeing orb of Helios, to you I call!”
-Aeschylus, Prometheus Bound
Nemea
Nemea is an individual Nymph, this hymn is probably only of use to
people who live near the Greek location that bears her name.
“Nemea, noblest by far of verdant glades, chosen seat of Jove, not
even the toils of Hercules wert thou more cruel, when he strangled the
furious monster’s shaggy neck, and throttled the breath within its
swollen limbs. So far let it suffice thee to have vexed thy people’s
enterprise. And thou, whom no suns are wont to tame, O horned one, so
lavish of never failing waters, flow with prosperous current, from
whatsoever storehouse thou settest free thy cooling springs,
immortally replenished; for hoary Winter pours not out for thee her
laid-up snows, nor doth the rainbow shed waters stolen from another
fount, nor do the pregnant storm-clouds of Corus show thee favour, but
thou flowest all thine own, and no star can overcome thee or destroy.
Thee neither Ladon, Apollo’s river, shall surpass, nor either Xanthus,
nor threatening Spercheus, nor Lycormas of Centaur’s fame; thee will I
celebrate in peace, thee beneath the very cloud of war, and at the
festal banquet, ay, honour thee next to Jove himself – so but thou
gladly receive our triumphing arms, and again be pleased to give the
welcome of thy streams to our tired warriors, and recognize of thy
grace the host thou once didst save.”
-Statius
Miscellaneous
“Send Eirene with her prosperity to men! And in the market let him set
Themis up, requiter of good deeds : and, beside her, Dike, who leaps
up like a tiger at once in anger at the deeds of men upon whom she
looks–even them who provoke the gods and turn their commandments
aside, and such as treat their feeble parents with arrogance, scorning
the counsel of the living and the dead; or sin against the hospitable
feast and the table of Zeus.”
-Euphorion of Chalcis
“O scepter-bearing leader of the muses
Giver of life, come now to me, come quickly To earth Ieios,
Hair wreathed with ivy
And Phoibos with ambrosian mouth give voice
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To song Hail fire’s guard ARARACHCHARA EPHTHISIKERE and hail Morai three
Klotho and Atropos and Lachis too I call you who are great in heaven airlike
Supreme ruler you whom all nature serves
Who dwell throughout the whole inhabited world”
-PGM
“May Jove, the Almighty, with his own right hand
Guard and uphold this happy town and land !
With all the glorious blessed Gods above !
And may the bright Apollo guide and move
My voice and fancy, cunningly to carp
In songs accordant to the pipe and harp !
When, after solemn rites of sacrifice,
At feasts and banquets, freely we devise
Of mirth and pastime ; banishing afar
All fears of Persia and her threatened war ;
With joyous airy songs of merry verse,
Quaffing and chanting «May we ne’er be worse »
But better; if a better thing can be,
Than thus to live at ease, cheerful and free ;
While far remote, no fears our thoughts engage,
Of death approaching, or disastrous age. ”
-Theognis
Hesychia
“Hesychia, kind goddess of peace, daughter of Justice
and lady of the greatness of cities:
you who hold the high keys of wars and of councils,
accept for Aristomenes this train of Pythian victory.
For you understand, in strict measure of season,
deeds of gentleness and their experience likewise.
And you, when one fixes anger without pity fast in his heart,
are stern to encounter the strength of the hateful ones,
and sink pride in the bilge.
-Pindar – Pythian Ode 8
To the Gods
“Let this be a hearth for Zeus the savior. Let this be a hearth for Zeus the olympian. let this be a hearth
for Zeus of mount Kasios. Let this be a hearth for Zeus the hospitable. Let this be a hearth for Zeus of
the Capitoline. Let this be a hearth for Zeus. Let this be a hearth for Zeus the sender of all omninous
voices; for Hera the all powerful; for Hera who presides over marriage; for Athena Nike; for Athena; for
Ares for Aphrodite, for the Graces, for Poseidon the securer, for Poseidon of the sea, for Poseidon the
earth mover; for the nile and earth, all nurturing Kornos the great god, for Rhea mother of gods, for
Demeter and Kore, fruit bearing goddesses, for Hades, for Persephone the beautiful child; for Apollo
leader of the muses; for Artemis, the light bringer, for Hermes; for Herakles gloriously triumphant; for
the Dioscuri the manifest, for the Olympian muses, for the Pierian muses; for the Helikonian muses; for
the Helikonian, for Asclepius, for Hephaistos of many crafts, for Dionysus the chorus leader; for Zeus
the deliverer; for Alexander the founder, for all gods and goddesses, let this this be a hearth for all the
Romans. Let this be a hearth for the Alexandrians. Let this be a hearth for the Ptolemaians of the
Arsinoite nome. Let this be a hearth for all friends and allies. Pray health, good and beautiful children,
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piety, prosperity, fertility of the fields, riches, peace concord and all the other blessings for now and
forever. ”
-Karanis papyri
This would work well as a temple consecration liturgy
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November 2, 2019
6 Minutes
Classical Pagan Hymns
Enjoy this set of ancient liturgical invocations, perfect for diversifying your practice.
Peitho
Peitho can be interpreted as the minor goddess of persuasion, seduction or as an epithet of Aphrodite.
“Queenly Season of Youth, herald of the divine embraces of Aphrodite,
you who rest in the eyes of young girls and boys, and carry one man in
the gentle arms of compulsion, but handle another man differently.”
-Pindar
Eirene
“Ring your coiffured hair with Actium’s laurels, Eirene; be present,
and gentle the whole world. Let there be no enemies, no cause for
triumph; you’ll give our leaders more glory than war. Let the soldier
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bear arms only to smother arms, and fierce trumpets blast nothing but
pomp.”
-Ovid
Kronus
“Before the mighty Gods that rule the world
from high Olympus’ snowy peak were born,
Saturnus was the king of all the Gods
and Ops, His sister, was His wife and queen.
But when the time had come to yield His throne
in favor of a younger God, His son,
then Father Saturn would not step aside.
A fight ensued between the old and new,
Till Jove had thrown Saturnus from the sky.
He tumbled down to Earth, and with His wife
He made a ship and sailed to this, our land.
He taught the people many useful arts,
to save the seeds and sow them in the ground,
so we need never have to search for food.
He showed us how to breed our animals
so we might always have their meat and fur,
so they would help to plow the fertile Earth.
Saturnus first taught folk to strike bright coins
from shining silver, glittering gold and bronze.
He showed how money might be put away,
and saved, and put to use another day.
In these and other ways Saturnus made
our lives much easier and free.
His happy reign was called the Golden Age,
when there was food enough for everyone,
and people shared the bounty that they had,
and no one ever stole or fought or lied.
But when the end had come to Saturn’s reign,
He wisely chose to set aside His crown.
He sailed away beyond the Northern Wind,
to Hyperborea, where He now sleeps,
upon a hidden island at the Pole,
where He awaits another Golden Age.”
-Saturnalia by Macrobius
Plutus
This deity is the minor Olympian god of wealth and associated with his
mother Demeter. Plutus is more associated with an abundance of agricultural products then money:
this hymn can help you complete a liturgy for eleusinian worship.
“Plutus ; justly to your gifts and you,
Mankind attribute praise and honor due.
With your assistance, we securely face
Defeat and disappointment and disgrace.
Thus to reward the virtuous, and to slight
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Wicked and dirty knaves, is surely right !
For with the world at large, no merit tells,
But Plutus and his bounty, — nothing else!
No ! not the sense of Rhadamanthus old,
Nor all the shrewd devices manifold,
Which Sisyphus, the keen Corinthian knew ;
That wily chief, that, if old tales are true,
Made a most strange escape, so poets tell,
By dint of rhetoric, he returned from Hell !
For she (that kind oblivion can dispense ;
But takes away the judgment and the sense)
The Goddess Proserpine, by strong persuasion,
Consented to connive at his evasion:
A thing unheard of, and unknown before ;
That, having passed the dark infernal door,
And visited those dreary realms below
From that disastrous prison-house of woe,
A man by policy should work his way;
Emerging into light and upper day!
Sisyphus gained a point which none beside,
(Of all that ever liv’d or ever died)
Could have atchiev’d — Yet Sisyphus would fail;
Nor would Ulysses with his arts prevail ;
Nor aged Nestor with his eloquence —
No merit would avail you ; no pretence ;
Though you possessed the vigour and the speed
Of the swift Harpies, or the winged breed
Of Boreas, in the proud Olympic game
A conqueror ! your native place and name
Recorded and announced with loud acclaim
Still, would you find the common saying hold,
Fame is a jest; favor is bought and sold;
No power on earth is like the power of gold”
-Theognis
Aphrodite
“I call upon You, the Mother and Mistress of Nymphs
ILAOCH OBRIE’LOUCH TLOR
Come in Holy Light and give Answer, showing Your Lovely Shape!
I call upon thee ILAOUCH who has begotten Himeros, the Lovely Horai
and You Graces;
I also call upon the Zeus-sprung Physis of All Things,
Two-formed, indivisible, straight, foam-beautiful Aphrodite.
Reveal to me Your Lovely Light and Your Lovely Face, O Mistress ILAOUCH.
I conjure You, Giver of Fire, by ELGINAL, and by the Great Names:
OBRIE’TYCH KERDYNOUCHILE’PSIN
NIOU NAUNIN IOUTHOU THRIGX TATIOUTH GERTIATH
GERGERIS GERGERIE’THEITHI.
I also ask You by the All Wonderful Names:
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OISIA EI EI AO’E’Y IO’IAIAIO SO’THOU BERBROI AKTEROBORE GERIE’IE’OYA;
Bring Light and Your Lovely Face and the knowledge of Your Divine Self,
You shining with Fire, bearing Fire all around, stirring the Land from afar –
IO’ IO’ PHTHAIE’ THOUTHOUI PHAEPHI –
Do it!
Hail, Very Glorious Goddess, ILARA OUCH!”
-Greek Magical Papyri
(Source: The Greek Magical Papyri in Translation, Including the
Demotic Spells, Volume 1
edited by Hans Dieter Betz)
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April 12, 2019
3 Minutes
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Hellenistic Pagan Hymns
These posts includes several invocations to Chthonic deities (offerings to them should be burned in a
hole in the ground rather than on an altar).
Hades/Pluto
“Blessed lord of the immortals holding the scepters of tartaros and of terrible fearful styx and of liferobbing Lethe, the hair of Kerberos tremples in fear of you, you crack the loud whips of the Erinyes, the
couch of Persephone delights you, when you go to the longed bed, whether you be the immortal Sarapis,
whom the universe fears, whether you be Osiris, star of the land of Egypt, your messenger is the all wise
boy; yours is Anubis the pious herald of the dead.”
-Curse tablet
Source
Chthonic Pantheon
“Chthonic Hermes and chthonic Hekate and chthonic Acheron and chthonic flesh-eaters and chthonic
god and chthonic Amphiaraos and chthonic attendants and chthonic spirts and chthonic sins and
chthonic dreams / and chthonic oaths and chthonic Aristc and chthonic Tartaros and chthonic
witchery, chthonic Charon and chthonic escorts and the dead and the daimons and souls of all men:
come today, Moirai and Destiny”
-PGM
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“Abodes of Tartarus and awful realms of insatiable Thanatos, and thou, most cruel of the brothers, to
whom the shades are given to serve thee, and the eternal punishments of the damned obey thee, and
the palace of the underworld, throw open in answer to my knocking the silent places and empty void of
stern Persephone, and send forth the multitude that lurk in hollow night; let the ferryman row back
across the Styx with groaning bark. Haste ye all together, nor let there be fore the shades but one
fashion of return to the light; do thou, daughter of Perses, and the cloud-wrapt Arcadian with rod of
power lead in separate throng the pious denizens of Elysium; but for those who died in crime, who in
Erebus, as among the seed of Cadmus, are most in number, be thou their leader, Tisiphone, go on
before with snake thrice brandished and blazing yew-branch, and throw open the light of day, nor let
Cerberus interpose his heads, and turn aside the ghosts that lack the light.”
-Statius, Thebaid
“O house of Haides and Persephone! O Hermes of the Underworld and holy Ara and divine Erinnyes!
You who watch over those dying unjustly and those being robbed of a marriage bed”
-Suidas s.v. Persephone
Zeus
“Star-grouping god, you thunderbolt-with-great-clap-Zeus-confining-world flashing-abundant-boltbestowing daimon, cracking-through-the-air, ray-producing mind-piercing you who produce cunning.”
PGM XII. 160-78
Aphrodite
“O foam-born Kythereia, mother of
Both gods and men, etherial and chthonic,
MI-Mother Nature, goddess unsubdued,
Who hold together things? who cause the great
Fire to revolve, who keep the ever-moving
BARZA in her unbroken course; and you
Accomplish everything, from head to toes,
And by your will is holy water mixed,
When by your hands you’ll move RHOUZO’ amid
The stars, the world’s midpoint which you control.
You move holy desire into the souls
Of men I and move women to man, and you
Render woman desirable to man
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Through all the days to come, our Goddess Queen,
Come to these chants, Mistress”
-PGM IV. 2891-2942
Eirene
The Olympian goddess of peace and member of the Horae.
“Hail! hail! thou beloved divinity! thy return overwhelms us with joy. When far from thee, my ardent
wish to see my fields again made me pine with regret. From thee came all blessings. Oh! much desired
Peace! thou art the sole support of those who spend their lives tilling the earth. Under thy rule we had a
thousand delicious enjoyments at our beck; thou wert the husbandman’s wheaten cake and his
safeguard. So that our vineyards, our young fig-tree woods and all our plantations hail thee with delight
and smile at thy coming.”
-Aristophanes
Hesperus
Hesperus is a minor titan and the god of the evening star, he is associated with the worship of his
mother Eos.
“Hail, golden Star! of Ray serene,
Thou Fav’rite of the Cyprian Queen,
O Helper! Glory of the Night,
Diffusing through the Gloom Delight;
Whole Beams of all other Stars outshine,
As much as silver Cynthia thine;
O! guide me, speeding o’er the Plain,
To him I love, my Shepherd-swain;
He keeps the mirthful Feast, and soon
Dark Shades will cloud the splendid Moon.
Of Lambs I never robb’d the Fold,
Nor the lone Traveller of Gold:
Love is my Crime: O lend thy Ray
To guide a Lover on her Way!
May the bright Star of Venus prove
The gentle Harbinger of Love!”
-Bion
“Most beautiful of all the stars
O Hesperus, bringing everything
the bright dawn scattered:
you bring the sheep, you bring the goat,
you bring the child back to her mother.”
-Sappho
Muses
“Hither now, O Muses, leaving the golden
House of God unseen in the azure spaces,
Come and breathe on bosom and brow and kindle
Song like the sunglow;
Come and lift my shaken soul to the sacred
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Shadow cast by Helicon’s rustling forests;
Sweep on wings of flame from the middle ether,
Seize and uplift me;
Thrill my heart that throbs with unwonted fervor,
Chasten mouth and throat with immortal kisses,
Till I yield on maddening heights the very
Breath of my body.”
-Sappho
Euneica
Euneica is a water nymph.
“Aphrodite’s handmaid,
Bright as gold thou earnest,
Tender woven garlands
Round thy tender neck;
Sweet as soft Persuasion,
Lissome as the Graces,
Shy Euneica, lovely
Girl from Salamis.
Slender thou as Syrinx,
As the waving reed-nymph,
Once by Pan, the god of
Summer winds, deflowered.
On thy lips whose quiver
Seems to plead for pity,
Mine shall rest and linger
Like the mouth of Pan
On the mouth of Syrinx,
When his breath that filled her
Blew through all her body
Music of his love.”
-Sappho
Phales
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Veneration of Phales is largely part of Dionysian worship.
“Oh, Phales, companion of the orgies of Bacchus, night reveller, god of adultery and of pederasty, these
past six years I have not been able to invoke thee. With what joy I return to my farmstead, thanks to the
truce I have concluded, freed from cares, from fighting and from Lamachuses! How much sweeter, oh
Phales, Phales, is it to surprise Thratta, the pretty woodmaid, Strymodorus’ slave, stealing wood from
Mount Phelleus, to catch her under the arms, to throw her, on the ground and lay her, Oh, Phales,
Phales! If thou wilt drink and bemuse thyself with me, we shall to-morrow consume some good dish in
honour of the peace, and I will hang up my buckler over the smoking hearth.”
-Aristophanes
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March 31, 2019
4 Minutes
Classical Prayers
A compilation of prayers to the Theoi from various classical texts and fragments.
Kronos
The Titan not to be confused with Chronus the primordial god of time.
“O Kronos, you who restrain the thumos of all mortals (statement here)”
-Curse tablet: source
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Apollo
Oh Phoibos helper through your oracles
Come joyous Leto’s son, who works afar
Averter hither come hither come hither
Foretell give propecies amid night’s hour”
– PGM II
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“O sun-god, who cleavest thy way along the starry sky, mounted on golden-studded car, rolling on thy
path of flame behind fleet coursers (statement here)”
-Euripides
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“May Hunter Apollon speed my arrow straight!’”
-Aeschylus
Eirene
The minor Olympian goddess of peacae
“O sweet Eirana, wealth-giver to mortals (statement here)”
-Theogorus the Metochite, Miscellany
“Oh! Eirene, mighty queen, venerated goddess, thou, who presidest over Choruses and at nuptials
(statement here)”
-Aristophanes
“O sweet Eirana , wealth-giver to mortals (statement here)”
-Aeschylus
Zeus
“Zeus, send me what trial Thou wilt; for I have endowments and resources, given me by Thee, to bring
myself honor through what befalls.”
-Epictetus
All-powerful Zeus, king of gods and things
Begetter and birth-mother of the gods, the one and every god (statement here)
-Valerius Soranus
Discouri
“O Castor and Polydeuces that dwell beside the fair-flowing river of Eurotas in holy Lacedaemon
(statement here)”
-Theognis
Tyche
“Daughter of Zeus Eleutherios, Tykhe our saviour goddess, I pray your guardian care for Himera, and
prosper her city’s strength. For your hand steers the ships of ocean on their flying course, and rules on
land the march of savage wars, and the assemblies of wise counsellors.”
-Pindar, Olympian Ode 12
Aphrodite
“We pray to you, child of Dione, Aphrodite (statement here)”
-Euripides
Hecate
“Lady Hekate of the heavens, Hekate of the Underworld, Hekate of the Crossroads, Hekate of the
Triple-face, Hekate of the Single Face (statement here)”
-curse tablet
Source
Poseidon
“Be thou gracious unto me, thou who art king in the tract of the sea, wide-ruling son of Kronos, Girdler
of the earth,
and be gracious thyself, O Thalassa, and ye gods who in the
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sounding sea have your abode (statement here)”
-Oppian
Demeter and Persephone
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“Demeter Olympia, in the garland-wearing season, and of you, Persephone, child of Zeus: greetings,
both! Tend the city well.”
-Greek Lyric V Scolia
Themis
“O you Aether that revolves the common light of all (statement here)”
-Aeschylus, Prometheus Bound
“May Themis daughter of Zeus the Apportioner, Themis who protects the suppliant (statement here)”
-Aeschylus
Pan
“Beloved Pan, and all ye other gods who haunt this place, give me beauty in the inward soul; and may
the outward and inward man be at one. May I reckon the wise to be the wealthy, and may I have such a
quantity of gold as a temperate man and he only can bear and carry”
-Socrates
Moirai
“Listen, Moirai, who sit nearest of the gods to the throne of Zeus and weave on adamantine shuttles
countless and inescapable devices of counsels of all kinds. Aisa, Klotho and Lakhesis, fair-armed
daughters of Nyx, hear our prayers, you all-terrible deities of heaven and the lower world: (statement
here)”
-Stobaeus, Anthology
Naiades
“Nymphs of the fountain, daughters of Zeus (statement here)”
-Odyssey
Hesykhia
The daimon of peace and quiet, member of the Olympian pantheon.
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“Hesykhia You whose disposition is kindly to philoi, you Daughter of Dikē, you ultimate greatness of
every polis, you who possess the supreme keys to councils of state and to wars! (statement here)
-Pindar, Olympian ode 8
Chthonic gods
“Gods who hold sway over guilty souls and over Tartarus crowded with the damned, and thou O Styx,
whom I behold, ghastly in thy shadowy depths, and thou Tisiphone, so oft the object of my prayer, be
favourable now, and further my unnatural wish (statement here)”
-Statius, Thebaid
“O home of Hades and Persephone! O Hermes of the shades! potent Curse, and ye, dread daughters of
the gods, Erinyes,- Ye who behold when a life is reft by violence, when a bed is dishonoured by stealth
(statement here)”
-Sophocles
Misc
“But I pray to Mnamosyna, the fair-robed child of Ouranos, and to her daughters, to grant me ready
resource; for the minds of men are blind, whosoever, without the maids of Helikon, seeketh the steep
path of them that walked it by their wisdom.”
-Pindar
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March 11, 2019
3 Minutes
Invocations to the Gods
This post largely includes hymns to obscure minor olympians – perfect for completing your liturgical
set.
Graces AKA Charities
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“The waters of Kaphisos belong
To the place of fine horses where you dwell,
Queens of song, in sparkling Orchomenos,
Graces, who watch
Over the ancient race of the Minyans,
Hear, when I pray. By your help
All sweet and delightful things
Belong to men; if anyone
Is wise or lovely or famous.
For without the holy Graces
Not even the Gods rule dances or feasts.
They dispose all that is done in Heaven;
Their thrones are set
At the side of Pythian Apollo, the golden-bowed,
And they worship the everlasting glory
Of the Father on Olympos.”
-Pindar, Olympian Ode XIV
Dike
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“There is Virgin Dike, the daughter of Zeus, who is honoured and reverenced among the gods who dwell
on Olympos, and whenever anyone hurts her with lying slander, she sits beside her father, Zeus the son
of Cronos, and tells him of men’s wicked heart, until the people pay for the mad folly of their princes
who, evilly minded, pervert judgement and give sentence crookedly.”
-Hesiod, Works and Days
“O Perses, cast these words into your mind,
And heed the call of Justice, but forget
About the use of violence altogether.
For this is the law that Cronus’ son imposed
Upon mankind; but fish, and wild beasts,
And winged birds, he bade eat one another,
Since Justice is a thing unknown among them.
But to human beings he gave Justice,
Which is the best by far. For one who’s willing
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To know what’s just and speak it out in counsel –
To that man Zeus, who thunders far, gives riches.
But one who, in his testimony, lies,
Who violates the oath he swore – at once
He gives a wound to Justice and is wounded
Incurably himself – his lineage
Is left thereafter more obscure than formerly.
As for the man who keeps his oath, his line
In time to come is greater than before.”
-Hesiod
Hymenaeus
Hymen is a minor god largely associated with weddings so this is perfect for a polytheist wedding
ceremony.
“Artisans, raise high the roof beam!
Tall is the bridegroom as Ares,
Taller by far than the tallest,
O Hymenæus!
Ay! towering over his fellows,
As over men of all other
Lands towers the Lesbian singer,
O Hymenæus!
Well-favored, too, is the maiden,
Eyes that are sweeter than honey,
Fair both in face and in figure,
O Hymenæus!
For there was never another
Virgin in loveliness like her,
By Aphrodite so honored,
O Hymenæus!
O happy bridegroom, the wedding
Comes to the point of completion;
Thou hast the maid of thy choosing,
O Hymenæus!
See how a paleness suffuses
Soft o’er her exquisite features,
Passion’s benign premonition,
O Hymenæus!
Go to the couch unreluctant,
Rejoicing and sweet to the bridegroom;
He in his turn is rejoicing,
O Hymenæus!
May Hesperus lead thee, and Hera,
She whom to-night that ye honor,
Silver-throned Goddess of marriage,
O Hymenæus!”
-Sapho
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“O, inhabitant of the mountain of Helicon, son of
Urania, who seize a dainty young woman and carry her off to
a man, o Hymenaeus, Hymen! o Hymenaeus Hymen! Crown your
temples with flowers, take your flame-colored veil, pleasant
with fragrant marjoram, and come over here, wearing a
reddish yellow slipper on a snow-white foot! And having been
roused from sleep on a cheerful day, singing wedding songs
in a high-pitched voice, strike the ground with your feet,
and shake the pinewood marriage-torch with your hand! Good
virgin Junia dons the veil for Manius with a good omen, like
Venus, who dwells in Idalium, as she came to Paris, the
Phrygian judge. And she is just like an Asian myrtle tree
shining forth with small, flowery branches, which the wood
nymphs nurture with dewy moisture, as amusement for
themselves. Therefore come, making an approach over here,
and continue, leaving behind the Aonian caves of the
Thespian rock, the caves which the nymph Aganippe makes wet
as she cools them from above. And call the mistress,
desirous of her new husband, home, as you bind their minds
with love, like wandering ivy clinging to a tree in a
tangle! Likewise, you unmarried virgins, whose own wedding
day, as well, is coming soon, act in the right and proper
way, and sing, “O Hymenaeus Hymen! o Hymenaeus Hymen,” in
order that the leader of good Venus, the one who conjoins
good love, might make his approach over here more gladly
when he hears himself being called to the task. Which god is
more to be sought by lovers who are loved? Which of the gods
will people look after the more, o Hymenaeus Hymen, o
Hymenaeus Hymen? Sex can seize nothing of benefit without
you, because a good reputation demonstrates one’s goodness,
but sex can do this when you are willing. Who would dare be
compared to this god? Without you, no family can give
children, and no parent can rely on his offspring, but he
can when you are willing. Who would dare be compared to this
god? A land that lacked your holy rites would not be able to
give guardians to its borders: but it would if you were
willing. Who would dare be compared to this god? Open the
bars of the door. There is a young woman. Do you see how the
marriage torches shake their fiery locks? ….A natural
sense of shame may delay the bride. Nevertheless, hearing
her shame the more, she weeps because she must go. Stop
crying, Junia. In your case, there is no danger that a
prettier woman has seen the rising light of day. Such a
hyacinth-colored flower usually stands in the multicolored
little garden of a wealthy lord. But you are dallying, and
the day is ending. Please go forth as the bride. Please
advance as the bride, if it seems proper at this time, and
hear our words. See? The wedding torches shake their golden
locks: please advance as the bride. Your husband is not
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fickle; not devoted to a bad mistress, he does not pursue
indecent scandals, and he won’t want to sleep apart from
your dainty little breasts; but just as a supple vine
entwines with trees planted nearby, he will become entangled
in your embrace. But the day is ending. Please go forth as
the bride. O marriage bed, which for everyone… How
numerous the pleasures of the ivory-footed marriage bed come
to your husband, which, on a restless night, and in the
middle of the day, may he enjoy! But the day is ending;
please go forth as the bride. Boys, raise the weddingtorches; I see the flame-colored veil coming. Go and sing in
unison, in the right and proper way: “Yo! Hymen Hymenaeus,
yo! Yo! Hymen Hymenaeus!” Lest the ribald Fescennine jesting
be silent for a long time, and the groom’s catamite refuse
nuts to boys as he hears about abandoned love. Give nuts to
the boys, lazy catamite! You have played with nuts long
enough: now it pleases Hymenaeus to be of service. Catamite,
give nuts. You considered farm managers’ wives unworthy of
your attention, today and yesterday. Now your hairdresser
shaves your beard. O wretched, wretched catamite, give nuts!
Anointed groom, you will be criticized for keeping away from
your bald, effeminate slaves, but keep away from them. Yo!
Hymen Hymenaeus, yo! Yo! Hymen Hymenaeus! We know that these
peccadilloes (which are permitted to you) are the only ones
you have known, but they are not permitted to a married man.
Yo! Hymen Hymenaeus, yo! Yo! Hymen Hymenaeus! Wife, beware
lest you deny the things that both you and your husband
seek, lest he go to seek them from elsewhere. Yo! Hymen
Hymenaeus, yo! Yo! Hymen Hymenaeus! Behold how powerful and
wealthy your husband’s house is, which is in your interest:
allow it to be of service to you (Yo! Hymen Hymenaeus, yo!
Yo! Hymen Hymenaeus!) until old white-haired womanhood,
nodding her tremulous head, nods assent to everything for
everyone. Yo! Hymen Hymenaeus, yo! Yo! Hymen Hymenaeus! With
a good omen, carry your gold-colored little feet over the
threshold, and go beneath the door of polished wood. Yo!
Hymen Hymenaeus, yo! Yo! Hymen Hymenaeus! Look inside in
order that your husband, reclining in his crimson bed, might
be completely intent on you. Yo! Hymen Hymenaeus, yo! Yo!
Hymen Hymenaeus! A flame burns no less ardently in his
innermost heart than in yours, but secretly, even more so.
Yo! Hymen Hymenaeus, yo! Yo! Hymen Hymenaeus! Young man,
give your smooth little arm to the maiden; let her visit her
husband’s bed now. Yo! Hymen Hymenaeus, yo! Yo! Hymen
Hymenaeus! You good women, well known by your aged husbands,
array the maiden on her marriage bed. Yo! Hymen Hymenaeus,
yo! Yo! Hymen Hymenaeus! You may come now, bridegroom: your
wife is in the marriage chamber, and her countenance is
flowery and radiant, like the white chamomile or the red
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poppy. But (thus may the gods help me) you are no less
handsome, o bridegroom, and Venus is not indifferent to you.
But the day is ending. Proceed, and do not dally. You have
not waited long; now you are coming. May good Venus be of
help to you, since what you desire you desire openly, and
you do not conceal your good love. Let him who wishes to
count the many thousands of your love-plays first calculate
the amount of sand in Africa and the number of twinkling
stars! Play as you like, and within a short time, produce
children. It isn’t fitting for an old name to be without
children, but it is fitting for them to be engendered from
the same family. I want Torquatus to laugh sweetly, with a
half-open lip, as, from his mother’s lap, he stretches out
his delicate hand to his father. May he be like his father
Manlius, and easily recognized by everyone who is unknowing,
and may he declare the sexual fidelity of his mother by
mouth! May the virtue from his good mother prove the
excellence of his family, just as the peerless flame remains
for Telemachus from his excellent mother, Penelope. Close
the doors of the marriage chamber, young ladies: we have
played enough. But, good newlyweds, live well and spend your
vigorous youth in incessant conjugal activity!”
-Catullus
Melpomene
Hymn to the muse of lyric poetry.
“Melpomene , Muse, one whom you have looked on with favourable eyes at his birth Ismian toil will
never grant fame as a boxer: while no straining horses will draw him along, triumphant in a Greek
chariot, nor will his acts of war show him to the high Capitol, wreathed with the Delian laurel crown,
who’s crushed the bloated menaces of kings: but the waters that run beneath fertile Tibur, and the thick
leafage of the groves, will make him of note in Aeolian song. It’s thought that I’m worthy by Rome’s
children, the first of cities, to rank there among the choir of delightful poets, and already envy’s teeth
savage me less. O Pierian girl, you who command the golden tortoise shell’s sweet melodies, O you, who
could, if you wished, lend a swan’s singing, too, to the silent fishes, all of this is a gift of yours: that I’m
pointed out by the passer-by as one who’s a poet of the Roman lyre: that I’m inspired, and please as I
please: is yours.”
-Horace
Calliope
Hymn to an individual muse
“Descend from heaven, queen Calliope, and come sing with your pipe a lengthened strain; or, if you had
now rather, with your clear voice, or on the harp or lute of Phœbus. Do ye hear? or does a pleasing
frenzy delude me? I seem to hear [her], and to wander [with her] along the hallowed groves, through
which pleasant rivulets and gales make their way. Me, when a child, and fatigued with play, in sleep the
woodland doves, famous in story, covered with green leaves in the Apulian Vultur, just without the
limits of my native Apulia; so that it was matter of wonder to all that inhabit the nest of lofty
Acherontia, the Bantine Forests, and the rich soil of low Ferentum, how I could sleep with my body safe
from deadly vipers and ravenous bears; how I could be covered with sacred laurel and myrtle heaped
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together, though a child, not animated without the [inspiration of the] gods. Yours, O ye muses, I am
yours, whether I am elevated to the Sabine heights; or whether the cool Præneste, or the sloping Tibur,
or the watery Baiæ have delighted me. Me, who am attached to your fountains and dances, not the army
put to flight at Philippi, not the execrable tree, nor a Palinurus in the Sicilian Sea has destroyed. While
you shall be with me with pleasure will I, a sailor, dare the raging Bosphorus; or, a traveler, the burning
sands of the Assyrian shore: I will visit the Britons inhuman to strangers, and the Concanian delighted
[with drinking] the blood of horses; I will visit the quivered Geloni, and the Scythian river without hurt.
You entertained lofty Cæsar, seeking to put an end to his toils, in the Pierian grotto, as soon as he had
distributed in towns his troops, wearied by campaigning: you administer [to him] moderate counsel,
and graciously rejoice at it when administered. We are aware how he, who rules the inactive earth and
the stormy main, the cities also, and the dreary realms [of hell], and alone governs with a righteous
sway both gods and the human multitude, how he took off the impious Titans and the gigantic troop by
his falling thunderbolts. That horrid youth, trusting to the strength of their arms, and the brethren
proceeding to place Pelion upon shady Olympus, had brought great dread [even] upon Jove. But what
could Typhoëus, and the strong Mimas, or what Porphyrion with his menacing statue; what Rhœtus,
and Enceladus, a fierce darter with trees uptorn, avail, though rushing violently against the sounding
shield of Pallas? At one part stood the eager Vulcan, at another the matron Juno, and he, who is never
desirous to lay aside his bow from his shoulders, Apollo, the god of Delos and Patara, who bathes his
flowing hair in the pure dew of Castalia, and possesses the groves of Lycia and his native wood. Force,
void of conduct, falls by its own weight; moreover, the gods promote discreet force to further
advantage; but the same beings detest forces, that meditate every kind of impiety. The hundred-handed
Gyges is an evidence of the sentiments I allege: and Orion, the tempter of the spotless Diana, destroyed
by a virgin dart. The earth, heaped over her own monsters, grieves and laments her offspring, sent to
murky Hades by a thunderbolt; nor does the active fire consume Ætna that is placed over it, nor does
the vulture desert the liver of incontinent Tityus, being stationed there as an avenger of his baseness;
and three hundred chains confine the amorous Pirithoüs.”
-Horace, Odes
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February 27, 2019
10 Minutes
Greco-Roman Hymns
With personal drama behind me I have more time for my studies and blogging – enjoy this latest set of
hymns. This post includes invocations to titan gods (from outside the homeric and orphic hymns)perfect for anyone dedicated to those deities.
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Artemis
“To thee I kneel, thou shooter of deer, flaxenhaired child of Zeus, Artemis queen of wild beasts,
who now doubtless lookest down rejoicing beside the
eddies of Lethaeus upon a city of valiant hearts ; for
tliou art sliepherd to no savage flock of men”
-Anacreon
To multiple gods
“Oh! almighty Zeus, and thou, god with the golden lyre, who reignest on sacred Delos, and thou, oh,
invincible virgin, Pallas, with the eyes of azure and the spear of gold, who protectest our illustrious city,
and thou, the daughter of the beautiful Leto, queen of the forests, who art adored under many names,
hasten hither at my call. Come, thou mighty Posidon, king of the Ocean, leave thy stormy whirlpools of
Nereus; come, goddesses of the seas, come, ye nymphs, who wander on the mountains.”
