PAGAN HYMNS AND FRAGMENTS

Hymn to Tyche

ing-footed Goddess of many hues and forms, Dwelling with mortals, all-powerful Tyche.

How may your strength and nature be made known? The far-shining and holy...in your

sight. You have split down to the ground, while wrapped in dark clouds. Things lowly and

humble, on wings You have often raised to great heights, O Spirit. Shall we call you dark Clotho, Or

swift-decreeing Necessity, Or Iris, swift messenger of the Gods? For you hold the beginning and end of

all things!

To Ares (Proclus?)

"Ares, exceeding in strength, chariot-rider, golden-helmed, doughty in heart, shield-bearer, Saviour of

cities, harnessed in bronze, strong of arm, unwearying, mighty with the spear, O defence of Olympus,

father of warlike Victory, ally of Themis, stern governor of the rebellious, leader of righteous men,

sceptred King of manliness, who whirl your fiery sphere among the planets in their sevenfold courses

through the aether wherein your blazing steeds ever bear you above the third firmament of heaven;

hear me, helper of men, giver of dauntless youth! Shed down a kindly ray from above upon my life,

and strength of war, that I may be able to drive away bitter cowardice from my head and crush down

the deceitful impulses of my soul. Restrain also the keen fury of my heart which provokes me to tread

the ways of blood-curdling strife. Rather, O blessed one, give you me boldness to abide within the

harmless laws of peace, avoiding strife and hatred and the violent fiends of death."

To the earth (Roman)

Goddess revered, O Earth, of all nature Mother, engendering all things and re-engendering them from

the same womb, because thou only dost supply each species with living force, thou divine controller of

sky and sea and of all things, through thee is nature hushed and lays hold on sleep, and thou likewise

renewest the day and dost banish night. Thou coverest Pluto's shades and chaos immeasurable: winds,

rains and tempests thou dost detain, and, at thy will, let loose, and so convulse the sea, banishing

sunshine, stirring gales to fury, and likewise, when thou wilt, thou speedest forth the joyous day. Thou

dost bestow life's nourishment with never-failing faithfulness, and, when our breath has gone, in thee

we find our refuge: so, whatsoe'er thou bestowest, all falls back to thee. Deservedly art thou called

Mighty Mother of Gods, since in duteous service thou hast surpassed the divinities of heaven, and

thou art that true parent of living species and of gods, without which nothing is ripened or can be

born. Thou art the Mighty Being and thou art queen of divinities, O Goddess. Thee, divine one,

W

I adore and thy godhead I invoke: graciously vouchsafe me this which I ask of thee: and with due fealty,

Goddess, I will repay thee thanks. Give ear to me, I pray, and favour my undertakings: this which I seek

of p345thee, Goddess, vouchsafe to me willingly. All herbs soever which thy majesty engendereth, for

health's sake thou bestowest upon every race: entrust to me now this healing virtue of thine: let healing

come with thy powers: whate'er I do in consonance therewith, let it have favourable issue: to whomso

I give those same powers or whoso shall receive the same from me, all such do thou make whole.

Finally now, O Goddess, let thy majesty vouchsafe to me what I ask of thee in prayer..

To Hygieia

"Hygieia, most reverend of the Gods among mankind, would that I may dwell with you for the rest of

my life! Be present and well-disposed to me, for if there is any delight in money or in offspring

or in royal rule, equal to that of the Gods among men, or in desires, That we hunt with hidden traps

of Aphrodite, Or if any other delight has been revealed to man from the gods, or any relief from pains,

It is through you, blessed Hygieia, that they are all flourishing and are brilliant in the Graces’ speech.

Apart from you no man counts as blessed."

