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Historical engraving showing winged Phanes emerging from an egg within the zodiac.
Historical engraving of the Modena relief of Phanes, reproduced in Arthur Bernard Cook’s Zeus.Public-domain scan of Cook, Zeus: A Study in Ancient Religion; Public domain. · Source · Public domain. Full image shown.

Orphic Hymns · Hymn 06

Protogonos

Πρωτογόνου

Orphic tradition · 11 lines · Protogonos, Phanes

InitiationCosmic orderWisdom

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 the firstborn divine source whose light dispels the dark mist from the eyes. It welcomes his joyful presence at the holy mysteries.

Recite as an independent prayer for sacred illumination. It may also accompany an established initiation or contemplative rite devoted to Phanes, keeping the hymn's final welcome to the revealer of the mysteries as its centre.

English hieratic rendering

Hymn 06 · An English rendering aligned with the Greek lines.

  1. I call upon Protogonos, of twofold nature, great wanderer of the aether,
  2. born from the egg, glorying in wings of gold,
  3. roaring as a bull, source of the blessed Gods and mortal humankind,
  4. seed held in great remembrance, rich in sacred rites, Erikepaios,
  5. unspeakable, hidden, rushing with a whir, scion shining upon all,
  6. who scattered from the eyes their darksome mist,
  7. whirling everywhere through the Cosmos with the beat of your wings,
  8. bringing brilliant, holy light; therefore I call you Phanes,
  9. and sovereign Priapos, and Antauges of the flashing eyes.
  10. But, blessed one, of many counsels, bearing many seeds, come rejoicing
  11. to the holy rite, manifold in splendour, for those who reveal the mysteries.

Ancient Greek & pronunciation

Read the English pronunciation spelling directly below each Greek line.

11 Greek lines
  1. Πρωτόγονον καλέω διφυῆ, μέγαν, αἰθερόπλαγκτον,proh-TOH-ghoh-nohn kah-LEH-oh dhee-fee-EE, MEH-ghahn, eh-theh-ROH-plahng-tohn,
  2. ᾠογενῆ, χρυσέησιν ἀγαλλόμενον πτερύγεσσι,oh-oh-yeh-NEE, khree-SEH-ee-seen ah-ghah-LOH-meh-nohn pteh-REE-yeh-see,
  3. ταυροβόαν, γένεσιν μακάρων θνητῶν τ’ ἀνθρώπων,tah-vroh-VOH-ahn, YEH-neh-seen mah-KAH-rohn thnee-TOHN t’ ahn-THROH-pohn,
  4. σπέρμα πολύμνηστον, πολυόργιον, Ἠρικεπαῖον,SPEHR-mah poh-LEEM-nee-stohn, poh-lee-OHR-yee-ohn, ee-ree-keh-PEH-ohn,
  5. ἄρρητον, κρύφιον, ῥοιζήτορα, παμφαὲς ἔρνος,AH-ree-tohn, KREE-fee-ohn, ree-ZEE-toh-rah, pahm-fah-EHS EHR-nohs,
  6. ὄσσων ὃς σκοτόεσσαν ἀπημαύρωσας ὁμίχληνOH-sohn OHS skoh-TOH-eh-sahn ah-pee-MAH-vroh-sahs oh-MEE-khleen
  7. πάντῃ δινηθεὶς πτερύγων ῥιπαῖς κατὰ κόσμονPAHN-dee dhee-nee-THEES pteh-REE-ghohn ree-PEHS kah-TAH KOH-zmohn
  8. λαμπρὸν ἄγων φάος ἁγνόν, ἀφ’ οὗ σε Φάνητα κικλήσκωlahm-BROHN AH-ghohn FAH-ohs ahgh-NOHN, ahf’ OO seh FAH-nee-tah kee-KLEE-skoh
  9. ἠδὲ Πρίηπον ἄνακτα καὶ Ἀνταύγην ἑλίκωπον.ee-DHEH PREE-ee-pohn AH-nahk-tah KEH ahn-DAHV-yeen eh-LEE-koh-pohn.
  10. ἀλλά, μάκαρ, πολύμητι, πολύσπορε, βαῖνε γεγηθὼςah-LAH, MAH-kahr, poh-LEE-mee-tee, poh-LEE-spoh-reh, VEH-neh yeh-yee-THOHS
  11. ἐς τελετὴν ἁγίην πολυποίκιλον ὀργιοφάνταις.ehs teh-leh-TEEN ah-YEE-een poh-lee-PEE-kee-lohn ohr-yee-oh-FAHN-dehs.
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.

SpellingSound to make
ah · eh · ee · oh · oofather · met · see · go without its final glide · moon. Keep these vowels clear in unstressed syllables too.
th · dhThe unvoiced th in thin · the voiced th in this. Thus DHEE begins with the sound in “thee.”
khThe ch in Scottish loch or German Bach: let air pass at the back of the mouth, without closing it into a k.
hyThe 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.”
ghMake the kh sound above, then add voice. Keep the passage open; this is a flowing sound, not a hard g.
y · gy as in yes, with gentle friction · always a hard g as in get.
rTap the tongue lightly behind the upper teeth, or use a light roll.
ks · psSound both consonants, even at the beginning of a word: ks as in backs, ps as in lips.
n-g · m-b · n-dSound 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 egg, golden wings, twofold nature, and manifold seed describe the emergence of divine and mortal life from one primordial source. In theological contemplation, the removal of darkness from the eyes links cosmic manifestation with the initiate's reception of light.

Ancient offering rubric: Myrrh.

Textual note

The divine names Erikepaios, Phanes, Priapos, and Antauges all occur in the ancient text and are retained. No additional names or formulas have been supplied.

Text and attribution

Greek text: Eugenius Abel, Orphica (1885), printed pages 60, 61. 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 124075; 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.