Orphic Hymns · Hymn 04
Ouranos
Οὐρανοῦ
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 Heaven as the encompassing home of the Gods and guardian of the whole. Its final request is for a holy life for the new initiate.
Recite alone to establish reverence for the divine order that encompasses existence. It can accompany an established initiation or dedication rite as a prayer for the worshipper's life to accord with that order.
English hieratic rendering
Hymn 04 · An English rendering aligned with the Greek lines.
- O Ouranos, begetter of all, ever unwearied portion of the Cosmos,
- eldest in birth, beginning of all and ending of all,
- ruler of the Cosmos, wheeling as a sphere about the Earth,
- home of the blessed Gods, moving in the whirls of your circling course,
- guardian in aether and earth, enfolding all,
- holding in your breast the boundless Necessity of Nature,
- dark blue, unconquerable, everchanging, of manifold form,
- all seeing father of Kronos, blessed and supremely exalted Daimon,
- hear, and bring a holy life to the newly initiated worshipper.
Ancient Greek & pronunciation
Read the English pronunciation spelling directly below each Greek line.
- Οὐρανὲ παγγενέτορ, κόσμου μέρος αἰὲν ἀτειρές,oo-rah-NEH pahn-geh-NEH-tohr, KOH-zmoo MEH-rohs eh-EHN ah-tee-REHS,
- πρεσβυγένεθλ’, ἀρχὴ πάντων πάντων τε τελευτή,prehz-vee-YEH-nehthl’, ahr-HYEE PAHN-dohn PAHN-dohn teh teh-lehf-TEE,
- κοσμοκράτορ, σφαιρηδὸν ἑλισσόμενος περὶ γαῖαν,koh-zmoh-KRAH-tohr, sfeh-ree-DHOHN eh-lee-SOH-meh-nohs peh-REE YEH-ahn,
- οἶκε θεῶν μακάρων, ῥόμβου δίνησιν ὁδεύων,EE-keh theh-OHN mah-KAH-rohn, ROHM-voo DHEE-nee-seen oh-DHEH-vohn,
- αἰθέριος χθόνιός τε φύλαξ πάντων περιβληθείς,eh-THEH-ree-ohs KHTHOH-nee-OHS teh FEE-lahks PAHN-dohn peh-ree-vlee-THEES,
- ἐν στέρνοισιν ἔχων φύσεως ἄπλητον ἀνάγκην,ehn STEHR-nee-seen EH-khohn FEE-seh-ohs AH-plee-tohn ah-NAHN-geen,
- κυανόχρως, ἀδάμαστε, παναίολος, αἰολόμορφε,kee-ah-NOH-khrohs, ah-DHAH-mah-steh, pah-NEH-oh-lohs, eh-oh-LOH-mohr-feh,
- πανδερκές, Κρονότεκνε, μάκαρ, πανυπέρτατε δαῖμον,pahn-dhehr-KEHS, kroh-NOH-tehk-neh, MAH-kahr, pah-nee-PEHR-tah-teh DHEH-mohn,
- κλῦθ’ ἐπάγων ζωὴν ὁσίην μύστῃ νεοφάντῃ.KLEETH’ eh-PAH-ghohn zoh-EEN oh-SEE-een MEE-stee neh-oh-FAHN-dee.
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
Ouranos surrounds the world yet bears Nature's Necessity within his breast. The hymn connects the vast circular movement of Heaven with the particular life of the initiate who asks to live in holiness.
Ancient offering rubric: Frankincense.
Textual note
Line 5 follows Abel's αἰθέριος, of the aether, rather than the recorded οὐράνιος variant. Κρονότεκνε in line 8 means father or begetter of Kronos here; it is not rendered as child of Kronos.
Text and attribution
Greek text: Eugenius Abel, Orphica (1885), printed pages 60. 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 124069; 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.