To Zeus

God being one yet has many names, being called after all the various conditions which he himself inaugurates. We call him Zen and Zeus, using the two names in the same sense, as though we should say 'him through whom we live'. He is called the son of Kronos and of Time, for he endures from eternal age to age. He is God of Lightning and Thunder, God of the Clear Sky and of Ether, God of the Thunderbolt and of Rain, so called after the rain and the thunderbolts and other physical phenomena. Moreover, after the fruits he is called the Fruitful God, after cities the City-God: he is God of Birth, God of the House-court, God of Kindred and God of our Fathers " from liis participation in such things. He is God of Comradeship and friendship and Hospitality, God of Armies and of Trophies, God of purification and of Vengeance and of Supplication and of Propitiation, as the poets name him, and in very truth the Saviour and God of freedom, and to complete the tale of his titles, God of heaven and of the world below, deriving his names from all natural phenomena and conditions, inasmuch as he is himself the cause of all things. Wherefore it is well said in the Orphic Hymns: Zeus of the flashing bolt was the last to be horn and the latest. Zeus is the head and the middle; of Zeus were all things created: Zeus is the stay of the earth and the stay of the star-spangled heaven; Zeus is male and female of sex. the bride everlasting; Zeus is the breath of all and the rush of unwearying fire ; Zeus is the root of the sea, and the sun and the moon in the heavens; Zeus of the flashing bolt is the king and the ruler of all men, hiding them all away, and again to the glad light of heaven bringing them back at his will, performing terrible marvels.

To Zeus-Jupiter

Monarch of aether, Hades, sea and land, who by Thy thunder movest the vast Olympian dome, whom the host of the celestials reverence, whom even the implacable destinies obey, immortal, self-begotten, by whose will all things revolve, who movest the winds and coverest the world with Thy dark cloud, cleaving with Thy flashing lightning the vast expanse of aether. Thy commandment runneth on in the never changing courses of the stars. Around Thy burning throne stand armies of unwearied ministers to whom are committed the affairs of mortals. thy young spring shines forth in purple flowers; Thine autumn divides to men its ripened fruits; Thy winter drives on with its cold and stormy clouds. We address Thee, almighty Jove, great God of Gods, fearful, invincible, incorruptible, immortal, crowned with the everlasting aether.

To God (Neoplatonic)

Almighty, borne by age-old heavens, amid Thy myriad virtues Thou art ever One, and no one can measure Thee with number or with time. Now (if by any name it is meet to invoke Thee) Thou shalt be invoked by the unknown name in which Thou, the Holy One, dost rejoice, whereat the mighty earth trembles, and the wandering stars stand in their swift course. Thou art One and likewise Many, Thou art First and Last, Thou art at once the Centre and the Survivor of the universe. For Thou art without end, yet Thou bringest an end to the swift passage of time, and on high, from eternity, Thou dost behold harsh fate swept on with immutable whirl, Thou dost behold lives enclosed in time and again led back and returned to the upper spheres so that the vitality, exhausted by births,’ which the universe has lost may return to it and may again circulate through the (celestial) bodies. If indeed we may turn our mind to Thee to assay Thy holy form wherewith Thou, the Immeasurable, dost gird the stars and dost embrace all at once the vast ether, with limbs, perchance, swift as the flash of lightning Thou art as it were a fiery radiance, by whose blaze Thou dost see all and dost rule our sun and day. Thou art the whole race of gods, Thou the cause and strength of all things, Thou art all nature, one god innumerable, in Thee are both male and female, to Thee was once born this god, this universe, the home of both men and gods, gleaming and sparkling with the sublime flower of youth. Breathe Thy favor on my prayer, and grant me to know how this universe was created, how born or made. Grant, O Father, that I may know the sublime causes, by what bond Thou hast sustained the cosmic mass, with what insubstantial numbers, even and odd, Thou hast, in Thy greatness, woven the Soul, and what vigorous force lives in the Swift Bodies.”