-Aristophanes, Thesmophoriazusae
Nike
“Nike, who smiles on us and fights with us against our
rivals. Oh! goddess! manifest yourself to our sight; this day more
than ever we deserve that you should ensure our triumph.”
–Aristophanes, Knights
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“Nike, giver of sweetness, to you the father, son of Ouranos (Uranus), on his high bench has granted
glorious honour, so that in gold-rich Olympos you stand beside Zeus and judge the outcome of prowess
for immortals and mortals: be gracious, daughter of thick-tressed, right-judging Styx”
– Bacchylides, Fragment 11
Kronos
Invocation to the titan king who shouldn’t be confused with the
primordial god of time.
“I call you, the
great, holy, the one who created the whole inhabited world, against whom the
transgression was committed by your own son , you whom Helios bound with
adamantine fetters lest the universe be mixed together, you
hermaphrodite, father of the thunderbolt, you who hold down those under the earth, aie oi paidalis
PHRENOTEICHEIDO STYGARDES SANKLEON / GENECHRONA KOIRAPSAI KERIDEU
THALAMNIA ochota anedei; come, master, god, and tell me by necessity concerning the NN matter, for I am the one who revolted against you, paidolis
mainolis mainolieus.”
-Greek magical papyri
Theia
“Mother of Helios, Theia, goddess of many names, thanks to
thee men ascribe to gold a strength exceeding all other powers that
are. For ships that sail the seas in rivalry and racing chariot steeds
for thy honour, O queen, rise to the height of wondrous deeds amidst
the whirling wheels of struggle. And in the contests of the Games, he
reaps that prize of glory that all hearts desire.”
-Pindar
Hygieia
“Hygieia, most revered of the blessed gods,
May I dwell with you for the rest of my life,
And may you be the gracious inmate of my house.
For if there is any delight in wealth or in offspring,
Or in royal dominion which makes men equal to gods, or in those desires
Which we seek to capture by Aphrodite’s hidden nets,
Or if any other joy or rest from toil has been revealed to men by the gods,
It is with your help, blessed Hygieia,
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That they all flourish and shine in the Graces’ discourse;
But without you, no man is happy.”
-Ariphron
Nephelai
Nephelai are the nymphs of the clouds and rain.
“Come, oh! Nephelai, whom I adore, come and show yourselves to this man, whether you be resting on
the sacred summits of Olympos, crowned with hoar-frost, or tarrying in the gardens of Oceanus, your
father, forming sacred Choruses with the Nymphs.”
-Aristophanes, Clouds
“Come, oh! Nephelai, whom I adore, come and show yourselves to this man, whether you be resting on
the sacred summits of Olympos, crowned with hoar-frost, or tarrying in the gardens of Oceanus, your
father, forming sacred Choruses with the Nymphs; whether you be gathering the waves of the Nile in
golden vases or dwelling in the Maiotic marsh or on the snowy rocks of Mimas, hearken to my prayer
and accept my offering. May these sacrifices be pleasing to you.”
–Aristophanes, Clouds
Eileithyia
The minor Olympian goddess of childbirth.
“Goddess of childbirth, Eileithyia, maid to the throne of the deep-thinking Moirai, child of all-powerful
Hera, hear my song. For without thee should we see neither the light of day, nor know the kindly dark,
nor win the gift of Hebe, thy sister, the glorious limbs of youth.”
-Pindar
Tyche
“Tyche, beginning and end for mankind, you sit in Sophia’s seat and give honour to mortal deeds; from
you comes more good than evil, grace shines about your gold wing, and what the scale of your balance
gives is the happiest; you see a way out of the impasse in troubles, and you bring bright light in
darkness, you most excellent of gods.”
– Stobaeus Anthology
“O Goddess, whose indulgence sways Fair Antium sounding with thy praise, Whose influence can exalt
the meanest slave, Or turn triumphant pomps to sorrow and the grave: Thee the poor farmer’s anxious
pray’r Solicits, that his fields may bear; Thee, mistress of the main, the sailor hails, As his Bithynian
bark o’er Cretan billows sails. Thee the vague Scythians, Dacian rude, And cities, nations unsubdu’d,
The Latian fierce for battle far and near, Thee the barbaric queens and purple tyrants fear. Let not your
hurtful foot displace The pillar standing on its base, Nor let the thronging populace rebel, And roaring
out to arms! to arms the state compel. Necessity precedes thy band, With nails and wedges in her hand,
Her brazen hand, nor is the hook, nor, hot With execrable death, the melted lead forgot. Thee hope, and
faith, so scarce, revere, And cloath’d in white are ever near, And still themselves of your own train
profess, Howe’er you bilk the great, and change your seat and dress. The faithless mob and courtezan
Behave upon another plan; And all your friends, when they have drank you dry, The burthen they
should share, in base desertion fly. Yet, yet propitiate Caesar’s scheme On Britain, and the world’s
extreme, And all our new recruits, that well might brave The eastern continent, and Erythrean wave. O
fie upon the barb’rous times, Fraternal wounds, and civil crimes, What has this iron-age refus’d to do!
What have we left untouch’d, that honest hearts shou’d rue! Our youth, where have they been
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restrain’d: What altars are there left unstain’d — Yet ‘gainst the Scythian and Arabian foe May all our
new-forg’d weapons by thy guidance go!”
-Horace
Aphrodite
“Delight of Human kind, and Gods above;
Parent of Rome; Propitious Queen of Love;
Whose vital pow’r, Air, Earth, and Sea supplies;
And breeds what e’r is born beneath the rowling Skies:
For every kind, by thy prolifique might,
Springs, and beholds the Regions of the light:
Thee, Goddess thee, the clouds and tempests fear,
And at thy pleasing presence disappear:
For thee the Land in fragrant Flow’rs is drest,
For thee the Ocean smiles, and smooths her wavy breast;
And Heav’n it self with more serene, and purer light is blest.
For when the rising Spring adorns the Mead,
And a new Scene of Nature stands display’d,
When teeming Budds, and chearful greens appear,
And Western gales unlock the lazy year,
The joyous Birds thy welcome first express,
Whose native Songs thy genial fire confess:
Then savage Beasts bound o’re their slighted food,
Strook with thy darts, and tempt the raging floud:
All Nature is thy Gift; Earth, Air, and Sea:
Of all that breathes, the various progeny,
Stung with delight, is goaded on by thee.
O’er barren Mountains, o’er the flow’ry Plain,
The leavy Forest, and the liquid Main
Extends thy uncontroul’d and boundless reign.
Through all the living Regions dost thou move,
And scattr’st, where thou goest, the kindly seeds of Love:
Since then the race of every living thing,
Obeys thy pow’r; since nothing new can spring
Without thy warmth, without thy influence bear,
Or beautiful, or lovesome can appear,
Be thou my ayd: My tuneful Song inspire,
And kindle with thy own productive fire;
While all thy Province Nature, I survey,
And sing to Memmius an immortal lay
Of Heav’n, and Earth, and every where thy wond’rous pow’r display.
To Memmius, under thy sweet influence born,
Whom thou with all thy gifts and graces dost adorn.
The rather, then assist my Muse and me,
Infusing Verses worthy him and thee.
Mean time on Land and Sea let barb’rous discord cease,
And lull the listening world in universal peace.
To thee, Mankind their soft repose must owe,
For thou alone that blessing canst bestow;
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Because the brutal business of the War
Is manag’d by thy dreadful Servant’s care:
Who oft retires from fighting fields, to prove
The pleasing pains of thy eternal Love:
And panting on thy breast, supinely lies,
While with thy heavenly form he feeds his famish’d eyes:
Sucks in with open lips, thy balmy breath,
By turns restor’d to life, and plung’d in pleasing death.
There while thy curling limbs about him move,
Involv’d and fetter’d in the links of Love,
When wishing all, he nothing can deny,
Thy charms in that auspicious moment try;
With winning eloquence our peace implore,
And quiet to the weary World restore.”
-Lucretius
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February 5, 2019
6 Minutes
Hymns of Classical Antiquity
Most of the following hymns are from the Greek Magical Papyri, which can be hard for people without
an academic background to use. I’ve provided a selection of invocations for your convenience to save
you trouble though not all of the hymns in this post are from the PGM.
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Hecate
“I come, a virgin of varied forms, wandering through the heavens, bull-faced, three-headed, ruthless,
with golden arrows; chaste Phoebe bringing light to mortals, Eileithyia; bearing the three synthemata
(sacred signs) of a triple nature. In the Aether I appear in fiery forms and in the air I sit in a silver
chariot.”
-Chaldean Oracles
“Come, giant Hekate, Dionne’s guard, / O Persia, Baubo Phronue, dart-shooter, unconquered Lydian,
the one untamed, sired nobly, torch-bearing, guide, who bends down proud necks, Kore, hear, you
who’ve parted / gates of steel unbreakable. o Artemis, who, too, were once protectress, mighty one,
mistress, who burst forth from the earth, dog-leader, all-tamer, crossroad goddess, triple-headed,
bringer of light, august / virgin, I call you fawn-slayer, crafty, o infernal one, and many formed. Come,
Hekate, goddess of three ways, who with your fire-breathing phantoms have been allotted dreaded
roads and harsh/ enchantments. Hekate I call you with those who have died without a wife and
children, hissing wildly, yearning in their hearts “(but others say, “with forms of winds”)”
-Greek magical Papyri
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“Approach, you of the netherworld, of earth, of heaven, Bombō!
You by the wayside, at the crossroads, light-bearer, night-wanderer,
Enemy of light, friend and companion of night,
Rejoicing in the bark of pups and in bright red blood,
Lurking among the corpses and the tombs of the dead,
Lusting for blood, bringing terror to mortals,
Grim one, Ogress, Moon – you of many forms,
May you come gracious to our immolations!”
-Hippolytus of Rome
“You, o Hekate, of many names, o Virgin, Kore, Goddess, come, I ask, O guard and shelter of the threshing floor,
Persephone, O triple-headed goddess, who walk on fire, cow-eyed BOUORPHORBÊ PANPHORBA
PHORBARA AKTIÔPHI ERESCHIGAL / NEBOUTOSOUALÊTH beside the doors, PYPYLÊDEDEZÔ and
gate-breaker; Come Hekate of fiery counsel, I call you to my sacred chants. MASKELLI MASKELLÔ
PHNOUKENTABAÔTH OREOBAZAGRA who burst forth from the earth, / earth mare, OREOPÊGANYX
MORMORON TOKOUMBAI”
-Greek Magical Papyri
“THENÔB TITHELÊB ÊNÔR TENTHÊNÔR. / Many-named One, KYZALEOUSA PAZAOUS; wherefore,
KOLLIDÊCHMA and SAB set her soul ablaze with unresting fire. Both ÔRIÔN and MICHAÊL who sits on
high: you hold the seven waters / and the earth, keeping in check the one they call the great serpent,
AKROKODÊRE MOUISRÔ CHARCHAR ADÔNAI ZEUS DÊ DAMNAMENEUS KYNOBIOU
EZAGRA” (add the usual). “IÔ, all-powerful goddess/ and IÔ all-guarding one; IÔ all-sustaining One,
ZÊLACHNA: and SAAD SABIÔTHE NOUMILLION NATHOMEINA, always KEINÊTH, stalwart
THÊSEUS ONYX, prudent DAMNAMENEUS, / avenging goddess, strong goddess, rite of ghosts, Persia
SEBARA AKRA. Haste quickly. ”
-Greek Magical Papyri
Zeus
“I call upon you who created Earth and bones and all flesh and all spirit and who established the sea and suspended
the heavens, who separated the light from the darkness, the Supreme Intelligence who lawfully administrates all
things.
Eternal Eye, Dæmon of dæmons, god of gods, the lord of the spirits, the invariable AION IAO OYEI, hear my
voice.
I call upon you, master of the gods, high thundering Zeus, sovereign Zeus, ADONAI, lord IAO OYEE;
I am he who calls upon you, great god, in Syrian: ZAALAERIPHPHOU, and you must not Ignore my voice, in
Hebrew: ABLANATHANALBA ABRASILOA;
For I am SILTHACHOOUCH LAILAM BLASALOTH
IAO IEO BEBOUTH SABIOTH ARBOTH
ARBATHIAO IAOTH SABOATH PA TOURE
ZAGOURE BAROUCH ADONAI ELOAI ABRAAM
BARBARAUO NAUSIPH,
High-minded one, immortal, who possesses the crown of the whole world,
SIEPE SAKTIETE
BIOU BIOU SPHE SPHE
NOUSI NOUSI SIETHO SIETHO
CHTHETHONI RIGCH
EIA E EOA AOE IAO
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ASIAL SARAPI OLSO
ETHMOURESINI SEM LAU LOU LOURIGCH.”
-Greek Magical Papyri
Hermes
“Hermes, lord of the world, who’re in the heart,
O Circle of Selene, spherical
And square, the founder of the words of speech,
With golden sandals, turning airy course
Beneath earth’s depth, who hold the spirit’s reins,
The sun’s and who with lamps of gods immortal
Give joy to those beneath earth’s depts, to mortals
Who’ve finished life. The Moirai’s fatal thread
And Dream divine you’re said to be, who send
Forth Oracles by day and night, you cure
Pains of all mortals with your healing cares.
Hither, O blessed one, O mighty son
Of the goddess who brings full mental powers,
By your own form and gracious mind. And to
Me, NN, a pious man, reveal a sign
And send him your true skill of prophecy.
OIOSENMIGADON ORTHO BAUBO NIOERE
KODERETH DOSERE SYRE SUROE
SANKISTE DODEKAISTE AKROUROBORE
KODERE RINOTON KOUMETANA
ROUBITHA NOUMILA PERPHEROU AROUORER AROUER”
-Greek magical Papyri
Selene
“hail! SAX, AMUN, SAX, ABRAXAS;
For thou art the Moon, the chief of the stars,
He that did form them.
Listen to the things that I have said,
Follow the words of my mouth,
Reveal thyself to me,
THAN, THANA, THANATHA, THEI
This is my correct name.”
-Greek magical Papyri
Primeval Eros/Phanes/Protogonus
These invocations are to the primordial god who isn’t the same deity as Olympian Eros, the son of Aphrodite.
“I call upon you, author of all creation, who spread your own wings
over the whole world, you, the unapproachable and unmeasurable who
breathe into every soul life-giving reasoning, who fitted all things
together by your power, firstborn, founder of the universe,
golden-winged, whose light is darkness, who shroud reasonable thoughts
and breathe forth dark frenzy, clandestine one who secretly inhabit
every soul.
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You engender an unseen fire as you carry off every living thing
without growing weary of torturing it, rather having with pleasure
delighted in pain from the time when the world came into being. You
also come and bring pain, who are sometimes reasonable, sometimes
irrational, because of whom men dare beyond what is fitting and take
refuge in your light which is darkness.
Most headstrong, lawless, implacable, inexorable, invisible, bodiless,
generator of frenzy, archer, torch-carrier, master of all living
sensation and of everything clandestine, dispenser of forgetfulness,
creator of silence, through whom the light and to whom the light
travels, infantile when you have been engendered within the heart,
wisest when you have succeeded; I call upon you, unmoved by prayer, by
your great name
[F]irst-shining, night-shining, night rejoicing, night-engendering,
witness, you in the depth, you in the sea, clandestine and wisest.
Turn the ‘soul’ of her to me, so that she may love me, so that she may
feel passion for me, so that she may give me what is in her power. Let
her say to me what is in her soul because I have called upon your
great name.”
-Grek magical papyri
To multiple gods
“I call upon the ILAOUCH who has begotten Himeros, the Lovely Horai and You Graces; I also call upon the
Zeus-sprung Physis [Nature] of All Things, two-formed, indivisible, straight, foam-beautiful Aphrodite. Reveal to
me Your Lovely Light and Your Lovely Face, O Mistress ILAOUCH. I conjure You, Giver of Fire, by
ELGINAL, and by the Great Names OBRIE’TYCH KERDYNOUCHILE’PSIN NIOU NAUNIN IOUTHOU
THRIGX TATIOUTH GERTIATH GERGERIS GERGERIE’ THEITHI. I also ask You by the All Wonderful
Names, OISIA EI EI AO’ E’Y AAO’ IO’IAIAIO’ SO’THOU BERBROI AKTEROBORE GERIE’ IE’OYA;
bring me Light and Your Lovely Face, You shining with Fire, bearing Fire all around, stirring the Land from afar,
IO’ IO’ PHTHAIE’ THOUTHOI PHAEPHI. Do it!”
-Greek Magical Papyri
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September 29, 2018
5 Minutes
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Hellenic Invocations
Remember the structure of Hellenic worship: wash hands, recite hymn, prayer and make you offering.
Though an offering is unnecessary if you’re simply thanking the gods for what they give us (ie thanking
Her for rain). To decide what gods you worship simply contemplate the pantheon and pick the ones you
feel most drawn to on that day. Evohe!
Philotes is the primordial goddess of friendship, sex and so on, she’s a good deity to honor if you’re
trying to improve your social life.
Philotes
“Philotes thou whose arms surround the world
embracing all together joined as one
we contemplate Thee who cannot be seen
and feel Thee dwelling in our mortal limbs
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We call Thee Friend for hamony’s thy gift
and joy Thou art named and Aphrodite too
When people gather You arrive unseen
In lofty clouds you circle like a dove
and draw us close in bonds of common Love.
Hail fair Goddess”
-Empedocles
Eunomia
An invocation to a member of the Horai and minor olympian goddess of good government.
“These things my spirit bids me
teach the men of Athens:
that Dysnomia
brings countless evils for the city,
but Eunomia brings order
and makes everything proper,
by enfolding the unjust in fetters,
smoothing those things that are rough,
stopping greed,
sentencing hybris to obscurity
making the flowers of mischief to whither,
and straightening crooked judgments.
It calms the deeds of arrogance
and stops the bilious anger of harsh strife.
Under its control, all things are proper
and prudence reigns human affairs”
-Solon
Justice
“Justice is a maiden who was born from Zeus.
The gods who live on Olympus honor her
and whenever someone wrongs her by bearing false witness
she sits straightaway at the feet of Zeus, Kronos’ son
and tells him the plans of unjust men so that the people
will pay the price of the wickedness of kings who make murderous plans
and twist her truth by proclaiming false judgments.
Keep these things in mind, bribe-swallowing kings:
whoever wrongs another also wrongs himself;
an evil plan is most evil for the one who makes it.
The eye of Zeus sees everything and knows everything
and even now, if he wishes, will look on us and not miss
what kind of justice the walls of our city protects.
Today, I wouldn’t wish myself to be a just man among men
nor my son, since it bad to be a just man
If anyone who is more unjust has greater rights.
But I hope that Zeus, the counselor, will not let this happen.”
-Hesiod
Gaia
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“Goddess of the hills, Earth all-nourishing, mother of Zeus himself,
you through whose realm the great Pactolus rolls golden sands!
There, there also, dread Mother, I called upon your name, when all the
insults of the Atreids landed upon this man, when they handed over his
father’s armor, that sublime marvel, to the son of Laertes. Hear
it, blessed queen, who rides on bull-slaughtering lions!”
-Sophocles, Philoktetes
Rhea and Zeus
“Hail, Mother of Gods, many-named, with fair offspring blest.
Hail, porch-dwelling Hekate of great strength.
But You too, hail, forefather Ianus, Zeus imperishable; hail, supreme Zeus.
Make the course of my life radiant, weighed down with good things,
but drive the evil diseases from my limbs;
attract my soul, now madly raging around the earth,
once it has been purified through the intellect-awaking rites.
Yea, I beg You, give Your hand, and show me,
as one in need, the paths revealed by the Gods.
I will observe the precious light, from which comes the possibility
to flee the misery of dark birth.
Yea, I beg You, give me Your hand, and with Your winds
bring me to the harbor of piety, exhausted as I am.
Hail, Mother of Gods, many-named, with fair off-spring blest.
Hail, porch-dwelling Hekate, of great strength.
But You too, hail, forefather Ianus, Zeus imperishable; hail, supreme Zeus.”
-Proclus
Muses
“We hymn the light that raises man aloft,
of the nine daughters of great Zeus with splendid voices,
who have rescued from the agony of this world, so hard to bear,
the souls who were wandering in the depth of life
through immaculate rites from intellect-awaking books,
and have taught them to strive eagerly to follow the track
leading beyond the deep gulf of forgetfulness,
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and to go pure to their kindred star from which they strayed away,
when once they fell into the headland of birth, mad about material lots.
But, Goddesses, put an end to my much-agitated desire too
and throw me into ecstasy through the noëric words of the wise.
That the race of men without fear for the Gods may not lead me astray
from the most divine and brilliant path with its splendid fruit;
always draw my all-roving soul towards the holy light,
away from the hubbub of the much wandering race
heavy laden from Your intellect-strengthening beehives,
and everlasting glory from its mind-charming eloquence.”
-Proclus
Dionysus
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“Let the people’s hymn sound with the praise of Dionysos. Bind your
streaming locks with the nodding ivy, and in your soft hands grasp the
Nysaean thyrsus! Bright glory of the sky, come hither to the prayers
which thine own illustrious Thebes, O Dionysus, offers to thee with
suppliant hands. Hither turn with favour thy virginal face; with thy
star-bright countenance drive away the clouds, the grim threats of
Erebus, and greedy fate. Thee it becomes to circle thy locks with
flowers of the springtime, thee to cover thy head with Tyrian turban,
or thy smooth brow to wreathe with the ivy’s clustering berries; now
to fling loose thy lawless-streaming locks, again to bind them in a
knot close-drawn; in such guise as when, fearing thy stepdame’s
[Hera’s] wrath, thou didst grow to manhood with false-seeming limbs, a
pretended maiden with golden ringlets, with saffron girdle binding thy
garments. So thereafter this soft vesture has pleased thee, folds
loose hanging and the long-trailing mantle. Seated in thy golden
chariot, thy lions with long trappings covered, all the vast coast of
the Orient saw thee, both he who drinks of the Ganges and whoever
breaks the ice of snowy Araxes.
On an unseemly ass old Silenus attends thee, his swollen temples bound
with ivy garlands; while thy wanton initiates lead the mystic revels.
Along with thee a troop of Bassarids in Edonian dance beat the ground,
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now on Mount Pangaeus’ peak, now on the top of Thracian Pindus; now
midst Cadmean dames has come a maenad [Agaue], the impious comrade of
Ogygian Dionysus, with sacred fawn-skins girt about her loins, her
hand a light thyrsus brandishing. Their hearts maddened by thee, the
matrons have set their hair a-flowing; and at length, after the
rending of Pentheus’ limbs, the Bacchanals, their bodies now freed
from the frenzy, looked on their infamous deed as though they knew it
not.
Cadmean Ino, foster-mother of shining Dionysus, holds the realms of
the deep, encircled by bands of Nereids dancing; over the waves of the
mighty deep a boy holds sway, new come, the kinsman of Dionysus, no
common god, Palaemon.
Thee, O boy, a Tyrrhenian band [of pirates] once captured and Nereus
allayed the swollen sea; the dark blue waters he changed to meadows.
Thence flourish the plane-tree with vernal foliage and the
laurel-grove dear to Phoebus; the chatter of birds sounds loud through
the branches. Fast-growing ivy clings to the oars, and grape-vines
twine at the mast-head. On the prow an Idaean lion roars; at the stern
crouches a tiger of Ganges. Then the frightened pirates swim in the
sea, and plunged in the water their bodies assume new forms: the
robbers’ arms first fall away; their breasts smite their bellies and
are joined in one; a tiny hand comes down at the side; with curving
back they dive into the waves, and with crescent-shaped tail they
cleave the sea; and now as curved dolphins they follow the fleeing
sails.
On its rich stream has Lydian Pactolus borne thee, leading along its
burning banks the golden waters; the Massgetan who mingles blood with
milk in his goblets has unstrung his vanquished bow and given up his
Getan arrows; the realms of axe-wielding Lycurgus have felt the
dominion of Dionysus; the fierce lands of the Zalaces have felt it,
and those wandering tribes whom neighbouring Boreas smites, and the
nations which Maeotis’ cold water washes, and they [i.e. the
Skythians] on whom the Arcadian constellation looks down from the
zenith and the wagons twain. He has subdued the scattered Gelonians;
he has wrested their arms form the warrior maidens [i.e. the
Amazones]; with downcast face they fell to earth, those Thermodontian
hordes, gave up at length their light arrows, and became maenads.
Sacred Cithaeron has flowed with the blood of Ophionian slaughter
[i.e. of Pentheus]; the Proetides fled to the woods, and Argos, in his
stepdame’s [Hera’s] very presence, paid homage to Dionysus.
Naxos, girt by the Aegean sea, gave him in marriage a deserted maiden
[Ariadne], compensating her loss with a better husband. Out of the dry
rock there gushed Nyctelian liquor [wine]; babbling rivulets divided
the grassy meadows; deep the earth drank in the sweet juices, white
fountains of snowy milk and Lesbian wine mingled with fragrant thyme.
The new-made bride is led to the lofty heavens; Phoebus [Apollon] a
stately anthem sings, with his locks flowing down his shoulders, and
twin Cupides [Erotes] brandish their torches. Jupiter [Zeus] lays
aside his fiery weapons and, when Dionysus comes, abhors his
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thunderbolt.
While the bright stars of the ancient heavens shall run in their
courses; while Oceanus shall encircle the imprisoned earth with its
waters; while full Luna [Selene the moon] gather again her lost
radiance; while Lucifer [Eosphoros, the day sar] shall herald the dawn
of the morning and while the lofty Bears [constellations Ursae] shall
know naught of caerulean Nereus; so long shall we worship the shining
face of beauteous Lyaeus [Dionysos].”
-Seneca, Oedipus
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September 17, 2018
7 Minutes
Ancient Greek Hymns
Enjoy this series of hymns from classical texts. It would be impossible to recreate the Dionysian
mysteries but it would make sense to incorporate what we know about the mysteries into worship of
Bacchos: ritual drug use and electing women to lead his worship.
Dionysus
“[The Boiotian Bacchantes] called on Bacchus [Dionysos] by his many
noble names: Lyaeus, Bromius; child of flaming fire; alone twice
mothered and alone twice born; great lord and planter of the genial
grape; Nyseus too, and Lenaeus and Thyoneus, whose locks are never
shorn; Nyctelius, Iacchus, Euhan, father Eleleus; and all the
countless titles that are yours, Liber [Dionysos], throughout the
lands of Greece.”
-Ovid, Metamorphoses
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“Blesséd, blesséd are those who know the mysteries of the god. Blesséd
is he who hallows his life in the worship of the god, he whom the
spirit of the god posseseth, who is one with those who belong to the
holy body of the god. Blesséd are the dancers and those who are
purified, who dance on the hill in the holy dance of the god. Blesséd
are they who keep the rite of Kebele the Mother. Blesséd are the
thyrsus-bearers, those who wield in their hands the holy wand of the
god. Blesséd are those who wear the crown of the ivy of the god.
Blesséd, blesséd are they: Dionysos is their god!”
-The Bacchae
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“From the Asian land After leaving sacred Tmôlos I speed— A toil for
Bromios that is sweet, And a worn but happy weariness— Crying out to
the Bacchic god. Who is in the road? Who is on the road? Who is in the
palace? Have every person come out! Have each one hold a quiet tongue
in sacred silence. I am hymning Dionysus In the customs that are
always used. You are blessed if you are lucky To know the rites of the
gods And lead a pure life; And join your soul to the band Of Bacchic
revelers on the mountains In the sacred cleansing worship. Taking care
of the Great mother’s mysteries Shaking the thyrsus all about once you
are wreathed in ivy, you tend to Dionysus! Go, Bacchae, Go Bacchae,
Lead on this Bromios, a divine child of a god, Dionysus From the
Phrygian mountains on To the streets of Greece, wide-enough for
dances. Once, his mother went Into the forced labors of birth From
Zeus’ thunder in flight She released him from her womb Too early, and
lost her life At the lightning’s strike. But Zeus, Kronos’ son
Immediately welcomed him Into his hands And hid him in his thigh— He
sewed him up with golden pins To keep him a secret from Hera. When the
Fates made him grow, He gave birth To a bull-horned god And crowned
him with wreaths of snakes. This is why the Maenads weave Beast-eating
serpents in their hair. Thebes, the nurse of Semele, Crown yourselves
with ivy! Flourish, Grow with the green Leaves flush with fruit. Make
yourselves Bacchae too With branches of oak or pine. Adorn your
clothes of stitched fawn With strands of white wool. Make sacred the
arrogant wands. Right now the whole earth will dance As Bromios leads
out his bands To the mountain, to the mountain where the woman-born
mob stands driven mad from their shuttles and looms by Dionysus.”
-Bacchae
Zeus
“Amidst libations to Zeus, what subject could be finer to sing
Than the god himself, forever great, forever the lord,
The one who drove away the Giants born of Earth, the one
Who serves as judge for all the children of Uranus?
But how ought I to sing of him? As Dictaean
Or perhaps as Lycaean? My heart is caught in the grip of doubt,
For on the subject of his origin there is much dispute.
O Zeus, some say that you were born among the Idaean mountains,
While others claim, o Zeus, that Arcadia was your birthplace.
Which of the two sides, o Father, is speaking lies?
“Cretans are always liars.” And indeed, o Lord, the Cretans
Fashioned a tomb that they claim belongs to you. But in fact
You never died at all, for you exist forever!
So, then, it was in Parrhasia Rhea bore you,
Where a mountain stood thick-covered all around
With foliage. And because of this the site is holy:
Neither any creeping creature who has need of Eileithyia
Nor any pregnant woman ever draws near to that place,
But the Apidanes call it Rhea’s primordial child-bed.”
-Callimachus
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To the Stars
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“O universal lights
Most glorious! ye that lead the gliding year
Along the sky, Liber and Ceres mild,
If by your bounty holpen earth once changed
Chaonian acorn for the plump wheat-ear,
And mingled with the grape, your new-found gift,
The draughts of Achelous; and ye Fauns
To rustics ever kind, come foot it, Fauns
And Dryad-maids together; your gifts I sing.
And thou, for whose delight the war-horse first
Sprang from earth’s womb at thy great trident’s stroke,
Neptune; and haunter of the groves, for whom
Three hundred snow-white heifers browse the brakes,
The fertile brakes of Ceos; and clothed in power,
Thy native forest and Lycean lawns,
Pan, shepherd-god, forsaking, as the love
Of thine own Maenalus constrains thee, hear
And help, O lord of Tegea! And thou, too,
Minerva, from whose hand the olive sprung;
And boy-discoverer of the curved plough;
And, bearing a young cypress root-uptorn,
Silvanus, and Gods all and Goddesses,
Who make the fields your care, both ye who nurse
The tender unsown increase, and from heaven
Shed on man’s sowing the riches of your rain:
And thou, even thou, of whom we know not yet
What mansion of the skies shall hold thee soon,
Whether to watch o’er cities be thy will,
Great Caesar, and to take the earth in charge,
That so the mighty world may welcome thee
Lord of her increase, master of her times,
Binding thy mother’s myrtle round thy brow,
Or as the boundless ocean’s God thou come,
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Sole dread of seamen, till far Thule bow
Before thee, and Tethys win thee to her son
With all her waves for dower; or as a star
Lend thy fresh beams our lagging months to cheer,
Where ‘twixt the Maid and those pursuing Claws
A space is opening; see! red Scorpio’s self
His arms draws in, yea, and hath left thee more
Than thy full meed of heaven: be what thou wiltFor neither Tartarus hopes to call thee king,
Nor may so dire a lust of sovereignty
E’er light upon thee, howso Greece admire
Elysium’s fields, and Proserpine not heed
Her mother’s voice entreating to returnVouchsafe a prosperous voyage, and smile on this
My bold endeavour, and pitying, even as I,
These poor way-wildered swains, at once begin,
Grow timely used unto the voice of prayer.
In early spring-tide, when the icy drip
Melts from the mountains hoar, and Zephyr’s breath
Unbinds the crumbling clod, even then ’tis time;
Press deep your plough behind the groaning ox,
And teach the furrow-burnished share to shine.
That land the craving farmer’s prayer fulfils,
Which twice the sunshine, twice the frost has felt;
Ay, that’s the land whose boundless harvest-crops
Burst, see! the barns.
-virgil georgics
To multiple gods
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“High guardian of the gods,
Zeus the great chieftain,
I invite first to my dance;
and the hugely strong Keeper of the Trident,
wild upheaver
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of land and salty sea;48
and our own father of glorious name,
most august Empyrean,49 nourisher of all life;
and the Charioteer, who
covers the plain of earth
with dazzling rays, a mighty deity
among gods and mortals.
Join me as well, Phoebus, Lord
of Delos, who dwell on Cynthus’
sheer escarpment of rock;53
and you, blest Maiden, who dwell at Ephesus
in the golden house, where Lydian maidens
greatly revere you;54
and our own native goddess,
wielder of the aegis, guardian of the city;
and he who haunts Parnassus’ rock
and glows in the light of pine torches,
eminent among Delphic bacchants,
the reveller Dionysus.”
-Aristophanes
Selene
“The moon glory of the world, the largest part of the air;
The moon was bright iugus Sunday, your fire and moisture,
Parent months of issue that the moon rises;
You stellante speed when the poles of the sun of the universe,
We returned to the brothers who collects hours; 5
The father remouato regards to the ocean, river,
We breathe the earth, you are the chains of hell cingere;
You cymbal renewing the winter, the cymbals are crumbling;
ISIS, Moon Corn-esque art, Ceres, Juno, Cybele!
Alternately do you call 10 days of the month
And again, renewing lights alternate month.
Then I threaten you are, because you have full veins; then the full company,
When a minor art: waxing was always accented when you fail both in the
world beside.
Be present and the goddess, more fond than by our prayers,
Luciferisque ranges possible that steers 15
In order to hide his fortune, the wheel, by which is well run.”
-Anthologia Latina
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September 8, 2018
6 Minutes
Classical Invocations
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Enjoy these ancient hymns to the gods, perfect for diversifying your religious practice.
Primeval Eros/Phanes/Protogonus
Do not confuse this god with olympian eros; Phanes is one of the most powerful primeval gods.
