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Apollo speaks to Vulcan and the smiths in a forge.
Apollo in the Forge of Vulcan. Diego Velázquez, 1630.Diego Velázquez, Apollo in the Forge of Vulcan, Museo Nacional del Prado. Wikimedia Commons. Public domain. · Source · Public domain. Detail shown.

Orphic Hymns · Hymn 66

Hephaestus

Ἡφαίστου

Orphic tradition · 13 lines · Hephaestus

Art and inspirationCosmic orderPurification

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 skill in making and for the gentle, ordered presence of divine fire.

Pray this hymn before work that calls for patient craft and disciplined power. It may supplement a rite of dedication or purification in which the fiery power of Hephaestus is asked to remain beneficial in works and in the body.

English hieratic rendering

Hymn 66 · An English rendering aligned with the Greek lines.

  1. Hephaestus, mighty-hearted, greatly strong, unwearied fire,
  2. shining with flaming rays, O Spirit who gives light to mortals,
  3. bearer of light, strong of hand, everlasting, living by craft,
  4. worker, portion of the cosmos, blameless element,
  5. all-devouring, subduer of all, supreme above all, dwelling in all,
  6. aether, Sun, stars, Moon, unstained light:
  7. these reveal to mortals the limbs of Hephaestus.
  8. Every house is yours, every city, every people;
  9. you inhabit the bodies of mortals, richly blessed and mighty.
  10. Hear, blessed one: I acclaim you at these holy libations,
  11. that you may ever come gently to those who delight in their works.
  12. Still the raging madness of unwearied fire,
  13. holding the burning of Nature within our bodies.

Ancient Greek & pronunciation

Read the English pronunciation spelling directly below each Greek line.

13 Greek lines
  1. Ἥφαιστ’ ὀβριμόθυμε, μεγασθενές, ἀκάματον πῦρ,EE-fehst’ oh-vree-MOH-thee-meh, meh-ghahs-theh-NEHS, ah-KAH-mah-tohn PEER,
  2. λαμπόμενε φλογεραῖς αὐγαῖς, φαεσίμβροτε δαῖμον,lahm-BOH-meh-neh floh-yeh-REHS ahv-YEHS, fah-eh-SEEM-vroh-teh DHEH-mohn,
  3. φωσφόρε, καρτερόχειρ, αἰώνιε, τεχνοδίαιτε,foh-SFOH-reh, kahr-teh-ROH-hyeer, eh-OH-nee-eh, tehkh-noh-DHEE-eh-teh,
  4. ἐργαστήρ, κόσμοιο μέρος, στοιχεῖον ἀμεμφές,ehr-ghah-STEER, KOH-zmee-oh MEH-rohs, stee-HYEE-ohn ah-mehm-FEHS,
  5. παμφάγε, πανδαμάτορ, πανυπέρτατε, παντοδίαιτε,pahm-FAH-yeh, pahn-dhah-MAH-tohr, pah-nee-PEHR-tah-teh, pahn-doh-DHEE-eh-teh,
  6. αἰθήρ, ἥλιος, ἄστρα, σελήνη, φῶς ἀμίαντον·eh-THEER, EE-lee-ohs, AH-strah, seh-LEE-nee, FOHS ah-MEE-ahn-dohn·
  7. ταῦτα γὰρ Ἡφαίστοιο μέλη θνητοῖσι προφαίνει.TAHF-tah GHAHR ee-FEH-stee-oh MEH-lee thnee-TEE-see proh-FEH-nee.
  8. πάντα δὲ οἶκον ἔχεις, πᾶσαν πόλιν, ἔθνεα πάντα,PAHN-dah DHEH EE-kohn EH-hyees, PAH-sahn POH-leen, EHTH-neh-ah PAHN-dah,
  9. σώματά τε θνητῶν οἰκεῖς, πολύολβε, κραταιέ.SOH-mah-TAH teh thnee-TOHN ee-KEES, poh-LEE-ohl-veh, krah-teh-EH.
  10. κλῦθι, μάκαρ, κλῄζω σε πρὸς εὐιέρους ἐπιλοιβάς,KLEE-thee, MAH-kahr, KLEE-zoh seh PROHS eh-vee-EH-roos eh-pee-lee-VAHS,
  11. αἰὲν ὅπως χαίρουσιν ἐπ’ ἔργοις ἥμερος ἔλθῃς.eh-EHN OH-pohs HYEH-roo-seen ehp’ EHR-yees EE-meh-rohs EHL-thees.
  12. παῦσον λυσσῶσαν μανίαν πυρὸς ἀκαμάτοιοPAHF-sohn lee-SOH-sahn mah-NEE-ahn pee-ROHS ah-kah-MAH-tee-oh
  13. καῦσιν ἔχων φύσεως ἐν σώμασιν ἡμετέροισιν.KAHF-seen EH-khohn FEE-seh-ohs ehn SOH-mah-seen ee-meh-TEH-ree-seen.
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

Hephaestus is praised both as the divine craftsman and as fire distributed throughout the cosmos. Sun, stars, Moon, dwelling places, and mortal bodies reveal the breadth of his presence. The final prayer asks that this inexhaustible power come gently and that its raging excess be stilled.

Ancient offering rubric: Frankincense manna.

Textual note

“Frankincense manna” renders λιβανομάννα, a traditional incense designation; the heading is preserved without assigning a modern botanical product.

Text and attribution

Greek text: Eugenius Abel, Orphica (1885), printed pages 93. 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 124455; 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.