To Isis (from the Oxyrrhynchus papyri)

"Aphroditopolis One- . . . ; in the House of Hephaestus chmeunis ; who at . . . ophis art called Bubastis, . . . ; at Letopolis Magna one, . . . ; at Aphroditopolis in the Prosopite nome fleet-commanding, many-shaped, Aphrodite; at Delta giver of favours; at Calamisis gentle; at Carene affectionate; at Niciu immortal, giver; at Hierasus . . . athroichis ; at Momemphis ruler ; at Psochemis bringer to harbour ; at Mylon ruler ; at Ce . . culemis . . . ; at Hermopolis of beautiful form, sacred ; at Naucratis fatherless, joy, saviour, almighty, most great; at Nithine in the Gynaecopolite nome Aphrodite ; at Pephremis Isis, ruler, Hestia, lady of every country ; at Es . . . Hera, divine ; at . . . ; at Buto skilled in calculation, . . . ; at

Thonis love . . . ; in the Saite nome victorious, Athena, nymph ; at Nebeo . . . ; at Caene joy ; at SaVs Hera, ruler, perfect ; at Iseum Isis ; at Sebennytus inventiveness, mistress, Hera, holy ; at Hermopolis Aphrodite, queen, holy ; at Diospolis Parva ruler ; at Bubaslus of old ; at Heliopolis Aphrodite ; at Athribis Maia, supporter; at Hiera in the Phthemphuthite nome lotus-bearing; at Teouchis sacred, mistress ; among the Bucoli Maia ; at Xois of old, oracular ; at Catabathmus providence; at Apis understanding; at Leuce Acte Aphrodite, INIouchis, Eseremphis; at PhagroriopoHs . . . ; at Choatine victorious ; at . . . skilled in writing, . . . ; at Cynopolis in the Busirite nome Praxidice; at Busiris fortune, good ; at Hermopolis in the Mendesian nome leader ; at Pharbaethus of beautiful form ; at Isidium in the Sethroite nome saviour of men ; at Heracleopolis in the Sethroite nome mistress ; at Phernouphis ruler of cities ; at Leontopolis serpent, good ; at Tanis of gracious form, Hera ; at Schedia inventiveness ; at Heracleum lady of the sea; at Canopus leader of the muses; at Menoulhis truth; at Meniouis seated before lo in whose honour ... is founded ; at . . enestium most great, vulture-shaped, Aphrodite; at Taposiris Thauestis, Hera, giver; in the Island swiftlyvictorious ; at Peucestis pilot ; at Melais (.?) many-formed ; at Menouphis warlike ; m the Metelite nome Core; at Charax Athena; at Plinthine Hestia; at Pelusium bringer to harbour; in the Casian district Tachnepsis ; at the Outlet Isis, preserver; in Arabia great, goddess ; in the Island giver of victory in the sacred games ; in Lycia Leto ; at Myra in Lycia sage, freedom ; at Cnidus dispeller of attack, discoverer ; at Cyrene Isis ; in Crete Dictynnis ; at Chalcedon Themis; at Rome w^arlike; in the Cyclades islands of threefold nature, Artemis ; at Patmos young, . . . ; at Paphos hallowed, divine, gentle ; in Chios marching ; at Salamis observer ; in Cyprus all-bounteous ; in Chalcidice holy ; in Pieria youthful ; in Asia Avorshipped at the three ways ; at Petra saviour ; at Hypsele most great ; at Rhinocolura all-seeing ; at Dora friendship ; at Stratonos Pyrgos Hellas, good ; at Ascalon mightiest ; at Sinope many-named ; at Raphia mistress ; at Tripolis supporter ; at Gaza abundant ; at Delphi best, fairest ; at Bambyce Atargatis ; among the Thracians and in Delos many-named ; among the Amazons warlike ; among the Indians Maia ; among the Thessalians moon ; among the Persians Latina ; among the INIagi Core, Thapseusis ; at Susa Nania ; in Syrophoenicia goddess ; in Samothrace bull-faced ; at Pergamum mistress ; in Pontus immaculate ; in Italy love of the gods ; in Samos sacred ; at the Hellespont mystic ; at Myndus divine ; in Bithynia Helen ; in Tenedos name of the sun ; in Caria Hecate ; in the Troad and at Dindyma . . ., Palentra (?), unapproachable, Isis ; at Berytus IMaia ; at Sidon Astarte ; at Ptolemais understanding ; at Susa in the district by the Red Sea Sarkounis ; thou who also interpretest first of all in the fifteen commandments, ruler of the world ; guardian and guide, lady of the mouths of seas and rivers ; skilled in writing and calculation, understanding ; who also bringest back the Nile over every country ; the beautiful animal of all the gods ; the glad face in Lethe ; the leader of the muses ; the many-eyed ; the comely goddess in Olympus ; ornament of the female sex and affectionate ; providing sweetness in assemblies ; the lock of hair (?) in festivals ; the prosperity of observers of lucky days ; Harpocratis of the gods ; all-ruling in the processions of the gods, enmity hating; true jewel of the wind and diadem of life; by whose command images and animals of all the gods, having ... of thy name, are worshipped ; lady Isis, greatest of the gods, first of names, lo Sothis ; thou rulest over the mid-air and the immeasurable ; thou devisest the weaving of ... ; it is also thy will that women in health come to anchor with men ; all the elders at . . ctus sacrifice ; all the maidens who ... at Heracleopolis turn (?) to thee and dedicated the country to thee ; thou art seen by those who invoke thee faithfully ; from whom ... in virtue of the 365 combined days ; gentle and placable is the favour of thy two ordinances ; thou bringest the sun from rising unto setting, and all the gods are glad ; at the risings of the stars the people of the country worship thee unceasingly