“At the beginning there was only Chaos, Night, dark Erebus, and deep Tartarus. Earth, the air and
heaven had no existence. Firstly, blackwinged Night laid a germless egg in the bosom of the infinite
deeps of Erebus, and from this, after the revolution of long ages, sprang the graceful Eros with his
glittering golden wings, swift as the whirlwinds of the tempest. He mated in deep Tartarus with dark
Chaos, winged like himself, and thus hatched forth our race, which was the first to see the light. That of
the Immortals did not exist until Eros had brought together all the ingredients of the world, and from
their marriage Heaven, Ocean, Earth and the imperishable race of blessed gods sprang into being. ”
-Aristophanes, Birds
Zeus
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“Dear Zeus! I marvel at Thee. Thou art lord of all, alone having honour
and great power; well knowest Thou the heart and mind of every man
alive; and Thy might, O King, is above all things. How then is it, Son
of Cronus, that Thy mind can bear to hold the wicked and the
righteous89 in the same esteem, whether a man’s mind be turned to
temperateness, or, unrighteous works persuading, to wanton outrage?
Nor is aught fixed for us men by Fortune, nor the way a man must go to
please the Immortals. Yet the wicked90 enjoy untroubled prosperity,
whereas such as keep their hearts from base deeds, nevertheless, for
all they may love what is righteous, receive Penury the mother of
perplexity, Penury that misleadeth a man’s heart to evil-doing,
corrupting his wits91 by strong necessity, till perforce he endureth
much shame and yieldeth to Want who teacheth all evil, both lies and
deceits and baleful contentions, even to him that will not and to whom
no ill is fitting92; for hard is the perplexity that cometh of her.”
-Theognis
“Most glorious of Immortals, mighty God,
Invoked by many a name, O sovran King
Of universal Nature, piloting
This world in harmony with Law,—all hail!
Thee it is meet that mortals should invoke,
For we Thine offspring are, and sole of all
Created things that live and move on earth
Receive from Thee the image of the One.
Therefore I praise Thee, and shall hymn Thy power
Unceasingly. Thee the wide world obeys,
As onward ever in its course it rolls
Where’er Thou guidest, and rejoices still
Beneath Thy sway: so strong a minister
Is held by Thine unconquerable hands,—
That two-edged thunderbolt of living fire
That never fails.
Under its dreadful blow
All Nature reels; therewith Thou dost direct
The Universal Reason which, commixt
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With all the greater and the lesser lights,
Moves thro’ the Universe.
How great Thou art,
The Lord supreme for ever and for aye!
No work is wrought apart from Thee, O God,
Or in the world, or in the heaven above,
Or on the deep, save only what is done
By sinners in their folly.
Nay, Thou canst
Make the rough smooth, bring wondrous order forth
From chaos; in Thy sight unloveliness
Seems beautiful; for so Thou hast fitted things
Together, good and evil, that there reigns
One everlasting Reason in them all.
The wicked heed not this, but suffer it
To slip, to their undoing; these are they
Who, yearning ever to secure the good,
Mark not nor hear the law of God, by wise
Obedience unto which they might attain
A nobler life, with Reason harmonized.
But now, unbid, they pass on divers paths
Each his own way, yet knowing not the truth,—
Some in unlovely striving for renown,
Some bent on lawless gains, on pleasure some,
Working their own undoing, self-deceived.
O Thou most bounteous God that sittest throned
In clouds, the Lord of lightning, save mankind
From grievous ignorance!
Oh, scatter it
Far from their souls, and grant them to achieve
True knowledge, on whose might Thou dost rely
To govern all the world in righteousness;
That so, being honoured, we may Thee requite
With honour, chanting without pause Thy deeds,
As all men should: since greater guerdon ne’er
Befalls or man or god than evermore
Duly to praise the Universal Law.”
-Cleanthes of Assos
Aphrodite
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“Come, goddess of Cyprus, and in golden cups serve nectar delicately mixed with delights. Come hither
foam-born Cyprian goddess, come, And in golden goblets pour richest nectar All mixed in most ethereal
perfection, Thus to delight us.”
-Sappho
Hestia
“Hestia be favorable. To you I now open my lips in devotion, if I am
permitted to come to your ritual. While absorbed in prayer I felt a
divine presence and the floor shone joyously with purple light. Of
course I didn’t see you – so long poetic license – you are not a
goddess for a man to behold, but I’ve learned with no human teacher
what I didn’t know while confusion had me in it’s grip.”
-Ovid, Fasti Book 6
Muses
“Come you, let us begin with the Muses who gladden the great spirit of
their father Zeus in Olympus with their songs, telling of things that
are and that shall be and that were aforetime with consenting voice.
Unwearying flows the sweet sound [40] from their lips, and the house
of their father Zeus the loud-thunderer is glad at the lily-like voice
of the goddesses as it spreads abroad, and the peaks of snowy Olympus
resound, and the homes of the immortals. And they, uttering their
immortal voice, celebrate in song first of all the revered race of the
gods [45] from the beginning, those whom Earth and wide Heaven begot,
and the gods sprung of these, givers of good things. Then next, the
goddesses sing of Zeus, the father of gods and men, as they begin and
end their strain, how much he is the most excellent among the gods and
supreme in power. [50] And again, they chant the race of men and
strong giants, and gladden the heart of Zeus within Olympus,—the
Olympian Muses, daughters of Zeus the aegis-holder. Them in Pieria did
Mnemosyne Memory , who reigns over the hills of Eleuther, bear of
union with the father, the son of Cronos, [55] a forgetting of ills
and a rest from sorrow.”
-Hesiod
（
）
Pan
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“O Pan, O Pan, appear to us, sea-rover, from the stony ridge of snow-beaten Cyllene. King, dancemaker
for the gods, come, so that joining with us you may set on the Nysian and the Cnosian steps, your selftaught dances.”
-Sophocles, Ajax
To the gods
” But, O ye gods, turn aside from my tongue the madness of those men.
Hallow my lips and make a pure stream flow from them! And thee,
much-wooed, white-armed Virgin Muse, do I beseech that I may hear what
is lawful for the children of a day! Speed me on my way from the abode
of Holiness and drive my willing car! Thee shall no garlands of glory
and honour at the hands of mortals constrain to lift them from the
ground, on condition of speaking in thy pride beyond that which is
lawful and right, and so to gain a seat upon the heights of wisdom.
Go to now, consider with all thy powers in what way each thing is
clear. Hold not thy sight in greater credit as compared with thy
hearing, nor value thy resounding ear above the clear instructions of
thy tongue;[4] and do not withhold thy confidence in any of thy other
bodily parts by which there is an opening for understanding, but
consider everything in the way it is clear.”
-Empedocles
Wedding hymns
These litanies can be used as part of the Hellenic wedding ritual,
detailed in the post about oaths.
“Once Zeus and Hera came together
In wedded bliss, joined forever
And to this day man celebrates
Their holy union tied by the fates
And so it is that we now sing
Our song hymen, our wedding hymn
Shimmering Eros held the reins
Guiding their chariot on it came
His glittering wings glowing goden
To Zeus the groom he was beholden
And so it is that we now sing
our song to hymen our wedding hymn”
-Aristophanes, Clouds
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“To Hera on Olympus’ height
The Fates conducted heaven’s Lord
Of lofty throne and at their rite
Sang out this hymn in one accord
Hymen O Hymenaeus
O Hymen Hymenaeus
Love that makes all things to grow
Attended at their marriage bed
Gave rein to their desires and so
Were Zeus and happy Hera wed
Hymen O Hymenaeus
O Hymen Hymenaeus”
-Aristophanes, Birds
“Bride, that goest to the bridal chamber
In the dove-drawn car of Aphrodite,
By a band of dimpled
Loves surrounded;
Bride, of maidens all the fairest image
Mitylene treasures of the Goddess,
Rosy-ankled Graces
Are thy playmates;
Bride, O fair and lovely, thy companions
Are the gracious hours that onward passing
For thy gladsome footsteps
Scatter garlands.
Bride, that blushing like the sweetest apple
On the very branch’s end, so strangely
Overlooked, ungathered
By the gleaners;
Bride, that like the apple that was never
Overlooked but out of reach so plainly,
Only one thy rarest
Fruit may gather;
Bride, that into womanhood has ripened
For the harvest of the bridegroom only,
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He alone shall taste thy
Hoarded sweetness.”
-Sappho
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August 24, 2018
6 Minutes
Prayers of Ancient Greece
Enjoy this compilation of prayers from classical antiquity.
Athena
“Hear me, daughter of aegis-bearing Zeus, you who spy out all my ways
and who are with me in all my hardships; befriend me in this mine hour
(statement here)”
-Iliad
“This sort of a great-hearted overseer, a daughter of a strong-father
Holds her hands above our city, Pallas Athena (your request here)”
-Solon
“O Pallas, protector of the city, The most sacred city- and defender
of a land that surpasses all others in war and poetry (your request
here)”
-Aristophanes
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“Queen, the foundation of the land and the city is yours, you are its
mother, mistress and guardian (your request here)”
-Euripides
Eileithyia
“Oh! goddess divine, Eileithyia, patroness of women in labour (request here)”
-Aristophanes, Lysistrata
“May merciful Selene hasten the tenth month for the bringing-forth [childbirth], but spare her,
Eileithyia, I pray thee; and thou, O babe, spare thy mother, hurt not her tender womb and swelling
breasts.”
-Statius, Silvae
“Eileithyia, come thou when (name here) calls, to bless her pains with easy birth.”
-Callimachus
Tyche
“And you Tyche, how many shapes you take, how you make playthings of the children of men! Be
gracious, all-subduer!”
-Nonnus, Dionysiaca
“Daughter of Zeus Eleutherios, Tyche our saviour goddess, I pray (request here). For your hand steers
the ships of ocean on their flying course, and rules on land the march of savage wars, and the
assemblies of wise counsellors.”
-Pindar, Olympian odes
Nymphs
“O Anigrian nymphs, daughters of the river,
You divine beings who forever tread these depths
With your rosy feet, hail! And may you preserve
Cleonymus, who dedicated these beautiful images
Beneath the pines for you, o goddesses.”
-Anthologia Palatina
Primeval Eros AKA Phanes AKA Protogonus
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“You also, Eros, primeval founder of fecund marriage, bend your bow, and the universe is no longer
adrift. If all things come from you, friendly shepherd of life, draw one shot more and save all things.
(request here)”
–Nonnus, Dionysiaca
Charites
“Come rosy-armed Graces, virgin daughters of Zeus (statement here)”
-Sappho
“Come now gentle Graces, and fair-haired Muses (statement here)”
-Sappho
“Charities of the golden-distaff, grant the fame that convinces mortals; for the god-inspired spokesman
of the violet-eyed Muses is ready to sing the praises of Phlios and the luxuriant ground of Zeus
Nemeios.”
-Bacchylides, Fragment 9
Edited version for general prayer:
“Charities of the golden-distaff, grant (request here)”
“Hear now my prayer, you Kharites three. For in your gift are all our mortal joys, and every sweet thing,
be it wisdom, beauty, or glory, that makes rich the soul of man. Nor even can the immortal gods order
at their behest the dance and festals, lacking the Kharites’ aid; who are the steward of all rites of
heaven, whose thrones are set at Pytho beside Apollon of the golden bow, and who with everlasting
honour worship the Father, lord of great Olympos. Euphrosyne, lover of song, and Aglaia revered,
daughters of Zeus the all-highest, hearken, and with Thalia, darling of harmony (statement here)”
-Pindar, Olympian Ode 14
Zeus
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“King Zeus, lord of Dodona, god of the Pelasgi, who dwellest afar, you
who hold wintry Dodona in your sway, where your prophets, the Selli,
dwell around you with their feet unwashed and their couches made upon
the ground (your request here)”
-Iliad
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“Charioteer of the thundercloud with untiring feet, highest Zeus! Your Seasons, whirling to the
embroidered notes of the lyre’s song, sent me as a witness of the most lofty games. When friends are
successful, the noble immediately smile on the sweet announcement. Son of Cronus, you who hold
Aetna, the wind-swept weight on terrible hundred-headed Typhon (request here)”
-Pindar, Olympic Odes
“Oh! Zeus, our Father! If you would deliver men from all the evils that oppress them”
-Pythagorean verses
“Zeus is air, Zeus is earth, Zeus is heaven, yea, Zeus is all things and whatsoever trancendeth them.”
-Aeschylus
“King Zeus, give unto us what is good, whether we pray or pray not;
But what is grievous, even if we pray for it, do thou avert”
-Plato
“Lead thou me on, O Zeus and Destiny,
To that goal long ago to me assigned.
I’ll follow and not falter; if my will
Prove weak and craven, still I’ll follow on.”
-The Handbook of Epictetus
“Now at my supplication, O Zeus, father of the Olympian gods, grant
that the fortunes of our house be firmly established, so that those
who rightly desire the rule of order may behold it. Every word of mine
has been uttered in justice. O Zeus, may you safeguard it!”
-Aeschylus, Libation Bearers
Apollo
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“Lord Apollo, you know how to do no wrong; and, since you know this,
learn not to be neglectful also. For your power to do good is
assured.”
-AESCHYLUS, EUMENIDES
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“Lord Apollon, you know how to do no wrong; and, since you know this,
learn not to be neglectful also. For your power to do good is
assured (your request here)”
-AESCHYLUS, EUMENIDES
“Hear me O god of the silver bow, you who protect Chryse and holy
Cilla, and rule Tenedos with your might (your request here)”
-Iliad
“God of the silver bow, thy ear incline,
Whose power incircles Cilla the divine;
Whose sacred eye thy Tenedos surveys,
And gilds fair Chrysa with distinguish’d rays!
If, fired to vengeance at thy priest’s request,
Thy direful darts inflict the raging pest:
Once more attend! avert the wasteful woe,
And smile propitious, and unbend thy bow”
-Iliad
“Hear me, Silverbow, Protector of Chryse, Lord of Holy Cilla, Master
of Tenedos, And Sminthian God of Plague! If ever I’ve built a temple
that pleased you. Or burnt fat thighbones of bulls and goats– Grant
me this prayer (your request here.”
-Iliad
Poseidon
“Hear me, Poseidon, who circle the earth, and do not begrudge me the
accomplishment of all these actions for which I pray you. (Your
request here)”
-Odyssey
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“O Lord of Horses, you who hold sway over
Swift-traveling ships and over Euboea’s mighty
Overhanging crags, please grant to us,
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Who pray to you (request here)”
-Anthologia Palatina 9.90
Ares
“Ares, holds as a fortress of the gods, the bright ornament that guards the altars of the gods of Hellas. I
pray for the city, with favorable prophecy.”
-Aeschylus
Hermes
“May Maia’s son, as he rightfully should, lend his aid, for no one can
better sail a deed on a favoring course, when he would do so. But by
his mysterious utterance he brings darkness over men’s eyes by night,
and by day he is no more clear at all (your request here)”
-Aeschylus
Chthonic Hermes
“Supreme herald of the realm above and the realm below, O Hermes of
the nether world, come to my aid (your request here)”
-Elektra
Dionysus
“O Lord, with whom Eros the subduer And the dark-eyed Nymphs And rosy Aphrodite Play, you who
haunt The high mountain peaks, I beseech you, come to me With kind disposition, hear And fulfill my
prayer (request here)”
-Anacreon
Demeter
“Lady Demeter my queen I am your appliant. I fall before you as your
slave. (your request here)”
-curse tablet
“O demeter you nourish my soul make me worthy of your mysteries (your
request here)”
-Aristophanes
“Demeter, you who taught us to work the earth and provides for us so
bountifully (your request here)”
-Iliad
Artemis
“O Artemis, holder of Delos and lovely Ortygia, entrust your holy bow
to the laps of the Graces, bathe your pure skin in the Inopos (request
here)”
-Anthologia Palatina
“Huntress and archer, maiden daughter of zeus and leto, Artemis to
whom are given the recesses of the mountains,
(your request here) for so above thine altars will (your name) offer a
vapor of frankincense”
-Select Epigrams from the Greek Anthology
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Nyx
“Hail, kindly Nyx, you who have given us great glory (your request here)”
-Aeschylus
“O Nyx, our dark Mother (your request here)”
-Aeschylus
Sun
“Oh Sun, that seest and givest ear to all things, Earth and Rivers
(your request here)”
-Iliad
Hecate
“Hecate who holds her torch on high daughter of night witht the deep
breasts (your request here)”
-Bacchylides
Fates
“I to high-throned Klotho (Clotho, Spinner) and her sister Moirai (Moirae, Fates) add this my plea
(request here)”
-Pindar
“Aisa, Klotho (Clotho) and Lakhesis (Lachesis), fair-armed daughters of Nyx (Night), hear our prayers,
you all-terrible deities of heaven and the lower world: send us rose-bloomed Eunomia (Good Order)
and her bright-throned sisters Dike (Justice) and garland-wearing Eirana (Eirene, Peace), and (request
here)”
-Stobaeus
“You mighty Moirai (Moirae, Fates), through the power of Zeus grant fulfilment in the way to which
Dike (Justice) now turns (request here)”
-Aeschylus
Misc
“First, libations to Zeus and Hera for timely marriage
The second cup of mixed wine I serve to the Heroes
Third, a libation for blessing to Zeus, the Saviour.”
-Pindar
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August 17, 2018
6 Minutes
Hellenic Pagan Hymns
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Here are various hymns/invocations from classical texts that can be used as alternatives to orphic and
homeric hymns. Remember the basic structure of individual Hellenismos worship: purification by
washing hands, reciting a hymn, prayer and offering.
Ares
“Oh help us Ares! Oh help us Ares! Oh help us Ares!
Do not let plague or ruin assail us
Do not let plague or ruin assail us
Do not let plague or ruin assail us
Be satisfied fierce Ares leap the threshold! Stop. Burn. Be satisfied
fierce Ares leap the threshold! Stop. Burn.Be satisfied fierce Ares
leap the threshold! Stop. Burn.
Oh help us Ares! Oh help us Ares! Oh help us Ares!
Triumph triumph triumph Triumph Triumph”
-Arval chant
To the gods
“My soul is wrought to sing of forms transformed to bodies new and
strange! Immortal Gods inspire my heart, for ye have changed
yourselves and all things you have changed! Oh lead my song in smooth
and measured strains, from olden days when earth began to this
completed time!”
-Ovid, Metamorphoses
Hera
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“Close beside me now as I pray appearing,
Lady Hera, gracious in all your majesty,
you whom the Atreídai invoked to help them,
glorious princes,
while they were completing their many labors,
first at Ilion, and then on the ocean
sailing for this island: they hadn’t power to
finish their journey
till they called on you, on the god of strangers
Zeus, and on Thyónë’s delightful son:
now I too entreat you, O goddess, help me
as in the old days.”
-Sappho
Poseidon
“To the high ruler of the sea Jove’s brother And to his Thetis I give
praise and thanks With joy and gratitude to the salt floods That
having in their power my life my all From their dread realms restor d
me to country To you great Neptune above other gods I pay my utmost
thanks Men call you cruel Rude and severe of greedy disposition Blood
thirsty fierce unsuflerahle outrageous But I have prov d you other in
the deep I found you of an easy clement nature And mild as I could
wish I ve heard before This commendation of you and from great That
you were wont to spare the indigent And crush the wealthy I applaud
your justice In treating men according to their merits Tis worthy of
the gods to have respect Unto the poor I know you may be trusted
Though they proclaim you treacherous for without Your aid your wild
attendants in the deep Had maul d me sorely scatter d all I have All
mine and me too through the azure plains Fierce hurricanes beset the
ship like dogs Rain winds and waves had broke the masts yards And
split the sails if with propitious peace You had not been at hand Away
then I m Resolv d henceforth to give me up to ease I ve got enough 0
with what troubles have I Struggled in seeking riches for my son But
who is this that’s entering now our street A stranger in appearance
and in dress Well though I needs must long to be at home I ll wait
awhile and see what he’s about”
-Plautus, Rudens
Underworld gods
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“Ye awful goddesses, avenging power Of Tartaros upon the damned, and
Chaos huge Who striv’st to mix innumerable worlds, And Pluto, king of
earth, whose weary soul Grieves at his godhead; Styx; and plains of
bliss We may not enter: and thou, Proserpine, Hating thy mother and
the skies above, My patron goddess, last and lowest form Of Hecate
through whom the shades and I Hold silent converse; warder of the gate
Who castest human offal to the dog: Ye sisters who shall spin the
threads again; 197 And thou, O boatman of the burning wave, Now
wearied of the shades from hell to me Returning, hear me if with voice
I cry”
-Lucan, Pharsalia
Apollo
‘It was a blessed delivery when Leto gave birth on the fruitful island
of Delos: (sc. she gave birth to) the golden-haired expert on the
lyre, and her whose pride is in accurate archery. She carried her
offspring from the island in the sea, leaving the famous birthplace,
to Mt. Pamassos’ peak where abundant water flows and which dances to
Dionysos’ tune. There a darkly patterned dragon, scales glinting in
the shade of thick laurel foliage, Earth’s abominable monster, guarded
her oracle. While still a baby, while still in your mother’s arms, you
sprang, Phoibos Apollo, killed the beast, and took control of the
oracle, and now you are seated on the golden tripod, the unerring
throne. There you give prophecies to men from the holy temple by the
spring Kastalia, the hub of earth in your command.”
-Delphic hymn
“Daphne, sacred plant of Apollo’s prophetic gift, whose leaves he
tasted once and revealed (prophetic) songs-sceptre-holding King,
leios, famous Paean, who lives in Kolophon, listen in person to (my)
sacred song. Come quickly o earth frompanies’ theaven and associate
with me; stand by me and breathe into me songs (sc. of prophecy) from
your immortal mouth. Come in at Temperson King of song, famous Lord of
song! Hear me, blessed god of heavy wrath and mighty spirit, hear me,
Titan! Do not ignore my voice now, immortal one! Stand by me and utter
prophecy from your immortal mouth to your supplicant, quickly, most
pure Apollo!”
-Delphic hymn
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“Listen, fair-armned daughters of loud-thundering Zeus who received
thickly-wooded Helikon as your lot, come here and sing of your brother
Phoibos of the golden hair, who, together with the well-known Delphic
women comes up Mt. Pamassus’ twin-peaked rock to visit the streams of
the well-supplied Kastalian Spring, up the Delphic slope to occupy his
prophetic seat. Behold the (people of) great and famous Athens who
joyfully reside on the unshakeable plain of the heavily armed
Tritonian! (See how) on holy altars Hephaistos bums the thighs of
young bulls; Arabian incense wafts up to Olympus with the flames! The
reed instrument pipes its piercing strain of trilling notes; the
golden sweet-voiced kithara resounds with hymns. The entire company of
choristers from Athens hymns you, son of mighty Zeus, famed for your
kithara-playing, beside this snow-capped place; you who provide for
all mortals unerring divine prophecies since you took over the
prophetic tripod which the wicked dragon used to guard. Then you
pierced the gleaming serpent coils with your arrows, till the beast,
emitting repeated hideous squeals, gave up the ghost at last. Likewise
the barbarian horde of Gauls who sacrilegiously invaded this land died
in the driving wet snow blizzard.”
-Praise and Persuasion in Greek Hymns, William D. Furley
To the sun
“Father of the dawn with her* snow-white eyelids, you who follow in
your rose-pink chariot the track of your flying steeds, exulting in
the gold of your hair, twining your darting rays across the boundless
vault of sky, whirling around the whole earth the fount of your
all-seeing beams, while flowing rivers of your deathless fire beget
the lovely day. For you the peaceful chorus of stars dance their
measure across Olympos their lord, forever singing their leisured
song, rejoicing in the music of Apollo’s lyre; and leading them the
silvery-gray Moon marshals the months and seasons, drawn by her team
of milk-white heifers. And your benevolent mind rejoices as it whirls
around the manifold raiment of the universe.”
-Mesomedes
Fates
“High-skilled Asklepios (Asclepius); and summon the two Dioskouroi (Dioscuri) and the august Kharites (Charites,
Graces) and glorious Mousai (Muses) and kindly Moirai (Moirae, Fates) . . . Greetings, all you immortal gods
everlasting and immortal goddesses!”
-Stobaeus, Anthology
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August 11, 2018
5 Minutes
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Roman Library Unearthed
Fingers crossed, we might get some ancient religious material out of this.
German archaeologists excavating in downtown Cologne have unearthed the foundations of a
Roman building that may have been a library. Dating to the middle of the second century A.D., the
remains were found near what was once the forum of the ancient Roman city of Colonia. Niches in
the building’s walls were likely intended to house up to 20,000 scrolls, and archaeologists believe
an alcove adjacent to the possible library may have been dedicated to the goddess Minerva.
Source
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August 2, 2018
1 Minute
Cult Regulations
In classical antiquity a cult was merely a group of worshipers devoted to a certain god – not a predatory
sect that ruins lives like scientology.
Cult of Zeus
“For good fortune! The law which those belonging to the synod (synodos) of Zeus Hypsistos (“Highest”)
devised jointly to be binding. Acting in the prescribed manner, they first chose for themselves
Petesouchos the son of Teephbennis as their leader (hēgoumenos), a learned man, worthy of the place
and of the banqueting hall (andrōn), for a year from the month and day written above. You shall
arrange one banquet a month in the sanctuary of Zeus for all the contributors, at which they should in a
common banqueting hall pour libations, pray, and perform the other customary rites on behalf of the
god and lord, the king.”
Read more here
Cult of Herakles
“Concerning the priesthoods: If someone should agree to purchase one, let him make the payment
immediately to the head of the contribution-society in the following year and let him receive a receipt
from the head of the contribution-society. In accordance with custom, let him receive a double portion,
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except for the wine. Those who contract for the pork and the wine who do not hand them over during
the year that they are providing the dinners shall be fined a double portion.
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Those who contract to supply provisions must present acceptable sureties to the treasurer and the head
of the contribution-society. They shall appoint three able-bodied night watchmen. If any of them should
refuse, then let them be selected by lot and whoever is chosen shall accept. If he should not accept or if
he does not want to be a night watchman after having been chosen, he shall pay a fine of 100 drachmas.
It is necessary to appoint from the synod ten collectors (praktores). If they do not wish to be collectors,
let ten be chosen by lot from the general membership. Likewise, when the treasurer provides an
accounting, after a meeting has been called, they shall appoint three auditors and the auditors shall
swear by Herakles, Demeter, and Kore.”
–Source
Dionysian Mysteries
“For good fortune! The law of the society (thiasos) of Amandos that has been ratified by two meetings
(synodoi). The members of the society (thiasōtai) shall contribute fourteen obols, not fewer, to the
association. The association (koinon) contributes three lamps. No maenad may attack or abuse another
maenad. Likewise, no cowherd (boukolos) may attack or abuse another cowherd. If someone should do
so, they shall pay to the association a fine of four drachmas for each utterance. One who is in town and
does not attend the meeting shall pay the same fine. Whoever does not gather on the mountain owes
five drachmas to the association.”
–Source
Cult of Artemis
“[1] It was voted unanimously that whoever wishes to enter this association shall pay an initiation fee of
100 sesterces and an amphora of good wine, and shall pay monthly dues of 5 asses (1.25 sesterces).
[2] It was voted further that if anyone has not paid his dues for six consecutive months and the
common lot of humankind befalls him, his claim to burial shall not be considered, even if he has
provided for it in his will.
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[3] It was further voted that upon the death of a paid-up member of our body there will be due him
from the treasury 300 sesterces, from which sum will be deducted a funeral fee of 50 sesterces, which
will be distributed at the funeral pyre (among those attending); the obsequies, furthermore, will be
performed on foot.
[4] It was further voted that if a member dies farther than 20 miles from town and the association is
notified, three men chosen from our body will be required to go there to arrange for his funeral; they
will be required to render an accounting in good faith to the membership (populus), and if they are
found guilty of any fraud they shall pay a quadruple fine. They will be given money for the funeral
expenses (funeraticium), and in addition a round trip travel allowance of 20 sesterces each.
(line 30) But if a member dies farther than 20 miles from town and notification is impossible, then he
who has carried out the funeral shall claim his funeral expenses (funeraticium) from the association.
The seals of seven Roman citizens must be attached to the documents and the matter has been
approved. And security must be given that no one else is going to claim a further sum, and that the
stipends and the money spent on the obsequies in accordance with the by-laws of the association have
been deducted. Let no bad faith attend! Also let no patron or patroness, master (column 2) or mistress,
or creditor have any right of claim against the association, unless he has been named heir in a will. If a
member dies without a will, the details of his burial (funus) will be decided by the president
(quinquennalis) and the membership (populus).”
–Source
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August 1, 2018
3 Minutes
Invocations From Ancient Hellas
We enjoy a great abundance of Greco-Roman religious material since Hellenes and Latins lived in
highly literate societies. Medieval pagan practices are forever lost because they were largely oral and
practiced by illiterate societies. Here are a series of ancient hymns to be recited before prayer to attract
a god’s presence.
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Zeus
“Io, Kouros most Great, I give thee hail, Kronian, Lord of all that is
wet and gleaming, thou art come at the head of thy Daimones. To
Dikte for the Year, Oh, march, and rejoice in the dance and song,
that we make to thee with harps and pipes mingled together, and sing
as we come to a stand at thy well-fenced altar. For here the shielded
Nurturers took thee, a child immortal, from Rhea, and with noise of
beating feet hid thee away.
And the Horai began to be fruitful year by year and Dike to possess
mankind, and all wild living things were held about by wealth-loving
Peace. To us also leap for full jars, and leap for fleecy flocks, and leap
for fields of fruit, and for hives to bring increase. Leap for our Cities,
and leap for our sea.”
-Cretan hymn to the son of Cronos,
author unknown since it was found carved on a wall in ruins.
Persephone
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“March chanting loud your lays Your hearts and voices raising The
Saviour goddess praising Who vows she ll still Our city save to
endless days Whate er Thorycion’s will”
-Aristophanes, Frogs
Demeter
“O Lady over our rites presiding Preserve and succour thy choral
throng And grant us all in thy help confiding To dance and revel the
whole day long And much in earnest and much in jest Worthy thy feast
may we speak therein And when we have bantered and laughed our best
The victor’s wreath be it ours to win”
-Aristophanes, Frogs
Dionysus
“O God of many names, glory of the Cadmeian bride, offspring of
loud-thundering Zeus! thou who watchest over famed Italia, and
reignest, where all guests are welcomed, in the sheltered plain of
Eleusinian Deo! O Bacchus, dweller in Thebe, mother-city of Bacchants,
by the softly-gliding stream of Ismenus, on the soil where the fierce
dragon’s teeth were sown!
Thou hast been seen where torch-flames glare through smoke, above the
crests of the twin peaks, where move the Corycian nymphs, thy
votaries, hard by Castalia’s stream.
Thou comest from the ivy-mantled slopes of Nysa’s hills, and from the
shore green with many-clustered vines, while thy name is lifted up on
strains of more than mortal power, as thou visitest the ways of Thebe:
Thebe, of all cities, thou holdest first in honour, thou and thy
mother whom the lightning smote; and now, when all our people is
captive to a violent plague, come thou with healing feet over the
Parnassian height, or over the moaning strait!
O thou with whom the stars rejoice as they move, the stars whose
breath is fire; O master of the voices of the night; son begotten of
Zeus; appear, O king, with thine attendant Thyiads, who in night-long
frenzy dance before thee, the giver of good gifts, Iacchus!”
-Sophocles, Antigone
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“O come with the joy of thy festival song O come to the goddess O mix
with our throng Untired though the journey be never so long O Lord of
the frolic and dance lacchus beside me advance For fun and for
cheapness our dress thou hast rent Through thee we may dance to the
top of our bent Reviling and jeering and none will resent O Lord of
the frolic and dance lacchus beside me advance A sweet pretty girl I
observed in the show Her robe had been torn in the scuffle and lo
There peeped through the tatters a bosom of snow O Lord of the frolic
and dance lacchus beside me advance ”
-Aristophanes, Frogs
Artemis
“Lady, lady most revered, daughter of Zeus, my greeting, daughter of
Leto and of Zeus, of maidens the fairest by far, who dwellest in the
broad heaven in the court of your good father, the gilded house of
Zeus. My greeting to you, fair one, fairest of all who dwell in
Olympus!”
-Euripides, Hippolytus
“O sovereign goddess, to you I bring
this garland made of woven flowers
gathered in unspoiled meadowlands,
where shepherds dare not graze their flocks
and harvest sickles are still unknown.
In spring, bees fly through pristine fields,
and modest Reverence feeds the land
with purest streams of river dew.
These flowers the virtuous may pick,
the ones who keep a constant rein
on their desires in all they do,
whose virtue comes from who they are
and not from what they have been taught.
But those who are not pure may not do so.
Dear mistress, accept from my chaste hand
this flowery wreath for your golden hair.
Of mortal men I am the only one
who has the privilege of spending time
alone with you. We converse together,
and though I never gaze upon your face,
I can hear your voice. I pray my life
will end like this, just as it has begun.”
-Euripides, Hippolytus
Apollo and Artemis
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“O universal lights
Most glorious! ye that lead the gliding year
Along the sky, Liber and Ceres mild,
If by your bounty holpen earth once changed
Chaonian acorn for the plump wheat-ear,
And mingled with the grape, your new-found gift,
The draughts of Achelous; and ye Fauns
To rustics ever kind, come foot it, Fauns
And Dryad-maids together; your gifts I sing.
And thou, for whose delight the war-horse first
Sprang from earth’s womb at thy great trident’s stroke,
Neptune; and haunter of the groves, for whom
Three hundred snow-white heifers browse the brakes,
The fertile brakes of Ceos; and clothed in power,
Thy native forest and Lycean lawns,
Pan, shepherd-god, forsaking, as the love
Of thine own Maenalus constrains thee, hear
And help, O lord of Tegea! And thou, too,
Minerva, from whose hand the olive sprung;
And boy-discoverer of the curved plough;
And, bearing a young cypress root-uptorn,
Silvanus, and Gods all and Goddesses,
Who make the fields your care, both ye who nurse
The tender unsown increase, and from heaven
Shed on man’s sowing the riches of your rain:
And thou, even thou, of whom we know not yet
What mansion of the skies shall hold thee soon,
Whether to watch o’er cities be thy will,
Great Caesar, and to take the earth in charge,
That so the mighty world may welcome thee
Lord of her increase, master of her times,
Binding thy mother’s myrtle round thy brow,
Or as the boundless ocean’s God thou come,
Sole dread of seamen, till far Thule bow
Before thee, and Tethys win thee to her son
With all her waves for dower; or as a star
Lend thy fresh beams our lagging months to cheer,
Where ‘twixt the Maid and those pursuing Claws
A space is opening; see! red Scorpio’s self
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His arms draws in, yea, and hath left thee more
Than thy full meed of heaven: be what thou wiltFor neither Tartarus hopes to call thee king,
Nor may so dire a lust of sovereignty
E’er light upon thee, howso Greece admire
Elysium’s fields, and Proserpine not heed
Her mother’s voice entreating to returnVouchsafe a prosperous voyage, and smile on this
My bold endeavour, and pitying, even as I,
These poor way-wildered swains, at once begin,
Grow timely used unto the voice of prayer.
In early spring-tide, when the icy drip
Melts from the mountains hoar, and Zephyr’s breath
Unbinds the crumbling clod, even then ’tis time;
Press deep your plough behind the groaning ox,
And teach the furrow-burnished share to shine.
