Orphic Hymns · Hymn 01
Hekate
Εἰς Ἑκάτην
Prayer and ritual
These hymns may be spoken as complete prayers to the Gods. Within the Temple’s practice, a ritual is a direct theurgical act; hymnody gathers the mind and turns it toward the Divine, helping the initiate enter reverent communion with the Gods.
Use a hymn on its own in place of another prayer, or add it to the prayer portion of a suitable ritual. Choose according to the deity addressed and the petition expressed in the hymn. When combining them, preserve the ritual’s prescribed sequence and let the hymn give voice to its purpose.
The petition of this hymn
Prayer to Hekate as guide at thresholds, keeper of cosmic keys, and nurturer of the young. It asks her favourable presence among those celebrating the holy mysteries.
Use alone when seeking her guidance and benevolent presence at a threshold or transition. Alongside an established rite of Hekate, it may accompany preparation or entry, directing attention to her guardianship of roads and sacred boundaries.
English hieratic rendering
Hymn 01 · An English rendering aligned with the Greek lines.
- I proclaim Hekate of the ways, of the threefold crossroads, shrouded in darkness,
- heavenly, earthly, and of the sea, clothed in saffron,
- of the tombs, celebrating Bacchic rites among the souls of the dead,
- daughter of Perses, lover of solitude, rejoicing in deer,
- of the night, attended by hounds, irresistible Queen,
- crying with the wild beasts, ungirt, whose form none can withstand,
- Tauropolos, the Lady who holds the keys of all the Cosmos,
- guide, Nymph, nurturer of the young, who roams the mountains.
- I beseech the Maiden to be present at the holy rites,
- favouring the sacred herdsman with a heart forever joyful.
Ancient Greek & pronunciation
Read the English pronunciation spelling directly below each Greek line.
- Εἰνοδίαν Ἑκάτην κλῄζω, τριοδῖτιν, ἐρεμνήν,ee-noh-DHEE-ahn eh-KAH-teen KLEE-zoh, tree-oh-DHEE-teen, eh-rehm-NEEN,
- οὐρανίην χθονίην τε καὶ εἰναλίην, κροκόπεπλον,oo-rah-NEE-een khthoh-NEE-een teh KEH ee-nah-LEE-een, kroh-KOH-peh-plohn,
- τυμβιδίην, ψυχαῖς νεκύων μεταβακχεύουσαν,teem-vee-DHEE-een, psee-HYEHS neh-KEE-ohn meh-tah-vahk-HYEH-voo-sahn,
- Πέρσειαν, φιλέρημον, ἀγαλλομένην ἐλάφοισι,PEHR-see-ahn, fee-LEH-ree-mohn, ah-ghah-loh-MEH-neen eh-LAH-fee-see,
- νυκτερίαν, σκυλακῖτιν, ἀμαιμάκετον βασίλειαν,neek-teh-REE-ahn, skee-lah-KEE-teen, ah-meh-MAH-keh-tohn vah-SEE-lee-ahn,
- θηρόβρομον, ἄζωστον, ἀπρόσμαχον εἶδος ἔχουσαν,thee-ROH-vroh-mohn, AH-zoh-stohn, ah-PROH-zmah-khohn EE-dhohs EH-khoo-sahn,
- ταυροπόλον, παντὸς κόσμου κλῃδοῦχον ἄνασσαν,tah-vroh-POH-lohn, pahn-DOHS KOH-zmoo klee-DHOO-khohn AH-nah-sahn,
- ἡγεμόνην, νύμφην, κουροτρόφον, οὐρεσιφοῖτιν,ee-yeh-MOH-neen, NEEM-feen, koo-roh-TROH-fohn, oo-reh-see-FEE-teen,
- λισσόμενος κούρην τελεταῖς ὁσίῃσι παρεῖναιlee-SOH-meh-nohs KOO-reen teh-leh-TEHS oh-SEE-ee-see pah-REE-neh
- βουκόλῳ εὐμενέουσαν ἀεὶ κεχαρηότι θυμῷ.voo-KOH-loh ehv-meh-NEH-oo-sahn ah-EE keh-khah-ree-OH-tee thee-MOH.
Short sound guide for English speakers
Every line beneath the Greek uses English pronunciation spellings. Say each hyphenated syllable in sequence and emphasize the syllable in CAPITALS. For example, οὐρανόθεν is oo-rah-NOH-thehn. Read adjacent vowels separately: theh-AH has two syllables; oo-rah-NEE-een has four. Hyphens guide the voice; they do not mark pauses.
| Spelling | Sound to make |
|---|---|
| ah · eh · ee · oh · oo | father · met · see · go without its final glide · moon. Keep these vowels clear in unstressed syllables too. |
| th · dh | The unvoiced th in thin · the voiced th in this. Thus DHEE begins with the sound in “thee.” |
| kh | The ch in Scottish loch or German Bach: let air pass at the back of the mouth, without closing it into a k. |
| hy | The breathy beginning of a carefully spoken Hugh. Raise the middle of the tongue toward the roof of the mouth and let air pass without voice. In shy, sound s followed by hy; do not use the English sh sound or the English word “shy.” |
| gh | Make the kh sound above, then add voice. Keep the passage open; this is a flowing sound, not a hard g. |
| y · g | y as in yes, with gentle friction · always a hard g as in get. |
| r | Tap the tongue lightly behind the upper teeth, or use a light roll. |
| ks · ps | Sound both consonants, even at the beginning of a word: ks as in backs, ps as in lips. |
| n-g · m-b · n-d | Sound the nasal and the following consonant. In AHN-geh-leh, the n-g group is like finger, with the g audible. |
Always sound s as in hiss, even at the end of DHEE-kees; z is voiced, as in zero. All other consonants have their usual English sounds. Initial consonant groups may be unfamiliar: sound every written consonant, without inserting an extra vowel. A word without capitals carries no written stress in the Greek. Where two syllables have capitals, both written accents are retained. An apostrophe marks a vowel already elided in the Greek; do not add it back. A hyphen at the end of a Greek verse joins the unfinished word to the next verse.
These spellings follow the Modern Greek liturgical reading used throughout this library. Breathings and iota subscripts are silent; separately pronounced vowels remain separate. The few Greek consonants without an exact English equivalent use the sound cues above. Ancient vowel length, pitch accent and metre are not reconstructed.
Hymn notes
Sacred meaning
The hymn joins heaven, earth, sea, tombs, mountains, and the ways under Hekate's guardianship. Her terrible and nurturing epithets belong to the same divine presence; its final prayer seeks that presence in joy and favour.
Textual note
The closing βουκόλος, literally herdsman, can carry an initiatory or cultic sense; the translation preserves that image as sacred herdsman. Tauropolos is retained as an epithet: its traditional explanations include worship at Tauris and associations with bulls, rather than one certain literal meaning.
Text and attribution
Greek text: Eugenius Abel, Orphica (1885), printed pages 58, 59. The text follows the printed main reading of this edition; source-specific variants are recorded where relevant. Read the digitised edition. Greek source. Wikisource transcription, revision 124059; checked and corrected against Abel’s print. The English hieratic rendering and suggested devotional use are new editorial work. The applications are guidance for this library, not additional lines of the ancient poem.