and the other sacred animals in the sanctuary of Osiris, they become joyful when they name thee ; the . . . spirits become thy subjects ; . . . (174-89) and thou bringest decay on what thou wilt and to the destroyed bringest increase, and thou purifiest all things ; every day thou didst appoint for joy ; thou . . . having discovered all the . . , of wine providedst it first in the festivals of the gods . . . ; thou becamest the discoverer of all things wet and dry and cold (and hot) of which all things are composed ; thou broughtest back alone thy brother, piloting him safely and burying him fittingly; . . . (193-6) leader of diadems ; lady of increase and decay and of . . . (202-17) thou didst establish shrines of Isis in all cities for all time; and didst deliver to all men observances and a perfect year ; and to all men ... in every place ; thou didst show ... in order that all men might know that thou . . . ; thou didst establish thy son Horus Apollo everywhere the youthful lord of the whole world and ... for all time ; thou didst make the power of women equal to that of men ; and in the sanctuary thou didst . . . nations . . . (222-31) thou, lady of the land, bringest the flood of rivers . . ., and in Egypt the Nile, in Tripolis the Eleutherus, in India the Ganges ; owing to whom the whole and the . . . exists through all rain, every spring, all dew and snow, and all . . . and land and sea ; thou art also the mistress of all things for ever; . . . (235-52) thou madest the . . . of the Dioscuri ; . . . thou hast dominion over winds and thunders and lightnings and snows ; thou, the lady of war and rule, easily destroyest tyrants by trusty counsels ; thou madest great Osiris immortal, and deliveredst to every country . . . religious observances ; likewise thou madest immortal Horus who showed himself a benefactor . . . and good ; thou art the lady of light and flames; thou ... a sanctuary at Memphis; Horus having judged before hand that thou hadst appointed him successor (of his father) . . . enthroning him, . . . (265-70) thou didst establish him lord of the throne and oracular king over his father's house for all time ; in thy honour out of three temples that at Busiris called..."

Gurob papyrus

". ] having everything that he finds . . . let him] collect the raw (meat) . . . ] on account of the ritual. “[Receive my gift ] as the payment for law[less ancestors . . . ]Save me, Brimo, gr[eat ]and Demeter [and] Rhea [ ]and the armed Curetes [ . . . ] ]that we . . . ] so that we will perform beautiful rites ] . . . ram and he- goat ] immense gift s.” ] and along the river . . . . ta]king of the he-goat ] . . . let him eat the rest of the meat ] . . . let him not watch ] . . . , dedicating the chosen ] . . . Prayer: “I call [Protogo]nos (?) and Eubouleus, ] I call the wide [Earth

] . . . the dear ones. You, having parched . . . of De]meter and Pallas to us Eubou]leus, Irikepaios, save me hurler of lightn]ing . . . one(?) Dionysus. Passwords: ] . . . god through the bosom ] . . . I drank [wine?], donkey, herdsman ] . . . token: above below for the . . . ] and what has been given to you for your consumption in]to the basket, and again c]one (or spinning- top), bull- roarer, knuckle- bones ] mirror"