That land the craving farmer’s prayer fulfils,
Which twice the sunshine, twice the frost has felt;
Ay, that’s the land whose boundless harvest-crops
Burst, see! the barns.”
-Virgil
Olympian Eros
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This hymn is to Aphrodite’s son who shouldn’t be confused with primeval Eros AKA Phanes.
“Eros, god of love, distilling liquid desire down upon the eyes,
bringing sweet pleasure to the souls of those against whom you make
war, never to me may you show yourself to my hurt nor ever come but in
due measure and harmony. For the shafts neither of fire nor of
the stars exceed the shaft of Aphrodite, which Eros, Zeus’s son, hurls
forth from his hand.”
-euripides hippolytus
Rhea
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“A mother of gods and men! O assistant and partner in the throne of
mighty Jupiter! O fountain of the intellectual gods! O thou whose
nature concurs with the uncontaminated essences of intelligibles, and
who, receiving a common cause from all intelligibles, dost impart it
to intellectual natures! Vivific goddess, Counsel and Providence, and
the fabricator of our souls! O thou who didst love the mighty Bacchus,
who didst preserve the castrated Attis, and when he had fallen into
the cavern of earth, didst again lead him upwards to his pristine
abode! O thou who art the leader of every good to the intellectual
gods, with which thou dost likewise fill this sensible world, and who
dost impart to us all possible good in every thing belonging to our
nature! Graciously bestow upon all men felicity, the summit of which
is the knowledge of the gods: but especially grant to the Roman people
in common, that they may wipe away the stains of their impiety; and
that they may be blessed with prosperous fortune, which, in
conjunction with them, may govern the empire for many thousands of
years. But with respect to myself, may the fruit of my cultivation of
thy divinity be the possession of truth in dogmata concerning the
gods, perfection in Theurgy, in all the actions which I shall
undertake, both political and military, virtue, in conjunction with
good fortune; and lastly a departure from the present life without
pain, and attended with glory, together with good hope of a
progression to thy divinity.”
-Emperor Julian, oration 5
Muses
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“You Pieridian maidens, Muses all, tell me how Alphesiboeus responded,
we cannot all do all things. (Alphesiboeus said), ?Bring water, and
gird this altar with soft wool fillets, burn rich vervain and male
frankincense, that I may attempt, with magic spells and sacrifice, to
turn aside my love’s wiser senses, nothing is to be missing save the
force of my song. Away from the city, away from his home, my charms,
draw Daphnis forth to me.
Spells can draw down the moon from the heavens; Circe’s incantations
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changed Ulysses? friends from their human forms; furthermore, by
singing charms the cold-blooded serpent is burst apart. Away from the
city, away from his home, my charms, draw Daphnis forth to me.
Three times around I first bind you with this thread of three diverse
colours, then three times I lead your effigy around this altar. Uneven
numbers please the gods. Away from the city, away from his home, my
charms, draw Daphnis forth to me.
Bind, Amaryllis, with triple knots the three coloured strings
together. Bind, Amaryllis, while singing a charm in this manner, “A
chain of Venus I weave, a chain of Venus I weave, a chain of Venus I
weave to bind my lover.” Away from the city, away from his home, my
charms, draw Daphnis forth to me.
As this clay image shall harden its heart towards others, and this wax
figure shall soften to me by this very same fire, so too, by our love,
will Daphnis be towards me.
Pay with a mole of salt and burn the fragile bay leaf with bitumen; as
cruel Daphnis makes me burn, so I with this laurel shall make Daphnis
to burn for me. Away from the city, away from his home, my charms,
draw Daphnis forth to me.
Such is my love for Daphnis, even as a wearied heifer who through
forest grove and woodland heights seeks out a young steer to stud her,
near the water of a mountain stream, will bend down upon green sedge,
abandoned, does not think to return to the safety behind bolted gates
at the descent of night, such my love keeps hold of me, no cures shall
remedy me. Away from the city, away from his home, my charms, draw
Daphnis forth to me.
These garments my unfaithful lover once left to me as a pledge of his
love. These now, O Earth, on this very threshold I give to you; these
pledges Daphnis, bound by charms and promises, must reclaim. Away from
the city, away from his home, my charms, draw Daphnis forth to me.
These herbs Moeris gave to me, poisons he picked herself in Pontus,
(Pontus where many such baneful herbs are born). Often have I seen
Moeris changed by such herbs into the form of wolf and conceal himself
in the forest. Often have I seen him summon souls from their graves,
and seen him transport a harvest of grain across to a fallow field.
Away from the city, away from his home, my charms, draw Daphnis forth
to me.
Carry the ashes outside, Amaryllis, to the flowing stream, and throw
them over your head; do not look back. With this I will attack the
heart of Daphnis; he cares nothing for the Gods, he cares nothing for
charms. Away from the city, away from his home, my charms, draw
Daphnis forth to me.
Look! The embers stir themselves to seize upon the altar with rising
flames, while I delay to carry them. May it be a good omen. I know not
for certain what it is, and yet Hylax, as a sign, on the threshold
barks! May we believe it? Or do lovers only fool themselves with
wishful dreams? Away from the city, away from his home, my charms,
draw Daphnis forth to me. ”
-Virgil
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“O most glorious lights above, stars illuminating the universe, you
lead in the gliding year. Liber and gentle Ceres, if by your gifts the
earth once changed, exchanging Chaonian acorns for rich heads of
grain, and receiving your invention of wine from Acheloian cups, and
you Fauns, your divine presence an aid for rustics, bring dancing
feet, as when Dryad girls frolic with Fauns, of your gifts I sing. And
you, O Neptune, for whom the earth first brought forth the horse from
her womb by the pounding of your trident; and inhabitant of sacred
groves, for whom three hundred snow white heifers graze along fertile
Ceaean thickets, quitting your own native woodlands and Lycean
pastures, Pan, patron god of shepherds and sheep alike, though your
love for Mount Maenalus calls to you, come, O Tegean Pan, favoring us
with your presence. And Minerva, inventrix of olive oil; and the boy
inventor of the curved plough, Silvanus, carrying tender cypress
saplings. All you Gods and Goddesses, whose affection is to watch over
fields, both nourish seeds to rise up as the earth’s new bounty and
send ample rain down from the heavens.”
-Virgil
Tisiphone
“Daughter of the nurturing Night, with your right hand lay low these
walls, and in their pride fell these people by their own hands. Juno
bids it. She brings Herself on nearby clouds and will watch your
zealous execution of all She asks. Use the bolts that confound the
gods and even Highest Jupiter, and that make Dis Pater in the lowest
depths tremble, with flame and monstrous serpents and your hideous
hissing that shuts the mouths of Cerberus with fear; and, with
frothing bile and venom and whatever other vicious compound you make,
and everything abundantly painful and wrathful to you boil up in their
hearts, to swiftly heap up the Rutilians’ thread and send all of
Saguntum to Erebus. May this be the cost for Fides’ gentle descent
upon them.
-silius italicus
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July 26, 2018
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Prayers to the Theoi
It’s easy to practice authentic Hellenic polytheism, the chief challenge is compiling and organizing the
bounty of ancient religious material. Hellenic polytheism would probably become a world religion If the
amount of surviving Hellenic religious material could be widely distributed.
Zeus
“O King of Kings, among the blest ⁠
Thou highest and thou happiest,
Listen and grant my prayer (request here)”
-Aeschylus, Suppliants
“Oh zeus whatever he be if that name please him well by that on him I call weighing all other names I
fail to guess aught else but Zeus if I would cast aside clearly in every deed from off my soul this idle
weight of care (request here)”
-Aeschylus
“Fulfill my prayer, O Olympian Zeus, and grant me good hap instead of
ill. May I die if I find no surcease of evil cares in the giving of
pain for pain. For this wise is my due; yet no vengeance appeareth
unto me upon the men that took my possessions by force and have them
still, while I am the dog that crossed the water but lost all in the
torrent stream.85 Whose red blood be it mine to drink, and may a good
Spirit arise86 to accomplish this as I would have it done.”
-Theognis
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“May Zeus that dwelleth in the sky ever keep his right arm over this
city for her safety’s sake, and with him the other Blessed Immortals;
may Apollo set straight both our tonque and our wits; and may harp and
pipe sound holy music; and let us conciliate the Gods with a libation,
and drink in pleasant converse one with another, fearing no whit the
war of the Medes. ‘Twere better thus, ’twere better to spend our days
in jolly revelry, of one accord and cares apart, and to keep far away
those evil Spirits, baleful Eld and the end that is Death.”
-Theognis
Poseidon
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“And though who curb’st the steed
Great king of ocean’ waves,
Poseidon, with thy trident fish spear armed
Give me respite from my problems.”
-Aeschylus
Apollo
“O Lord Thou Son of Leto, Offspring of Zeus, neither beginning will I
forget Thee ever nor ending, but sing Thee alway both first and last
and in between; and Thou give ear unto me and grant me good”
-Theognis
“Great Phoebus, when Our Lady Leto with her slender arms about the
palm-tree brought Thee forth beside the Round Water to be fairest of
the Immortals, round Delos was all filled with odour ambrosial, the
huge Earth laughed, and the deep waters of the hoary brine rejoiced.”
-Theognis
“Lord Apollo, Thou Thyself didst fence this city’s heights, to please
Alcathous181 son of Pelops; Thou Thyself protect this city from the
wanton outrage of the host of the Medes, so that in glad revelry at
the coming-in of Spring the people should give Thee splendid
hecatombs, rejoicing with lute and pleasant feast, with dance and cry
of Paeans about Thy altar. For verily I fear me when I see the
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heedlessness and people-destroying discord of the Greeks. But do Thou,
O Phoebus, be gracious and guard this our city.”
-Theognis
Zeus and Apollo
“May I have due measure of youth, and Phoebus Apollo son of Leto love
me, and Zeus the king of the Immortals, so that I may live aright
beyond all misfortunes, warming my heart with youth and riches.”
-Theognis
Artemis
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“Artemis, Slayer of Wild Beasts, Daughter of Zeus, whose image was set
up3 of Agamemnon when he sailed on swift shipboard for Troy, give Thou
ear unto my prayer, and ward off the Spirits of Ill, a thing small, O
Goddess, for Thee, but great for me”
-Theognis
Aphrodite
“Cyprus-born Cytherea, weaver of wiles, Zeus hath given Thee this gift
because He honoureth Thee exceeding much344 —Thou overwhelmest the
shrewd wits of men, nor lives the man so strong and wise that he may
escape Thee.”
-Theognis
Dike
“Thou, O maid Dike, that dost report guilty deeds to Zeus, who lookest down upon earth with unerring
eyes (request here)”
-Argonautica
Dionysus
“O Bacchus, humbly now I approach Your altar.
Grant tranquil seas for me, Father, and a fair wind in my sails.
You are able to tame even the rages of Venus; Your wine a cure for our sorrows.
By You are lovers bound to one another; by You are their bonds dissolved.
O Bacchus, cleanse my soul of fault.
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Truly also You cannot attest to be ignorant of my sorrow
when it was your lynxes that carried Ariadne off to the stars,
like You there is an old flame still burning in my bones.
Only wine or death may rid us of our ills.
Truly an empty night alone and sober spent always torments lovers;
where hopes and fears churn in the mind of one or the other.
But if, Bacchus, Your gift could soothe my fevered mind and bring
sleep to my wearied bones, then I?ll plant vines and fasten them in
orderly rows upon my hills, and myself stand guard less wild beasts
should pluck them.
When my vats fill foaming purple with must, and new wine presses have
stained my feet with grapes, then it will be enough for me to live
with Your vines and in Your horned presence, O Bacchus, I, Your poet,
shall sing.”
-sextus propertius
Ares
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“O glorious Ares, beneath whose godhead and paternity all wars begin and end, on thee I call (request
here)”
-Virgil
Fates
“Listen, Moirai hear our prayers (request here)”
-Stobaeus, Anthology
Hera
“O Hera, you who rule the island of Samos
And have received Imbrasos too as your lot
(request here)”
-Anthologia Palatina
Hestia
“Daughter of Rhea, guardian of parliaments, Hestia, sister of all-highest Zeus, and of Hera who shares
his throne (request here)”
-Pindar
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Chthonic Hermes
“O mighest herald of the gods on high
And those below O Hermes of the dark (request here)”
-Elektra
Muses
“Muses and Graces, Daughters of Zeus, who came of yore to the wedding
of Cadmus and sang so fair a song, ‘What is fair is dear, and not dear
what is not fair,’ —such was the song that passed your immortal lip”
-Theognis
Phasis
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“O Phasis, offspring of fecund Zeus, born in the snowy region of the Arcadian Nympha, do thou b”ut
accept with tranquil stream the bark of Pallas [u,e, the ship Argo], neither gifts nor shrines shall be
lacking to thee in my land; an effigy awaits thee, O Phasis, that whoso beholds may reverence, as mighty
as great Enipeus or father Inachus outstretched in golden cave.’”
-Argonautica
Primeval Chronos
These are prayers to the primeval god of time who shouldn’t be confused with the titan cronos: the
father of Zeus.
“O Time, you spirit who watch over all
Affairs of every sort for mortal men (request here)”
-Anthologia Palatina
“May mighty Khronos (Chronos, Time), as it draweth on, never weary of a settled course for me.”
-Pindar
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July 18, 2018
5 Minutes
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Greco-Roman Invocations
I compiled the following hymns from ancient texts to be used as alternatives to any Orphic and
Homeric hymns so you can diversify your religious practice. Any surviving ancient religious material
forms what can be considered as the orthodoxy of Hellenic polytheism.
Poseidon
“Poseidon, god of the racing steeds, I salute you, you who delight in
their neighing and in the resounding clatter of their brass-shod
hoofs, god of the swift galleys, which, loaded with mercenaries,
cleave the seas with their azure beaks, god of the equestrian
contests, in which young rivals, eager for glory, ruin themselves for
the sake of distinction with their chariots in the arena, come and
direct our chorus; Poseidon with the trident of gold, you, who reign
over the dolphins, who are worshipped at Sunium and at Geraestus
beloved of Phormio, and dear to the whole city above all the
immortals, I salute you!”
-Aristophanes, Knights
Alternate translation:
“Oh, Lord! Oh, Lord, protector and lover of horses!
Lover of the brazen clang and thud of the horses’ hooves, lover of the
horses’ neighing. Lover, too, of the swift war ships with their blue
emblems of rams at the prow!
Oh, God, whose heart gladdens at the sight of the rich booty those
ships carry! A heart that also gladdens at the sight of young men in
contest, particularly when they climb proudly upon their chariots
chasing their Fate -victory or defeat, no matter!
Come, God of the horse, come now and join our dance!
Poseidon, God of the golden trident, come join us!
God, chief of the dolphins!
God whose name is praised at Sounion!
God, son of Kronos, Geraestus!
God, most loved by the folk of Phormion to whom you granted a naval victory!
God most loved by all the citizens of Athens at this hour of their naval need!”
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Hephaestus
“Fiery, EPHAIE, Hephaistos, who is shining with fire, brightly moving, ANANOCHA AMARZA
MARMARAMO.”
-Greek magical papyri
To the gods
“Hearken, You Gods holding the helm of holy Wisdom,
Who, having kindled an upward-leading fire, draw to the immortals human souls,
Who leave the dark hole behind, purified by the secret initiations of
the Hymns.
Hearken, Great Saviors, and grant me from very divine books pure light,
Scattering the mist, so that I know well an Immortal God from a man;
That a daemon, doing cruel things, may not hold me forever submerged
in the streams of forgetfulness,
while I am far away from the Blessed Ones,
That a chilling Penalty may not bind my soul with the fetters of life,
which, fallen into the waves of cold becoming,
does not want to wander all too long.
But, O Gods, leaders towards bright-shining wisdom,
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Hearken and reveal to me, while hurrying to the upward leading track,
the secret rites and initiations of the holy words.”
-Proclus
Janus and Hecate
“Hail, many-named Mother of the Gods, whose children are fair
Hail, mighty Hekate of the Threshold
And hail to you also Forefather Janus, Imperishable Zeus
Hail to you Zeus most high.
Shape the course of my life with luminous Light
And make it laden with good things,
Drive sickness and evil from my limbs.
And when my soul rages about worldly things,
Deliver me purified by your soul-stirring rituals.
Yes, lend me your hand I pray
And reveal to me the pathways of divine guidance that I long for,
Then shall I gaze upon that precious Light
Whence I can flee the evil of our dark origin.
Yes, lend me your hand I pray,
And when I am weary bring me to the haven of piety with your winds.
Hail, many-named mother of the Gods, whose children are fair
Hail, mighty Hekate of the Threshold
And hail to you also Forefather Janus, Imperishable Zeus,
Hail to you Zeus most high.”
-Proclus
Sea gods invocation
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“The sea, the earth, the innumerable sand,
Archytas, thou couldst measure; now, alas!
A little dust on Matine shore has spann’d
That soaring spirit; vain it was to pass
The gates of heaven, and send thy soul in quest
O’er air’s wide realms; for thou hadst yet to die.
Ay, dead is Pelops’ father, heaven’s own guest,
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And old Tithonus, rapt from earth to sky,
And Minos, made the council-friend of Jove;
And Panthus’ son has yielded up his breath
Once more, though down he pluck’d the shield, to prove
His prowess under Troy, and bade grim death
O’er skin and nerves alone exert its power,
Not he, you grant, in nature meanly read.
Yes, all “await the inevitable hour;”
The downward journey all one day must tread.
Some bleed, to glut the war-god’s savage eyes;
Fate meets the sailor from the hungry brine;
Youth jostles age in funeral obsequies;
Each brow in turn is touch’d by Proserpine.
Me, too, Orion’s mate, the Southern blast,
Whelm’d in deep death beneath the Illyrian wave.
But grudge not, sailor, of driven sand to cast
A handful on my head, that owns no grave.
So, though the eastern tempests loudly threat
Hesperia’s main, may green Venusia’s crown
Be stripp’d, while you lie warm; may blessings yet
Stream from Tarentum’s guard, great Neptune, down,
And gracious Jove, into your open lap!
What! shrink you not from crime whose punishment
Falls on your innocent children? it may hap
Imperious Fate will make yourself repent.
My prayers shall reach the avengers of all wrong;
No expiations shall the curse unbind.
Great though your haste, I would not task you long;
Thrice sprinkle dust, then scud before the wind.”
-Horace, Odes
Thetis
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“Of Thetis I sing, Thetis of the golden hair,
Immortal daughter of the sea-dweller Nereus,
She who wed Peleus according to Zeus’ counsel,
The splendor of the sea, our own Aphrodite.
From her womb she bore divine Achilles,
That raging spear-fighter, that Ares of war,
The thunderbolt of Hellas, whose glory reaches heaven.
And to him in turn Pyrrha bore a son, Neoptolemus,
Who sacked the Trojans’ city and guarded the cities of the Greeks.
O hero Neoptolemus, be gracious to us,
O prosperous one, you who now lie in Delphi’s soil.
Receive with goodwill this our sacrifice,
And drive away all fear from our city.
Of Thetis I sing, Thetis of the golden hair.”
-Heliodorus of Emesa, Aethiopica
Primordial gods
“O you bright Aether, you swift-winged takhypteroi pnoiai, you pêgai
potamôn, and infinite laughter of the waves of pontos, O universal
mother Gaia, and you, all-seeing Helios, to you I call!”
-Aeschylus, Prometheus Bound
Nyx
“O Nyx who castest thy mantle over toiling earth and heaven, and
sendest the fiery stars on their divers roaming courses, gracious
referesher of the mind, till the next sun shed blithe upspringing upon
faint mortality, thou, kindly Night, dost bring me of thy bounty
assurance long sought in perplexity and doubt, and dost reveal the
ancient purposes of fate: aid now my work, and certify the omens thou
hast given. Ever shall this house throughout the circling periods of
the year hold thee high in honour and in worship; black bulls of
chosen beauty shall pay thee sacrifice, O goddess! And Hephaestus’ fire
shall eat the lustral entrails, whereo’er the new milk streams. Hail,
ancient truth of mystic Tripod! hail, secret grotto! I have found, O
Fortune, that the gods are gods indeed!”
-Statius, Thebaid
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July 11, 2018
5 Minutes
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Religious Music
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July 9, 2018
1 Minute
Hellenic Prayers From Antiquity
Enjoy this compilation of prayers from ancient Hellas.
Hephaestus
“Hear me lord hephaestus to my supplication be a favouring ally: grant the favors that are yours to
grant.”
-Archilochus
“O Hephaestus, lord of Aetna (request here)”
-Euripides, Cyclops
“Wilt thou, O Lemnos! wilt thou, mighty Vulcan!
With thy all-conquering fire (request here)”
-Sophocles, Philoctetes
“Soon, I pray, Hephaestus, memories of whispered rumors of disgrace and loud quarrels of complaint
You will no longer hold against the children of Mars; we are also the children of Your sweet wife Venus,
spare us, Father.”
-Martial
(This is a prayer to Hephaestus for relief from crisises such as fires or volcanoes.)
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Zeus
“Oh Zeus, father Zeus, Yours is the Kingdom of Heaven, and you watch men’s deeds, the crafty and the
right, and You are who cares for beasts’ transgression and justice (request here).”
-Archilochus
Multiple gods
“All you gods and goddesses I deservedly give great thanks to you since you have blessed me with this
very great happiness and these joys.”
-Poennulus
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“Be thou gracious unto me, thou who art king in the tract of the sea, wide-ruling son of Kronos, Girdler
of the earth, and be gracious thyself, O Thalassa, and ye gods who in the sounding sea have your abode
(Daimones Thalassai); and grant me (request here).”
-Oppian, Halieutica
“Janus, Jupiter, Father Mars, Quirinus, Bellona, Lares, ye Novensiles and Indigetes, deities to whom
belongs the power over us and over our foes, and ye, too, Divine Manes, I pray to you, I do you
reverence, I crave your grace and favour that you will (request here)”
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-Livy
Hera
“O Hera! awful queen, who sharest the couch of Zeus (request here)”
-Euripides, Helen
Nike and Ares
“I invoke Ares and Nike for the success of my expedition and I also invoke Chaerephon for if I do not
invoke him he ll come without being invited”
-Apollodorus of Carystus
Apollo
“O lord apollo strike the guilty ones with harm, destroy them as you do destroy but proper us”
-archilochus
“O thou, Creation’s universal light, Phoebus, my father, if to use that name thou givest me leave
(request here)”
-Ovid metamorph
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“O Phoebus Apollo, who always pitied Troy of its grave hardship, you
who guided the hand of Paris and his Dardanan missile to the body of
Aeacus? son, You who led me to penetrate all the seas that wash upon
mighty shores, and deep within the remote Massylian tribes and fields
that lie against Syrtian sands, until at last we came upon the
fleeting shores of Italy. Let Troy’s ill fortune have followed us thus
far (and no further). You also may justly spare the families of
Pergamus, all you gods and goddesses who stood against Troy and the
greater glory of the Dardanians. And You, most holy Diviner of future
events, I ask only for what fate has allotted me, grant that (request here)”
-virgil
Helios
“This prayer do I make to thee, O father, guardian of my destiny, all-seeing one! Cast now thine eyes
upon the land, upon all the sea (request here)”
-Argonautica
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“Helios, giver of feason, plantdresser, lord of fruits (request here)”
-Nonnus, Dionysiaca
Demeter
“But now I wish to voice a prayer to the Meter (Mother), the revered goddess to whom, and to great Pan
young maids before my door at nightfall often sing their praise.”
-Pindar
Demeter and Persephone
“In the season of garland-wearing I sing
Of Demeter, Wealth’s Olympian mother,
And of you, child of Zeus, PersephoneHail to you both, and guard this city well.”
– Athenaeus, Deipnosophistae
Athena
“Oh hail, Athena! Hail thou Zeus-born maid!
Nobly hast thou stood by me. Now will I crown thee
With trophies all of gold for this rich conquest.”
-Ajax, Aeschylus
Artemis and Athena
“First I call on you, daughter of Zeus, immortal Athena, and on your sister, Artemis, guardian of our
earth, who sits on her glorious throne above the circle of our market-place, and on far-shooting Apollo:
oh shine forth for me (request here)”
-Sophocles, Oedipus Tyrannus
Nyx
“O Nyx, Mother of Mysteries, and all ye golden Astra who with Luna succeed the fires of day, and thou,
divine three-formedHecate, who knowest all my enterprises and dost fortify the arts of magic (request
here)”
-Ovid, Metamorphoses 7
Aether
“O you bright sky of heaven (dios aithêr), you swift-winged breezes (takhypteroi pnoiai), you riverwaters (pêgai potamôn), and infinite laughter of the waves of sea (pontos), O universal mother Earth
(panmêtôr gê), and you, all-seeing orb of the sun (panoptês kyklos hêlios), to you I call! See what I, a
god, endure from the gods.’”
-Aeschylus, Prometheus Bound
“O holy mother mine Themis, O you Aether that revolves the common light of all (phaos pantôn)
(request here)”
-Aeschylus, Prometheus Bound
“Oh! most mighty king, the boundless Aer (Air), that keepest the earth suspended in space, thou bright
Aither and ye venerable goddesses, the Nephelai (request here)”
-Aristophanes, Birds
Pan
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“O beloved Pan and all ye other gods of this place, grant to me that I be made beautiful in my soul
within, and that all external possessions be in harmony with my inner man. May I consider [279c] the
wise man rich; and may I have such wealth as only the self-restrained man can bear or endure.—Do we
need anything more, Phaedrus? For me that prayer is enough.”
-Plato, Phaedrus
Underworld gods
“O house of Haides and Persephone! O Hermes of the Underworld and holy Ara (Curse) and divine
Erinnyes (Furies)! You who watch over those dying unjustly and those being robbed of a marriage bed
(request here)”
-Suidas s.v. Persephone
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July 7, 2018
4 Minutes
Oaths
Ancient Greeks and Romans entered into verbal contracts called oaths which were made before the
gods, with the promse of divine punishment in the event of violating the vow. Oathmaking played an
important ruled in Hellenic society; oaths sealed trade deals or served as coming of age rituals (ie the
ephebic oath). The practice is useful for contemporary polytheists; vows could serve as initiation rituals
into a group of worshippers, wedding rituals etc.
The Iliad provides a typical example of oath:
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“Father Zeus, that rulest from Ida, most glorious, most great, and thou Sun, that beholdest all things
and hearest all things, and ye rivers and thou earth, and ye that in the world below take vengeance on
men that are done with life, whosoever hath sworn a false oath; [280] be ye witnesses, and watch over
the oaths of faith. If Alexander slay Menelaus, then let him keep Helen and all her treasure; and we will
depart in our seafaring ships. But if so be fair-haired Menelaus shall slay Alexander, [285] then let the
Trojans give back Helen and all her treasure, and pay to the Argives in requital such recompense as
beseemeth, even such as shall abide in the minds of men that are yet to be. Howbeit, if Priam and the
sons of Priam be not minded to pay recompense unto me, when Alexander falleth, [290] then will I
fight on even thereafter, to get me recompense, and will abide here until I find an end of war.””
-Book 3 of the Iliad
1. Hold up your hand with your ringfinger and little finger down to palm while holding your other digits
up.
2. Recite oath.
3. Make an offering to the god, such as a libation or throwing meat on a fire.
Oaths typically have a three part structure: the swearer declares the vow’s promise then states specific
gods as witnsses to the promise and finally calls down a curse that will punish him/her if he/she
violates the contract. For example: “I swear by (god’s name here) that I will (promise here) or may I
suffer (punishment here).” There’s no reason why you can’t write your own oaths using that structure
since the classics show that vows were spontaneously composed on the spot, not part of a sacred litany.
It was common for Helios or Apollo to be invoked as witnesses since Hellenes believed either entity saw
all through his eye the sun.
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Ancient Greek wedding rituals have been preserved but it would be more practical for modern
Hellenists to use oaths in the place of vows. (It would be the most accurate to get married with a judge,
priests were rarely involved in Hellenic weddings.) After the wedding vows the couple should seal the
union with a handshake and take a bath (called a loutra)together to symbolize their new union. The
oath below would be ideal for any wedding:
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“In our lawful marriage-chamber you shall share my bed, and nothing will separate us in our love until
the appointed death enshrouds us.”
-Argonautica
Another lovers’ oath is found in Tibullus’ elegies which would be perfect for a wedding.
” No! ne’er shall rival lure me from thine arms!
(In such sweet bond did our first sighs agree!)
Save for thine own I see no woman’s charms;
No maid in all the world is fair but thee.
Would that no eyes but mine could find thee fair!
Displease those others! Save me this annoy!
I ask not envy nor the people’s stare:—
Wisest is he who loves with silent joy.
With thee in gloomy woods my life were gay,
Where pathway ne’er was found for human feet,
Thou art my balm of care, in dark my day,
In wildest waste, society complete.
If Heaven should send a goddess to my bed,
All were in vain. My pulse would never rise.
I swear thee this by Juno’s holy head—
Greatest to us of all who hold the skies.
What madness this? I give away my case!
Swear a fool’s oath! Thy tears my safety won.
Now wilt thou flirt, and tease me to my face—
Such mischief has my babbling fully done.
Now am I but thy slave: yet thine remain,
My mistress’ yoke I never shall undo.
To Venus’ altar let me drag my chain!
She brands the proud, and smiles on lovers true.”
Other ancient oaths:
In the Argonautica Medea swears “by mighty Ouranos and by Gaia below, the Mother of the Gods, that
provided your demands are not impossible I will help you as you wish, with all the power that in me
lies.”
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“Free shall the maidens sojourn in this land.
Unharried, undespoiled by mortal wight:
No native hand, no hand of foreigner
Shall drag them hence; if any man use force—
Whoe’er of all our countrymen shall fail
To come unto their aid, let him go forth,
Beneath the people’s curse, to banishment.”
-Aeschylus, Suppliants
“I swear by Zeus, Gaia, Helios, Poseidon, Athena, and Ares, by all gods and goddesses, that I will
maintain peace and will not break the treaties concluded with Philip of Macedon; I will not bear arms
with intent to injure, nor against those who keep their word, on land or at sca. I will not take in war any
city, garrison, or port belonging to those who participate in the peace, whether by cunning or invention.
I will overthrow neither the kingship of Philip and his descendants, nor. the constitutions in force
among the participants at the time they swore the oaths of peace. I will not act against the treaties, nor
allow any other to do so, as far as I am able. If any shall do anything whatsoever contrary to these oaths
and treaties, I will provide all the succor the victim asks, and I will fight any who breaks the common
peace, according to the decisions of the common council and the commands of the hegemon.”
-Treaty of Corinth
“We swear to Zeus Soter, god Caesar Augustus, and the ancestral holy Maiden to have good will towards
Gaius Caesar Augustus and his whole household and to consider as friends whomever he may choose as
friends and to consider as enemies whomever he accuses. If we swear truly, may it go well for us, but if
we swear falsely, the opposite will happen. The ambassadors offered themselves at their own expense:
Gaius Varius Castus son of Gaius of Voltinia tribe, Hermophanes son of Zoilos, Ktetos son of Pisistratos,
Aischrion son of Kalliphanes, and Artemidoros son of Philomousos. The ambassadors prayed to
Capitolinian Zeus (i.e. Jupiter) for the safety of Gaius Caesar Augustus Germanicus and they sacrificed
in the name of the city.”
-Oath of the Assians
“I too, Aeneas, take the sacred vow.
By earth and sea and stars in heaven I swear,
by fair Latona’s radiant children twain,
and two-browed Janus; by the shadowy powers
of Hades and th’ inexorable shrines
of the Infernal King; and may Jove hear,
who by his lightnings hallows what is sworn!
I touch these altars, and my lips invoke
the sacred altar-fires that ‘twixt us burn:
we men of Italy will make this peace
inviolate, and its bond forever keep,
let come what will; there is no power can change
my purpose, not if ocean’s waves o’erwhelm
the world in billowy deluge and obscure
the bounds of heaven and hell. We shall remain
immutable as my smooth sceptre is“
-Aeneid, Virgil
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“All-seeing sun, and thou, Ausonian soil,
For which I have sustain’d so long a toil,
Thou, King of Heav’n, and thou, the Queen of Air,
Propitious now, and reconcil’d by pray’r;
Thou, God of War, whose unresisted sway
The labors and events of arms obey;
Ye living fountains, and ye running floods,
All pow’rs of ocean, all ethereal gods,
Hear, and bear record: if I fall in field,
Or, recreant in the fight, to Turnus yield,
My Trojans shall encrease Evander’s town;
Ascanius shall renounce th’ Ausonian crown:
All claims, all questions of debate, shall cease;
Nor he, nor they, with force infringe the peace.
But, if my juster arms prevail in fight,
(As sure they shall, if I divine aright,)
My Trojans shall not o’er th’ Italians reign:
Both equal, both unconquer’d shall remain,
Join’d in their laws, their lands, and their abodes;
I ask but altars for my weary gods.
The care of those religious rites be mine;
The crown to King Latinus I resign:
His be the sov’reign sway. Nor will I share
His pow’r in peace, or his command in war.
For me, my friends another town shall frame,
And bless the rising tow’rs with fair Lavinia’s name.”
-Aeneid, Virgil
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July 4, 2018
6 Minutes
Hymns to the Gods
Hellenic Polytheism is largely intact, the only challenge is collecting and compiling religious practices.
Remember the structure for Hellenismos worship:
0. Purification by washing your hands.
1. Recite hymn to attract the god.
2. Speak your prayer.
3. Make an offering to the god (such as a libation or burning incense) though if you’re only praising a
god through your prayer there’s no need to make any offerings.
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Athena
“It is the custom for me
To summon hither to the dance
Pallas the chorus-loving,
The unyoked virgin maiden,
Who alone possesses
Our city and manifest power,
And is called the Key-Holder.
Appear, o you who hate tyrants,
Just as is fitting; the community
Of women is calling you.
May you come to me
Bringing with you Peace,”
-Aristophanes, Thesmophoriazousae
Poseidon
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“Son of Kronos, Lord Poseidon, this our proudest is from thee
The strong horses, the young horses, the dominion of the sea.
First on Attic roads thy bridle tamed the steed for evermore;
And well swings at sea, a wonder in the rower’s hand, the oar
Bounding after all the hundred Nereid feet that fly before”
-oedipus at colonus
Zeus
“Zeus: whatever he may be, if this name
pleases him in invocation,
thus I call upon him.
I have pondered everything
yet I cannot find a way,
only Zeus, to cast this dead weight of ignorance
finally from out my brain.
He who in time long ago was great,
throbbing with gigantic strength,
shall be as if he never were, unspoken.
He who followed him has found
his master, and is gone.
Cry aloud without fear the victory of Zeus,
you will not have failed the truth:
Zeus, who guided men to think,
who has laid it down that wisdom
comes alone through suffering.
Still there drips in sleep against the heart
grief of memory; against
our pleasure we are temperate
From the gods who sit in grandeur
grace comes somehow violent.”
