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A large coiled serpent faces worshippers on a votive relief dedicated to Zeus Meilichios.
Votive relief of Zeus Meilichios as a serpent. Unknown Greek sculptor, 350–300 BCE.Votive relief dedicated by Aristomenes, National Archaeological Museum, Athens. Photograph by Gary Todd, CC0, via Wikimedia Commons. · Source · CC0. Full image shown.

Orphic Hymns · Hymn 73

The Daimon

Δαίμονος

Orphic tradition · 9 lines · Daimon, invoked as Zeus Meilichios

ProsperityProtectionCosmic order

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 averting of sorrows that destroy life and the gift of a noble, blessed fulfilment.

Pray the hymn alone to the divine Daimon addressed here as gracious Zeus. It may accompany a household or prosperity rite, asking that the key of joy be opened and the afflictions that waste life be driven away.

English hieratic rendering

Hymn 73 · An English rendering aligned with the Greek lines.

  1. I call the Daimon to draw near, the dread leader,
  2. gracious Zeus, father of all, giver of life to mortals,
  3. great Zeus, far-wandering, avenging power, King of all,
  4. bestower of wealth whenever he enters the house in abundance,
  5. yet at another turn chilling the life of much-toiling mortals.
  6. For in you are held the keys of sorrow and of joy.
  7. Therefore, blessed and pure one, drive away the griefs of many groans,
  8. all that send the wasting of life throughout the whole earth,
  9. and grant life's honourable, sweet, and noble fulfilment.

Ancient Greek & pronunciation

Read the English pronunciation spelling directly below each Greek line.

9 Greek lines
  1. Δαίμονα κικλήσκω πελάσαι ἡγήτορα φρικτόν,DHEH-moh-nah kee-KLEE-skoh peh-LAH-seh ee-YEE-toh-rah freek-TOHN,
  2. μειλίχιον Δία, παγγενέτην, βιοδώτορα θνητῶν,mee-LEE-hyee-ohn DHEE-ah, pahn-geh-NEH-teen, vee-oh-DHOH-toh-rah thnee-TOHN,
  3. Ζῆνα μέγαν, πολύπλαγκτον, ἀλάστορα, παμβασιλῆα,ZEE-nah MEH-ghahn, poh-LEE-plahng-tohn, ah-LAH-stoh-rah, pahm-vah-see-LEE-ah,
  4. πλουτοδότην, ὁπότ’ ἂν γε βρυάζων οἶκον ἐσέλθῃ,ploo-toh-DHOH-teen, oh-POHT’ AHN yeh vree-AH-zohn EE-kohn eh-SEHL-thee,
  5. ἔμπαλι δὲ ψύχοντα βίον θνητῶν πολυμόχθων·EHM-bah-lee DHEH PSEE-khohn-dah VEE-ohn thnee-TOHN poh-lee-MOHKH-thohn·
  6. ἐν σοὶ γὰρ κλῇδες λύπης τε χαρᾶς τ’ ὀχέονται.ehn SEE GHAHR KLEE-dhehs LEE-pees teh khah-RAHS t’ oh-HYEH-ohn-deh.
  7. τοιγάρ τοι, μάκαρ, ἁγνέ, πολύστονα κήδε’ ἐλάσσας,tee-GHAHR tee, MAH-kahr, ahgh-NEH, poh-LEE-stoh-nah KEE-dheh’ eh-LAH-sahs,
  8. ὅσσα βιοφθορίην πέμπει κατὰ γαῖαν ἅπασαν,OH-sah vee-ohf-thoh-REE-een PEHM-bee kah-TAH YEH-ahn AH-pah-sahn,
  9. εὔδοξον βιοτῆς γλυκερὸν τέλος ἐσθλὸν ὀπάζοις.EHV-dhohk-sohn vee-oh-TEES ghlee-keh-ROHN TEH-lohs ehsth-LOHN oh-PAH-zees.
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 Daimon is named as gracious Zeus, giver of life and sovereign over all. The hymn recognises the power to enrich life and also to chill it, locating the keys of both sorrow and joy within the same divine dominion. Its final request gathers prosperity into a larger aim: a good and honourable fulfilment of life.

Ancient offering rubric: Frankincense.

Textual note

Δαίμων is retained as “Daimon” in the title. Within this poem the addressee is explicitly named Zeus; the term is not translated as an evil spirit.

Text and attribution

Greek text: Eugenius Abel, Orphica (1885), printed pages 96. 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 124479; 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.