Orphic Theogony 61. To Musaios: These things keep in thy mind, dear son, and in thy heart, well knowing all the things of long ago, even from Phanes. {AM} 62. Lord, son of Leto, far shooter, mighty Phoibos, all seeing, ruler over mortals and Immortals, Helios, borne aloft on golden wings, this is now the twelfth voice of those I heard from thee. ‘Twas thou that said it, and thee thyself, far shooter, would I make my witness.{M} 63. These they call Giants by name among the Blessed Gods, for that they were born from Earth (Ge) and from the blood of Heaven (Ouranos). {EM} 66. Of this Chronos, the Ageless One, whose counsels never perish, was born Aither and a great yawning gulf on this side and on that: and there was no limit to it, no bottom nor foundation.{P} 67. (All things were in confusion) Throughout the misty darkness. {P} 70. Then great Chronos fashioned in the divine Aither a silvery egg. {D} 71. And it moved without slackening in a vast circle. And it began to move in a wondrous circle. {P} 72. And at the birth of Phanes the misty gulf below and the windless Aither were rent. {P} 73 and 74. First-born, Phaethon, son of lofty (beauteous) Aither. {L} 75. Whom they call Phanes…because he first appeared in the Aither. {EM} 76. With four eyes looking this way and that. {H} 78. With golden wings moving this way and that. {H} 79. Uttering the voice of a bull and of a glaring lion. {P} 81. Female and Father the mighty God Erikepaios. {P} 82. Cherishing in his heart swift and sightless Eros. The key of Mind. {P & O} 83. (of Eros-Metis) A great Daemon ever treading on their tracks. {P} 85. An awful Daemon, Metis, bearing the honored seed of the Gods, whom the Blessed on tall Olympos were wont to call Phanes, the Firstborn. {P} 86. The Firstborn none saw with his eyes, unless it were holy Night alone. But all the others marveled when there burst upon their gaze the unlooked-for light in the Aither; so gleamed the body of immortal Phanes. {H & others} 89. (Of Phanes) He built for the Immortals an imperishable house. {L} 91. And he devised another world, immense, which the Immortals call Selene and the inhabitants of Earth Mene (both words mean Moon), a world which has many mountains, many cities, many mansions. {P} 92. (Of the moon) That it may turn in a month as much as the sun in a year. {P} 94. He appointed for mortals a seat to inhabit apart from the Immortals, where the path of the sun in the middle turns back upon itself, neither too cold above the head nor fiery hot, but betwixt the two. {P} 95. And the honorable works of nature are steadfast and boundless eternity. {P} 96. (Of Phanes) And he made him (the sun) guardian and bade him have lordship over all. {P} 97. These things the Father made in the misty darkness of the cave. {P} 98. (Of Phanes) Himself he robbed his daughter of the flower of her maidenhood. {P} 101. (Of Phanes) His splendid scepter he placed in the hands of the Goddess Night, that she might have the honor of royal sway. {P} 102. (Of Night) Holding in her hands the scepter of Erikepaios. {AA}

