Orphic Hymns

The Orphic Hymns are a collection of eighty-seven ancient Greek hymns addressed to various deities, which are among the few extant works of Orphic literature. They were composed in Asia Minor, most likely around the time of the 2nd or 3rd centuries AD, and were used in the rites of a religious community which existed in the region. The Hymns were in antiquity attributed to the mythical poet Orpheus, and modern scholarship has mostly continued to see the collection as being situated in the Orphic tradition.

The Orphic Hymns open with a proem, in which Orpheus addresses his student Musaeus, calling upon various deities to attend the recitation of the hymns. The individual hymns in the collection, which are all very brief, typically gain the attention of the deity they address, before describing them, and highlighting aspects of their divinity. These descriptions primarily consist of strings of epithets, which make up a significant portion of the hymns' content, and are designed to summon the powers of the god. Most of the deities addressed in the Hymns are derived from mainstream Greek mythology, with the notable exception of Protogonos, a decidedly Orphic deity. The most prominent god in the collection is Dionysus, who is the recipient of around eight hymns, and is mentioned throughout the collection, under various names. Several deities addressed in the Hymns—Mise, Hipta, and Melinoe—previously known only though the collection, have since been discovered in inscriptions in Asia Minor.

The Orphic Hymms seem to have belonged to a cult community in Asia Minor, which used the collection in ritual. The Hymns themselves appear to reference various members of this cult, and employ the word βουκόλος, which is often used to refer to worshippers of Dionysus. The rite in which the Orphic Hymns featured was the τελετή (a term which usually refers to a rite of initiation into mysteries), and this ceremony appears to have taken place at nighttime. In addition, most hymns specify an offering to be made to the deity, which was probably burned during the performance of the hymn. Scholars have noted the apparent lack of Orphic doctrines in the collection, including the paucity of interest in the afterlife, and the absence of explicit mentions of known Orphic myths; certain themes and references, however, have been interpreted as pointing to the presence of Orphic thought in the Hymns.

The are no references to the Orphic Hymns in antiquity, with their earliest mention coming from the Byzantine writer Johannes Galenos. In the Middle Ages, the Orphic Hymns were preserved in a codex which also included the Orphic Argonautica, and other Greek hymns such as the Homeric Hymns. The first codex containing the Orphic Hymns to reach Western Europe seems to have arrived in Italy in the early 15th century, and may be the codex from which all surviving manuscripts descend. Following the arrival of the Orphic Hymns in Renaissance Italy, the collection seems to have been relatively popular amongst the educated, and in 1500 the first edition of the Hymns was published. Other notable editions from the following centuries include those by Johann Gottfried Jakob Hermann, Jenő Ábel [de], and Wilhelm Quandt.

Estimates for the date of the Orphic Hymns' composition vary widely.^[2] While there are several Greek authors who mention hymns attributed to Orpheus, the earliest certain reference to the collection of eighty-seven hymns comes from the Byzantine writer Johannes Galenos.^[3] It is possible that they were composed at an early date without being mentioned, though it is more likely that they were produced somewhere from the 1st to 4th centuries AD.^[4] Christian Petersen, who saw the influence of Stoicism in the Hymns, posited that they must have been composed after the flourishing of Stoic thought, though others have instead seen Platonic or Neoplatonic influence in the collection.^[5] On the basis of the language and meter of the Hymns, Ulrich von Wilamowitz-Moellendorff judged that they can not have been composed before the 2nd century AD,^[6] but were earlier than Nonnus,^[7] and L. van Liempt saw their language as the same used in 3rd and 4th-century AD poetry.^[8] More recently, most scholars have dated the collection to around the 2nd or 3rd centuries AD,^[9] with Gabriella Ricciardelli pointing to the prominence of Dionysism at that time in Asia Minor.^[10]

A number of early scholars believed that the Hymns were produced in Egypt, primarily on the basis of stylistic similarities to Egyptian magical hymns, and the mention of deities which are found elsewhere in Egyptian literature.^[11] Modern scholarship, however, now essentially unanimously agrees upon Asia Minor as the place of composition;^[12] in particular, the names of deities such as Mise, Hipta, and Melinoe, otherwise known only through the Hymns, have been found in inscriptions in the region.^[13] In 1910, a number of such inscriptions were discovered in a temenos of Demeter in Pergamon, which led Otto Kern to postulate that the city was the location in which the collection was composed.^[14] While Christian Lobeck conceived of the collection as a "purely literary work", written by a scholar as an exercise,^[15] others such as Albrecht Dieterich argued that the Hymns were liturgical in function, designed for ritual performance by a cult community, a perspective almost universally accepted by modern scholars.^[16] Kern argued that this group existed at the temenos in Pergamon itself, a view with which some have subsequently agreed.^[17] Scholars have at times stated that the collection was the product of a single author,^[18] though it has also been questioned whether or not the proem was composed separately.^[19]

