Orphic Hymns · Hymn 43
The Horae: Good Order, Justice, and Peace
Ὡρῶν
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 the harmony of good order, justice, and peace, and for fruitful seasons in sacred and communal life.
The hymn may stand as a prayer for just order and a fruitful season. It may also accompany a rite for justice, reconciliation, seasonal renewal, or initiation, uniting the rite’s aim with the Horae’s gifts of balance and timely fruition.
English hieratic rendering
Hymn 43 · An English rendering aligned with the Greek lines.
- O Horae, daughters of Themis and sovereign Zeus,
- Eunomia and Dike and Eirene rich in blessings,
- spring-born, meadow-dwelling, many-flowered, pure,
- of every hue, rich in fragrance upon flower-like breaths,
- ever-flourishing Horae, circling round, sweet of countenance,
- clothed in dewy robes of richly nourished flowers,
- playmates of pure Persephone, whenever the Fates
- and Graces lead her toward the light in circling dances,
- bringing joy to Zeus and to the Mother who gives fruit:
- come to these holy rites of sacred praise for the newly initiated,
- bringing without blemish the fruitful births of the appointed seasons.
Ancient Greek & pronunciation
Read the English pronunciation spelling directly below each Greek line.
- Ὧραι, θυγατέρες Θέμιδος καὶ Ζηνὸς ἄνακτος,OH-reh, thee-ghah-TEH-rehs THEH-mee-dhohs KEH zee-NOHS AH-nahk-tohs,
- Εὐνομίη τε Δίκη τε καὶ Εἰρήνη πολύολβε,ehv-noh-MEE-ee teh DHEE-kee teh KEH ee-REE-nee poh-LEE-ohl-veh,
- εἰαριναί, λειμωνιάδες, πολυάνθεμοι, ἁγναί,ee-ah-ree-NEH, lee-moh-nee-AH-dhehs, poh-lee-AHN-theh-mee, ahgh-NEH,
- παντόχροοι, πολύοδμοι ἐν ἀνθεμοειδέσι πνοιαῖς,pahn-DOH-khroh-ee, poh-LEE-ohdh-mee ehn ahn-theh-moh-ee-DHEH-see pnee-EHS,
- Ὧραι ἀειθαλέες, περικυκλάδες, ἡδυπρόσωποι,OH-reh ah-ee-thah-LEH-ehs, peh-ree-kee-KLAH-dhehs, ee-dhee-PROH-soh-pee,
- πέπλους ἑννύμεναι δροσεροὺς ἀνθῶν πολυθρέπτων,PEH-ploos eh-NEE-meh-neh dhroh-seh-ROOS ahn-THOHN poh-lee-THREHP-tohn,
- ἁγνῆς Φερσεφόνης συμπαίκτορες, εἴτέ ἑ Μοῖραιahgh-NEES fehr-seh-FOH-nees seem-BEHK-toh-rehs, EE-TEH eh MEE-reh
- καὶ Χάριτες κυκλίοισι χοροῖς ποτὶ φῶς ἀνάγωσιKEH KHAH-ree-tehs kee-KLEE-ee-see khoh-REES poh-TEE FOHS ah-NAH-ghoh-see
- Ζηνὶ χαριζόμεναι καὶ μητέρι καρποδοτείρῃ·zee-NEE khah-ree-ZOH-meh-neh KEH mee-TEH-ree kahr-poh-dhoh-TEE-ree·
- ἔλθετ’ ἐπ’ εὐφήμους τελετὰς ὁσίας νεομύστοιςEHL-theht’ ehp’ eh-FEE-moos teh-leh-TAHS oh-SEE-ahs neh-oh-MEE-stees
- εὐκάρπους καιρῶν γενέσεις ἐπάγουσαι ἀμεμφῶς.ehf-KAHR-poos keh-ROHN yeh-NEH-sees eh-PAH-ghoo-seh ah-mehm-FOHS.
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
Eunomia, Dike, and Eirene are named daughters of Themis and Zeus, joining lawful life with the flowering seasons. Their dance accompanies Persephone’s return to light and honors both Zeus and the fruit-giving Mother. The concluding petition asks that the newcomers to initiation receive the season’s fruitful birth.
Ancient offering rubric: Aromatic substances.
Text and attribution
Greek text: Eugenius Abel, Orphica (1885), printed pages 81, 82. 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 124341; 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.