Orphic Hymns · Hymn 75
Palaemon
Παλαίμονος
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 preservation of initiates on land and sea, especially amid storms.
Use the hymn as a prayer before travel or in gratitude for deliverance. It may be added to a protective rite for a sea journey, preserving its explicit request for safety both upon the earth and upon the waters.
English hieratic rendering
Hymn 75 · An English rendering aligned with the Greek lines.
- Companion from childhood of joyful Dionysus, leader of the Bacchic dance,
- you who dwell in the sacred, wave-washed depths of the sea,
- I call you, Palaemon, to these holy rites:
- come with favour, rejoicing with a youthful countenance,
- and preserve the initiates upon the earth and upon the sea.
- For ever to the ships that wander the deep, when the storm
- appears, you alone are manifest to mortals as Saviour,
- averting fierce wrath upon the swelling waters.
Ancient Greek & pronunciation
Read the English pronunciation spelling directly below each Greek line.
- Σύντροφε βακχεχόροιο Διωνύσου πολυγηθοῦς,SEEN-droh-feh vahk-hyeh-KHOH-ree-oh dhee-oh-NEE-soo poh-lee-yee-THOOS,
- ὃς ναίεις πόντοιο βυθοὺς ἁλικύμονας, ἁγνούς,OHS NEH-ees POHN-dee-oh vee-THOOS ah-lee-KEE-moh-nahs, ahgh-NOOS,
- κικλήσκω σε, Παλαῖμον, ἐπ’ εὐιέροις τελετῇσινkee-KLEE-skoh seh, pah-LEH-mohn, ehp’ eh-vee-EH-rees teh-leh-TEE-seen
- ἐλθεῖν εὐμενέοντα, νέῳ γήθοντα προσώπῳ,ehl-THEEN ehv-meh-NEH-ohn-dah, NEH-oh YEE-thohn-dah proh-SOH-poh,
- καὶ σώζειν μύστας κατά τε χθόνα καὶ κατὰ πόντον·KEH SOH-zeen MEE-stahs kah-TAH teh KHTHOH-nah KEH kah-TAH POHN-dohn·
- ποντοπλάνοις γὰρ ἀεὶ νηυσὶν χειμῶνος ἐναργὴςpohn-doh-PLAH-nees GHAHR ah-EE neef-SEEN hyee-MOH-nohs eh-nahr-YEES
- φαινομένου σωτὴρ μοῦνος θνητοῖς ἀναφαίνῃ,feh-noh-MEH-noo soh-TEER MOO-nohs thnee-TEES ah-nah-FEH-nee,
- ῥυόμενος μῆνιν χαλεπὴν κατὰ πόντιον οἶδμα.ree-OH-meh-nohs MEE-neen khah-leh-PEEN kah-TAH POHN-dee-ohn EEDH-mah.
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
Palaemon is linked with the joyful company of Dionysus and the sacred depths of the sea. His presence becomes manifest as deliverance when the storm arises. The hymn broadens this saving petition to the initiates wherever they move, on land as well as at sea.
Ancient offering rubric: Manna incense.
Text and attribution
Greek text: Eugenius Abel, Orphica (1885), printed pages 97. 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 124488; 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.