-aeschylus, agamemnon
Invocation to multiple gods
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“Priestess Earth the first prophetess I worship first Then Themis who
succeeding as by right After her mother filled th oracular throne So
the tradition runs and uncompelled Resigned it freely to her successor
In order third another child of Earth Titanian Phoebe who to Phmbus
gave This throne a birth gift and his name from hers He left his
Delian rock and native lake Touched at the shores of Pallas where
along Ships skim their way and thence in pomp advanced To this
Parnassian seat and region Hephaestus sons his escort pioneers That
lot daylight into the salvage gloom King Delphus and the people of the
land On his arrival hailed and worshipt him Zeus filled him with the
spirit of prophecy Fourth on this throne and prophet of the sire These
powers I first invoke and next I name Pronaean Pallas and adore the
Nymphs Who dwell within the deep Corycian caves The haunt of gods and
the resort of birds But Bromius owns the district nor thereof Am I
unmindful ever since he led His troop of Maenads scheming such a doom
For Pentheus as the huntsman for the hare The founts of Pleistus and
Poseidon s might Invoking and the All accomplisher The highest Zcus I
new resume my seat A prophetess and may they grant me now Better
success than all my good before If any Greeks be present let them come
Settling as is our custom by the lot The order of their coming I
declare E en as the god inspires his oracles”
-Eumenides
Somnus
“Sweet pleasing Somnus
Who spread’st thy empire o’er each god and man;
If e’er obsequious to thy Juno’s will,
O power of slumbers! hear, and favour still.
Shed thy soft dews on Jove’s immortal eyes,
While sunk in love’s entrancing joys he lies.
A splendid footstool, and a throne, that shine
With gold unfading, Somnus, shall be thine;
The work of Vulcan; to indulge thy ease,
When wine and feasts thy golden humours please.”
-Iliad
Arete
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“Arete, which mortals win only through great suffering,
is the most beautiful reward of life.
Because of your radiance, oh Virgin,
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to the Ǽllinæs [1], it is enviable to die for you
and, in so doing, to suffer furious, ceaseless labors.
Such is that which you inspire within us,
the fruit of which is Godlike and greater than gold
and progeny and leisurely sleep.
Because of you, Iraklís [2] and the sons of Zefs and Lída [3]
endured many difficult labors to acquire your strength.
Yearning for you, Akhilléfs and Aias [4] journeyed to the house of the dead.
And on account of your friendly form, this great one from the city of Atarnéfs
forsook the light of the sun.
His works will spread his fame, and the Mousai [5] will increase it forever,
those daughters of Mnimosýni [6], extolling the majesty of Zefs the
Hospitable One
and the reward of abiding Friendship.”
-Aristotle
Hecate-Selene-Artemis
” ‘I see Trivia’s [Hekate-Selene-Artemis] swift gliding car, not as
when, radiant, with full face [i.e. the moon], she drives the livelong
night, but as when, ghastly, with mournful aspect, harried by
Thessalian threats, she skirts with nearer rein the edge of heaven. So
do thou wanly shed form thy torch a gloomy light through air; terrify
the peoples with new dread, and let precious Corinthian bronzes
resound, Dictynna [Artemis-Selene], to thy aid. To thee on the altar’s
bloody turf we perform thy solemn rites.’”
-Seneca
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“‘O Artemis queen of the groves (regina nemorum), thou who in solitude
lovest thy mountain-haunts, and who upon the solitary mountains art
alone held holy, change for the better these dark, ill-omened threats.
O great goddess of the woods and groves, bright orb of heaven, glory
of the night, by whose changing beams the universe shines clear, O
three-formed Hecate, lo, thou art at hand, favouring our undertaking.
Conquer the unbending soul of stern Hippolytus; may he, compliant,
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give ear unto our prayer. Soften his fierce heart; may he learn to
love, may he feel answering flames. Ensnare his mind; grim, hostile,
fierce, may he turn him back unto the fealty of love. To this end
direct thy powers; so mayst thou wear a shining face [Luna-Selene the
moon] and, the clouds all scattered, fare on with undimmed horns; so,
when thou drivest thy car through the nightly skies, may no witcheries
of Thessaly prevail to drag thee down and may no shepherd [i.e.
Endymion] make boast o’er thee. Be near, goddess, in answer to our
call; hear now our prayers.”
-Seneca, Phaedra
Delos
“Hail. O heaven-built isle [of Delos], most lovely scion of the
children of bright-haired Leto, O daughter of the sea, thou unmoved
marvel of the spacious earth, by mortal men called Delos, but by the
blessed gods of Olympos (Olympus) known as the far-seen star (astra)
of the dark-blue earth . . . For aforetime, that isle was tossed on
the waves by all manner of whirling winds; but, when Leto, the
daughter of Koios (Coeus), in the frenzy of her imminent pangs of
travail, set foot on her, then it was that four lofty pillars rose
from the roots of earth, and on their capitals held up the rock with
their adamantine bases. There it was that she gave birth to, and
beheld, her blessed offspring.”
-Pindar, Processional Hymn on Delos
Charities
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“Kharites (Charites, Graces) three. For in your gift are all our
mortal joys, and every sweet thing, be it wisdom, beauty, or glory,
that makes rich the soul of man. Nor even can the immortal gods order
at their behest the dance and festals, lacking the Kharites’ aid; who
are the steward of all rites of heaven, whose thrones are set at Pytho
beside Apollon of the golden bow, and who with everlasting honour
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praise the Father, lord of great Olympos.
Euphrosyne, lover of song, and Aglaia (Aglaea) revered, daughters of
Zeus the all-highest, hearken, and with Thalia, darling of harmony,
look on our songs of revel.”
-Pindar, Odes
Primordial Eros AKA Phanes
These hymns are to Eros of the primordial pantheon who shouldn’t be confused with olympian Eros;
the son of Aphrodite.
“Mighty Eros , how great art thou! How infinite thy might! How
many things dost thou devise and ordain, how many, mighty spirit
(daimon), are thy sports! The earth is steadfast; yet is it shaken by
thy shafts. Unstable is the sea : yet thou dost make it fast. Thou
comest unto the upper air and high Olympos is afraid before thee. All
things fear thee, the wide heaven above and all that is beneath the
earth and the lamentable tribes of the dead, who, though they have
drained with their lips the oblivious water of Lethe, still tremor
before thee. By thy might thou dost pass afar, beyond what the shining
sun doth ever behold: to thy fire even the light yields place for fear
and the thunderbolts of Zeus likewise give place. Such fiery arrows,
fierce spirit, hast thou–sharp, consuming, mind-destroying,
maddening, whose melting breath knows no healing–wherewith thou dost
stir even the very wild beasts to unmet desires.”
-Oppian, Cynegetica
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“O cruel Eros, crafty of counsel, of all gods fairest to behold
with the eyes, of all most grievous when thou dost vex the heart with
unforseen assault, entering the soul like a storm-wind and breathing
the bitter menace of fire, with hurricane of anguish and untempered
pain. The shedding of tears is for thee a sweet delight and to hear
the deep-wrung groan; to inflame a burning redness in the heart and to
blight and wither the bloom upon the cheek, to make the eyes hollow
and to wrest all the mind to madness. Many thou doest even roll to
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doom even those whom thou meetest in wild and wintry sort, fraught
with frenzy; for in such festivals is thy delight. Whether then thou
art the eldest-born among the blessed gods and from unsmiling Khaeos
(Chaos) didst arise with fierce and flaming torch and didst first
establish the ordinances of wedded love and order the rites of the
marriage-bed; or whether Aphrodite of many counsels, queen of Paphos,
bare thee a winged god on soaring pinions, be thou gracious and to us
come gentle and with fair weather and in tempered measure; for none
refuses the work of Eros (Love). Nor doth the race of Heaven suffice
thee nor the breed of men; thou rejectest not the wild beasts nor all
the brood of the barren air; under the coverts of the nether deep dost
thou descend and even among the finny tribes thou dost array thy
darkling shafts; that naught may be left ignorant of thy compelling
power, not even the fish that swims beneath the waters.”
-Oppian, Halieutica
Miscellanous
“We wine-drinkers will pour a libation to Bacchus, rouser of laughterWith our wine-cups we’ll drive away the cares that lay men low.
Let the rustic man with his many toils send into his bread-taking belly
The grain that belongs to Demeter, black-robed Persephone’s mother.
As for wretched and bloody meat, a banquet from slaughtered bulls,
We’ll leave that to wild beasts and to birds that enjoy raw flesh.
And what of the bones of fish, that slice and gash the skin?
Leave them to the lips of men who love Hades more than the sunlight.
But for us, this unmixed wine, the granter of prosperity,
Will be both food and drink forever- let some other man long for ambrosia!”
-Anthologia Palatina 11.60
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June 26, 2018
8 Minutes
Places of Worship
Temples are not required for Hellenismos, individual and collective worship can be conducted in any
space as the ancient Hellenes believed the gods were everywhere. However it’s necessary to understand
places of worship to complete our understanding of ancient Greek religion and honor the Gods.
Temples are one of the highest offerings that humans can give to the Theoi; the sacrifice of a thousand
bulls pales in comparison to a sanctuary that can endure for years.
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The ancient Greeks built temples for each individual god rather than having temples for the entire
pantheon since it was believed gods lived in the temples. Worship such as offerings were typically
conducted outside the temple to avoid contaminating the holy place with miasma. Temples were built
facing east so that the structure would receive Apollo’s blessing when the sun rose each morning. Doric
architecture was sacred to Ares, Heracles and Zeus while Corinthian architecture was associated with
Hestia and Iconic style corresponded to Apollo, Artemis and Dionysus.
Before entering a temple people had to purify themselves by sprinkling water on their persons: most
holy sites kept water outside of the site for that purpose. An ancient decree forbade harming land or
trees on sanctuary land which could punished by fines or flogging. An inscription forbade people from
bringing horses, donkeys, mules or any other pack animals onto holy ground, it was also forbidden to
bring in any object made of pig-skin. Holy places were purified by burning sulfur owing the substance’s
association with Zeus and how it repulses insects. Holy sites were purified by crying “hekas, hekas, este
O bebeloi” a formula from the Eleusinian mysteries which was believed to banish any miasma.
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Altar spaces were the closest practice the Ancient Greeks had to modern places of worship (ie a single building
where you can enter and worship all entities of the faith). Hellenes constructed altars surrounded by walls where
people could worship any god, the buildings typically didn’t have roofs so that burnt offers would go up to the gods.
Building an ancient temple replica would cost millions, an altar enclosed by walls would be cheap to construct and
(unlike a temple) serve as an all purpose place of worship.
The altar of the twelve gods (pictured above) presents a model for building a single place to worship the entire
pantheon without twisting Hellenic religion.
Modern Hellenists could build four walls around an altar or structures resembling neoclassical gazebos (a roof
supported by pillars) to serve as a place for any religious activity. It would be best to label such buildings as
‘sanctuaries’ since that word served as a blanket term for any holy sites during classical antiquity. Sanctuaries could
be next to community centers that would offer classical libraries, philosophy lessons, meeting halls and various
events: it would cost as much as a typical church.
Certain online stories sell accurate replicas of ancient statues of the Gods, perfect for any place of worship. Though
you need to understand that statues are merely a focus, the concept of ‘idol worship’ is an Abrahamic
misconception. Polytheists don’t literally worship statues, they are something for you to concentrate on to keep your
mind focused on a god during the process of worship. Assuming that people literally worshipped idols would be as
ignorant as insisting that Catholics worship the cross and prayer beads.
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Temples, sanctuaries and altars were inscribed with dedications ranging from short notes to complex invocations: the
altar of the twelve gods simply reads: “Leagros, son of Glaukon, dedicated [this] to the Twelve Gods.”
Other inscriptions were effectively invocations: “To Jupiter Best and Greatest, to the gods and goddesses of
hospitality and to the Penates, for having kept safe the welfare of himself and of his household, Publius Aelius
Marcianus, prefect of the cohort, had this altar set up.”
The Karanis papyri features a hymn that is ideal for consecrating places of worship:
“Let this be a hearth for Zeus the savior. Let this be a hearth for Zeus the olympian. let this be a hearth for Zeus of
mount Kasios. Let this be a hearth for Zeus the hospitable. Let this be a hearth for Zeus of the Capitoline. Let this be
a hearth for Zeus. Let this be a hearth for Zeus the sender of all omninous voices; for Hera the all powerful; for Hera
who presides over marriage; for Athena Nike; for Athena; for Ares for Aphrodite, for the Graces, for Poseidon the
securer, for Poseidon of the sea, for Poseidon the earth mover; for the nile and earth, all nurturing Kornos the great
god, for Rhea mother of gods, for Demeter and Kore, fruit bearing goddesses, for Hades, for Persephone the
beautiful child; for Apollo leader of the muses; for Artemis, the light bringer, for Hermes; for Herakles gloriously
triumphant; for the Dioscuri the manifest, for the Olympian muses, for the Pierian muses; for the Helikonian muses;
for the Helikonian, for Asclepius, for Hephaistos of many crafts, for Dionysus the chorus leader; for Zeus the
deliverer; for Alexander the founder, for all gods and goddesses”
First the leader of the rites would wash their hands. Then ritual participants would have a procession into the the
building intended to be consecrated. The leader of the rites would recite the very first Orphic hymn (which invokes
the entire Olympian pantheon). After that he would recite the Karanis papyri hymn and make an offering.
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Ancient Invocations
A collection of hymns compiled from ancient Greek and Latin texts, perfect for diversifying your
practice. Hymns/invocations should be recited before prayer and offerings, it’s exciting that
Hellenismos has as much ancient practices as most world religions.
Athena
“Fierce goddess, glory and genius of your great father,
You who are mighty in war, you who wear upon your cheeks
A savage helmet of beautiful horror,
You whose Gorgon-head rages ever more as blood spatters on itNeither Mars nor Bellona, spear-armed for battle,
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Give your approval to this sacrifice, whether you are coming
To witness my slaughter from Pandion’s mountain,
Or whether you, chorus-lover, are making a detour from Boeotian Itone,
Or whether you come having just washed your combed-back hair
In Libyan Triton, where the swift axle of your unspoiled mares
Bears you swiftly, as you clamor in your two-horse chariot:
Now I dedicate to you men’s broken spoils and shapeless plunder,
But if one day I enter again my ancestral fields of Porthaon
And Mars’ Pleuron lies open to me as I return from exile,
Then I shall dedicate to you golden temples on the heights at the city center,
Where it will be sweet to look down upon Ionian tempests,
Where turbulent Achelous, lifting up the sea with his blond head,
Goes out to sea, leaving the obstructing Echinades in his wake.
Here I will fashion the battles of my ancestors and the dreadful faces
Of great-hearted kings; I will affix in proud domes
Captured arms, both those that I brought back myself,
Obtained with my own blood, and those that you,
Tritonia, will grant on the day that Thebes is captured.
There a hundred Calydonian women, vowed to your virgin altars,
Will weave for you in proper fashion from a chaste tree
Actaean torches and purple head-bands with white partitions;
An elderly priestess will feed an unsleeping fire on the hearthNever will she neglect the secret symbol of reverence.
In war and in peace, you will receive in great numbers,
According to custom, the first fruits of our labors;
And Diana will offer no objection.”
-Statius, Thebaid
Hera
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“Almighty Queen of Heaven, remember when Jupiter made the skies grow
wild with black clouds and sheets of rain; remember when Thundering
Jupiter commanded Your return to the marriage bed and how You,
frightened with sudden capture and at being left destitute following
Your rape, sought only how to flee; remember how it was I who carried
You upon my shoulders across the storm swollen Enipeus, when it
carried away its banks to flood the Thessalian plane, and all were
carried before its torrents. Grant, Juno, that I may arrive safely to
Scythia where the Phasis flows. And You, virgin Minerva, snatch me
away from harm. I, even I then, will set that plucked fleece in your
shrine, and my father, relieved and grateful, will dedicate snow white
cattle from herds and lead them to your altar with gilded horns.”
-Argonautica
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Phales
(perfect for Dionysian worship)
“Phales, companion of Bacchus,
fellow reveler, rover of the night,
adulterer, and pederast,
I, happy to have returned to my deme
in the sixth year, address you,
I who have made a treaty for
myself, and have been freed from
troubles, battles, and “Larnachi.”
Phales, Phales, far more
sweet is it to find a ripe,
thieving wood-carrier, that
Thratta, slave of Strymodoros,
from the stony ground, and to take her by
the middle, lift her up, throw
her down, and pit her cherry.
Phales, Phales,
if you will drink with us, after the
debauch, you will gulp down a cup
of peace at dawn, and the shield will
be hung in the hot ash.”
-Aristophanes, Acharnians
Helios
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“Giant of gold! king of fire in the mind,
Ruler of light; with you, above all else,
The splendid source of life’s prolific fount;
And from on high you pour the wealth of your
Harmonic streams into our world of matter here.
Hear! for high above, on planes of ether,
And in the world’s bright middle realm you reign,
While all things by your sovereign power are filled
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With mind-enflaming, providential care.
The fires of stars surround your vigorous fire,
And ever in unwearied, ceaseless dance,
Their vivid dew on earth’s wide bosom drops.
By your eternal and repeated course
The hours and seasons come and go;
And elements opposed are joined in harmony,
In sight of your majestic beams, great king,
From deity ineffable and secret born.
Unmoving Fates will yield to your command,
Roll back the fatal thread of mortal lives;
For wide-extended sovereign sway is yours.
From your fair series of attractive songs,
Divinely charming, Phoebus leaps forth
into light in joy; and with his god-like harp,
To rapture strung, he calms the raging din
Of dire-resounding Matter’s mighty flood.
And from your gentle dance, repelling harm,
A healing Hymn expands its light,
Diffusing Health, and filling all the world
With streams of harmony.
You, too, they celebrate in sacred song
The illustrious source whence mighty Bacchus came;
In matter’s utmost churning depths they chant
“Euan Ate” to you forever,
While others sound your praise in tuneful verse,
As famed Adonis, delicate and fair.
Ferocious daemons, noxious to mankind,
Dread the dire anger of your rapid scourge;
These Daemons plot a thousand ills,
And hatch their plans for wretched souls
That founder in life’s dreadful-sounding seas.
Enslaved and shackled by the body’s chains,
Souls lose all thought of fire sublime
And in the dark abyss they writhe.
O best of gods, spirit blessed and crowned with fire,
Image of nature’s all-producing god,
And leader of our souls to realms of lightHear! and purify my stains of guilt;
Receive the supplication of my pleas,
And wash away the poison from my wounds!
Release me from the torments of my sins,
And mitigate the swift, all-seeing eye
Of justice, boundless in its view!
By your pure law, the constant foe of evil,
Direct my steps, and pour your sacred light
In rich abundance on my darkened soul!
Dispel the dismal and malignant shades
Of darkness, pregnant with invenomed ills!
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Give me strength! And give my body
Health, whose presence splendid gifts imparts.
Give lasting fame; and give that sacred care
That fair-haired muses, long ago,
Gave to my pious forebears.
Add, if it please you, o, all-bestowing god,
Reward my piety with your enduring wealth;
Because the power and strength of all
The Universe invests your throne.
And if the whirling spindle of the fates
Spins threats and dangers from web of stars,
May your arrows, rays of light, sound through the air
And vanquish ere it falls the coming ill.”
– Proclus Lycaeus (412-485 C.E.)
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“For Helios’ lot is toil every day,
Nor is there ever time to rest for him
Or for his horses, when the rosy-fingered
Dawn has left the ocean and entered the sky.
For a lovely, hollow bed of priceless gold,
Equipped with wings- a bed Hephaestus forgedCarries him, as he delights in sleep,
Through the waves, atop the water’s surface,
All the way from the Hesperides’ western home
To the Ethiopian land, where his speedy chariot
And horses stand and wait until the Dawn,
The early-born one, comes upon the scene.
Then the son of Hyperion mounts his car.”
-Mimnermus of Colophon
Gaia
“O eternal creatress of men and gods alike,
You who bring forth rivers, forests, all the seeds
Of living souls for the world, the works
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Of Prometheus’ hands and the stones of Pyrrha,
And who first gave nourishment to unfed men
And changed them, you who both
Encircle the ocean and carry it along:
In your power are the gentle race of livestock,
The wrath of wild beasts, and the rest of birds;
O firm and unmoved bulwark of the never-setting cosmos,
The swift machinery of heaven surrounds you
As you hang in empty air; so too both chariots
Go around you, o middle of all things, undivided
By the great brothers! Therefore you alone suffice
As nourisher for so many races at once,
So many lofty cities and peoples, both below and above;
And while star-bearing Atlas struggles to hold up
The celestial dwellings, you yourself
Carry him with no effort:
Do you refuse to bear us alone?
Do you find us an intolerable burden?”
-P. Papinius Statius
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“Holy goddess Earth, mother of the nature of creation,
You generate and regenerate all things from the same source,
Because you alone provide vital force to the various species.
You hold authority over sky and sea, over all things;
Through you nature falls silent and takes hold of sleepLikewise you renew the light and drive off the night.
You cover the shades of Dis and the boundless void;
You restrain the winds, the rains, and the storms,
And, when it pleases you, you release them
As you churn up the seawaters, put the sun to flight, and stir up gales.
So, too, when you wish, you send forth joyful day again.
You bestow the nourishments of life with unwavering good faith,
And, when our breath is gone, we find refuge in you;
Thus, all things, whatever you bestow, fall back to you at last.
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Justly are you called Great Mother of the Gods,
Since you have outdone the celestial deities’ godheads in pious service;
You are that true mother of mortal races and of gods,
Without whom nothing can ripen, nothing can be born;
You are Great and you are queen of the gods, o goddess.
To you, divine one, I pray, and I invoke your powerMay you readily provide this which I ask of you,
And I will return my thanks to you, divine one, with merited good faith.
Hear me, I ask you, and show favor to my undertakings;
Willingly grant to me this which I seek from you.
All the herbs that your majesty produces
You bestow upon every race for the sake of health;
Now entrust this your healing power to me.
May the gift of healing come to me together with your other powers;
Whatever I do in accordance with these, may it have a favorable outcome,
And as for those to whom I give these same powers and those who
receive them from me,
May you make them whole. Finally now, goddess, may your majesty
Provide to me this which I beg of you as a suppliant.”
-Antonius Musa, Precatio Terrae
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“Holy Goddess, Tellus, Mother of all Nature, engendering all things
and regenerating them each day, as You alone bring forth from Your
womb all things into life.
Heavenly Goddess, overseeing all things on earth and throughout the
seas, in whatever by silent nature is restored in sleep and in death,
in the same way that You put to flight the Night with the Light You
restore each day.
Earth, Enricher of Life, You dispel the dark shadow of death and the
disorder of vast endless Chaos. You hold back the winds and storms,
the rain showers and tempests. You alone regulate the weather cycles,
either bestirring or putting to flight the storm, interspersing them
with cheerful days.
You give the Food of Life unfailingly, in fidelity, and when the soul
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by necessity departs, in You alone do we find refuge. Thus, whatever
You give, in You all will be returned. Deservedly are You called Great
Mother of the Gods. Piously then are all the celestial powers
distilled in You. The One and True parent of all living things, human
and divine. Without You nothing could be born, nothing could grow, and
nothing mature.
You are the Great Goddess, the Queen of Heaven, You, Goddess, I adore.
I call upon Your power, come. Make what I ask to be readily and easily
accomplished, and draw my thanks, Mother Earth, that, in fidelity, You
do rightly merit
Hear me, please, and favor me. This I ask of You, Holy Mother, and may
You willingly give answer to me: May whatever herbs grow by Your
providence bring health to all humankind. May You now send these forth
to me as Your medicines. May they be filled with Your healing virtues.
May everything that I prepare from these herbs have good result, each
and every one in the same way. As I shall receive these herbs from
You, so too shall I willingly give them out to others, so that their
health too may be ensured through Your good graces. Finally, Mother
Earth, ensure Your healing powers for me as well. This I humbly ask.”
-Antonius Musa, Precatio Terrae
Underworld gods
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“O you dwellings of Tartarus, and you,
Fearful kingdom of insatiable Death,
And you too, most savage of the three brothers,
You to whom the shades have been given as servants,
You who control the eternal punishments of the guilty
And who command the obedience of the palace of the netherworld:
Open, in response to my knock, the silent regions
And the void that belongs to stern Persephone;
Call forth the crowd hidden away in night’s hollow darkness,
And let the ferryman retrace the Styx with a fully laden boat.
All of you proceed together, but let there not be only one way
For the ghosts to emerge into daylight; you, Perses’ daughter,
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Assemble in a separate throng the pious inhabitants of Elysium,
And let the mist-shrouded Arcadian lead them
With his mighty scepter; but as for those who died in crimeThe lion’s share of Erebus’ inhabitants, and most of them of Cadmus’ bloodYou, Tisiphone, be their leader and show them the daylight,
After shaking out your snakes three times; go before them
With a flaming yew-torch, and let Cerberus not interpose
His three heads to turn aside those light-craving shades.”
-Statius, Thebaid
Apollo
“Phoebus Apollo, bearer of health, for You we compose our song, and
favorably promote Your discoveries. With Your healing arts, You lead
life back when it is withdrawn from us and recall us from joining the
Manes in Heaven. You who formerly dwelt in the temples of Aegea,
Pergamum, and Epidaurum, and who drove off the Python from Your
peaceful house at Delphi, sought a temple at Rome to Your glory, by
expelling the foul presence of illness. Come to me now as each time
You have fondly strengthen me when often You were called, and may You
be present in all that is set out in this book.
-Sammonicus, Praefatio Liber Medicinalis
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“Father Phoebus, whether the thorn-bushes of Patara occupy you
On the snowy ridges of Lyciae, or whether it pleases you
To dip your blond hair in the chaste waters of Castalia,
Or whether, under your title of Thymbraean, you occupy Troy, where, they say,
You once willingly lifted Phrygian stones on shoulders that received
no gratitude,
Or whether Leto’s Cynthus, that strikes the Aegean with its shadow,
Pleases you, and not to seek Delos, now fixed in the sea:
Arrows are yours, and a bow to be bent against savage foes
Far off, and your heavenly parents have granted as a gift
That your cheeks blossom with youth eternally; you have the skill
To know in advance the unjust hands of the Fates, the destiny that waits beyond,
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And what highest Jove will decide, whom a death-bringing year awaits,
To what peoples wars will come, what scepters comets change;
You force the Phrygian to submit to your lyre, for your mother’s honor
You stretch out earth-born Tityon on Stygian sands;
When you triumphed in your quiver, green Python and the Theban mother
Shuddered; for you, the avenger, fierce Megaera,
Oppresses with eternal dinner-reclining starving Phlegyas
Who lies beneath hollow cliffs- she goads him with profane dishes,
But mingled nausea overcomes his hunger.
May you be present, mindful of our hospitality, and may you propitiously
Show love to Juno’s fields- whether it is better you be called ‘rosy Titan,’
According to the rite of the race of Achaemenes, or whether you should be called
‘Grain-bearing Osiris,’ or ‘Mithras,’ who twists bull’s horns that are
loath to follow
Beneath the rocks of Perses’ cave.”
-Statius, Thebaid
“O Lord, o child of Zeus and son of Leto,
Never, when beginning or when ending,
Shall I forget to sing of you- your name
Will ever be first, and middle, and last for me.
Hear me, then, and grant me excellent gifts.
Lord Phoebus, when the goddess, Lady Leto,
Laid hold of a palm-tree’s trunk with her slender hands
And gave you birth beside the circular lakeYou, handsomest by far of all the immortalsThen all of Delos’ expanse, from end to end,
Was filled up with the scent of holy ambrosia;
The enormous Earth let out a delighted laugh;
And the gray sea’s deep abyss brimmed full of joy.”
-Theognis
Aphrodite
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“Hail, Paphian goddess! For all mortals,
Whose lives are but a day, pay honor always
To your power, your immortal beauty,
And your majesty which breeds desire,
In all their beauteous words and beauteous works.
For you make known the honor you possess
To everyone, and everywhere on Earth.”
-Anthologia Palatina
Hermes
“Hermes, the martial pleasure of an age,
Hermes, well-learned in all arms,
Hermes, both gladiator and teacher,
Hermes, confusion and terror of his school,
Hermes, the only one whom Helius fears,
Hermes, the only one for whom Advolans fell,
Hermes, taught to conquer, not kill,
Hermes, himself his substitute,
Hermes, wealth of the scalpers,
Hermes, care and heartthrob of the slave-girls,
Hermes, warlike and arrogant with a spear,
Hermes, menacing with a sea trident,
Hermes, his plumed helmet drooping, to be feared,
Hermes, glory of all kinds of war,
Hermes, alone is all and three in one.”
-Marcus Valerius Martialis
“Come, Mercury, by whose minstrel spell
Amphion raised the Theban stones,
Come, with thy seven sweet strings, my shell,
Thy “diverse tones,”
Nor vocal once nor pleasant, now
To rich man’s board and temple dear:
Put forth thy power, till Lyde bow
Her stubborn ear.
She, like a three-year colt unbroke,
Is frisking o’er the spacious plain,
Too shy to bear a lover’s yoke,
A husband’s rein.
The wood, the tiger, at thy call
Have follow’d: thou caust rivers stay:
The monstrous guard of Pluto’s hall
To thee gave way,
Grim Cerberus, round whose Gorgon head
A hundred snakes are hissing death,
Whose triple jaws black venom shed,
And sickening breath.
Ixion too and Tityos smooth’d
Their rugged brows: the urn stood dry
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One hour, while Danaus’ maids were sooth’d
With minstrelsy.
Let Lyde hear those maidens’ guilt,
Their famous doom, the ceaseless drain
Of outpour’d water, ever spilt,
And all the pain
Reserved for sinners, e’en when dead:
Those impious hands, (could crime do more?)
Those impious hands had hearts to shed
Their bridegrooms’ gore!
One only, true to Hymen’s flame,
Was traitress to her sire forsworn:
That splendid falsehood lights her name
Through times unborn.
“Wake!” to her youthful spouse she cried,
“Wake! or you yet may sleep too well:
Fly—from the father of your bride,
Her sisters fell:
They, as she-lions bullocks rend,
Tear each her victim: I, less hard
Than these, will slay you not, poor friend,
Nor hold in ward:
Me let my sire in fetters lay
For mercy to my husband shown:
Me let him ship far hence away,
To climes unknown.
Go; speed your flight o’er land and wave,
While Night and Venus shield you; go
Be blest: and on my tomb engrave
This tale of woe.”
-Horace, Odes
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“Mercurius Cyllenius, principle author of all sacred knowledge, at
times within Heaven, at other times travelling within the starry signs
to open the celestial paths to the highest parts above and the lowest
paths beneath the earth. You stitch together the stars in the empty
void of space into constellations, name them and determine their
course; may it have been for us to reverently use the greater powers
of the universe that You make, pondering them, not in all matters, but
in the potential of things in themselves, and to learn of the divine
plan set for the greatest nations”
-Astronomicon 1.30ff
Olympian Eros
This hymn is to Aphrodite’s son, who shouldn’t be confused with primeval Eros AKA Phanes.
“You lead off, Cypris, as your prisoners
The unbending minds of the gods and of men, tooAnd with you, the gleaming-winged one,
Surrounding you with his surpassingly swift wings.
He flies over the earth and the loud-sounding salt sea,
And he bewitches anyone whose maddened heart he assailsEros, winged, shining like gold.
He bewitches whelps born in the mountains
And those sprung from the sea, all the creatures the earth nurtures,
All those on which the blazing sun gazes,
And men as well. You, Cypris, you alone
Wield royal authority over all these beings.”
-Euripides, Hippolytus
Artemis
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“O Lady, most reverend Lady,
Offspring of Zeus, hail,
Hail, o Artemis, daughter
Of Leto and Zeus, o most
Beautiful of maidens by far,
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You who dwell within
The vast expanse of heaven,
In your noble father’s palace,
The golden house of ZeusHail, most beautiful one,
Most beautiful of those
Who dwell on Mount Olympus.”
-Euripides, Hippolytus
“Diana’s faith inbred we bear
Youths whole of heart and maidens fair,
Let boys no blemishes impair,
And girls of Dian sing!
O great Latonian progeny,
Of greatest Jove descendancy,
Whom mother bare ‘neath olive-tree,
Deep in the Delian dell;
That of the mountains reign thou Queen
And forest ranges ever green,
And coppices by man unseen,
And rivers resonant.
Thou art Lucína, Juno hight
By mothers lien in painful plight,
Thou puissant Trivia and the Light
Bastard, yclept the Lune.
Thou goddess with thy monthly stage,
The yearly march doth mete and guage
An d rustic peasant’s messuage,
Dost brim with best o’ crops,
Be hailed by whatso name of grace,
Please thee and olden Romulus’ race,
Thy wonted favour deign embrace,
And save with choicest aid.”
-C. Valerius Catullus, Carmina
Hygieia
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“Health, most venerated by mortals of all the blessed gods, May I live
with you the rest of my life, and may you be with me willingly. For if
there is any joy in wealth, or in children, Or in royal rule that
makes men like gods, Or in the desires that we hunt with Aphrodite’s
secret snares, Or if any other delight or rest from toils Is revealed
to men by the gods, It is with you, o blessed Health, That it blossoms
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and shines with the conversation of the Graces. But without you, not a
single man is happy.”
-Ariphron of Sicyon
Hestia
“We shall sing of you, Hestia, Holy mistress of sacrifices, You who
hold sway forever Both on Olympus and at the navel Of the Earth, where
Pytho’s laurel grows- You who dance through the high-gated temple Of
Phoebus Apollo, you who delight In the mantic pronouncements from the
tripods And whenever Apollo plucks his seven-stringed Golden lyre,
joining you in exalting The festive gods with song. Hail, daughter of
Cronus and Rhea, You who alone make the much-honored Altars of the
immortals to blaze with fire, Hestia, and give to us this gift In
recompense for our prayers: That we may always, abounding in wealth,
Dance around the hearth- Your gleaming throne.”
-Aristonous of Sicyon
Dioscuri
“Leave Pelops’ island and come hither for me, You mighty sons of Zeus
and Leda, And appear with benevolent spirit, Castor And Polydeuces,
You who travel over the broad earth And all the sea on swift-footed
horses And easily rescue men from Ice-cold death- Leaping from afar
onto the tops of Well-benched ships, shining as you run up The
forestays, bringing light in the troubled night To a black ship.”
-Alcaeus, Fragment 34
Muses
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“Muses and Graces, Daughters of Zeus, who came of yore to the wedding
of Cadmus and sang so fair a song, ‘What is fair is dear, and not dear
what is not fair,’ —such was the song that passed your immortal lips.”
-Theognis of Megara
“As one who is dear to the Muses,
I shall hand over sadness and fear
To the wild winds, to carry
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Off to the Cretan Sea.
