Antiquae PrecesAntiquae Preces
Home/Catalog/greek/Prayer to Hermes, Persephone, Dionysus, Aphrodite
hymn · greek

Prayer to Hermes, Persephone, Dionysus, Aphrodite

Hermes · Persephone · Dionysus · Aphrodite
Hermes, I call, whom fate decrees to dwell near to Kokytos, the famed stream of Haides, and in necessity's dread path, whose bourn to none that reach it ever permits return. O Bakkheios Hermes, progeny divine of Dionysos, parent of the vine, and of celestial Aphrodite, Paphian queen, dark-eyelashed Goddess, of a lovely mien: who constant wanderest through the sacred seats where Haides' dread empress, Persephone, retreats; to wretched souls the leader of the way, when fate decrees, to regions void of day. Thine is the wand which causes sleep to fly, or lulls to slumberous rest the weary eye; for Persephone, through Tartaros dark and wide, gave thee for ever flowing souls to guide. Come, blessed power, the sacrifice attend, and grant thy mystics' works a happy end.
Fons · Source
AuthorAnonymous (Orphic corpus)
WorkOrphic Hymns
Section57 (to Hermes Chthonios)
PeriodHellenistic to Roman imperial (3rd c. BC – 2nd c. AD)
OccasionOrphic hymn to Chthonian Hermes with fumigation of storax — invocation of the psychopomp who leads souls to Hades
Classificatio · Taxonomy
Culturegreek
Formhymn
DeitiesHermes, Persephone, Dionysus, Aphrodite
Functionsinvocation · petition
Spherepersonal