103. He granted to her (Night) to have the gift of prophecy wholly true. {H} 105. Fair Ide and her sister Adrasteia. He (she?) gave to Adrasteia brazen cymbals in her hands. {H} 106. Nurse of the Gods is ambrosial Night. {P} 108. He took and divided between Gods and mortals the universe then existing, over which first ruled famous Erikepaios. {S} 109. (Of Night) She in her turn bore Gaia and broad Ouranos; and brought to light those that were invisible, and of what race they were. {H} 111. (Of Ouranos) Who first held sway over the Gods after his mother Night. {AA} 114. (Earth bore) seven fair daughters…and seven kingly sons…daughters…Themis and kindly Tethys and deep-haired Mnemosyne and happy Theia, and Dione she bore of exceeding beauty and Phoibe and Rheia, the mother of Zeus the king. (Her sons were of the same number), Koios and Krios and mighty Phorkys and Kronos and Okeanos and Hyperion and Iapetos. {P} 115. And the circle of unwearied, fair-flowing Okeanos, who winds about and enfolds the earth with his swirling streams. {E} 119. Titans of evil counsel, with overweening hearts. {P} 120. (The Titans were defeated by the Olympians.) For powerful though they were they had set themselves against a mightier foe, out of their fatal insolence and reckless pride. {P} 121. (Of Ouranos) With their inexorable hearts and lawless spirit…he cast them into Tartaros, deep in the earth. {P} 127. The genitals (of Ouranos) fell down into the sea, and round about them as they floated swirled the white foam. Then in the circling season the Year brought forth a tender maiden, and the spirits of Rivalry and Beguilement together took her up in their arms, so soon as she was born. {P} 129. But above all others it was Kronos whom Night reared and cherished. {P} 135. At this time Okeanos kept within his halls, debating with himself to which side his intent should lean, whether he should maim his father’s might and do him wanton injury, conspiring with Kronos and his other brethren who had hearkened to their mother’s behests, or whether he should leave them and remain within at peace. Long did he ponder, then remained he sitting in his halls, for he was wroth with his mother, and yet more with his brethren. {P} 142. Under Zeus son of Kronos to have immortal life, with clear cheek…wet fragrant locks, nor to be touched with the white growth of weak…but thick, luxuriant beard. (ed. This passage is said to refer to the happy lot of men in the past under the rule of Kronos) {P} 144. Until Rhea should bear a child to Kronos in love. {P} 145. Aforetime was she Rhea, but when she came to be called mother of Zeus she became Demetra. {P} 148. Then Kronos afterwards, when he had eaten the food given him in deceit, lay and snored mightily. {P} 149. He lay with his stout neck lolling sideways, and all-conquering sleep overtook him. {C} 152. (Of Adrasteia) Taking the brazen cymbals and tympanon of goat-hide. {P} 154. (Night speaks to Zeus) Whenever thou shalt see him under the oaks with lofty foliage, drunk with the works of loud-murmuring bees, then bind him (Kronos). {Po} 155. (Zeus to Kronos) Set up our race, illustrious Daemon. {P} 157. (The length of the scepter of Zeus) Of four and twenty measures. {P} 158. And Justice, bringer of retribution, attended him (Zeus), bringing succor to all. {P}

164. (Zeus speaks) Mother, highest of the Gods, immortal Night, how am I to establish my proud rule among the Immortals? {P} 165. (Zeus speaks to Night) How may I have all things one and each one separate? Surround all things with the ineffable Aither, and in the midst of that set the heaven, and in the midst the boundless earth, in the midst the sea, and in the midst all the constellations with which the heaven is crowned. {P & others} 166. (Night to Zeus) But when thou shalt stretch a strong bond about all things, fitting a golden chain from the Aither. {P} 167. Thus then engulfing the might of Erikepaios, the Firstborn, he held the body of all things in the hollow of his own belly; and he mingled with his own limbs the power and strength of the God. Therefore together with him all things in Zeus were created anew, the shining height of the broad Aither and the sky, the seat of the unharvested sea and the noble earth, great Ocean and the lowest depths beneath the earth, and rivers and the boundless sea and all else, all immortal and blessed Gods and Goddesses, all that was then in being and all that was to come to pass, all was there, and mingled like streams in the belly of Zeus. {P} 168. (The Great Orphic Hymn to Zeus) {Po & others} Zeus was the first, Zeus last, the lightning's lord, Zeus head, Zeus centre, all things are from Zeus. Zeus born a male, Zeus virgin undefiled; Zeus the firm base of earth and starry heaven; Zeus sovereign, Zeus alone first cause of all: One power divine, great ruler of the world, One kingly form, encircling all things here, Fire, water, earth, and ether, night and day; Wisdom, first parent, and delightful Love: For in Zeus' mighty body these all lie. His head and beauteous face the radiant heaven Reveals and round him float in shining waves The golden tresses of the twinkling stars. On either side bulls' horns of gold are seen, Sunrise and sunset, footpaths of the Gods. His eyes the Sun, the Moon's responsive light; His mind immortal ether, sovereign truth, Hears and considers all; nor any speech, Nor cry, nor noise, nor ominous voice escapes The ear of Zeus, great Kronos' mightier son: Such his immortal head, and such his thought. His radiant body, boundless, undisturbed In strength of mighty limbs was formed thus: The God's broad-spreading shoulders, breast and back Air's wide expanse displays; on either side Grow wings, wherewith throughout all space he flies.