For I am uniquely unworried
As to what king of a chilly
Land beneath the Bear
Is currently being dreaded,
As to just what’s frightening
Tiridates at the moment.
O you who rejoice in fountains
Never touched before,
Sweet Lady of Pipleia,
Weave a crown of flowers
Kissed by sunlight; weave
A garland for my Lamia.
The honors I bestow
Are powerless without you;
To sanctify this man
With a novel lyre,
To sanctify him with
A plectrum borrowed from Lesbos,
Is a task befitting
You and your sisters too.”
-Horace, Odes
“Splendid children of Memory and Olympian Zeus, give ear, Pierian
Muses, unto my prayer. Grant me prosperity at the hands of the Blessed
Gods, and good fame ever at the hands of men; make me, I pray You,
sweet to my friends and sour unto my foes, to these a man reverend to
behold, to those a man terrible. Wealth I desire to possess, but would
not have it unrighteously;22 retribution cometh alway afterward; the
riches that be given of the Gods come to a man for to last, from the
bottom even to the top, whereas they which be sought by wanton
violence come not orderly, but persuaded against their will by
unrighteous works —and quickly is Ruin mingled with them; whose
beginning is with a little thing as of fire, slight at the first, but
in the end a mischief; for the works of man’s wanton violence endure
not for long, but Zeus surveyeth the end of every matter, and
suddenly, even as the clouds in Spring are quickly scattered by a wind
that stirreth the depths of the billowy unharvested sea, layeth waste
the fair fields o’er the wheat-bearing land, and reaching even to the
high heaven where the Gods sit, maketh the sky clear again to view,
till the strength of the Sun shineth fair over the fat land, and no
cloud is to be seen any more, —even such is the vengeance of Zeus; He
is not quick to wrath, like us, over each and every thing, yet of him
that hath a wicked heart is He aware alway unceasing, and such an one
surely cometh out plain at the last. Aye, one payeth to-day, another
to-morrow; and those who themselves flee and escape the pursuing
destiny of Heaven, to them vengeance cometh alway again, for the price
of their deeds is paid by their innocent children or else by their
seed after them.
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We mortal men, alike good and bad, are minded thus: —each of us
keepeth the opinion he hath ever had23 till he suffer ill, and then
forthwith he grieveth; albeit ere that, we rejoice open-mouthed in
vain expectations, and whosoever be oppressed with sore disease
bethinketh himself he will be whole; another that is a coward thinketh
he be a brave man; or he that hath no comeliness seemeth to himself
goodly to look upon; and if one be needy, and constrained by the works
of Penury, he reckoneth alway to win much wealth. Each hath his own
quest; one, for to bring home gain, rangeth the fishy deep
a-shipboard, tossed by grievous winds, sparing his life no whit,
another serveth them whose business lieth with the curvad ploughshare,
ploughing the well-planted land for them throughout the year24; one
getteth his living by the skill of his hands in the works of Athena
and the master of many crafts, Hephaestus, another through his
learning in the gifts of the Olympian Muses, cunning in the measure of
lovely art; others again as physicians, having the task of the Master
of Medicines, the Healer —for these men too there’s no end of their
labours, for often cometh great pain of little and a man cannot
assuage it by soothing medicines, albeit at other times him that is
confounded by evil and grievous maladies maketh he quickly whole by
the laying on of hands; another again the Far-Shooting Lord Apollo
maketh a seer, and the mischief that cometh on a man from afar is
known to him that hath the Gods with him, for no augury nor offering
will ever ward off what is destined to be.
Aye, surely Fate it is that bringeth mankind both good and ill, and
the gifts immortal Gods offer must needs be accepted; surely too
there’s danger in every sort of business25; nor know we at the
beginning of a matter how it is to end26; nay, sometimes he that
striveth to do a good thing falleth unawares into ruin great and sore,
whereas God giveth good hap in all things to one that doeth ill, to be
his deliverance from folly. And as for wealth, there’s no end set
clearly down27; for such as have to-day the greatest riches among us,
these have twice the eagerness that others have, and who can satisfy
all?28 ‘Tis sure the Gods give us men possessions, yet a ruin is
revealed thereout, which one man hath now and another then, whensoever
Zeus sendeth it in retribution.”
-Solon
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June 10, 2018
20 Minutes
Greco-Roman Prayers
Nike
“Far-famed daughter of Pallas, lady Nike, may you always look with
favour on (request here)”
-Bacchylides, Epigrams 2
“Greatly revered Nike, may you occupy my life, and never cease to crown me!”
-Euripides, Iphigenia in Tauris
Hephaestus
“Hephaistos, come forth. I need you (request here)”
-Iliad
“Hephaestus Aetnean king (request here)”
-Odyssey
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Alternate translation: “Hephaestus, thou that feedest Etna’s fires
(request here)”
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“None of the gods Hephaestus hath the power
To vie with thee myself would not contend
With thee thus flaming (request here)”
-Iliad
“Thee first, O Hephaestus, and thy peace, holy dweller in this place, do we entreat: grant final aid to our
wearied fortunes, and, if no guilt is here deserving penalty so great, pity these many lives and suffer
them, holy one, to (request here)”
-Cynegeticon, Grattius
“Hephaestus, from Ida speeding forth his brilliant blaze. Beacon
passed beacon on to us by courier-flame: Ida”
-Aeschylus, Agamemnon
Poseidon
“O thou that encirclest the earth, vouchsafe to grant the prayers of
thy servants that call upon thee (your request here)”
-Homer, Odyssey
Hecate
“Kourotrophe (Nurse of the Young) [Hekate], give your ear to my prayer, and grant (request here)”
-Homerica, epigrams
“Thou Hekatewho doest show thy bright face as witness of the silent mysteries, O three-formed
(triformis) Hecate (request here)”
-Seneca, Medea
“Daughter of Demeter, goddess of the cross-ways, you who rule over assaults by night (request here)”
-Euripides, Ion
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“Torch-bearing Hekate holy daughter of great-bosomed Nyx (request here)”
-Bacchylides
Hecate, Artemis and Selene
“Thou Hekate-Selene who doest show thy bright face as witness of the silent mysteries, O three-formed
(triformis) Hecate (request here)”
-Seneca, Medea
“O daughter of Helios , Mene of many turnings, nurse of all! O Selene (Moon), driver of the silver car! If
thou art Hekate of many names, if in the night thou doest shake thy mystic torch in brandcarrying
hand, come nightwanderer, nurse of puppies because the nightly sound of the hurrying dogs is thy
delight with their mournful whimpering (request here)”
-Nonnus, Dionysiaca
Nyx
“Oh! thou divine Nyx how slowly thy chariot threads its way through
the starry vault, across the sacred realms of the Aether and mighty Olympos (request here)”
-Aristophanes, Thesmophoriazusae
Athena
“Pallas, guardian of Athens, you, who reign over the most pious city,
the most powerful, the richest in warriors and in poets, hasten to my
call (request here)”
-Aristophanes, Knights
Apollo
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“Tell, tender maidens, of Diana;
Tell, boys, of unshorn Cynthius
And of Latona, loved so deeply by highest Jove;
Women, tell of her who rejoices in rivers
And in the foliage of groves
That stands out on chilly Algidus, in the black woods of Erymanthus
or green Gragus;
Men, lift up Tempe with an equal number of praises,
Likewise Delos, Apollo’s birthplace,
And his shoulders, distinguished by his quiver and his brother’s lyre.
Moved by your prayer, he will drive away
Tear-filled war, wretched famine and pestilence,
(your request here)”
-Horace, Odes
“Lord Phoebus, you yourself fortified this city’s heights
As a favor to Alcathoos, Pelops’ son;
Now you yourself keep the Medes’ rampaging army
Away from this city, so that when spring comes around
Its people, full of joy, may bring you glorious hecatombs
As they delight in the lyre, in lovely feasting,
In dances and shouts of “Paian!” around your altar.
For truly I’m afraid when I look at the foolishness
And people-destroying infighting of the Greeks. But may you, Phoebus,
Be gracious and (request here)”
-Theognis, Elegies I.772-781
“Phoebus, you who hold the steep hill of Leucas
Visible far off to sailors and washed by the Ionian Sea,
Receive these gifts: a feast of barley meal
That we seamen kneaded with our very own hands,
A libation mixed in a measly little cup,
And the light of a feeble lamp, drinking its oil
With a mouth whose thirst is still unquenched
From a stingy oil-flask. In return I ask (your request here)”
-Anthologia Palatina
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“O Lord Thou Son of Leto, Offspring of Zeus, neither beginning will I
forget Thee ever nor ending, but sing Thee alway both first and last
and in between; and Thou give ear unto me and grant me good.”
-Theognis of Megara
“Great Phoebus, when Our Lady Leto with her slender arms about the
palm-tree brought Thee forth beside the Round Water to be fairest of
the Immortals, round Delos was all filled with odour ambrosial, the
huge Earth laughed, and the deep waters of the hoary brine rejoiced.”
-Theognis of Megara
“Hear me, god of the silver bow, who stands over Chryse and holy
Cilla, and rules mightily over Tenedos. As before you heard me when I
prayed even so now fulfill me this my desire (request here)”
-Iliad
“All-seeing monarch! whether Lycia’s coast,
Or sacred Ilion, thy bright presence boast,
Powerful alike to ease the wretch’s smart;
O hear me! god of every healing art!
Lo! stiff with clotted blood, and pierced with pain,
That thrills my arm, and shoots through every vein,
I stand unable to sustain the spear,
And sigh, at distance from the glorious war.
Low in the dust is great Sarpedon laid,
Nor Zeus vouchsafed his hapless offspring aid;
But thou, O god of health! thy succour lend,
(request here).”
-Iliad
Artemis
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“O maiden guardian of mountains and of forests,
You who heed young women laboring in childbirth
When they call upon you thrice by name
And rescue them from death, o three-formed goddess
(your request here)”
-Horace, Odes
“O Artemis, thou maid divine, Diktynna (Dictynna), huntress, fair to see, O bring that keen-nosed pack
of thine, and hunt through all the house with me. O Hekate, with flameful brands (request here).”
-Aristophanes, Frogs
“Artemis, slayer of beasts and daughter of Zeus,
You whose statue Agamemnon set up
When he sailed to Troy with his fleet of swift ships,
Hear me as I pray, and ward off from me
The evil spirits of death. For you, goddess,
This is a small thing- but for me, a great one.”
-Theognis, Elegies 11-14
Aphrodite
“Hail, Paphian goddess! For all mortals,
Whose lives are but a day, pay honor always
To your power, your immortal beauty,
And your majesty which breeds desire,
In all their beauteous words and beauteous works.
For you make known the honor you possess
To everyone, and everywhere on Earth (request here)”
-Anthologia Palatina 13.1
Hera
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“O Hera, you who rule the island of Samos
And have received Imbrasos too as your lot,
(request here)”
-Anthologia Palatina
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4 Minutes
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Ancient Prayers to the Theoi
A collection of prayers from ancient Greek and Latin sources.
Zeus
“Jupiter, giver of the laws of hospitality, as it is said, may you wish
this day to be pleasing and prosperous for Tyrians and Trojans alike,
and that our children?s children shall remember this day. Let Bacchus,
giver of gladness, and good Juno, and you as well, O Tyrians, join
with us in friendship at our celebration.”
-virgil
“Jupiter Almighty, if any prayers bend You, look upon us. This only,
and, if our piety deserves, then grant us Your assistance, Father, and
confirm all these portents.”
-virgil
“O Father Jupiter who inhabits the Tarpeian Heights as His chosen abode
next to the heavens, and You Juno, Daughter of Saturnus, who has not
yet changed from Her hatred of the Trojans, and You, divine Virgin,
whose gentle breast is harshly girt with the aegis of the terrible
Gorgon, and all You Gods and Indigites of Italy, hear me as I swear by
Your divine powers, and by the head of my father, who I hold no less
to be a divine power, on my oath I swear.”
-Silius Italicus
Selene
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“O two-horned night-dweller, lover of all-night revels, shine, Selene,
Shine as you fall through latticed windows (request here)”
-Anthologia Palatina 5.123
“‘Be gracious to me, shining deity and let the rocks of Latmos rise in thy mind! Endymion will not have
thee austere of heart. Bend, O I pray, thy face to aid my secret loves. Thou, a goddess, didst glide from
the skies and seek a mortal love; ah, may it be allowed me to say the truth!– she I seek is a goddess too .
. . As much as all the stars are less than thy bright fires when thy silvery gleam goes forth with pure rays,
so much more fair is she than all the fair. If thou dost, doubt it, Cynthia, thy light is blind.’”
-Ovid
Hestia
“Gold-throned Hestia goddess of the hearth, here the public hearth in
Larissa, you who increase the great prosperity of the glorious
Agathokleadai, those men of wealth, as you sit in mid-city by the
fragrant Peneios in the glens of sheep-rearing Thessalia (your request
here)”
-Bacchylides fragment 14B
Hermes
” To Mercury Mercury, Cyllene’s Glory, Heaven’s pride, Messenger with
the clever tongue, around whose golden staff the serpent coil, may it
shine brightly among the Gods. May You enjoy Your stolen loves,
whether You desire Venus or Ganymede, and on the Ides may Your
Mother’s altar be adorned with laurels, and Your grandfather Atlas
bear a lighter load, if (request here)”
-Marcus Valerius Martialis
Poseidon
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“Father and Master of the mighty Deep, look, Poseidon, at what kind of
pitiful use You allow passage across the open seas. Safely under sail
pass the crimes of nations, ever since that Pagasean prow ruptured the
sanctions of law and the hallowed dignity of the sea while carrying
Jason in his quest for plunder. (your request here)”
-Argonautica
“O god, who with a nod can stir the ocean foam, You who with Your salt
water encompass the lands of the earth, hear my prayer and grant me
Your indulgence. I am the first of mankind to venture forth on
unlawful paths across Your waters, and therefore, one might suppose,
deserve the worst of Your storms. It is not my own idea to presume in
this way, to pile mountain on high mountain and summon down from
Olympus bolts of heavenly lightning. Pelias? prayers are false. Do not
be swayed by his vows, but know that he devised and imposed his cruel
commands to send me off to Colchis and bring on me and my kin the
bitterest grief. (your request)”
-Argonautica
” O You Gods who rule the waves and hold domain over the winds and
storms, you whose dwelling places reach from the ocean’s depths to the
heights of heaven, and you Father of the Gods, who order the spheres
of the sky and govern the tides, behold a novelty here on earth, a
ship on the sea with armed men. For your rage I make atonement and
pray you look with indulgence upon us. (request here). ”
-Argonautica
“O powerful Oceanus, and the sea churning with waves, the abyss
holding blessed, and all those who inhabit the rough sandy shores and
the rock-strewn sea, and the outer wave of Tethys! I call first upon
Nereus, with his fifty beloved girls; Glaucus, full of fish; the vast
Amphitrite; Proteus and Phorcyn; the broad power of Triton, and the
swift Winds, with the breeze bearing winged sandals of gold. I call
upon the Stars shining afar, and the darkness of murky Night, and
Auge, the forerunner of the Sun’s swift horses. May the gods of the
sea guide the Heroes over the seas, rivers, waves, and shores. And I
beseech the son of Cronus, Poseidon himself, the Earth-Shaker, clothed
in blue, may a jumping wave come to aid in our oath: so that the
companions of Jason may always remain committed helpers in this task
and so that we all to a man may return home! In truth, whoever fails
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to honor this pact and transgresses against it, may Dice bear witness
and the Furies destroy him.”
-Argonautica
“Poseidon, divine Lord of the Trident, on whose high seas we begin to
cross, if my preparations are made justly, grant our fleet to sail
safely, Father, and do not scorn to aid our labors. The war I now draw
across the sea is a just war.”
-Punica by Silius Italicus
Ares
“Father of our nation, recall your neglected grandchildren. We pray
You return. Alas, too long have You grown weary of the game; its din
of battle, the gleaming helmets, the legions and bloodthirsty Mauri
grimacing upon each other as enemies.
Rather may You love once more to be called Father and Prince, carried
in great triumphal processions, and (your request here)”
-Carminum Liber
“Father Ares, I pray and beseech You, to be willing and propitious to
me, to our household and to our family, for which I have ordered this
suovitaurilia to be driven around my grain fields, my land, and my
estate, in order that You may prevent, repel, and avert, seen and
unseen disease, deprivation, desolation, calamities, and
intemperate weather; I pray You allow the fruits, the grain, the
vines, and the bushes, to grow strong and well and be brought to the
storage pit. May You also keep the shepherds and their flocks safe,
and give good health and vigor to me, to the household, and to our
family. To this end it is, as I have said – namely, for the
purification and lustration of my estate, my land, and my grain
fields, cultivated and uncultivated – that I pray You may be honored
and strengthened by this suovitaurilia, these suckling sacrificial
victims. O Father Mars, to this same end I pray that You bless these
sucklings in sacrifice.”
-Cato
Apollo
“Father Phoebus, whether it is the snowy slopes of Lycia or the thorny
slopes of Patara that perpetually keep you busy, or if it pleases you
to merge your golden hair in Castalia’s chaste moisture, … come now,
remembering our hospitality, and (request here)”
-Statius, Thebaid
“Oh! Powerful god, Apollo Aguieus, who watchest at the door of my
entrance hall, accept this fresh sacrifice; I offer it that you
(request here)”
-Aristophanes, Wasps
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“”Father Apollo, I pray to you, all-seeing guardian god, be gracious
to me and protect me, watching of my kingdom. Be ever vigilant and
warn me what subjects of mine or strangers conspire against me.
Whatever treacherous plots there may be, keep me alert and prepared.
And You, Gradivus, hear me, on whose sacred oak which fleece glitters.
Protect it and keep it safe always, your arms prepared to clash at the
clarion?s sound to which your voice responds, ringing out in the
darkness.” ”
-Argonautica
“To Apollo May Myrina’s richness ever You hold, Apollo, thus always
the swan song, too, may You enjoy, may the well versed sisters ever
serve You, the Delphic Pythia ever reveal any of Your oracles, may the
Palatia ever love and revere You, Were You ever to ask, and Caesar
grant, that he should invest Stella with consular powers, then gladly
would I by vow become indebted to You.”
-Marcus Valerius Martialis
“Draw near, Apollo, and expel the illness from this tender girl, come,
draw near. Phoebus of flowing hair unshorn, hear me and hasten. If,
Phoebus, you apply your healing hand to her, you will not regret
saving her. Allow not that she should waste away emaciated, or that
her colour should wane pallor, or that her limbs should lose their
strength, and do not wait until her white limbs turn to a hideous
colour. Whatsoever this illness may be, whatever sorrow we may fear it
will bring, carry it off with the waters of a swift running stream to
the seas. Holy one, come! And bring with you all your delicacies, all
your songs, and all else that will soothe the sick. Then the gods will
raise a pious tumult of your praises and desire they too had your
healing arts.”
-tibullus
Artemis
“Diana, in faith, we are pure girls and boys, allow us to sing to You.
Diana, magnificent child of still greater Jove, whose mother Latona
gave You birth in an olive grove on Delos. Lady of the Mountains who
runs over hills and through dark forests, over the wild rough hill
country and through the tall grass of hidden valleys, in mountain
pastures cut by roaring streams. Women in the pain of childbirth call
you Lucina. You are Trivia, goddess of witches. You are Luna, the
luminous moon. Monthly is measured the progress of Your journey
through the year while You fill the rustic homes of good farmers with
the fruits of the earth. By whatsoever holy name it pleases You, from
antiquity have You accepted our customary offerings, (request here)”
-G. Valerius Catullus
Hera
“Be present O Queen of the Heavenly Gods, we Your chaste daughters pray
and bring forth this venerable gift, we, all the Roman women of noble
name, have woven this mantle with our own hands, embroidered it for
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You with threads of gold. This veil You shall wear for now, O Juno,
until we mothers grow less fearful for our sons. But if You will grant
that (request here).”
-Silius Italicus
Asclepius
“Asculapis Latona’s grandson, revered Aesculapis, by whose mild herbal
remedies too briefly are the Fates beguiled, from Rome (request here)”
-Marcus Valerius Martialis
Aphrodite
“O Venus, who dwells in Paphos and in Idalian groves, so that Trojan
Aeneas is thought worthy at last to sail with You in song through
Roman towns, not only with incense or painted tablet shall I adorn
Your temple, and with pure hands bring You garlands, but a humble
offering of a horned ram and a bull, the greatest sacrifice, their
blood a priest shall sprinkle into the fire of an altar erected in
Your honor, and a marble painted in a thousand colours for You, a
picture of Amor with His quiver. Come, O Goddess of Cythera, Your own
Caesar and an altar along Sorrento’s shore beckon You from Olympus. ”
-Virgil
“Come, Saturn’s daughter, give favor to my prayer! Hear me, Cyprian
Venus, who was born along on a conch shell! Rather let my fate be
denied, than that my life should now be sorrowfully ended by those
sisters who spin the threads of everyone’s future, and called down by
ghastly Orcus into the desolate swamps and sluggish streams of black
waters.”
-tibullus
Dionysus
“Now shall I sing of you, Bacchus. Without you there would be no
woodland or thicket, or slow growing olive grove. Come hither, O
Lenaean Father, all things here beckon to be nurtured by your many
gifts, the autumn vineshoots laden the countryside with blossoms, the
vintage grape harvest foams plentiful to the lips of the wine vats.
Hasten, O Lenaean Father, come and, stripped down, tinge your naked
feet in new wine must with me. (request here)”
-Virgil
“Come to us, Bacchus, with clusters of grapes dangling from your horns,
and you, too, Ceres, a wreath of newly ripened wheat for your temples,
come!
Gods of our fathers, we purify our farmers and our fruitful fields; we
ask that you drive away harm from our borders. Let not the now
sprouting plants succumb before harvest, let not the timid lambs be
outrun by swift wolves (request here)”
-tibullus
Nymphs
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“Nymphs of Libethrides, our hearts? desire, grant me a song, as do my
Codrus, next to Apollo in verse is he, or if all this is not possible
for we to do, these melodious pipes shall hang from your sacred pine.”
-virgil
Heracles
“Hail, Hercules, true son of Jove, an added Glory for the Gods are you.
Come now, and dance at your holy rites with skillful feet.”
-virgil
Miscellanous
“O Ceres and Libera, whose sacred worship, as the opinions and
religious belief of all men agree, is contained in the most important
and most abstruse mysteries; you, by whom the principles of life and
food, the examples of laws, customs, humanity, and refinement are said
to have been given and distributed to nations and to cities; you,
whose sacred rites the Roman people has received from the Greeks and
adopted, and now preserves with such religious awe, both publicly and
privately, that they seem not to have been introduced from other
nations, but rather to have been transmitted from hence to other
nations, [188] You, again and again I implore and appeal to, most holy
goddesses, who dwell around those lakes and groves of Enna, and who
preside over all Sicily, you whose invention and gift of corn, which
you have distributed over the whole earth, inspires all nations and
all races of men with reverence for your divine power;–And all the
other gods, and all the goddesses, do I implore and entreat, (request here)
-circero
“O Jupiter Capitolinus, to You I pray, I entreat You, who the Roman
people have named Optimus after Your kindness and Maximus after Your
great power. And to You, O Juno Regina, guardian of the City of Rome.
O Minerva, You have always come to my aid with Your counsels, witness
to the existence of my works; And most especially to You, Penates, who
most of all has called me back, gods of my fathers and my family,
recalling me for the sake of your stations; And You who preside over
the City of Rome and the Republic, You I call to witness, You from
whose temple precincts and shrines did I repel the heinous and
destructive flames of impious duplicity; You also, Mother Vesta, I
pray to You, whose most chaste Vestales I have defended against
pillage and desecration by demented men; for their eternal flame I
could not allow to pass, extinguished in the blood of citizens, or
Your pure flame be intermingled with a conflagration sweeping the
entire city.
To all of You I pray [145] if in that time near fatal to the Republic,
if I exposed my head for Your sacred precincts and Your ceremonies
against the furor and arms of the most desperate citizens, and this
repeatedly did I do, while in my struggle was sought the ruin of all
good citizens, I call You as witnesses, I place myself and my family
in Your hands, in these struggles I devoted myself and my life, during
my conselship and before, without regard for my own interests, or for
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profit, but strove in all my actions and thoughts with vigilance for
the safety and health of all my fellow citizens, then, that someday I
might bid to enjoy seeing the Republic restored at last. But if my
counsel had not benefited my country, then in perpetual misery would I
suffer, departed from my family, friends and all sustenance. When by
Your favor my home is restored to me, may I at long last be allowed to
consider it demonstrated that this devotion of my life has met with
the approval of the Gods”
-cicero
“Jupiter Capitolinus, Mars Gradivus called progenitor and aide of the
Romans, Vesta, perpetual guardian of fire, and whatever divine powers
in this greatness of Roman sovereignty, the largest empire on earth,
exulted to the highest dignity, to You the public voice calls to
witness and to pray: guard, preserve, and protect this state, this
peace, this prince, and those who succeed to the Senate, by their long
standing, determined worthy to consider the most grave matters among
mortals.”
-Marcus Vellius Paterculus
“”You who received from mighty Jove the gift of light and whose names
still resound on earth for your fortunate reigns, your wisdom in
council and valor in war, your heirs remember each of you with
reverence. And you, my beloved father, summoned as you have been to
witness my death and endure yet again the all but forgotten sorrow of
the flesh, welcome me now to your dim and quiet world. Accept this
offering I send before me. You, Astraea, Goddess of Justice, and You
the Eumenides, who avenge transgressions of the laws of the Gods, and
Themis, whose retribution all men ought to fear, attend on Pelias’
wicked house. Visit upon him your cleansing torches and fill him with
fear: let him understand that Jason will not come home alone, but
hordes of Asians, crazed, will follow hard and looking for vengeance.
Let him walk the shore and worry that the force of these hostile
princes may overwhelm his own. Let him behold in terror the heroes
returning in triumph and let his schemes for protection be endless and
all in vain. Jason shall parade the Golden Fleece, and my spirit will
gloat as Pelias cringes. But let his end be shameful, not by the hand
of a soldier in the light of day, but secret, wretched, as women, his
kinsfolk, do him to shameful death. Let it be painful and also absurd,
as those he has trusted turn on him, betraying, tearing him limb from
limb in a madness that does not leave fragments enough for a tomb.
This is my dying prayer, that he be made to pay for having sent my son
and his brave companions to sea.”
-Argonautica
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June 2, 2018
12 Minutes
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Hellenistic Pagan Group Worship Tutorial
Classicist scholar Jon Mikalson identified the six steps of collective ritual in ancient Hellas: the process
can be used for any routine communal religious activity. (This structure is also the chief way to
celebrate festivals as a groups but we’ll get more into holy days later.)
0. The person who leads the rite is selected through random lots as suggested by Plato. Without priests
its best to just randomly pick people to lead worship.
1. Procession to the place of worship lead by the priest, processions can be solemn affairs or joyous
parades like mardi gras revelry. Ancient plays describe how procession participants sang hymns but it
would be better to have everyone chant a god’s eitphets instead of choreographing a musical or simply
remain silent. Music can also be played during processions: cymbals and tamborines correspond to
Dionysus. Participants could carry objects associated with the gods: pinecones for Dionysus, five
seashells on a string when worshipping Aphrodite, guns and swords for Ares etc.
2. A hymn is sung after reaching the place of worship; the are many ways to perform this step – the
priest could lead the entire group in reciting the invocation. In Roman polytheism only priests recited
hymns and prayers during group worship or the hymn could be recited by a select chorus while
everyone else remains silent.
3. The priest recites a prayer loudly while everyone else repeats his words. (Prayers could also only be
recited by the priest or a chorus.)
4. The priest makes a large offering to the god that’s thrown onto fire. In the past animals would have
been sacrificed at this stage but modern priests can simply burn large offerings of meat, incense,
libations etc.
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5. Events and celebration dedicated to the god; dancing, athletic competitions and music etc. It would
be good (but not required) for the festivities to correspond to the god, people worshiping Artemis could
have an archery competition at this stage while Poseidon’s worshipers could have a pool party or
swimming race.
6. Feasting.
Another model is for the leader of the rite to recite hymns, prayers while everyone only chants the
deity’s epithets.
Offerings to ouranic gods should be burnt a few feet above ground while offerings to chthonic gods
should be burned in a hole: worship to the olympians is directed to the sky, worship to the underworld
deities is pointed down. A BBQ fire bowl on a stack of logs would make a perfect altar to any ouranic
enties since you don’t need a replica of an ancient marble altar: just a fire above ground. You can also
build a large bonfire or campfire to take the place of an altar; any fire used to worship the olympians
should be built on a mound or point above ground level while any fire to the chthonic beings should be
in a pit. A pack of pagans have no need for a temple, sanctuary or altar as long as the priest burns the
offerings a few feet above ground level.
A modern religious event could consist of a parade to a campground where participants gather around
the priest to recite an Homeric hymn to Aphrodite. Then the priest recites a prayer to Aphrodite while
the group repeats each word before having the cleric give a large cut of lamb (heavy with fat) to the fire.
Then the group would have a party with music about Aphrodite on speakers and sit down to a lamb
dinner.
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May 16, 2018
2 Minutes
Individual Worship Tutorial
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In ancient Hellas there was no division between religious and secular theater; plays routinely included
rites to honor the gods so they would bless the show. Plays are valuable source material to mine for
religious practices; Elektra details worship of Chthonic gods and Bacchae contains information about
the Dionysian cult. In Frogs Aristophanes provides us with a step by step guide to worshipping the
Theoi: Dionysus walks Aeschylus through the process of worshipping deities. The play lays out the
structure of ancient Greek religious practice: invocation with a hymn followed by prayer and offerings.
Dionysus
Come now, someone bring incense and fire,
So I can pray before the show of wits
to judge this contest most aesthetically.
And you, sing a song to the Muses.
After the chorus performs a hymn Dionysus tells Aeschylus to: “say a prayer” after the prayer the
wine God instructs him to: “offer incense.”
The process consists of three steps:
0. Purification by washing your hands. Hesiod stated that one shouldn’t worship the Theoi “without
washing your hands first” or else “they do not hear your prayers; they spit them back at you.” You can
also say “hekas, hekas, este O bebeloi” a formula from the Eleusinian mysteries which was believed to
banish any miasma/pollution.
1. Hymn to invoke the deity. For example recite an orphic or homeric hymn to Apollo.
2. Prayer with specific message. After reciting a hymn to Apollo you could use a prayer from the Iliad
like “O god of the silver bow, that protectest Chryse and holy Cilla, and rulest Tenedos with thy might
(request here).”
3. Give your offering whether incense, meat, libations etc. Though this step isn’t necessary if you’re
simply praising the gods in your prayer without asking for anything.
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It’s a good idea to pray simply to thank the gods for good things (associated with each god) without
asking for anything. If it’s raining pray to Hera to thank her for blessing the earth with rain. If you’re
enjoying a nice fire worship Hephaestus to thank him for the comfort.
When worshiping ouranic gods stand or sit with your palms pointed up, if you’re worshiping chthonic
gods you should be kneeling with your palms pointed down at the ground. (People of classical antiquity
only knelt when worshiping the underworld gods.)
One convenient hack is to edit prayers from antiquity. Recite only part of an ancient prayer and then
add in your request or statement. Pindar wrote one prayer to Tyche: “Daughter of Zeus Eleutherios,
Tykhe our saviour goddess, I pray your guardian care for Himera, and prosper her city’s strength.” You
could edit that to: “Daughter of Zeus Eleutherios, Tykhe our saviour goddess, I pray your guardian care
for my child travelling overseas to meet friends.”
You can write your own prayers or hymns but you should understand the structure of ancient liturgy
first.
Alternate structure:
0. Purification.
1. Recite hymn.
2. Pray while simulatenously making your offering.
In the Argonautica (book 1, lines 188-203) Jason prays to Poseidon as he gives a libation of wine to the
god, instead of performing prayer and offering seperately.
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May 10, 2018
2 Minutes
Hellenistic Pagan Reading List
Rather than being limited to a single holy book like the Abrahmic faiths, polytheists enjoy a vast wealth
of sacred texts: here are the best books to use for practicing classical spirituality. I assume anyone
reading this post already knows that they should study Homer, Hesiod and the core classics.
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Apostolos N. Athanassakis has produced the most accurate line by line translations of the Orphic and
Homeric hymns; all professional scholarly work free from any modern practices. Avoid Taylor’s
translation of the orphic hymns since he heavily altered the invocations to make the verses rhym; that
man wrote new age fluff long before Raven Silverclaw was born.
Hellenic Polytheism: Household Worship is a fantastic introduction to reconstructionist worship of the
Olympians: easy to understand and free of fluff.
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Purchase Greek Hymns (volumes one through two) by William D. Furley and Jan Maarten Bremer; the
books are overpriced but worth every cent. The series is a gold mine of ancient hymns and prayers
compiled by two gifted academic classicists; perfect for diversifying your daily practice. It’s best to avoid
pagan books even written by purported reconstructionists and focus on reading academic classical work
so you can cut out the middle man and form your interpretation of Hellenismos.
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A scholarly translation of an ancient occult text, full of invocations and prayers for diversifying your
practice though purists will want to avoid any rituals that address gods other than the Theoi. This book
is a must have for anyone interested in worshipping Hekate and the underworld Gods or syncretizing
the Olympian and Egyptian pantheons. Some reconstructionists believe that Hellenists should avoid
directly practicing magic since it could easily qualify as Hubris.
A valuable resource on rituals and worship structure to be found in ancient Greek plays.
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The writings of Emperor Julian, his work provides valuable insight into Hellenist theology and his
hymns are worth incorporating into your practice. Julian was effectively the fist neo-Hellenist as he
converted from Christianity to Greek polytheism as an adult and made a tragically failed attempt to
save Rome from Abrahamic authoritarianism.
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An academic tome featuring accurate dates of festivals and detailed information of how ancient
Hellenes celebrated holy days.
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May 8, 2018
1 Minute
Animal Sacrifice Tutorial
You don’t have to practice animal sacrifice at all to worship the Theoi. Most ancient Greeks offered the
gods food, wine and only sacrificed animals when they butchered livestock for food. Some polytheist
philosophers such as Porphyry advocated against ritual slaughter.
Animal sacrifice is really just a way to obtain meat as an offering to the gods. A pious polytheist could
just burn hamburger on an altar without having to kill anything. Regardless of your opinion on the
practice you should understand animal sacrifice to complete your picture of Hellenic polytheism.
Ritual slaughter falls into two categories. Thyesthai refers to animal sacrifices that are only partially
burned with the worshipers eating some of the meat. Holocaustos is the term for animal sacrifices that
are entirely burned without humans eating any of the flesh.
Homer’s Iliad describes animal sacrifice in step by step detail:
0. The person who will perform the sacrifice washes their hands.
1. A procession leads the animal to where it will be sacrificed. Prior to this the animal should be bathed
and decorated with flowers.
