Zeus Orphic Hymns

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Much-honored Zeus, great god,
indestructible Zeus,
we lay before you in prayer
redeeming testimony.
O king, you have brought to light
divine works—
earth, goddess and mother,
the hills swept by the shrill winds,
the sea and the host of the stars,
marshaled by the sky.
Kronian Zeus, strong-spirited god,
the thunderbolt is your scepter,
father of all,
beginning and end of all,
earth-shaker, increaser
and purifier, all-shaker,
god of thunder and lightning,
Zeus the sower.
Hear me, god of many faces,
grant me unblemished health,
please grant me divine peace and riches,
please grant me glory without blame.


- The Orphic Hymns, Hymn XV. To Zeus


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Father Zeus, sublime is the course
of the blazing cosmos you drive on,
ethereal and lofty
the flash of your lightning
as you shake the seat of the gods
with a god’s thunderbolts.
The fire of your lightning
emblazons the rain clouds,
you bring storms and hurricanes,
you bring mighty gales,
you hurl roaring thunder,
a shower of arrows.
Horrific might and strength
sets all aflame,
dreadful missile
makes hearts pound and hair bristle.
Holy and invincible,
it comes with a sudden crash,
an endless spiral of noise,
omnivorous in its drive,
unbreakable and threatening,
ineluctable, too, the gale’s
sharp and smoke-filled shafts
swoop down
with a flash dreaded
by land and sea.
Wild beasts cringe
when they hear the noise,
faces reflect the brilliance
of thunder roaring
in the celestial hollows.
You tear the robe
that cloaks heaven,
you hurl the fiery thunderbolt.
O blessed one …
the anger of the sea waves,
the anger of the mountain peaks—
we all know your power.
Enjoy this libation and give all things
pleasing to the heart:
a life of prosperity,
queenly health,
divine peace that nurtures youths,
crowned with honors,
a life ever blooming
with cheerful thoughts.


- The Orphic Hymns, Hymn XIX. To Zeus the Thunderbolt


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I call upon great and pure,
upon resounding and illustrious,
upon ethereal and blazing Zeus,
whose racing fire shines through the air.
Your light flashes through the clouds
with an ear-splitting clap.
O horrid, O wrathful and pure,
O invincible god,
lord of lightning, I call upon you,
O begetter of all, O great king,
to be kind and to bring
a sweet end to my life.


- The Orphic Hymns, Hymn XX. To Astrapaios Zeus


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I call upon Daimon,
the grand and the dreaded leader,
gentle Zeus, who gives birth to all,
who gives livelihood to mortals.
Great Zeus, wide roving,
avenger, king of all,
giver of wealth when you enter the house
in the abundance of your powers,
you refresh the life of mortals
worn out with toil,
you possess the keys to joy
and sorrow as well.
So, O pure and blessed one,
drive painful cares away,
cares that dispatch ruin to all that live
throughout the whole earth,
and bring a glorious end to my life,
a sweet and noble one.

- The Orphic Hymns, Hymn LXIII. To Daimon


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Zeus is the first. Zeus the thunderer, is the last.
Zeus is the head. Zeus is the middle, and by Zeus all things were fabricated.
Zeus is male, Immortal Zeus is female.
Zeus is the foundation of the earth and of the starry heaven.
Zeus is the breath of all things. Zeus is the rushing of indefatigable fire.
Zeus is the root of the sea: He is the Sun and Moon.
Zeus is the king; He is the author of universal life;
One Power, one Dæmon, the mighty prince of all things:
One kingly frame, in which this universe revolves,
Fire and water, earth and ether, night and day,
And Metis (Counsel) the primeval father, and all-delightful Eros (Love).
All these things are United in the vast body of Zeus.
Would you behold his head and his fair face,
It is the resplendent heaven, round which his golden locks
Of glittering stars are beautifully exalted in the air.
On each side are the two golden taurine horns,
The risings and settings, the tracks of the celestial gods;
His eyes the sun and the Opposing moon;
His unfallacious Mind the royal incorruptible Ether.

[...]


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.


- This Orphic hymn of unknown authorship has been found quoted in various works such as Eusebius of Caesarea's Preparation for the Gospel, Proclus' Commentary on Plato's Timaeus, and Pseudo-Aristotle's On the Universe. Several different versions exist. The first translation is taken from the 1832 edition of Ancient Fragments by I.P. Cory, the second translation is taken from the 1903 five volume translation of Eusebius of Caesarea's Preparation for the Gospel by Edwin Hamilton Gifford.


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