Earth the all-mother, with her lofty hills, His sacred belly forms; the swelling flood Of hoarse resounding Ocean girds his waist. His feet the deeply rooted ground upholds, And dismal Tartarus, and earth's utmost bounds. All things he hides, then from his heart again In Godlike action brings to gladsome light. 170. (On Phanes were from the beginning) Great Bromios and all-seeing Zeus. {P} 174. (Athena) Gleaming with arms, a brazen glory to behold. {P} 175. (Athena) She is called by the noble name of Arete. {P} 176. (Athena) That she might be for him (Zeus) the accomplisher of great deeds. {P} 177. (Athena) For she was made the dread accomplisher of the will of Kronos’ son. {P} 178. (Athena) For she is best of all the immortal Goddesses at plying the loom and devising the works of spinning. {P} 179. (The Kyklopes) Who made for Zeus the thunder, and fashioned the thunderbolt, the first craftsmen, and taught Hephaistos and Athena all cunning works that the heaven contains. {P} 183. (Described by Proclus as the birth of the second Aphrodite) …and the sea received the seed of great Zeus. So as the year completed its circling course, in the season of fair springing plants he bore the waker of laughter, Aphrodite, the foam-born. {P} 187. (Of Artemis) Unmarried and all untried in childbirth she resolves its issues. {P} 188. (Artemis-Hekate) She then, divine Hekate, daughter of fair-tressed Leto, leaving there the body of the child departed to Olympos. {P} 189. (Of Demetra) She devised servants, and attendants, and followers; she devised ambrosia and the fragrance, of red nectar; she devised the splendid works of the loud-murmuring bees. {P} 193. Plying the loom, an unfinished toil, flowery. {T} 194. (Demeter speaks to Kore) But going up to the fruitful bed of Apollo, thou shalt bear splendid children, with countenances of flaming fire. {P} 197. (Kore bears) nine daughters, grey-eyed, makers of flowers. {P} 199. (Of Dionysos) And he was called sweet child of Zeus. {P} 200. (Names of the Moon) Plutone and Euphrosyne and mighty Bendis. {P} 207. (Zeus makes Dionysos king) for all he was young and but a greedy infant. {P} 208. (Zeus speaks) Give ear ye Gods; this one have I made your king. {P} 210. Only the heart, the seat of thought, did they leave. Seven parts of the child in all did they divide between them. {P} 215. But Atlas holds the broad heaven under the weight of stern necessity, at the bounds of the earth. {P} 216. (Dionysos is often called Wine by the theologoi from his gifts.) Instead of one stock of Wine they put in its place three. Take up all the limbs of Wine in order, and bring them to me. Jealous as she was of Wine, the son of Zeus. {P} 218. Zeus then, the father, ruled all things, but Bakchos ruled after him. {P} 219. And bedü of the Nymphs drips down, sparkling water. {C}