2. The sacrificer recites a hymn then a prayer.
3. Kill the animal with a knife. If the animal is to be sacrificed to the ouranic gods you should kill the
creature while its head is turned up. Animals sacrificed to underworld deities should be killed with their
heads pointed down. Incense and libations can also be given by other people participating in the
sacrifice.
4. The animal is butchered. Thighs, fat are selected as offerings.
5. Libation of wine.
6. The selected pieces are thrown into the fire to be turned to ash. Or the animal’s remains are entirely
burned in a Holocaustos.
7. Cook and feast on the remaining meat with hymns or prayers to the gods, though it was taboo to eat
the meat of animals sacrificed to seal an oath between people.
Below is an archaeological fragment that depicts Nike sacrificing a bull. Notice how Nike forces the
animal’s head up to the ouranic Gods as she takes its life.
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Offerings to the Olympians should be burned on a fire above ground while sacrifices to the Chthonic
gods should be burned in a hole dug a few feet below ground. So if you offer Zeus lamb meat you should
burn it in a BBQ bowl on a table, if you offer Hades goat meat you should burn it in a pit.
“Are you not aware that all offerings whether great or small that are brought to the gods with piety have
equal value, whereas without piety, I will not say hecatombs, but, by the gods, even the Olympian
sacrifice of a thousand oxen is merely empty expenditure and nothing else?”
-Emperor Julian
Kourbania (thinly christianized ritual) gives us further insight into the process; the chosen animal
would have been pampered, bathed, covered in flowers and lead to the sacrificial altar through the
streets with a parade.
Different animals correspond to certain gods but virgin heifers could be sacrificed to any god.
*Zeus: oxen five years or older
*Poseidon: bulls, rams and boar pigs
*Athena: heifers and sheep
*Dionysus: goats
*Hestia: pigs
*Artemis: deer
*Aphrodite: doves
*Underworld gods: animals with black fur
Cold steel sells accurate reproductions of ancient Greek and Roman swords, that would make fantastic
sacrificial blades and handsome props on any altar.
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May 5, 2018
2 Minutes
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Roman Hymns
Below you can enjoy translations of ancient latin invocations to the Olympians.
Venus
“O Venus, queen of Cnidus and Paphos,
Scorn your beloved Cyprus, and come
To the beautiful shrine of Glycera,
Who summons you with much incense.
Let your fiery boy make haste along with youThe Graces, too, with girdles undoneThe Nymphs, and Youth (who without you lacks grace)And Mercury as well.”
-Horace, odes
Mercury
“Mercury, Atlas’ eloquent grandson,
You who in your cunning shaped
The savage ways of primitive man
With language and the customs of
The comely wrestling-ground,
I shall sing of you- the messenger
Of great Jove and of all the gods,
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Creator of the curving lyre,
Cunning at hiding in joking theft
Whatever’s caught your fancy.
Once, when Apollo, with threatening voice,
Was terrifying you, still a boy,
If you did not return his cattle
Stolen through a trick, he saw
His quiver gone, and laughed.
And, too, it was with you as guide
That wealthy Priam left Ilium
And slipped past Atreus’ haughty sons,
Thessalian watch-fires too, and the camp
Pitched to level Troy.
You set pious souls in their happy seat
And with your golden wand corral
The insubstantial throng of dead;
You please not only the gods above
But those below as well.”
-Horace, the odes
Apollo and Diana
“”O Phoebus, and Diana ruler of the woodlands,
Radiant glory of the sky, O ye who are to be worshiped
Always, and venerated, grant what we pray for
In this sacred season
In which the Sibylline verses admonished
Chosen girls and spotless boys
For the gods who favor the seven hills
To sing a song.
Fostering Sun, thou who in shining chariot the day
Dost reveal and conceal and art as another
Yet the same reborn, may you than the city of Rome be able
To behold nothing greater!
Gentle to bring to light issue
In due season, O Ilithyia (Goddess of Birthing), protect mothers,
Whether thou dost delight to be called Lucina (Radiant Goddess)
Or Genitalis (Birth Goddess).
Goddess, may you bring forth offspring, and make our fathers’
Decrees prosper on the joining
Of women, and with new progeny fruitful
The law on marriage. 20
That each ten times eleven years the fixed
Circuit return the songs and games
For three bright days and as many pleasant
Nights in throngs.
And ye, O Fates, truthful in having sung 25
What was once ordained (and may the firmly fixed
Boundary keep it so), do ye now to deeds past
Join fair fortune.
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Fertile in fruit and flocks, the earth,
May she endow Ceres with crown of grain; 30
May both healthful waters nourish the harvests,
And Jove’s breezes.
Mild and peaceful, thy spear laid aside,
Heed the suppliant boys, O Apollo;
Horned queen of the stars, heed, 35
O Moon, the girls.
If Rome is your handiwork, and Trojan
Throngs held the Tuscan shore,
A remnant bidden to move their household gods and city
In a passage to safety,
For which, without harm through burning Troy,
Unsullied Aeneas, surviving his fatherland,
Did secure a free path, bound to give
More than what was left behind,
Ye gods, honest ways to teachable young,
Ye gods, to serene old age quiet rest,
To Romulus’ people grant substance and issue
And every glory.
And what with white bulls the famous
Blood of Anchises and Venus of you doth entreat,
May he obtain, master o’er the warrior, yet
Gentle to the prostrate foe.
Already on sea and land his mighty armies
The Mede doth fear, and his Alban axes,
Already the Scythians seek his response, proud
Only recently, and the Indians.
Already Loyalty and Peace and Honor and Ancient
Modesty and neglected Virtue to return
Doth venture, and blessed Plenty appear
With full horn. 60
Augur, and splendid in gleaming bow,
Phoebus, beloved of the nine Muses,
Who with healing art doth uplift
The body’s weary limbs,
If favorably he doth behold Palatine altars,
Roman wealth and Latium kindly
Into another cycle prolong and
Into a better age,
And she who guards the Aventine and Mount Algidus,
Diana, the prayers of the Fifteen Men
Doth heed and to the vows of children doth
Lend kindly ears,
That these prayers Jove and all the gods must hear,
Homeward I do bear good and certain hope,
I, the chorus, taught both of Phoebus and Diana
The praises to tell.”
-Carmen Saeculare
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Apollo
“Thou god, whom the offspring of Niobe experienced as avenger of a presumptuous tongue, and the
ravisher Tityus, and also the Thessalian Achilles, almost the conqueror of lofty Troy, a warrior superior
to all others, but unequal to thee; though, son of the sea-goddess, Thetis, he shook the Dardanian
towers, warring with his dreadful spear. He, as it were a pine smitten with the burning ax, or a cypress
prostrated by the east wind, fell extended far, and reclined his neck in the Trojan dust. He would not, by
being shut up in a [wooden] horse, that belied the sacred rights of Minerva, have surprised the Trojans
reveling in an evil hour, and the court of Priam making merry in the dance; but openly inexorable to his
captives, (oh impious! oh!) would have burned speechless babes with Grecian fires, even him concealed
in his mother’s womb: had not the father of the gods, prevailed upon by thy entreaties and those of the
beauteous Venus, granted to the affairs of Æneas walls founded under happier auspices. Thou lyrist
Phœbus, tutor of the harmonious Thalia, who bathest thy locks in the river Xanthus, O delicate Agyieus,
support the dignity of the Latian muse. Phœbus gave me genius, Phœbus the art of composing verse,
and the title of poet. Ye virgins of the first distinction, and ye youths born of illustrious parents, ye
wards of the Delian goddess, who stops with her bow the flying lynxes, and the stags, observe the
Lesbian measure, and the motion of my thumb; duly celebrating the son of Latona, duly [celebrating]
the goddess that enlightens the night with her shining crescent, propitious to the fruits, and expeditious
in rolling on the precipitate months. Shortly a bride you will say: “I, skilled in the measures of the poet
Horace, recited an ode which was acceptable to the gods, when the secular period brought back the
festal days.””
-Horace, Odes
Diana
“Diana’s faith inbred we bear
Youths whole of heart and maidens fair,
Let boys no blemishes impair,
And girls of Dian sing!
O great Latonian progeny,
Of greatest Jove descendancy,
Whom mother bare ‘neath olive-tree,
Deep in the Delian dell;
That of the mountains reign thou
Queen And forest ranges ever green,
And coppices by man unseen,
And rivers resonant.
Thou art Lucína,
Juno hight
By mothers lien in painful plight,
Thou puissant Trivia and the Light Bastard, yclept the Lune.
Thou goddess with thy monthly stage,
The yearly march doth mete and guage
And rustic peasant’s messuage,
Dost brim with best o’ crops,
Be hailed by whatso name of grace,
Please thee and olden Romulus’ race,
Thy wonted favour deign embrace,
And save with choicest aid.”
-Gaius Valerius Catullus
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Bacchus
“I saw in mountain glades
Retired (believe it, after years!)
Teaching his strains to Dryad maids,
While goat-hoof’d satyrs prick’d their ears.
Evoe! my eyes with terror glare;
My heart is revelling with the god;
‘Tis madness! Evoe! spare, O spare,
Dread wielder of the ivied rod!
Yes, I may sing the Thyiad crew,
The stream of wine, the sparkling rills
That run with milk, and honey-dew
That from the hollow trunk distils;
And I may sing thy consort’s crown,
New set in heaven, and Pentheus’ hall
With ruthless ruin thundering down,
And proud Lycurgus’ funeral.
Thou turn’st the rivers, thou the sea;
Thou, on far summits, moist with wine,
Thy Bacchants’ tresses harmlessly
Dost knot with living serpent-twine.
Thou, when the giants, threatening wrack,
Were clambering up Jove’s citadel,
Didst hurl o’erweening Rhoetus back,
In tooth and claw a lion fell.
Who knew thy feats in dance and play
Deem’d thee belike for war’s rough game
Unmeet: but peace and battle-fray
Found thee, their centre, still the same.
Grim Cerberus wagg’d his tail to see
Thy golden horn, nor dreamd of wrong.
But gently fawning, follow’d thee,
And lick’d thy feet with triple tongue.”
-Horace, Odes
“Whither, Bacchus, tear’st thou me.
FiIl’d with thy strength? What dens, what forests these,
Thus in wildering race I see?
What cave shall hearken to my melodies,
Tuned to tell of Caesar’s praise
And throne him high the heavenly ranks among?
Sweet and strange shall be my lays,
A tale till now by poet voice unsung.
As the Evian on the height,
Roused from her sleep, looks wonderingly abroad,
Looks on Thrace with snow-drifts white,
And Rhodope by barbarous footstep trod,
So my truant eyes admire
The banks, the desolate forests. O great King
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Who the Naiads dost inspire,
And Bacchants, strong from earth huge trees to wring!
Not a lowly strain is mine,
No mere man’s utterance. O, ’tis venture sweet
Thee to follow, God of wine,
Making the vine-branch round thy temples meet!”
-Horace, Odes
Hercules
“With your hand you slew, unconquered one,
Hylaeus and Pholus, double-formed creatures
Born of clouds; you slew Crete’s monsters
And the tremendous lion under Nemea’s crag.
The Stygian waters trembled in fear at you,
So too did the door-keeper of Orcus, reclining
In his bloody cave atop half-eaten bones;
No sight frightened you, not even Typhoeus himself,
Tall as a mountain, gripping arms; and when
Lerna’s serpent surrounded you
With its mob of heads, you did not lose your wits.
Hail, true offspring of Jove, now added
To the gods to give them glory; come propitious,
With favoring step, to us and to your rites.”
-Vergil, aenid
Faunus
“Faunus, lover of the fleeing Nymphs,
May you go gently through my lands
And sunny fields, and may you depart
Fair-minded toward my tiny nurslings,
If a tender kid is sacrificed to you
At year’s end, if generous wine
Is never lacking from the mixing-bowl
That is companion to Venus, and if
The ancient altar smokes with strong odors.
All the flock plays in the grassy field
When the Nones of December- your holidayCome round; the festive village rests
In the meadows with the leisurely ox;
The wolf wanders amidst the bold lambs,
The forest sprinkles its rustic leaves for you;
The digger delights in striking
The earth he hates three times with his foot.”
-Horace, Odes
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May 2, 2018
7 Minutes
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Ancient Hymns to the Gods
I’ve collected hymns exclusively from ancient Greek texts, this post doesn’t feature any modern
practices at all. A hymn is not the same thing as a prayer, a hymn is an invocation to flatter gods and get
their attention before you make a prayer with your specific request.
Zeus
“May Zeus grant me repayment of the friends who love me,
and that I may have more power than my personal enemies
Thus would I have the reputation of a god among men,
if my destined death overtakes me when I have exacted repayment.
O Zeus, Olympian, bring my timely prayer to its ultimate fulfillment!
Grant that I have something good happen in place of misfortunes.
But may I die if I find no respite from cares brought on by misfortunes.
And may I give harm in return for har”
-Theognis of Megara
“May Zeus, who apportions everything,
never set his power in conflict with my will,
nor may I be slow to approach the gods,
with holy sacrifices of oxen slain,
by the side of the ceaseless stream
of Oceanus, my father;
and may I not offend in speech;
but may this rule abide in my heart
and never fade away.
Sweet it is to pass all the length of life
amid confident hopes,
feeding the heart in glad festivities.”
-Prometheus Bound, Aeschylus
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“O supreme son of Kronos, salutations! All-powerful over refreshment,
you stand at the head of the gods. Come to Dicte at the turn of the
year and take pleasure in our song. We weave it for you with lyres,
having blended it with pipes, and we sing having taken our places
around your well-walled altar.
O supreme son of Kronos, salutations! All-powerful over refreshment,
you stand at the head of the gods. Come to Dicte at the turn of the
year and take pleasure in our song. For on this very spot, your
shield-bearing guardians received you, an immortal child, from Rhea
and beating their foot, kept you hidden.
O supreme son of Kronos, salutations! All-powerful over refreshment,
you stand at the head of the gods. Come to Dicte at the turn of the
year and take pleasure in our song. [two verses missing]…of the
beautiful dawn.
O supreme son of Kronos, salutations! All-powerful over refreshment,
you stand at the head of the gods. Come to Dicte at the turn of the
year and take pleasure in our song. The Seasons teemed year by year
and Justice held mortals in her power, and Peace, who loves
prosperity, governed all creatures.
O supreme son of Kronos, salutations! All-powerful over refreshment,
you stand at the head of the gods. Come to Dicte at the turn of the
year and take pleasure in our song. But, lord, leap to our wine jars,
and leap to our fleecy flocks, and to our fields of fruit leap, and to
our homes made thereby productive.
O supreme son of Kronos, salutations! All-powerful over refreshment,
you stand at the head of the gods. Come to Dicte at the turn of the
year and take pleasure in our song. And leap to our cities and leap to
our seafaring ships, and leap to our new citizens and leap to fair
Themis.
O supreme son of Kronos, salutations! All-powerful over refreshment,
you stand at the head of the gods. Come to Dicte at the turn of the
year and take pleasure in our song.”
-The Palaikastro Hymn to Cretan Zeus
“Zeus fills the heavens the earth the sea the air
We (or I) feel his spirit moving here and everywhere
And we (or me) his offspring are
He ever good
Daily provides for man his daily food
Ordains the seasons by his signs on high
Studding with gems of light the azure canopy
What time with plough and spade to break the soil
That plenteous stores may bless the reaper’s toil
What time to plant and prune the vine he shows
And hangs the purple cluster on its boughs
To him the first the last nil homage yield
Our Father wonderful our help our shield”
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“Majestic Zeus all hail to tlieo belong
The suppliant prayer the tributary bong
To thee from all thy mortal ofi spriug due
From thee we enme from thee our being drew
Whatever lives and moves great sire is thine
Embodied portions of the soul divine”
“From Zeus let us begin;
him do we mortals never leave unnamed;
full of Zeus are all the streets and all the market-places of men;
full is the sea and the havens thereof;
always we all have need of Zeus.
For we are also his offspring;
and he in his kindness unto men giveth favorable signs
and wakeneth the people to work, reminding them of livelihood.
He tells what time the soil is best for the labor of the ox and for the mattock,
and what time the seasons are favorable both for the planting of trees
and for casting all manner of seeds.
For himself it was who set the signs in heaven,
and marked out the constellations,
and for the year devised what stars chiefly should give to men right
signs of the seasons,
to the end that all things might grow unfailingly.
Wherefore Him do men ever worship first and last.
Hail, O Father, mighty marvel, mighty blessing unto men.
Hail to thee and to the Elder Raced!
Hail, ye Muses, right kindly, every one!
But for me, too, in answer to my prayer direct all my lay,
even, as is meet, to tell the stars.”
-ARATUS, Phaenomena
“Chiefest glory of deathless Gods, Almighty for ever,
Sovereign of Nature that rulest by law, what Name shall we give Thee?–
Blessed be Thou! for on Thee should call all things that are mortal.
For that we are Thine offspring; nay, all that in myriad motion
Lives for its day on the earth bears one impress–Thy likeness–upon it.
Wherefore my song is of Thee, and I hymn thy power for ever.
Lo, the vast orb of the Worlds, round the Earth evermore as it rolleth,
Feels Thee its Ruler and Guide, and owns Thy lordship rejoicing.
Aye, for Thy conquering hands have a servant of living fire–
Sharp is the bolt!–where it falls, Nature shrinks at the shock and
doth shudder.
Thus Thou directest the Word universal that pulses through all things,
Mingling its life with Lights that are great and Lights that are lesser,
E’en as beseemeth its birth, High King through ages unending.
Nought is done that is done without Thee in the earth or the waters
Or in the heights of heaven, save the deed of the fool and the sinner.
Thou canst make rough things smooth; at Thy voice, lo, jarring disorder
Moveth to music, and Love is born where hatred abounded.
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Thus hast Thou fitted alike things good and things evil together,
That over all might reign one Reason, supreme and eternal;
Though thereunto the hearts of the wicked be hardened and heedless–
Woe unto them!–for while ever their hands are grasping at good things,
Blind are their eyes, yea, stopped are their ears to God’s Law universal,
Calling through wise disobedience to live the life that is noble.
This they mark not, but heedless of right, turn each to his own way,
Here, a heart fired with ambition, in strife and straining unhallowed;
There, thrusting honour aside, fast set upon getting and gaining;
Others again given over to lusts and dissolute softness,
Working never God’s Law, but that which warreth upon it.
Nay, but, O Giver of all things good, whose home is the dark cloud,
Thou that wieldesy Heaven’s bolt, save men from their ignorance grievous;
Scatter its night from their souls, and grant them to come to that Wisdom
Wherewithal, sistered with Justice, Thou rulest and governest all things;
That we, honoured by Thee, may requite Thee with worship and honour,
Evermore praising thy works, as is meet for men that shall perish;
Seeing that none, be he mortal or God, hath privilege nobler
Than without stint, without stay, to extol Thy Law universal.”
-The Golden Sayings by Epictetus
“Zeus is the first. Zeus the thunderer, is the last.
Zeus is the head. Zeus is the middle, and by Zeus all things were fabricated.
Zeus is male, Immortal Zeus is female.
Zeus is the foundation of the earth and of the starry heaven.
Zeus is the breath of all things. Zeus is the rushing of indefatigable fire.
Zeus is the root of the sea: He is the Sun and Moon.
Zeus is the king; He is the author of universal life;
One Power, one Dæmon, the mighty prince of all things:
One kingly frame, in which this universe revolves,
Fire and water, earth and ether, night and day,
And Metis (Counsel) the primeval father, and all-delightful Eros (Love).
All these things are United in the vast body of Zeus.
Would you behold his head and his fair face,
It is the resplendent heaven, round which his golden locks
Of glittering stars are beautifully exalted in the air.
On each side are the two golden taurine horns,
The risings and settings, the tracks of the celestial gods;
His eyes the sun and the Opposing moon;
His unfallacious Mind the royal incorruptible Ether.”
-Orphic fragment
Apollo
“Let us hymn Paean the great god, Apollo;
Immortal, gloriously formed, unshorn, soft-haired,
Stern-hearted, king, delighting in arrows, giver of life,
Joyous, laughing, slayer of giants, sweet-hearted,
Son of Zeus, slayer of dragons, lover of the laurel,
Sweet of speech, of ample might, far-shooter, giver of hope,
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Creator of animals, divine, Jove-minded, giver of zeal,
Mild, sweet-spoken, sweet-hearted, gentle-handed,
Slayer of beasts, blooming, charmer of the spirit, soft-speaking,
Shooter of arrows, desirable, healer, charioteer,
Weaver of the world, Clarian, strong-hearted, father of fruits,
Son of Leto, pleasant, delighting in the lyre, resplendent,
Lord of the mysteries, prophet, magnanimous, thousand-shaped,
Lover of the bow-string, wise, stiller of grief, sober,
Lover of community, common to all, taking thought for all, benefactor of all,
Blessed, making blessed, Olympian, dweller on the hills,
Gentle, all-seeing, sorrowless, giver of wealth,
Saviour from trouble, rose-coloured, man-breaker, path-opener,
Glittering, wise, father of light, saviour,
Delighting in the dance, Titan, initiator, revered,
Chanter of hymns, highest, stately, of the height,
Phoebus, purifier, lover of garlands, cheerer of the spirit,
Utterer of oracles, golden, golden-complexioned, golden-arrowed,
Lover of the lyre, harper, hater of lies, giver of the soul,
Swift-footed, swift-voiced, swift of vision, giver of seasons.
Let us hymn Paean the great god, Apollo.”
-– Epigram from Book 9 of the Greek Anthology
“The Sun’s resplendent deity I sing,
The beauteous offspring of almighty Zeus,
Who, thro’ the vivifying solar fount
Within his fabricative mind conceal’d,
A triad form’d of splendid solar gods;
From whence the world’s all-various forms emerg’d
From mystic darkness into beauteous light,
Perfect, and full of intellectual goods.
Hail! Supermundane king of light divine,
And fairest image of the unknown good:
For, as the light proceeding from the one,
The god of gods, and beauty’s matchless flower,
Intelligibles, with deific rays
Occult, illumes; so from Apollo’s beams
Exulting glorious through harmonic power,
The mental world with elevating light
Is fill’d exub’rant: and th’ apparent Sun
Largely diffuses thro’ the world of sense,
Light, all-prolific, beautiful, divine.
To thee, as bright Apollo, it belongs
All multitude in union to collect,
And many natures generate from one;
With vigour in thy essence to convolve
The diff’rent ranks of secondary forms;
And thro’ one fair hyparxis 2 to combine
All-various essences and fertile powers.
‘Tis thine, from multitude exempt, t’ inspire
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In forms subordinate, prophetic truth;
For truth and pure simplicity are one:
And of preserving unpolluted power,
Thy liberated essence is the source.
Fam’d mystic bards of old, in sacred song,
By thee inspir’d, as th’ arrow-darting god,
Constant invok’d thee, with resistless sway,
Because thy vig’rous beams like arrows pierce,
And totally, whate’er of measure void the world
Inordinate or dark contains, destroy.
And last, thy revolution is the sign
Of motion, harmonizing into one
The various natures of this mighty whole.
Thy first bright Monad 1 hence, illustrious god,
Enunciates truth and intellectual light;
That light, which in the essence of the gods,
Subsists with rays uniting and unknown.
Thy second 2, ev’ry thing confus’d destroys:
And from thy third 3, the universe is bound
In beauteous symmetry and just consent,
Thro’ splendid reasons and harmonic power.
Add, that thy essence, ‘midst the mundane gods,
A super-mundane order is assign’d;
An unbegotten and supreme command
O’er all the ranks of generated forms;
And In the ever-flowing realms of sense,
An intellectual dignity of sway.
Progression two-fold, hence, to thee belongs,–
One in conjunction with the mundane gods,
The other supernat’ral and unknown:
For when the Demiurgus form’d the world,
He kindled in the solar sphere a light,
Unlike the splendour of the other orbs,
Drawn from his nature’s most occult retreats,
A symbol fair of intellectual forms;
And openly announcing as it shines
To ev’ry part of this amazing whole,
The essence solitary and arcane
Of all the ruling, supermundane gods.
Hence too, when first thy beams the world adorn’d
The mundane gods were ravish’d at the sight;
And round thy orb, with emulative zeal
And symphony divine, desir’d to dance,
And draw abundant from thy fontal light.
‘Tie thine by heat apparent to exalt
Corporeal natures from the sluggish earth,
Inspiring vivid, vegetative power;
And by a nature secretly divine,
And from the base alloy of matter free,
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Inherent in thy all-productive rays,
Thou draw’st to union with thy wond’rous form,
Exalted souls, that In dark Hyle’s realms
Indignant struggle for the courts of. light:
All beauteous, seven-rayed, supermundane god!
Whose mystic essence secretly emits
The splendid fountains of celestial light.
For ‘midst the ruling, super-mundane gods
A solar world, and total light subsists;
A light, which as a fertile monad shines
Superior to the three corporeal worlds.
By sacred Oracles of old, ‘tie said,
Thy glorious orb beyond the starry sphere
And in the last etherial world revolves.
But in thy course, harmoniously divine,
Thy orb, quadruply intersects these worlds;
And then twelve powers of radiant gods displays,
Thro’ twelve divisions of the zone oblique.
And still abundant in productive might,
Each into three of diff’rent ranks divides.
Hence, from the fourfold elegance and grace
Of times and seasons, by thy course produc’d,
Mankind a triple benefit receive,
The circling Graces’ never-failing gift.
All-bounteous god, by whom the soul is freed
Prom Generation’s dark corporeal bands,
Assist THY OFFSPRING, borne on mental wings,
Beyond the reach of guileful Nature’s hands
Swift to ascend, and gain thy beauteous world.
The subtle vestment of my soul refine,
Etherial, firm, and full of sacred light,
Her ancient vehicle by thee assign’d;
In which invelop’d, thro’ the starry orbs,
Urg’d’ by the Impulse of insane desire,
She fail’d precipitate, till Lethe’s shore,
Involv’d in night, unhappily she touch’d,
And lost all knowledge of her pristine state:
O best of gods, blest dæmon crown’d with fire,
My soul’s sure refuge in the hour of woe,
My port paternal in the courts of light,
Hear, and from punishment my soul absolve,
The punishment incurr’d by pristine guilt,
Thro’ Lethe’s darkness and terrene desire:
And if for long-extended years I’m doom’d
In these drear realms Heav’n’s exile to remain,
Oh! grant me soon the necessary means
To gain that good which solitude confers
On souls emerging from the bitter waves
Of fraudful Hyle’s black, impetuous flood.
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That thus retiring from the vulgar herd,
And impious converse of the present age,
My soul may triumph o’er her natal ills;
And oft with thee In blissful union join’d
Thro’ energy Ineffable, may soar
Beyond the highest super-mundane forms;
And in the vestibule supreme survey,
Emerging from th’ intelligible deep,
Beauty’s transcendent, solitary Sun.”
-Emperor Julian the Apostate
“O powerful lord of Pytho, far-thrower, also a seer, whose place is
high atop the Parnassus rock, of your power I sing: In turn, may your
gift furnish me with glory and send your true voice into my mind so
that, by the imposition of the Muse, I may disperse a fine song to the
numberless races of men with the help of my well-made cithara. For now
to you, O worker of the lyre, singer of pleasing songs, my spirit
rouses me to tell of things of which I have never before spoken, when
driven by the goad of Kings Bacchus and Apollo, I described their
terrible shafts, and likewise I disclosed the cure for feeble mortal
bodies and the Great Rites to initiates. Truly, above all I disclosed
the stern inevitability of ancient Chaos, and Time, who in his
boundless coils, produced Aether, and the twofold, beautiful, and
noble Eros, whom the younger men call Phanes, celebrated parent of
eternal Night, because he himself first manifested.
Then, I sang, of the race of powerful Brimo, and the destructive acts
of the Giants, who spilled their gloomy seed from the sky begetting
the men of old, whence came forth mortal stock, which resides
throughout the boundless world. And I sang of the service of Zeus, and
of the cult of the Mother and how wandering in the mountains of Cybele
she conceived the girl Persephone by the unconquerable son of Cronus,
and of the renowned tearing of Casmilus [or perhaps Meleus; the text
is corrupt] by Heracles, and of the sacred oath of Idaeus, and of the
immense oak of the Corybantes, and of the wanderings of Demeter, her
great sorrow for Persephone, and her lawgiving. And also I sang of the
splendid gift of the Kabeiroi, and the silent oracles of Night about
Lord Bacchus, and of the sea of Samothrace and of Cyprus, and of the
love of Aphrodite for Adonis. And I sang of the rites of Praxidike and
the mountain nights of Athela, and of the lamentations of Egypt, and
of the holy offerings to Osiris.
And also you learned the multitudinous ways prophesying: from the
motion of wild birds and from the positions of entrails; and
whatsoever the souls of men prophesy through the ways of interpreting
the dreams that pierce the mind in sleep, and the interpretation of
these signs and prophecies; and from the motions of the stars. You
learned of atonement, the great happiness for mortals; and of
obtaining an accounting of the supplication of the gods, and of
offerings to the dead.
And other things were described to you, that which I gained by sight
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and thought when on the dark way of entering Hades via Taenaron,
relying on my cithara, through the love of my wife. Then I described
the sacred test of the Egyptians in Memphis that is used to convey
prophesy, and I described the sacred city of Apis, which is surrounded
by the river Nile.
All this have you learned truthfully from my soul. Now in truth, when
instigated by the burning air I abandon this body and fly away into
the ample heavens, you will hear from my voice what at first was
hidden. ”
-Orphic Argonautica
Poseidon
“Highest of the Gods, Lord of the sea, Poseidon of the golden trident,
earth-shaker in the swelling brine, around thee the finny monsters in
a ring swim and dance, with nimble flingings of their feet leaping
lightly, snub-nosed hounds with bristling neck, swift runners,
music-loving dolphins, sea-nurslings of the Nereid maids divine, whom
Amphitrite bore, even they that carried me, a wanderer on the Sicilian
mean, to the headland of Taenarum in Pelops’ land, mounting meupon
their humped backs as they clove the furrow of Nereus’ plain, a path
untrodden, when deceitful men had cast me from their sea-faring hollow
ship into the purple swell of ocean.”
-Aelian, On Animals 12.45
Athena
“I will accept a home with Pallas, and I will not dishonor a city
which she, with Zeus the omnipotent and Ares, holds as a fortress of
the gods, the bright ornament that guards the altars of the gods of
Hellas. I pray for the city, with favorable prophecy, that the bright
gleam of the sun may cause blessings that give happiness to life to
spring from the earth, in plenty.”
-Oresteia, Aeschylus
“So now with a pure mouth I piously invoke Athena, lady of this land,
to come to my aid. Without the spear, she will win me and my land and
the Argive people as faithful and true allies for all time. But
whether in some region of the Libyan land, near the waters of Triton,
her native stream, she is in action or at rest, aiding those whom she
loves, or whether, like a bold marshal, she is surveying the
Phlegraean plain, oh, let her come—as a goddess, she hears even from
far away—to be my deliverer from distress!”
-Oresteia, Aeschylus
“DAUGHTER of aegis-bearing Zeus, divine,
Propitious to thy vot’ries prayer incline;
From thy great father’s fount supremely bright,
Like fire resounding, leaping into light.
Shield-bearing goddess, hear, to whom belong
A manly mind, and power to tame the strong!
Oh, sprung from matchless might, with joyful mind
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Accept this hymn; benevolent and kind!
The holy gates of wisdom by thy hand
Are wide unfolded; and the daring band
Of earth-born giants, that in impious fight
Strove with thy fire, were vanquished by thy might.
Once by thy care, as sacred poets sing,
The heart of Bacchus, swiftly-slaughtered king,
Was saved in aether, when, with fury fired,
The Titans fell against his life conspired;
And with relentless rage and thirst for gore,
Their hands his members into fragments tore:
But ever watchful of thy father’s will,
Thy pow’r preserved him from succeeding ill,
Till from the secret counsels of his sire,
And born from Semele through heav’nly fire,
Great Dionysus to the world at length
Again appeared with renovated strength.
Once, too, thy warlike axe, with matchless sway,
Lopped from their savage neck the heads away
Of furious beasts, and thus the pests destroyed
Which long all-seeing Hecate annoyed.
By thee benevolent great Juno’s might
Was roused, to furnish mortals with delight:
And through life’s wide and various range ’tis thine
Each part to beautify with arts divine:
Invigorated hence by thee, we find
A demiurgic impulse in the mind.
Towers proudly raised, and for protection strong,
To thee, dread guardian, deity belong,
As proper symbols of th’exalted height
Thy series claims amidst the courts of light.
Lands are beloved by thee to learning prone,
And Athens, O Athena, is thy own!
Great goddess, hear! and on my dark’ned mind
Pour thy pure light in measure unconfined;—
That sacred light, O all-protecting queen,
Which beams eternal from thy face serene:
My soul, while wand’ring on the earth, inspire
With thy own blessed and impulsive fire;
And from thy fables, mystic and divine,
Give all her powers with holy light to shine.
Give love, give wisdom, and a power to love,
Incessant tending to the realms above;
Such as, unconscious of base earth’s control,
Gently attracts the vice-subduing soul;
From night’s dark region aids her to retire,
And once more gain the palace of her sire:
And if on me some just misfortune press,
Remove th’ affliction, and thy suppliant bless.
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All-saving goddess, to my prayer incline!
Nor let those horrid punishments be mine
Which guilty souls in Tartarus confine,
With fetters fast’ned to its brazen floors,
And locked by hell’s tremendous iron doors.
Hear me, and save (for power is all thy own)
A soul desirous to be thine alone.”
-Proclus
Hera
“Sister and spouse of mighty Zeus,
whether you reside in your ancient shrine at Samos,
which alone can pride itself on your birth,
your infant cries,
and your nurture;
or whether you occupy your blessed abode in lofty Carthage,
which worships you as the maiden who tours the sky on a lion’s back;
or whether you guard the famed walls of the Argives,
by the banks of the river-god Inachus,
who now hymns you as bride of the Thunderer and as queen of all goddesses;
you, whom all the East reveres as the yoking goddess,
and whom all the West addresses as Lucina, be for me in my most acute
misfortunes
Hera the Saviour, and free me from looming dangers in my weariness
from exhausting toils.
I am told that it is your practice to lend unsolicited aid to pregnant
women in danger.”
Hermes
“O mighty Hermes, warder of the shades,
Herald of upper and of under world,
Proclaim and usher down my prayer’s appeal
Unto the gods below, that they with eyes
Watchful behold these halls. my sire’s of oldAnd unto Earth, the mother of all things,
And loster-nurse, and womb that takes their seed.”
“Come unto me, Lord Hermes, even as into women’s wombs [come] babes!
Come unto me, Lord Hermes, who dost collect the food of gods and men!
Lord Hermes, come to me, and give me grace,
[and] food, [and] victory, [and] health and happiness, and cheerful
countenance, beauty and powers in sight of all!
I know thy Name that shineth forth in heaven; I know thy forms 2 as
well; I know thy tree; 3 I know thy wood as well.
