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Diana raises her arms amid bow-bearing nymphs, hunting dogs and a wooded landscape.
Domenichino, Diana and her Nymphs, 1616–1617. Diana is the Roman counterpart of Artemis.Domenichino; Galleria Borghese. Image via Web Gallery of Art and Wikimedia Commons, public domain. · Source · Public domain. Full image shown.

Orphic Hymns · Hymn 36

Artemis

Ἀρτέμιδος

Orphic tradition · 16 lines · Artemis

ProtectionHealingNature

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

For Artemis’s protection, fruitful growth, peace, and the removal of illness and pain.

The hymn may be offered alone as a prayer for Artemis’s protective and life-nurturing presence. It may also be joined to an existing rite for healing, childbirth, the protection of the young, or the flourishing of the land.

English hieratic rendering

Hymn 36 · An English rendering aligned with the Greek lines.

  1. Hear me, O queen, many-named daughter of Zeus,
  2. Titaness, resounding one, mighty in name, revered archer,
  3. all-shining torch-bearer, goddess Diktynna, guardian of childbirth,
  4. helper in labor, yourself uninitiated into labor’s pains,
  5. loosener of the girdle, lover of the sacred goad, huntress, releaser from care,
  6. swift runner, pourer of arrows, lover of the wild, night-wanderer,
  7. invoked one, gracious to meet, deliverer, of masculine form,
  8. Orthia, swift helper in childbirth, divine nurturer of mortal children,
  9. immortal, earthly, slayer of beasts, blessed in your portion,
  10. you who possess the mountain forests, revered shooter of deer,
  11. mistress, queen of all, ever a beautiful blossom,
  12. woodland goddess, lover of hounds, Kydonian, of manifold form:
  13. come, beloved saving goddess, to all the initiates,
  14. gracious in your encounter, bringing fair fruits from the earth,
  15. lovely peace and health with beautiful tresses;
  16. send diseases and pains away to the mountain summits.

Ancient Greek & pronunciation

Read the English pronunciation spelling directly below each Greek line.

16 Greek lines
  1. Κλῦθί μευ, ὦ βασίλεια, Διὸς πολυώνυμε κούρη,KLEE-THEE mehv, OH vah-SEE-lee-ah, dhee-OHS poh-lee-OH-nee-meh KOO-ree,
  2. Τιτηνίς, βρομίη, μεγαλώνυμε, τοξότι, σεμνή,tee-tee-NEES, vroh-MEE-ee, meh-ghah-LOH-nee-meh, tohk-SOH-tee, sehm-NEE,
  3. πασιφαής, δᾳδοῦχε, θεά Δίκτυννα, λοχείη,pah-see-fah-EES, dhah-DHOO-hyeh, theh-AH DHEEK-tee-nah, loh-HYEE-ee,
  4. ὠδίνων ἐπαρωγὲ καὶ ὠδίνων ἀμύητε,oh-DHEE-nohn eh-pah-roh-YEH KEH oh-DHEE-nohn ah-MEE-ee-teh,
  5. λυσίζωνε, φίλοιστρε, κυνηγέτι, λυσιμέριμνε,lee-SEE-zoh-neh, FEE-lee-streh, kee-nee-YEH-tee, lee-see-MEH-reem-neh,
  6. εὔδρομος, ἰοχέαιρα, φιλαγρότι, νυκτερόφοιτε,EHV-dhroh-mohs, ee-oh-HYEH-eh-rah, fee-lah-GHROH-tee, neek-teh-ROH-fee-teh,
  7. κλησίη, εὐάντητε, λυτηριάς, ἀρσενόμορφε,klee-SEE-ee, eh-VAHN-dee-teh, lee-tee-ree-AHS, ahr-seh-NOH-mohr-feh,
  8. ὀρθίη, ὠκυλόχεια, βροτῶν κουροτρόφε δαῖμον,ohr-THEE-ee, oh-kee-LOH-hyee-ah, vroh-TOHN koo-roh-TROH-feh DHEH-mohn,
  9. ἀμβροσίη, χθονίη, θηροκτόνος, ὀλβιόμοιρε,ahm-vroh-SEE-ee, khthoh-NEE-ee, thee-rohk-TOH-nohs, ohl-vee-OH-mee-reh,
  10. ἣ κατέχεις ὀρέων δρυμούς, ἐλαφηβόλε, σεμνή,EE kah-TEH-hyees oh-REH-ohn dhree-MOOS, eh-lah-fee-VOH-leh, sehm-NEE,
  11. πότνια, παμβασίλεια, καλὸν θάλος αἰὲν ἐοῦσα,POHT-nee-ah, pahm-vah-SEE-lee-ah, kah-LOHN THAH-lohs eh-EHN eh-OO-sah,
  12. δρυμονίη, σκυλακῖτι, Κυδωνιάς, αἰολόμορφε·dhree-moh-NEE-ee, skee-lah-KEE-tee, kee-dhoh-nee-AHS, eh-oh-LOH-mohr-feh·
  13. ἐλθέ, θεὰ σώτειρα, φίλη, μύστῃσιν ἅπασινehl-THEH, theh-AH SOH-tee-rah, FEE-lee, MEE-stee-seen AH-pah-seen
  14. εὐάντητος, ἄγουσα καλοὺς καρποὺς ἀπὸ γαίηςeh-VAHN-dee-tohs, AH-ghoo-sah kah-LOOS kahr-POOS ah-POH YEH-ees
  15. εἰρήνην τ’ ἐρατὴν καλλιπλόκαμόν θ’ ὑγίειαν·ee-REE-neen t’ eh-rah-TEEN kah-lee-PLOH-kah-MOHN th’ ee-YEE-ee-ahn·
  16. πέμποις δ’ εἰς ὀρέων κορυφὰς νούσους τε καὶ ἄλγη.PEHM-bees dh’ ees oh-REH-ohn koh-ree-FAHS NOO-soos teh KEH AHL-yee.
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

Artemis is both untouched by childbirth and its powerful helper. Her wild and nocturnal sovereignty joins the care of children, the fertility of the earth, and the gift of health. The final prayer gathers these aspects into the initiates’ peace and wellbeing.

Ancient offering rubric: Manna.

Textual note

Orthia is retained as a divine title. The hymn’s juxtaposition of aid in childbirth and freedom from childbirth is preserved.

Text and attribution

Greek text: Eugenius Abel, Orphica (1885), printed pages 77, 78. 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 124318; 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.