Orphic Hymns · Hymn 22
The Sea: Tethys
Θαλάσσης
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 Sea as Tethys for kindly help and favourable winds for ships. It honours her as source of marine life, clouds, springs, and Kypris.
Use independently before or during a sea journey. It may supplement an established maritime rite, especially a prayer for calm passage and a following wind, in direct accord with the closing lines.
English hieratic rendering
Hymn 22 · An English rendering aligned with the Greek lines.
- I call the bride of Okeanos, Tethys of the gleaming eyes,
- Queen in the dark blue robe, surging in smoothly rolling waves,
- beaten about the Earth by sweet breathing breezes,
- breaking your great waves upon the shores and rocks,
- growing calm along your gentle courses under serene skies,
- rejoicing in ships, nurturer of sea creatures, traveller on watery paths,
- mother of Kypris, mother of the dark clouds,
- and of every spring that brims with the streams of Nymphs.
- Hear me, O deeply revered one, and come kindly to my aid,
- sending a following wind for ships upon a straight course, blessed Goddess.
Ancient Greek & pronunciation
Read the English pronunciation spelling directly below each Greek line.
- Ὠκεανοῦ καλέω νύμφην, γλαυκώπιδα Τηθύν,oh-keh-ah-NOO kah-LEH-oh NEEM-feen, ghlahf-KOH-pee-dhah tee-THEEN,
- κυανόπεπλον ἄνασσαν, εὔτροχα κυμαίνουσαν,kee-ah-NOH-peh-plohn AH-nah-sahn, EHF-troh-khah kee-MEH-noo-sahn,
- αὔραις ἡδυπνόοισι πατασσομένην περὶ γαῖαν.AH-vrehs ee-dheep-NOH-ee-see pah-tah-soh-MEH-neen peh-REE YEH-ahn.
- θραύουσ’ αἰγιαλοῖσι πέτρῃσί τε κύματα μακρά,THRAH-voos’ eh-yee-ah-LEE-see PEH-tree-SEE teh KEE-mah-tah mah-KRAH,
- εὐδίοις ἁπαλοῖσι γαληνιόωσα δρόμοισι,ehv-DHEE-ees ah-pah-LEE-see ghah-lee-nee-OH-oh-sah DHROH-mee-see,
- νηυσὶν ἀγαλλομένη, θηροτρόφος, ὑγροκέλευθε,neef-SEEN ah-ghah-loh-MEH-nee, thee-roh-TROH-fohs, ee-ghroh-KEH-lehf-theh,
- μῆτερ μὲν Κύπριδος, μῆτερ νεφέων ἐρεβεννῶν,MEE-tehr MEHN KEE-pree-dhohs, MEE-tehr neh-FEH-ohn eh-reh-veh-NOHN,
- καὶ πάσης πηγῆς νυμφῶν νασμοῖσι βρυούσης·KEH PAH-sees pee-YEES neem-FOHN nah-ZMEE-see vree-OO-sees·
- κλῦθί μευ, ὦ πολύσεμνε, καὶ εὐμενέουσ’ ἐπαρήγοις,KLEE-THEE mehv, OH poh-LEE-sehm-neh, KEH ehv-meh-NEH-oos’ eh-pah-REE-yees,
- εὐθυδρόμοις οὖρον νηυσὶν πέμπουσα, μάκαιρα.ehf-thee-DHROH-mees OO-rohn neef-SEEN PEHM-boo-sah, MAH-keh-rah.
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's Sea moves between breaking waves and gentle calm while nourishing creatures and the wider circulation of waters. Her maternity extends from Kypris to clouds and springs, joining beauty, generation, and the conditions of safe passage.
Ancient offering rubric: Frankincense manna or granules.
Textual note
Although the collection heading is Of the Sea, the first line explicitly addresses Tethys, bride of Okeanos. Both title and divine name are retained.
Text and attribution
Greek text: Eugenius Abel, Orphica (1885), printed pages 70, 71. 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 124261; 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.