I know thee, Hermes, who thou art, and whence thou art, and what thy city is.
I know thy names in the Egyptian tongue, and thy true name as it is
written on the holy tablet in the holy place at Hermes’ city, where
thou dost have thy birth.
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I know thee, Hermes, and thou [knowest] me; [and] I am thou, and thou art I.
Come unto me; fulfil all that I crave; be favourable to me together
with good fortune and the blessing of the Good.
“Hermes, lord of the world, who’re in the heart,
O circle of Selene, spherical
And square, the founder of thc words of speech,
Pleader of justice’s cause, garbed in a mantle
With winged sandals, turning airy course I
Beneath earth’s depths, who hold the spirit’s reins,
O eye of Helios, O mighty one,
Founder of full-voiced spcech, who with your lamps
Give joy to those beneath earth’s depths, to mortals
Who’ve finished life. The prophet of events
And Dream divine you’re said to be, who send
Forth oracles by day and night; you cure
All pains of mortals with your healing cares.
Hither, O blessed onc, O mighty son
Of Memory, I who brings full mental powers,
In your own form both graciously appear
And graciously render the task for me,
A pious man, and render your form gracious”
Ares
“] Divinely-born gods! Hear now as I pour forth libations for
blessings upon our kindred. Never may the wanton lord of war,
insatiate of battle-cry, Ares, who reaps a human harvest in alien
fields, (your request here) and cast a vote in my favor, suppliants
in the name of Zeus. Therefore let there fly forth from our
overshadowed lips a prayer of gratitude. Never may pestilence empty
this city of its men nor strife stain the soil of the land with the
blood of slain inhabitants. But may the flower of its youth be
unplucked, and may Ares, the partner of Aphrodite’s bed, he who makes
havoc of men, not shear off their bloom. And let no murderous havoc
come upon the realm to ravage it, by arming Ares–foe to the dance and
lute, parent of tears–and the shout of civil strife.”
-Aeschylus, Suppliant women
Dionysus
“Let us chant the king who loves the call of Euhoe, the King Eiraphiotes,
Tender-haired, rustic, much besung, fair of form,
Boeotian, Bromius, reveller, with vine-leaves in his hair,
Merry, productive, slayer of giants, the laugher,
Son of Zeus, twice-born, son of the Dithyramb, Dionysus,
Euius, with lovely locks, rich in vines, awaker of revels,
Jealous, very wrathful, envious, bestower of envy,
Gentle, sweet drinker, sweet-voiced, cozener,
Thracian, thyrsus-bearing, boon-companion, lion-hearted,
Slayer of Indians, desirable, twiner of violets, hierophant,
Reveller, horned, ivy-crowned, noisy,
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Lydian, lord of the wine-press, dispeller of care,
Healer of sorrow, mystic, frenzied, giver of wine, thousand-shaped,
God of the night, shepherd-god, fawn-like, clothed in fawn-skin,
Spear-thrower, common to all, giver of guests, yellow-haired,
Prone to anger, stout of heart, lover of the mountain shade, wanderer
on the mountains,
Deep drinker, wanderer, wearer of many garlands, constant reveller,
Mind-breaker, slender, wrinkled, clad in sheep-skin,
Leaper, satyr, son of Semele,
Jovial, bull-faced, slayer of Tyrrhenians, swift to wrath,
Chaser of sleep, liquid, hymeneal, dweller in the woods,
Mad for wild beasts, terrible, laughter-loving, wanderer,
Golden-horned, graceful, relaxer of the mind, golden-filleted,
Disturber of the soul, liar, bent on noise, tearer of the soul,
Seasonable, eater of raw flesh, nurtured on the mountains, making
clamour on the mountains.
Let us chant the King who loves the call of Euhoe, the King Eiraphiotes.”
-Number 525, the Greek anthology
The Bacchanals http://www.theoi.com/Text/TheocritusIdylls5.html#26
Demeter
“Khaire Demeter, you who taught us to work the earth and provides for
us so bountifully…
Demeter first turned the earth with the curved plough; She
first gave corn
and crops to bless the land; She first gave laws; all things
are Demeter’s gift.
Of Demeter I must sing. Oh that my song may hymn the Goddess’
praise as
She deserves, a Goddess who deserved high hymns of praise.”
-Ovid, Metamorphosis 5
http://www.theoi.com/Text/CallimachusHymns2.html#6
Hestia:
“Zeus, the mighty lord, holding the reins of a winged chariot, leads
the way in heaven, ordering all and taking care of all; and there
follows him the array of gods and demigods, marshalled in eleven
bands; Hestia alone abides at home in the house of heaven; of the rest
they who are reckoned among the princely twelve march in their
appointed order.”
“Holy Queen of Sanctity,
we hymn you, Hestia, whose abiding realm
is Olympus and the middle point of earth
and the Delphic laurel tree!
You dance around Apollo’s towering temple
rejoicing both in the tripod’s mantic voices
and when Apollo sounds the seven strings
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of his golden phorminx and, with you,
sings the praises of the feasting gods.
We salute you, daughter of Kronos
and Rhea, who alone brings firelight
to the sacred altars of the gods;
Hestia, reward our prayer, grant
wealth obtained in honesty: then we shall always
dance around your glistening throne.”
Aphrodite
“Hail, Paphian goddess! For all mortals,
Whose lives are but a day, pay honor always
To your power, your immortal beauty,
And your majesty which breeds desire,
In all their beauteous words and beauteous works.
For you make known the honor you possess
To everyone, and everywhere on Earth.”
“A CELEBRATED royal fount I sing,
From foam begotten, and of Loves the spring,
Those winged, deathless powers, whose gen’ral sway
In diff’rent modes all mortal tribes obey.
With mental darts some pierce the god-like soul,
And freedom rouse unconscious of control;
That anxious hence the centre to explore
Which leads on high from matter’s stormy shore,
The ardent soul may meditate her flight,
And view their mother’s palaces of light.
But others, watchful of their father’s will,
Attend his councils and his laws fulfil,
His bounteous providence o’er all extend,
And strengthen generation without end.
And others last, the most inferior kind,
Preside o’er marriage, and its contracts bind,
Intent a race immortal to supply
From man calamitous and doomed to die.
While all Cythera’s high commands obey,
And bland attention to her labours pay.
O venerable goddess! hear my prayer,
For nought escapes thine universal ear:
Whether t’embrace the mighty heav’n is thine,
And send the world from thence a soul divine;
Or whether, seated in th’aetherial plain
Above these seven-fold starry orbs you reign,
Imparting to our ties, with bounteous mind,
A power untamed, a vigour unconfined;—
Hear me, O goddess, and my life defend,
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With labours sad, and anxious for their end;
Transfix my soul with darts of holy fire,
And avert the flames of base desire.”
“Immortal Aphrodite of the shimmering thone, daughter of Zeus, weaver
of wiles, I pray thee crush not my spirit with anguish and distress, O
Queen. But come hither if ever before thou didst hear my voice afar,
and hearken, and leaving the golden house of thy father, camest with
chariot yoked, and swift birds drew thee, their swift pinions
fluttering over the dark earth, from heaven through mid-space. Quickly
they arrived; and thou blessed one with immortal countenance smiling
didst ask: What now is befallen me and why now I call and what I in my
heart’s madness, most desire. What fair one now wouldst thou draw to
love thee? Who wrongs thee (your name here)? For even if she flies she
shall soon follow and if she rejects gifts, shall soon offer them and
if she loves not shall soon love, however reluctant. Come I pray thee
now and release me from cruel cares, and let my heart accomplish all
that it desires, and be thou my ally.”
http://www.sacred-texts.com/cla/usappho/sph02.htm
THEE, Aphrodite, royal Lycian queen, I sing,
To whom of old by deity inspired,
Our country’s guides, a sacred temple raised
In Lycia; of the intellectual rites
Symbolical, which linked in Hymen’s bands
Celestial Venus and the god of fire.
Olympian hence they called thee, by whose power
They oft avoided death’s destructive ire,
To virtue looking; and from fertile beds
Through thee, an offspring provident and strong
Rose into light; while all their days were crowned
With gentle peace, the source of tranquil bliss.
Illustrious queen! benignantly accept
The grateful tribute of this sacred hymn,
For we from Lycian blood derive our birth.
Expell base passions from my wand’ring soul,
And once more raise her to true beauty’s light;
Averting far the irritation dire,
And rage insane, of earth-begotten love.”
Artemis
“Hail to thee Maiden blest
Proudest and holiest
Zeus’ Daughter great in bliss
Leto born Artemis Hail to thee
Maiden far
Fairest of all that are
Yea and most high thine home
Child of the Father’s hall Hear
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O most virginal
Hear O most fair of all
In high Zeus’ golden dome”
Hymn to Artemis by Kallimachus
http://www.theoi.com/Text/CallimachusHymns1.html#3
Herakles
“No songs of Apollo now
Even if throned Urania
Launches my gold pierian craft
And cargoes her holds
With hymns that game the god
Now on the hebrus’ blooming banks
He leaps to the hunt or delights
In the lilt of the lithe-neck swane
But soon you’ll come
For the burst of paeans
Lord Apollo of Pytho
All the dancers of Delphi
Pour before your radiant shrine
Till then I sing Amphitryon’s son
Gutting Oechalia’s ribs with fire
Heracles craver of daring, came
To a cape where waves thrash
And was just devoting his loot
Nine bellowing bulls
To Cenean Zeus
Who racks clouds
A pair to the scourge
Of sea and earth
And to virgin Athena
With sharp glance
An immaculate
Steephorn ox
When a dooming god wove tight
A perplexing web to snare Deianeira
Caught up in the terrible knowledge
That Zeus’ unassailalble song
Had brightarm Iole sent
To his polished halls as a bride
What a plat the desperate
Starcrossed girl devised
Ineluctable envy laid her low
And the blinding veil that maks the future
When on the rosy verge of Evenus
She stooped to a centaur’s marvel
Hymns to Multiple Olympians
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“These are the gods I place in the beginning of my prayer. And Pallas
who stands before the temple3 is honored in my words; and I worship
the Nymphs where the Corycian4 rock is hollow, the delight of birds
and haunt of gods. Bromius has held the region—I do not forget
him—ever since he, as a god, led the Bacchantes in war, and contrived
for Pentheus death as of a hunted hare. I call on the streams of
Pleistus and the strength of Poseidon, and highest Zeus, the
Fulfiller; and then I take my seat as prophetess upon my throne. And
may they allow me now to have the best fortune, far better than on my
previous entrances. And if there are any from among the Hellenes here,
let them enter, in turn, by lot, as is the custom. For I prophesy as
the god leads.”
“First, in this prayer of mine, I give the place of highest honor
among the gods to the first prophet, Earth; and after her to Themis,
for she was the second to take this oracular seat of her mother, as
legend tells. And in the third allotment, with Themis’ consent and not
by force, another Titan, child of Earth, Phoebe, took her seat here.
She gave it as a birthday gift to Phoebus, who has his name from
Phoebe. Leaving the lake1 and ridge of Delos, he landed on Pallas’
ship-frequented shores, and came to this region and the dwelling
places on Parnassus. The children of Hephaistos,2 road-builders taming
the wildness of the untamed land, escorted him with mighty reverence.
And at his arrival, the people and Delphus, helmsman and lord of this
land, made a great celebration for him. Zeus inspired his heart with
prophetic skill and established him as the fourth prophet on this
throne; but Loxias is the spokesman of Zeus, his father.”
-Oresteia, Aeschylus
“Gracious and favorable to the land, come here, venerable goddesses,
with flame-fed torch, rejoicing as you go—cry aloud now in echo to our
song! Peace endures for all time between Pallas’ citizens and these
new dwellers here. Zeus who sees all and Fate have come down to lend
aid—cry aloud now in echo to our song!”
-Oresteia, Aeschylus
Invocation to Apollon and Kalliope
“Sing for me, dear Muse,
begin my tuneful strain;
a breeze blow from your groves
to stir my listless brain.
Skilful Calliope,
leader of the delightsome Muses,
and skilful instructor,
son of Leto, Delian Paian,
favour and be with me.”
Gaia
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“Gaia, the beautiful, rose up,
Broad blossomed, she that is the steadfast base
Of all things. And fair Gaia first bore
The starry Heaven, equal to herself,
To cover her on all sides and to be
A home forever for the blessed Gods.”
“O eternal Createress of gods and men, who bringest into being rivers
and forests and seeds of life throughout the world, the handiwork of
Prometheus and the stones of Pyrrha, thou who first didst give
nourishment and varied food to famished men, who dost encompass and
bear up the sea; in thy power is the gentle race of cattle and the
anger of wild beasts and the repose of birds; round thee, firm,
steadfast strength of the unfailing universe, as thou hangest in the
empty air the rapid frame of heaven and either chariot doth wheel, O
middle of the world, unshared by the mighty brethren
Therefore art thou bountiful to so many races, so many lofty cities
and peoples, while from above and from beneath thou art
all-sufficient, and with no effort carriest thyself star-bearing Atlas
who staggers under the weight of the celestial realm.”
Nyx
“O Nyx who castest thy mantle over the toiling earth and heaven, and
sendest the fiery stars on their divers roaming courses, gracious
refresher of the mind, till the next sun shed blithe upspringing upon
faint mortality, thou, kindly Nox . . . Ever shall this house
throughout the circling periods of the year hold thee high in honour
and in worship; black bulls of chosen beauty shall pay thee sacrifice,
O goddess! And Hephaistos’ fire shall eat the lustral entrails,
where-o’er the new milk streams.”
Hypnos
“O youthful Hypnos, gentlest of the gods, by what crime or error of
mine have I deserved that I alone should lack thy bounty? Silent are
all the cattle, and the wild beasts and the birds, and the curved
mountain summits have the semblance of weary slumber, nor do the
raging torrents roar as they were wont; the ruffled waves have sunk to
rest, and the sea leans against earth’s bosom and is still. Seven
times now hath the returning moon beheld my fixed and ailing eyes; so
often have the lights of Oeta and Paphos [i.e. the morning & evening
star] revisited me, so oft hath Tithonia [Aurora-Eos, the Dawn] passed
by my groans, and pitying sprinkled me with her cool whip [the whip
with which she chases away the stars]. Ah! how may I endure? Not if I
had the thousand eyes of sacred Argus, which he kept but in alternate
watchfulness, nor even waked in all his frame at once. But now–ah,
me!–if some lover through the long hours of night is clasping a
girl’s entwining arms, and of his own will drives thee from him, come
thence, O Hypnos! Nor do I bid thee shower all the influence of thy
wings upon my eyes–that be the prayer of happier folk!–touch me but
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with thy wand’s extremest tip–’tis enough–or pass over me with
lightly hovering step.”
-Silvae, Publius Papinius Statius
Helios
“O Lord Helios and Sacred Fire
The spear of Hekate of the Crossroads
Which she bears as she travels Olympus
And dwells in the triple ways of the holy land
She who is crowned with oak-leaves
And the coils of wild serpents.”
“Let the heavens be silent,
the earth, the sea, the winds.
Mountains, valleys, echoes
and the sons of birds, keep silent!
Phoebus of the long and beauteous hair is coming.
Father of the dawn, with eye of dazzling white,
you, with the glorious golden tresses,
lead your rosy chariot along the limitless roads of the sky,
following the winged footprints of the steeds,
intertwining your curling rays,
surrounding the whole earth with your resplendent light.
Your rivers of immortal fire give life to the smiling day.
For your, the imperturbable chorus of stars dances on Olympus
accompanying their free melody on Phoebus’ lyre;
and in front, the pale Moon leads the rhythmic times
of the seasons by the cadenced movement of white calves.
Your benevolent spirit rejoices in turning the myriad-robed earth.”
“Rejoice with me, You who are set over the East Wind and the World,
for whom all the Gods serve as Body-Guards at Your Good Hour and on
Your Good Day, You who are the Good Daimon (God) of the World, the
Crown of the Inhabited World, You who arise from the Abyss, You who
Each Day rise a Young Man and set an Old Man. I beg You, Lord, do not
allow me to be Over-Thrown, to be Plotted Against, to receive
Dangerous Drugs, to go into Exile, to fall upon Hard Times. Rather, I
ask to obtain and receive from You Life, Health, Reputation, Wealth,
Influence, Strength, Success, Charm, Favor with all Men and all Women,
Victory over all Men and all Women. Yes, Lord, accomplish this Matter
which I want, by means of Your Power.”
“I invoke You, the Greatest God, Eternal Lord, World Ruler, who are
over the World and under the World, Mighty Ruler of the Sea, rising at
Dawn, shining from the East for the Whole World, setting in the West.
Come to me, Thou who risest from the Four Winds, benevolent and lucky
Agathos Daimon, for whom Heaven has become the Processional Way. I
call upon Your Holy and Great and Hidden Names which You rejoice to
hear. The Earth flourished when You shone forth, and the Plants became
fruitful when you laughed; the Animals begat their Young when You
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permitted. Give Glory and Honor and Favor and Fortune and Power to
this, NN, Stone which I consecrate today (or to the Phylactery [charm]
being consecrated) for [or in relation to] NN. I invoke You, the
greatest in Heaven, the Shining Helios, giving Light throughout the
Whole World. You are the Great Serpent, Leader of all the Gods, who
control the Beginning of Egypt and the End of the Whole Inhabited
World, who mate in the Ocean. You are He who becomes Visible each Day
and Sets in the Northwest of Heaven, and Rises in the Southeast.
In the 1st Hour You have the Form of a Cat.
Give Glory and Favor to this Phylactery.
In the 2nd Hour You have the Form of a Dog.
Give Strength and Honor to this Phylactery, or to this Stone, and to [name].
In the 3rd Hour You have the Form of a Serpent.
Give Honor to the God [name].
In the 4th Hour You have the Form of a Scarab.
Mightily strengthen this Phylactery in this Night, for the Work for
which it is consecrated.
In the 5th Hour You have the Form of a Donkey.
Give Strength and Courage and Power to the God, [name].
In the 6th Hour You have the Form of a Lion, the Ruler of Time.
Give Success to this Phylactery and Glorious Victory.
In the 7th Hour You have the Form of a Goat.
Give Sexual Charm to this Ring (or to this Phylactery, or to this Engraving).
In the 8th Hour You have the Form of a Bull, who becomes visible everywhere.
Let all Things done by the use of this Stone be accomplished.
In the 9th Hour You have the Form of a Falcon, the Lotus Emerged From the Abyss.
Give Success and Good Luck to this Phylactery.
In the 10th Hour You have the Form of a Baboon.
[Prayer for gift omitted?]
In the 11th Hour You have the Form of an Ibis.
Protect this great Phylactery for Lucky Use by [name], from this
Present Day for All Time.
In the 12th Hour You have the Form of a Crocodile.
You who have set at Evening as an Old Man, who are over the World and
under the World, Mighty Ruler of the Sea, hear my Voice in this
Present Day, in this Night, in these Holy Hours, and let all done by
this Stone, or for this Phylactery, be brought to fulfillment, and
especially NN matter for which I consecrate It. Please, Lord! I
conjure Earth and Heaven and Light and Darkness and the Great God who
created All, SAROUSIN, You, Agathon Daimon the Helper, to accomplish
for me everything done by the Use of this Ring or Stone!”
Pan:
“We revere PanPan, who climbs the precipicesPan, who bears two hornsPan, leader of the NymphsPan, who cares for this house carved from rock;
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We pray that he be gracious to all of us
Who have come to this spring of ever-flowing water
And driven our thirst away”
“To Pan, leader of the naiad nymphs, I raise my song, pride of the
golden choruses, lord of the frivolous music; from his far-sounding
flute he pours an inspirited seductive melody; he steps lightly to the
song, leaping through the shadowy grottoes, displaying his multiform
body, beautiful dancer, beautiful face, resplendent with blond beard.
As far as starry Olympus comes the panic echo, pervading the company
of the Olympian gods with an immortal Muse. The whole earth and the
sea are stirred by your grace; you are the prop of all, Ο Pan, Ah
Pan.”
Invocation to Selene-Hecate—Artemis
“Come to me, O Beloved Mistress, Three-faced
Selene; kindly hear my Sacred Chants;
Night’s Ornament, young, bringing Light to Mortals,
O Child of Morn who ride upon the Fierce Bulls,
O Queen who drive Your Car on Equal Course
With Helios, who with the Triple Forms
Of Triple Graces dance in Revel with
The Stars. You’re Justice and the Moira’s Threads:
Klotho and Lachesis and Atropos
Three-headed, You’re Persephone, Megaira,
Allekto, Many-Formed, who arm Your Hands
With Dreaded, Murky Lamps, who shake Your Locks
Of fearful Serpents on Your Brow, who sound
The Roar of Bulls out from Your Mouths, whose Womb
Is decked out with the Scales of Creeping Things,
With Pois’nous Rows of Serpents down the Back,
Bound down Your Backs with Horrifying Chains
Night-Crier, Bull-faced, loving Solitude,
Bull-headed, You have Eyes of Bulls, the Voice
Of Dogs; You hide Your Forms in Shanks of Lions,
Your Ankle is Wolf-shaped, Fierce Dogs are dear
To You, wherefore they call You Hekate,
Many-named, Mene, cleaving Air just like
Dart-shooter Artemis, Persephone,
Shooter of Deer, night shining, triple-sounding,
Triple-headed, triple-voiced Selene
Triple-pointed, triple-faced, triple-necked,
And Goddess of the Triple Ways, who hold
Untiring Flaming Fire in Triple Baskets,
And You who oft frequent the Triple Way
And rule the Triple Decades, unto me
Who’m calling You be gracious and with Kindness
Give Heed, You who protect the Spacious World
At night, before whom Daimons quake in Fear
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And Gods Immortal tremble, Goddess who
Exalt Men, You of Many Names, who bear
Fair Offspring, Bull-eyed, Horned, Mother of Gods
And Men, and Nature, Mother of All Things,
For You frequent Olympos, and the broad
And boundless Chasm You traverse. Beginning
And End are You, and You Alone rule All.
For All Things are from You, and in You do
All Things, Eternal One, come to their End.
As Everlasting Band around Your Temples
You wear Great Kronos’ Chains, unbreakable
And unremovable, and You hold in
Your Hands a Golden Scepter. Letters ’round
Your Scepter Kronos wrote Himself and gave
To You to wear that All Things stay steadfast:
Subduer and subdued, Mankind’s Subduer,
And Force-subduer; Chaos, too, You rule.
Hail, Goddess, and attend Your Epithets,
I burn for You this Spice, O Child of Zeus,
Dart-shooter, Heav’nly One, Goddess of Harbors,
Who roam the Mountains, Goddess of Crossroads,
O Nether and Nocturnal, and Infernal,
Goddess of Dark, Quiet and Frightful One,
O You who have Your Meal amid the Graves,
Night, Darkness, Broad Chaos: Necessity
Hard to escape are You; You’re Moira and
Erinys, Torment, Justice and Destroyer,
And You keep Kerberos in Chains, with Scales
Of Serpents are You dark, O You with Hair
Of Serpents, Serpent-girded, who drink Blood,
Who bring Death and Destruction, and who feast
On Hearts, Flesh Eater, who devour Those Dead
Untimely, and You who make Grief resound
And spread Madness, come to my Sacrifices,
And now for me do You fulfill this Matter.”
Hecate
“Asteria of happy name, whom Perses once led to his great house to be
called his dear wife. And she conceived and bare Hekate (Hecate) whom
Zeus the son of Kronos (Cronus) honoured above all. He gave her
splendid gifts, to have a share of the earth and the unfruitful sea.
She received honour also in starry heaven, and is honoured exceedingly
by the deathless gods. For to this day, whenever any one of men on
earth offers rich sacrifices and prays for favour according to custom,
he calls upon Hekate. Great honour comes full easily to him whose
prayers the goddess receives favourably, and she bestows wealth upon
him; for the power surely is with her. For as many as were born of
Gaia (Gaea, the Earth) and Ouranos (Uranus, Heaven) [i.e. the Titanes]
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amongst all these she has her due portion. The son of Kronos did her
no wrong nor took anything away of all that was her portion among the
former Titan gods : but she holds, as the division was at the first
from the beginning, privilege both in earth, and in heaven, and in
sea. Also, because she is an only child, the goddess receives not less
honour, but much more still, for Zeus honours her. Whom she will she
greatly aids and advances : she sits by worshipful kings in judgement,
and in the assembly whom she will is distinguished among the people.
And when men arm themselves for the battle that destroys men, then the
goddess is at hand to give victory and grant glory readily to whom she
will. Good is she also when men contend at the games, for there too
the goddess is with them and profits them : and he who by might and
strength gets the victory wins the rich prize easily with joy, and
brings glory to his parents. And she is good to stand by horsemen,
whom she will : and to those whose business is in the grey
discomfortable sea, and who pray to Hekate and the loud-crashing
Earth-Shaker [Poseidon], easily the glorious goddess gives great
catch, and easily she takes it away as soon as seen, if so she will.
She is good in the byre with Hermes to increase the stock. The droves
of kine and wide herds of goats and flocks of fleecy sheep, if she
will, she increases from a few, or makes many to be less. So, then.
albeit her mother’s only child, she is honoured amongst all the
deathless gods. And the son of Kronos made her a nurse of the young
who after that day saw with their eyes the light of all-seeing Eos
(the Dawn). So from the beginning she is a nurse of the young
(kourotrophos), and these are her honours.”
The Muses:
“O Divine Poesy
Goddess-daughter of Zeus,
Sustain for me
This song of the various-minded man,
Who after he had plundered
The innermost citadel of hallowed Troy
Was made to stray grievously
About the coasts of men,
The sport of their customs good or bad,
While his heart
Through all the seafaring
Ached in an agony to redeem himself
And bring his company safe home.
Vain hope – for them!
For his fellows he strove in vain,
Their own witlessness cast them away;
The fools,
To destroy for meat
The oxen of the most exalted sun!
Wherefore the sun-god blotted out
The day of their return.
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Make the tale live for us
In all its many bearings,
O Muse.”
“You glorious children of Memory and Olympian Zeus, Muses of Pieria,
hear me as I pray. Grant me from the blessed gods prosperity, and
from all mankind the possession ever of good repute; and that I may
thus be a delight to my friends, and an affliction to my foes, by the
first revered, by the others beheld with dread. Wealth I do desire to
possess, but to gain it unjustly I have no wish; without fail in
after-time comes retribution.
The wealth that the gods give stays with a man firm-planted from
bottom-most foundation to summit; whereas that which men pursue
through arrogance comes not in orderly wise, but, under constraint of
unjust deeds, against her will she follows; and swiftly is ruin
mingled therewith.
The beginning, as of a fire, arises from little; negligible at first,
in its end it is without remedy; the works of men’s arrogance have no
long life. Zeus watches over the end of all things; and all at once,
like a wind, that suddenly scatters the clouds, a wind of spring, that
having stirred the deeps of the many-billowed unharvested sea, and
razed the fair works of husbandry over the wheat-bearing earth,
reaches the abode of the gods, the lofty sky, and makes it bright
again to behold; and the sun in his might shines fair over the rich
earth, and no longer is any cloud to be seen — such is the retribution
of Zeus.
Not over single happenings, like a mortal, does he show himself swift
to wrath; yet no man who has a sinful heart escapes his eye for ever;
in the end without fail he is brought to light. But one man pays the
penalty straightaway, another at a later time; and if the offenders
themselves escape, and the fate of the gods in its oncoming alight not
on them, yet it comes without fail at another time; the innocent pay
for those deeds, either the children or the generations that come
after.
We mortals, good and bad alike, think thus — each one has a good
opinion of himself, before he comes to grief; then at once he begins
to lament; but up to that moment in gaping folly we gloat over our
vain hopes. The man who is crushed by cruel disease sets his thought
on the hope of becoming well. Another who is a coward thinks himself a
brave man, and the uncomely man thinks himself handsome. The needy
man, whom the works of poverty constrain, thinks that he will
assuredly win great wealth.
One man spends his effort in one direction, another in another. One
wanders over the sea, home of fishes, striving to bring back gain in
ships, borne along by the fierce winds, having no mercy on his life.
Another, one of those whose business is with curved plows, cleaves
the earth rich in trees, doing service throughout the year. Another,
skilled in the works of Athene and Hephaistos the able craftsman,
collects a living by means of his two hands.
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Another, trained in the gifts of the Olympian Muses, has knowledge of
lovely poesy’s measure.
Another the Lord Apollo, worker from afar, has appointed to be a seer,
and he if he be one whom the gods accompany, discerns the distant evil
coming upon a man; yet that which is fated assuredly neither omen of
bird nor of victim shall avert. Others, who follow the profession of
Paion, god of medicines, are physicians; and for their work, too, no
certain issue is set; often from a slight pain comes great suffering,
nor can any one relieve it by the giving of soothing medicines; again,
when a man is afflicted with disease fell and fierce, by a touch of
his hands at once the physician makes him whole.
Truly, Fate brings to mortals both evil and good; the gifts of the
immortal gods may not be declined. In every kind of activity there is
risk, and no man can tell, when a thing is beginning, what way it is
destined to take. One man trying to do his work well, falls
unexpectedly into great and bitter ruin; to another who blunders in
his work the god grants good luck in everything, to save him from his
folly.
In wealth no limit is set up within man’s view; those of us who now
have the largest fortune are doubling our efforts; what amount would
satisfy the greed of all? Gain is granted to mankind by the
immortals; but from it arises disastrous Folly, and when Zeus sends
her to exact retribution, she comes now to this man, now to that.”
“A SACRED light I sing, which leads on high
Zeus nine famed daughters, ruler of the sky,
Whose splendours beaming o’er this sea of life,
On souls hard struggling with its storms of strife,
Through mystic rites perfective and refined,
(From books which stimulate the sluggish mind)
From earth’s dire evils leads them to that shore,
Where grief and labour can infest no more;
And well instructs them how, with ardent wing,
From Lethe’s deep, wide-spreading flood to spring,
And how once more their kindred stars to gain,
And ancient seats in truth’s immortal plain,
From whence they wand’ring fell, thro’ mad desire
Of matter’s regions and allotments dire.
In me this rage repress, illustrious Nine!
And fill my mental eye with light divine.
Oh may the doctrines of the wise inspire
My soul with sacred Bacchanalian fire,
Lest men, with filthy piety replete,
From paths of beauteous light divert my feet.
Conduct my erring soul to sacred light,
From wand’ring generation’s stormy night:
Wise thro’ your volumes hence, the task be mine,
To sing in praise of eloquence divine,
Whose soothing power can charm the troubled soul,
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And throbbing anguish and despair control.
Hear, splendid goddesses, of bounteous mind,
To whom the helm of wisdom is assigned,
And who the soul with all-attractive flame
Lead to the blest immortals whence she came,
From night profound enabling her to rise,
Forsake dull earth, and gain her native skies,
And with unclouded splendour fill the mind,
By rites ineffable of hymns refin’d.
Hear, mighty saviours! and with holy light,
While reading works divine illume my sight,
And dissipate these mists, that I may learn
Immortal gods from mortals to discern;
Lest, plunged in drowsy Lethe’s black abyss,
Some baneful daemon keep my soul from bliss;
And lest deep merged in Hyle’s stormy mire,
Her powers reluctant suffer tortures dire,
And some chill Fury with her freezing chain,
In ling’ring lethargy my life detain.
All-radiant governors of wisdom’s light,
To me now hast’ning from the realms of night,
And ardent panting for the coast of day,
Thro’ sacred rites benignant point the way,
And mystic knowledge of my view disclose,
Since this for ever from your nature flows.”
“”Oh, come now, Muses,
and go to the craggy sacred place
upon the far-seen, twin-peaked Parnassus,
celebrated and dear to us, Pierian maidens.
Repose on the snow-clad mountain top;
celebrate the Pythian Lord
with the goldensword, Phoebus,
whom Leto bore unassisted
on the Delian rock surrounded by silvery olives,
the luxuriant plant
which the Goddess Pallas
long ago brought forth.”
“Hail, children of Zeus, and give me lovely song; glorify the sacred
race of the immortals
who always are, those who were born from Earth and starry Sky, and
from dark Night,
and those whom salty Pontus (Sea) nourished. Tell how in the first
place gods and earth
were born, and rivers and the boundless sea seething with its swell,
and the shining
stars and the broad sky above, and those who were born from them, the
gods givers of
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good things; and how they divided their wealth and distributed their
honors, and also
how they first took possession of many-folded Olympus. These things
tell me from the
beginning, Muses who have your mansions on Olympus, and tell which one of them
was born first.”
“Come you holy maidens of Zeus
You muses nine who activate the decisions and the minds
Of men along wonderfully clear and luminous lines
When they are pitted against each other in tough and abstruse
Debate we invite you to come and admire the vigor and prowess
Of this couple of speakers, each of which is a master
Of handling enormous slabs of verg
As well as piddling chips of syllable look and observe
The mind minds that are about to commance”
Hesychia
“Hesychia, kind goddess of peace, daughter of Justice
and lady of the greatness of cities:
you who hold the high keys of wars and of councils,
accept for Aristomenes this train of Pythian victory.
For you understand, in strict measure of season,
deeds of gentleness and their experience likewise.
And you, when one fixes anger without pity fast in his heart,
are stern to encounter the strength of the hateful ones,
and sink pride in the bilge.”
Nemesis
“Nemesis, winged tilter of scales and lives,
Justice-spawned Goddess with steel-blue eyes!
Thou bridlest vain men who roil in vain
Against Thy harsh adamantine rein.
Great hater of hubris and megalomania,
Obliterator of black resentment,
By Thy trackless, churning, wracking wheel
Man’s glinting fortunes turn on earth.
Thou comest in oblivion’s cloak to bend
The grandeur-deluded rebel neck,
With forearm measuring out lifetimes
With brow frowning into the heart of man
And the yoke raised sovereign in Thy hand.
Hail in the highest, O justice-queen
Nemesis, winged tilter of scales and lives,
Immortal Resenter! I sing Thy song,
Almighty Payback on proud-spread wings,
Lieutenant of fairness, Requiter of wrongs.
Despise the lordly with all Thine art
And lay them low in the Nether-dark.”
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Pytho
“O golden Pytho, that art famed for thine oracles! I beseech thee, by
the Olympian Zeus, with the Graces and Aphrodite, to welcome me at
this sacred season as a prophet of the tuneful Pierides. For, beside
the water of Castalia, with its outlet of brass, I have no sooner
heard a sound of dancing reft of men, than I have come to relieve the
need of the townsmen, and of mine own honour.
I have obeyed my dear heart, even as a son obeyeth his kind mother,
and have come down to Apollo’s grove, the home of garlands and of
banquets, where, beside the shadowy centre of the earth, the maidens
of Delphi fiill often beat the ground with nimble step, while they
sing the son of Leto.
And, whence the strife of the immortals arose, of this the gods are
able to prompt sage poets; while, for mortal men, it is impossible to
find it.”
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April 29, 2018
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