The Orphic Hymns are a collection of eighty-seven hymns addressed to various Gods in the Greek mythos. They are among the few extant works of Orphic Mystery Literature that originated in ancient Greece. Historians believe that the hymns were composed in the second or third centuries AD, but these dates are far after the apex of Orphic Mystery wisdom.
Based on my research of the Mysteries and Anthroposophy, I believe that Orphic Hymns originated sometime in the 8th-9th centuries BC in Asia Minor and Greece. They were the foundational impulse for spirituality, art, music, and prose - and initiation - for Greek and Western culture. Surviving Orphic fragments were preserved and copied by those who lived within the spirit of the ancient Mysteries of the Graeco-Roman period, but unfortunately most have been lost.
The known surviving verses were the work of ancient initiates who mastered the art of spiritual prose, lyrics, and music and they still resonate today.
https://www.theoi.com/Text/OrphicHymns1.html
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Orphic_Hymns
Orphic Hymns by Thanassakis, Apostolos, 2013: https://ia804707.us.archive.org/12/items/orphic-hymns-num/Orphic%20Hymns%20%5Bnum%5D.pdf
Rudolf Steiner on Orpheus
(1) "Orpheus...belongs to an age immediately preceding that of Christianity. It was Orpheus who inaugurated the Grecian Mysteries." -Rudolf Steiner,
https://rsarchive.org/Lectures/GA124/English/RSPC1937/19110116p01.html
(2) "‘Orpheus’—the name given to the reincarnated Apollo, or “Son of Apollo.” This tragedy of the soul is represented in a marvelous way in the figures of ‘Orpheus and Eurydice’. Eurydice was soon torn from Orpheus. She dwelt in another world; but Orpheus still had the power, through his music, of teaching the beings of the nether world." -Rudolf Steiner, The Christ Impulse and the Development of the Ego Consciousness, GA 116, I. The Sphere of the Bodhisattvas
https://rsarchive.org/Lectures/GA116/English/APC1926/19091025p01.html
(3) The coming of Christ-Jesus was prepared for by the sequence of the founders of religions, by Zarathustra, Hermes, Moses, Orpheus, Pythagoras. All their teachings pursue the same aim: To let wisdom flow into humanity, but in every case, in the form most suited to each people respectively." -Rudolf Steiner, The Christian Mystery, GA 97, XII. Adept Schools of the Distant Past,
https://rsarchive.org/Lectures/GA097/English/CMP2000/19070307p02.html
*A Son of Apollo is a "Son of the Sun." This term refers to someone who has attained his or her spiritual initiation. Heracles, Theseus, and Perseus were "Sons of the Sun." A "Son of Zeus" was the same concept that applied to someone who had attained the lofty stage of human transformation.
The following selected verses have been slightly modified by me based on my limited knowledge of Mystery Wisdom. In my view, some of the vernacular used in translation is perhaps a little off. Regardless, the essential meaning is the same. Thus, there is a degree of subjectivity that goes into my alterations. I allowed my intuition to work into the verse and chose suitable vernacular where I felt it was appropriate.
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Orphic Hymn No 3. To God of the Sky (Heaven)
Great God of Heaven, whose mighty frame no respite knows,
Father of all, from whom the world arose.
Hear bounteous parent, source and end of all
Forever whirling round this earthly ball.
Abode of Gods, whose guardian power surrounds
The eternal world of enduring and limitless bounds
Whose ample bosom and encircling folds
The dire necessity of nature holds.
Ethereal, earthly, whose eternal-changing frame
Azure and full of forms, no power can tame.
All-seeing Heaven, progenitor of Time,
Forever blessed, God sublime.
Auspicious to prose,
your mystic shines
And crown his wishes,
with life divine.
Orphic Hymn No. 4. For Fire [Warmth Ether]
O Ever untamed Fire-Ether, who reigns on high
In Jove's dominions, ruler of the sky.
The glorious sun with dazzling luster so bright,
And moon and stars from thee derive their light.
All taming power, ethereal shining fire,
Whose vivid gales of light and warmth, of life is inspired.
The world's best element, light-bearing power
With starry radiance shining, of splendid flowers.
O, hear my prayer,
And may thy eternal frame
Be forever innocent,
Serene and tame.
Orphic Hymn 7. To the Stars (Astron)
With holy voice I call the stars on high,
Pure sacred lights and genii of the sky.
Celestial stars, the progeny of Night,
In whirling circles beaming far, your light.
Luminous rays, around the heavens ye throw,
Eternal fires, the source of all below.
With flames significant, of Fate ye shine,
And oversee to men, a path divine.
In seven bright spheres ye move with wandering flames,
And heaven and earth compose your lucid frames.
With course unwearied, pure and fiery bright,
Forever shining through the veil of Night.
Hail twinkling, joyful, ever-conscious fires!
Abundantly shine on my pure desires,
These sacred rites, regard with sentient rays,
We end our work, devoted to your praise.