The Orphic Hymns are one of the few extant works of Orphic literature.^[20] The collection is attributed to Orpheus in the manuscripts in which it survives,^[21] and is written in the voice of Orpheus, opening with the dedication "Orpheus to Musaeus", in which the poet addresses his pupil.^[22] In the Hymns themselves, there are a few traces of Orpheus as their composer:^[23] Orphic Hymn 76 to the Muses mentions "mother Calliope",^[24] and Orphic Hymn 24 to the Nereids refers to "mother Calliope and lord Apollo", alluding to the parentage of Orpheus (whose father was sometimes considered to be Apollo).^[25] The collection can be seen as an example of the broader genre of hymns in Orphic literature,^[26] of which there are examples dating back at least as far as the 5th century BC;^[27] though some scholars have brought into question how "Orphic" the collection can be considered, partly due to the apparent lack of Orphic narratives and eschatological ideas,^[28] there are several places in which the language bears similarity to other works of Orphic literature.^[29] W. K. C. Guthrie, who placed the Hymns at the temenos in Pergamon, went so far as to state that the group to whom they belonged was an "Orphic society";^[30] Ivan Linforth, however, contests that it is equally likely that the name of Orpheus was simply stamped upon the work for its "prestige".^[31] More recently, scholars such as Jean Rudhardt [fr] and Anne-France Morand have seen the Hymns as markedly Orphic in nature, and in line with the preceding tradition of Orphic literature.^[32]

In addition to the proem, the Orphic Hymns consist of eighty-seven very brief poems,^[33] which range from six to thirty lines in length.^[34] In the surviving manuscripts, the hymn addressed to Hecate is appended to the proem,^[35] though modern editions present it separately, as the first hymn of the collection.^[36] In the order of the hymns there occurs a progression from life to death:^[37] the second hymn is addressed to Prothyraia, a goddess associated with birth, while the last is dedicated to Thanatos (Death), and ends in the word γῆρας ("old age").^[38] The collection is also arranged in such a way that the earliest primordial deities appear in the first hymns, while later gods are found further on.^[39] As such, the earliest hymns are addressed to deities who feature in Orphic cosmogony, such as Nyx (OH 3), Uranus (OH 4), Aether (OH 5), and Protogonos (OH 6).^[40] There often exists a link between adjacent hymns—such as the shared "allness" of Pan (OH 11) and Heracles (OH 12)—and a "logic of cosmogonies" is present in, for example, the placement of the hymns to Cronus (OH 13) and Rhea (OH 14) ahead of those to their children (OH 15–8).^[41] Fritz Graf also sees religious significance in the ordering of the hymns.^[42]

The collection begins with a poem entitled "Orpheus to Musaeus",^[44] often referred to as the proem,^[45] proemium, or prologue,^[46] in which Orpheus speaks to Musaeus (who is usually described as his student or son in Greek literature).^[47] The proem has 54 lines, including the final ten which make up the hymn to Hecate (which is attached without separation or a title).^[48] It opens with a two-line dedication in which Orpheus asks Musaeus to learn the rite (θυηπολίη) and prayer (εὐχή), the latter of these referring to the address which follows from lines three to fourty-four, in which around seventy different deities are called upon to attend the rite in question (which would go alongside the performance of the text).^[49] The purpose of this prayer is seemingly to name and devote a hymn to "all" the gods,^[50] though it addresses numerous deities not mentioned in the collection itself, and omits others who are subjects of hymns.^[51] Partly on the basis of this difference in the deities mentioned, as well as the presence of the word θυηπολίη ("a ritual usually linked with sacrifice"),^[52] which does not appear in the rest of the collection, at the beginning and end of the proem, M. L. West argues that the proem was originally a separate Orphic poem, and that this poem was called Θυηπολικόν (a title listed among the works of Orpheus in the Suda).^[53] Morand, however, argues for the common authorship of the proem and the rest of the collection, pointing to the similarities in the usage of epithets, and in the way deities are characterised between the two.^[54]

Each individual hymn in the collection has three internal parts: the invocation, the development, and the request.^[55] In some hymns, however, especially those shorter in length, these three parts can be difficult to distinguish, and may not occur in order.^[56] The invocation is brief, typically appears at the start of the hymn, and is designed to gain the attention of the hymn's addressee.^[57] It names the deity (sometimes using an epiclesis), and usually calls upon them with a verb, which may be in the imperative,^[58] though sometimes no such verb is present, in which case the god is simply named.^[59] The development (also referred to as the amplification)^[60] makes up the main, central portion of the hymn, and is the longest section;^[61] it follows immediately from the invocation, with the point at which it begins often being difficult to distinguish.^[62] It consists mostly of descriptions of the deity, particularly in the form of numerous epithets, and may discuss different features or aspects of the god, as well as include information such as their familial relations, or locations in which they are worshipped;^[63] the purpose of this section is to gratify the deity so that they choose to make themselves present.^[64] The request (also referred to as the prayer)^[65] generally finishes the hymn, and is usually only around one or two lines in length.^[66] It opens with several verbs which typically ask for the god to listen to what the speaker has to say, and for them to be present.^[67] The content of the request varies across the collection: some hymns ask the deity to come favourably, some ask for their presence at the mystery, or to accept a sacrifice,^[68] while others ask for certain outcomes, such as health, prosperity, or wealth,^[69] with this outcome in some instances being specific to the god, such as asking the Clouds to bring rain, or Hygieia to ward off illnesses.^[70]

