Orphic Hymns · Hymn 82
Notus, the South Wind
Νότου
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 rain that nourishes the crops and sustains Mother Earth.
Recite the hymn as a prayer for seasonable, fruitful rain. It may supplement an agricultural or seasonal rite, offering its final petition for the fields, gardens, and living earth named in the ceremony.
English hieratic rendering
Hymn 82 · An English rendering aligned with the Greek lines.
- Swift-leaping power that travels through the moist air,
- swaying here and there on rapid wings,
- come with southern clouds, progenitor of rain.
- For from Zeus comes this honour of yours that moves through the air:
- to send rain-bearing clouds from the air down to Earth.
- Therefore we beseech you, blessed one, delighting in the sacred offerings,
- send crop-nourishing showers upon Mother Earth.
Ancient Greek & pronunciation
Read the English pronunciation spelling directly below each Greek line.
- Λαιψηρὸν πήδημα δι’ ἠέρος ὑγροπόρευτον,lehp-see-ROHN PEE-dhee-mah dhee’ ee-EH-rohs ee-ghroh-POH-rehf-tohn,
- ὠκείαις πτερύγεσσι δονούμενον ἔνθα καὶ ἔνθα,oh-KEE-ehs pteh-REE-yeh-see dhoh-NOO-meh-nohn EHN-thah KEH EHN-thah,
- ἔλθοις σὺν νεφέλαις νοτίαις, ὄμβροιο γενάρχα·EHL-thees SEEN neh-FEH-lehs noh-TEE-ehs, OHM-vree-oh yeh-NAHR-khah·
- τοῦτο γὰρ ἐκ Διός ἐστι σέθεν γέρας ἠερόφοιτον,TOO-toh GHAHR ehk dhee-OHS eh-stee SEH-thehn YEH-rahs ee-eh-ROH-fee-tohn,
- ὀμβροτόκους νεφέλας ἐξ ἠέρος ἐς χθόνα πέμπειν.ohm-vroh-TOH-koos neh-FEH-lahs ehks ee-EH-rohs ehs KHTHOH-nah PEHM-been.
- τοιγάρ τοι λιτόμεσθα, μάκαρ, ἱεροῖσι χαρένταtee-GHAHR tee lee-TOH-mehs-thah, MAH-kahr, ee-eh-REE-see khah-REHN-dah
- πέμπειν καρποτρόφους ὄμβρους ἐπὶ μητέρα γαῖαν.PEHM-been kahr-poh-TROH-foos OHM-vroos eh-PEE mee-TEH-rah YEH-ahn.
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
Notus moves swiftly through the moist air as the ancestor of rain. His honour comes from Zeus and takes form in sending rain-bearing clouds down to earth. The petition is directed toward nourishment: showers that feed the harvest upon Mother Earth.
Ancient offering rubric: Frankincense.
Text and attribution
Greek text: Eugenius Abel, Orphica (1885), printed pages 99, 100. 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 124509; 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.