Orphic Hymn 11. To Heracles (An Initiate of the Eleusinian Mysteries)
Hear, powerful Heracles, untamed and strong,
To whom vast hands and mighty works belong.
Almighty Titan, prudent and benign,
Of diverse forms, eternal and divine.
Father of Time, the theme of praise,
Ineffable and adored in many ways.
Magnanimous, in the sacred arts are you skilled
And the athletic labors of the field.
The strong archer, all things to devour,
Supreme, all-helping, all-bearing power.
To thee, mankind as their deliverer do pray,
Whose arm can chase the savage tribes away.
Untiring, earth's best blossom, offspring fair,
To whom calm peace, and peaceful works are dear.
Self-born, with divine and eternal fires you shine,
Various names and strength of heart are thine.
Thy mighty mind supports the morning light,
And bears untamed, the silent gloomy night.
From east to west ye endured with strength divine,
The twelve glorious labors to absolve is thine.
Supremely skilled, you reign in heaven's abodes,
As a part of Heaven, amidst the Gods.
With arms unshaken, infinite, divine,
Come blessed forces, to our sacred rites be inclined.
Alleviations of illness do you convey,
And drive disastrous maladies away.
Come, shake the branch with thy almighty arm,
To darts and harmful fates, ye disarm.
*Dr. Steiner lectured on Heracles and the ancient Greek Mysteries. Refer to Rudolf Steiner, Christianity as Mystical Fact, GA 8, 4. Mystery Wisdom and Myth https://rsarchive.org/Books/GA008/English/AP1947/GA008_c05.html
Orphic Hymn 21. To the Sea (Tethys)
To Tethys I call,
With eyes cerulean bright,
Hidden in a veil,
Obscure from human sight.
The Great Ocean's empress,
Wandering through the deep,
And pleased with gentle gales,
The earth to sweep.
Whose blessed waves in swift succession go,
And lash the rocky shore with endless flow.
Delighting in the Sea, serene to play,
In ships exulting, the watery way.
Whose blessed waves in swift succession go,
And lash the rocky shore with endless flow.
Delighting in the Sea, serene to play,
In ships exulting, the watery way.
Mother of Venus,
And of clouds obscure,
Great nurse of beasts,
And source of fountains pure.
O venerable Goddess,
Hear my prayer,
And make benevolent,
My life in thy care.
Send, blessed queen,
To ships a prosperous breeze,
And waft them safely over
The stormy seas.
Orphic Hymn 24. To Proteus
To Proteus I call, whom Fate decrees, to keep the keys
Which lock the chambers of the deep;
First-born, by whose illustrious forces alone
All of nature's principles are clearly shown.
Matter to change with dynamic forms is thine,
Matter unformed, spacious, and divine.
Eternally honored, prudent, whose sagacious mind
Knows all that was, and is, of every kind.
With all that shall be in succeeding time,
So vast thy wisdom, wonderous, and sublime.
For all things Nature first to thee consigned,
And in thy essence, all form was defined.
Come, blessed Father,
To our mystic rites attend, a
And grant our happy lives
a prosperous end.
*Proteus was a prophetic God of the Sea and Waters; one of several deities and whom Homer referred to as "The Old Man of the Sea."
Orphic Hymn 32. To Victory (Nike).
O Powerful Victory, by men desired,
With adverse breasts to dreadful fury fired.
Thee I invoke, whose might alone can quell
Contending rage, and molestation fell.
It is yours in battle to confer the crown,
The victor's prize, the mark of sweet renown.
For thou rule all things, Victory divine!
And glorious strife, and joyful shouts are thine.
Come, mighty Goddess, thy petition bless,
With sparkling eye, elated with success.
May deeds illustrious, thy protection claim,
And find, led on by thee immortal Fame.
*A beautiful statue of Nike standing on the prow of ship resided at Somathrace and portrayed a winged Goddess who guarded the entrance to the Temple and was a symbol of the highest transformation of the human spirit in initiation. Today, this beautiful statue resides in the Louvre in Paris. This statue is the portrayal of the highest spirit within the human being who has realized and attained his or her higher self which leads to freedom.
Orphic Hymn 42: To the Seasons (Horai)
Daughters of Zeus and Themis,
Seasons bright,
Justice, and blessed Peace,
And lawful Right.
Vernal and grassy, vivid, holy powers,
Whose balmy breath exhales in lovely flowers.
All-colored seasons, with increase is your care,
Circling, forever flourishing, and fair.
Invested with a veil of shining dew,
A flowery veil delightful to view.
Attending Persephone, when back from night,
The Fates and Graces lead her up to light.
When in a perfect symphony they advance,
And joyful round her, form the solemn dance.
With Ceres triumphing, and Zeus divine,
Great fortune come, and our incense shine.
Give to earth,
A reserve of fruits to bear
And a good mystic's life,
Into your eternal care.