Prayers and Hyms to Dionysos
Homeric Hymn To Dionysos
Ivy-wreathed Dionysos of the loud shout I sing,
Radiant son of Zeus and Semele,
Nurtured by lovely-haired nymphs who, receiving the child
From his father, took him to their breasts and tenderly reared him
In the grottoes of Nysa. There, in a sweet-smelling cave,
He lived among the nymphs by the will of his father,
Growing in strength and numbered among the Immortals.
But after the nymphs had raised the God everywhere honored
In hymns, he wandered at will through the wooded dells,
His brow enreathed with ivy and laurel, the nymphs
Following after, their outcry resounding throughout the vast woodland.
Thus do I hail you, Dionysos, heavy with clusters,
Grant that we return to this season rejoicing,
And from this season on again through the many years.
Trans. Thelma Sargent
The Orphic Hymn to Dionysos
Translation copyright ?998 Adam P. Forrest
To Dionysos
With storax incense I summon Dionysos the Loud Roarer, He Who Cries Eua,
Firstborn, Two-Natured, Thrice Born, Bacchic One, My Lord!
Wild One, Unspeakable One, Secret One, Two-Horned and Two-Formed One!
Ivy-wrapped, Bull-faced, Martial Reveler, Thou Pure One!
Eater of Raw Flesh, Lord of Biennial Rites, Bearer of Grapes, Wearer of
Green Shoots!
Good Councilor, Frequent Councilor, Child of Zeus and of Persephon?BR> When They joined in an ineffable Union, Thou immortal Spirit!
Hear Thou, Blessed One, my voice, and gently breathe Thou upon me
Kindheartedly, with Thy fair-girt Nurturers.
The Words of Dionysos Bromios
through His Maenad, Philentheos
I am the Far-Reacher, I am the Earth-Shaker, I am the Loud-Shouter.
I am Dionysos Bromios and I sound My cry to awaken your heart.
I am the White Bull of Harmony, I am the White Bull of the Anthesteria.
Nymphs, satyrs and beloved maenads follow behind Me.
I am strong of flank and delicate of hoof.
Where my foot falls, flowers spring forth, plucked by My devoted followers,
Fashioned into garlands.
Flower garlands twine about My thrusting horns and mighty neck.
I am the White Bull of Spring, My nostrils exhale the breath of renewal.
My enticing broming calls forth the souls of the dead and for this brief
moment
They again dance and cry and look toward life renewed.
I am the White Bull of Life Who carries strength and vigor on the tips of My
horns.
I am the piercer of the sack of life, I am the carrier of the sacred nectar.
I am the joy and the ecstasy of the hive.
I am the great fountain of life and I bid you to drink from Me.
I am all this, but I am more.
I am the Black Bull of the seed of generations.
I am the fullness of the phallus, I plow the earth with My seed as I dance.
I am the Charger of Many Forms.
With Me you toss your head-in dance, you become the Black Bull
I am the great earth shaker, I am the mover of mountains.
I am the ripple, the swelling, the great excitement.
I am the wild herder, I am the cutter and the sorter.
By My ripping horns the mark is put upon those who will begin their death
dance
And through Me a new seed is generated before death can claim.
I am life eternal, I am the frenzy and the madness.
I am the berserk lover who casts aside all inhibitions.
My broming comes from the very depths of the heart.
My wild cry bursts forth from containment to freedom.
I am the greening of the vine, the mover of the sap.
I am the life force, I am the ultimate release.
I am Zoe.
I am all this, but I am more.
I am the Red Bull of the sacrifice, the blood nourisher of the earth.
My seed, deposited in the earth is fed by My sacrifice.
I am the heat of the flame, the intense scorcher.
At the tip of each horn burns the blue flame of My Divinity.
I am the bloodlust, the great trampler.
My hooves pound and the ground runs red.
I am the Render of Souls, the Tearer of Hearts.
I am the Red Bull who illumines the ultimate Lysios.
I am the freedom bringer, for I take away all.
My awesome broming strikes fear in all who know not that
My ear shattering cry is meant to vibrate the soul.
I am the Red Bull of the Fiery Blood, know Me in your heart.
Through fear, know excitement
Through excitement, know passion
Through passion, know ecstasy
Through ecstasy, know union
Through union, know Zoe
Through Zoe, know the All
Through the All-Nothing
I am the Red Bull of the Fiery Heart, know Me.
I am all this, but I am more.
I am the Far-Reacher, I am the Earth-Shaker, I am the Loud-Shouter
I am Dionysos Bromios and I sound My cry to awaken your soul.
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