222. All live purely beneath the rays of the sun, so soon as they die have a smoother path in a fair meadow beside deep-flowing Acheron, but those who have done evil beneath the rays of the sun, the insolent, are brought down below Kokytos to the chilly horrors of Tartaros. {P} 223. The souls of beasts and winged birds when they flit away, and sacred life forsakes the creature, not one of them is brought to the house of Hades, but each flutters aimlessly where it is, until some other creature snatch it up as it mingles with the gusts of the wind. But when it is a man who leaves the light of the sun, then the immortal souls are brought down by Kylleneian Hermes to the vast hidden part of the earth. {P} 224. Fathers and sons in the halls are the same, and neat housewives and mothers and daughters—all come out of each other in the succeeding generations. …since the soul of men in the circles of time goes in turn among animals, now this one and now that. At one time a horse, then it becomes…again a sheep, then a bird, a sight of fear, again the form of a dog with deep-toned bark, and the race of cold snakes that creeps upon the bright earth. {P & (lines 1 and 2) O} 225. A creature as long-lived as the young palm with feathered top. {Pl} 226. Water is death to soul, and soul to water. From water comes earth, and from earth water again, and from that, soul, quitting the vastness of aither. {C} 227. Of all the springing herbs with which mortals have to do on the earth, none has an unchanging destiny laid upon it, but all must go full circle, and it is not lawful to stop in any part, but each bough holds to a just share of the course, even as it began it. {C} 228. The soul of man has its origin from aither. As we draw in the air we gather to ourselves divine soul. The soul is immortal and ageless, and comes from Zeus. The soul of all is immortal, but the bodies are mortal. {V} 229, 230. To cease from the circle and have respite from evil. {P & S} 232. Men will dispatch full hecatombs in all the seasons of the year, and will perform the mystic rites, yearning to be set free from their lawless ancestry. Then thou, for thou hast power in these things, shalt set free whom thou wilt from grievous pain and the endless sting of passion. {O} 233. Beasts and birds and sinful tribes of mortals, burdens to the earth, counterfeit images, knowing no single thing, without wit to perceive the approach of evil, nor to avert disaster from afar, nor skilled when good is at hand to repent and make it yours, but vain and foolish and improvident. {M & K} 234. For there is no worse, no more terrible thing than a woman.{C} [2] 235. Many are the wand-bearers, but few the Bakchoi. {O}

Mithraic Oath

[I swear by him who separates] earth from heaven, [and darkness from light, a]nd day from night, [and rising from set]ting life from de- [and generation from] corruption, I swear [to the gods which I beseech] to observe [and guard the] myst[eries] [transm]itted to me [and to honor the] father Sarapis [for whom there is closure (?), and] the herald of sacrifice Ka- [for whom it is to adjure, and [and the rest] of the brothers [who are with them]. [May it go well for me who is] faithful and who swe]ars in [the presence (?) if any of these things] I should divulge....Cautopates ...with the sharp ...seals ... ...to the initiate [the fa- er... ... ...of stars ...you separate ...he changed ...and... ... ... ...

...

...great voice...

.................may [the father] draw together... .................four... ...he teaches concerning the remaining... ..to cry out, and may he stand... [of the] prize, and may he swear [through] [the] herald Astuda(mas?). An oath under a herald I swear by him who divides a[nd separates] the earth from heaven an[d darkness] [from] light and day from ni[ght] [and r]ising from setting and [life] [from] death and generation fro[m corruption] [and b]lack [f]rom light and drynes[s] [from wet]ness and ... from ... [and] bitter[ness] from sweatness and fles[h from] sou[l]: I swear to the [god]s which I b[eseech] to observe and gua[rd

Mithraic Catechism

"... He will say: 'Where ... ?'

'... he is/(you are?) there (then/thereupon?) at a loss?' Say: ... Say: 'Night'. He will say: 'Where ... ?' ... Say: 'All things ...' (He will say): '... you are called ... ?' Say: 'Because of the summery ...' ... having become ... he/it has the fiery ... (He will say): '... did you receive/inherit?' Say: 'In a pit'. He will say: 'Where is

your ...?...

(Say): '...(in the...) Leonteion.' He will say: 'Will you gird?' The (heavenly?) ...(Say): '... death'. He will say: 'Why, having girded yourself, ...?' '... this (has?) four tassels'.

'Very sharp and ...''... much'. He will say: ...? (Say: '... because of/through?) hot and cold'. He will say: ...? (Say): '... red ... linen'. He will say: 'Why?' Say: '... red border; the linen, however, ...' (He will say): '... has been wrapped?' Say: 'The savior's ...' He will say: 'Who is the father?' Say: 'The one who (begets?) everything ...' (He

will say): '('How ?)...

did you become a Leo?' Say: 'By the ... of the father'. ... Say: 'Drink and food'. He will say '...?' '... in the seven-...'."