Orphic Hymns · Hymn 83
Oceanus
Ὠκεανοῦ
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 communion with the encircling source of waters and its sacred power of purification.
Pray this hymn alone when honouring rivers, springs, and the sea in their common source. It may accompany a rite of purification or a prayer for travellers over water, asking Oceanus to come graciously to the initiates.
English hieratic rendering
Hymn 83 · An English rendering aligned with the Greek lines.
- I call Oceanus, imperishable Father, ever-existing,
- origin of the immortal Gods and of mortal humankind,
- whose waves encompass the boundary-circle of Earth.
- From you flow all rivers and the whole sea,
- and the pure, spring-flowing waters hidden in the earth.
- Hear, blessed one, richly fortunate, greatest purification of the Gods,
- beloved boundary of Earth, beginning of the heavenly sphere, journeying in water;
- come with favour, ever rejoicing in the initiates.
Ancient Greek & pronunciation
Read the English pronunciation spelling directly below each Greek line.
- Ὠκεανὸν καλέω, πατέρ’ ἄφθιτον, αἰὲν ἐόντα,oh-keh-ah-NOHN kah-LEH-oh, pah-TEHR’ AHF-thee-tohn, eh-EHN eh-OHN-dah,
- ἀθανάτων τε θεῶν γένεσιν θνητῶν τ’ ἀνθρώπων,ah-thah-NAH-tohn teh theh-OHN YEH-neh-seen thnee-TOHN t’ ahn-THROH-pohn,
- ὃς περικυμαίνει γαίης περιτέρμονα κύκλον·OHS peh-ree-kee-MEH-nee YEH-ees peh-ree-TEHR-moh-nah KEE-klohn·
- ἐξ οὗπερ πάντες ποταμοὶ καὶ πᾶσα θάλασσαehks OO-pehr PAHN-dehs poh-tah-MEE KEH PAH-sah THAH-lah-sah
- καὶ χθόνιοι γαίης πηγόρρυτοι ἰκμάδες ἁγναί.KEH KHTHOH-nee-ee YEH-ees pee-GHOH-ree-tee eek-MAH-dhehs ahgh-NEH.
- κλῦθι, μάκαρ, πολύολβε, θεῶν ἅγνισμα μέγιστον,KLEE-thee, MAH-kahr, poh-LEE-ohl-veh, theh-OHN AHGH-nee-zmah MEH-yee-stohn,
- τέρμα φίλον γαίης, ἀρχὴ πόλου, ὑγροκέλευθε,TEHR-mah FEE-lohn YEH-ees, ahr-HYEE POH-loo, ee-ghroh-KEH-lehf-theh,
- ἔλθοις εὐμενέων μύσταις κεχαρημένος αἰεί.EHL-thees ehv-meh-NEH-ohn MEE-stehs keh-khah-ree-MEH-nohs eh-EE.
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
Oceanus encircles the earth and is praised as the origin of gods, mortals, and all waters. Rivers, sea, and hidden springs are held together through that source. His invocation as the great purification of the Gods joins the cleansing gift of water to the boundaries and foundations of the cosmos.
Ancient offering rubric: Aromatic incense.
Text and attribution
Greek text: Eugenius Abel, Orphica (1885), printed pages 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 124512; 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.