The hymns in the collection are similar to each other in their style and language (with several exceptions, which Ricciardelli suggests may not have been part of the original collection).^[71] They are written in dactylic hexameter, and also display a consistency in metrical composition.^[72] According to Rudhardt, in terms of vocabulary and grammar, the Hymns find a "distant model" in the works of Hesiod and Homer, but also contain a number of words and forms from later literature, spanning up to the imperial period.^[73] In particular, the language of the collection bears similarity to that of late works such as Nonnus's Dionysiaca, the Greek Magical Papyri, and several poems from the Greek Anthology.^[74] The most distinctive feature of the Hymns is their use of concatenations of epithets, which make up a large part of their content.^[75] They also contain a number of language devices, such as anaphora, alliteration, assonance, and repetition,^[76] as well as forms of wordplay, such as etymologies on the names of gods.^[77] Other notable stylistic elements include the frequent use of compound adjectives as epithets, the tendency to juxtapose contrasting descriptions of deities, and the use of asyndeton.^[78]

It is largely accepted in modern scholarship that the Orphic Hymns were liturgical in function, and were used in religious rites by a cult which existed in Asia Minor.^[79] According to Morand, this group performed initiations into some form of mysteries.^[80] The term βουκόλος ("cowherd") is found in the Hymns, a religious title which is often used elsewhere to refer to worshippers of Dionysus, and is connected to Orpheus in some contexts.^[81] The use of the word βουκόλος and the prominence of Dionysus in the collection indicate that he was the central god of the cult which used the Hymns.^[82] Within the collection itself, Morand sees a number of different members of the group's religious hierarchy as being mentioned:^[83] the μύσται, the regular members of the cult (and the group mentioned most frequently);^[84] the νεομύσται, the "new initiates";^[85] the μυστιπόλοι, who were likely members involved in initiations and ritual activity;^[86] and the ὀργιοφάνται, who seem to have been members involved in initiation rites (similarly to the μυστιπόλοι), and who may also have been responsible for displaying holy objects.^[87]

Most of the hymns in the collection contain a specification of an offering to be made to the deity, which is given as part of the title of the hymn;^[88] only eight hymns lack such an offering in the title.^[89] During the reciting of a hymn, its specified offering would likely have been burned.^[90] For most of the hymns, the offering specified is an aromatic, incense (or incense powder or granules), storax, or myrrh.^[91] In some cases a combination of offerings is asked for.^[92] Several hymns specify a unique offering to be given to the deity, such as torches to Nyx, saffron to Aether, poppies to Hypnos, and grain (excluding beans or herbs) to Earth; Orphic Hymn 53 to Amphietes asks for a libation of milk in addition to an offering.^[93] While in a few cases there is a recognisable link between a deity and their offering, as with poppies for Hypnos, or grain for Earth, for most of the hymns there is no clear reasoning behind the choice of offering.^[94] The absence of animals from the offerings may be related to the supposed prohibition of animal sacrifice in Orphic belief.^[95]

The ceremony in which the Hymns played a role was the τελετή,^[96] a term which usually refers to a rite of initiation into mysteries.^[97] Within the Hymns, there are numerous references to the τελετή,^[98] including several mentions of the πάνθειος τελετή, an initiation rite to all of the gods.^[99] This rite appears to have occurred at nighttime, and may have included the playing of a tambourine at points.^[100] The Hymns also contain several instances of the term ὄργιον, which may refer to sacred objects which featured in the rite.^[101] According to Fritz Graf, the placement of the hymn to Hecate (OH 1) at the beginning of the collection may reflect the placement of a hekataion at the entry to the building in which the rite took place, which participants would have walked past before its commencement.^[102] Graf also argues that the presence of the hymn to Nyx (OH 3) early on is an indication that the Hymns accompanied a nocturnal ritual, which began at dusk and lasted through the night.^[103]

Scholars have noted the apparent dearth of Orphic doctrines in the Hymns.^[104] As a whole, the collection shows little concern for the afterlife, and at no point references the idea of metempsychosis, which is often associated with Orphism;^[105] according to Paul Veyne, the Hymns are essentially uninterested in what happens after death, being concerned only with "this world".^[106] Morand, however, points to, within the collection, the references to souls, and the roles played by memory and purity, as well as parallels between the Hymns and similar evidence such as the gold lamellae, ultimately concluding that this information is "reconcilable with Orphism" ("conciliable avec l'orphisme").^[107] Throughout the collection, however, there is no explicit mention of any major Orphic myth,^[108] including the story of the dismemberment of Dionysus by the Titans,^[109] which has often been considered the central myth of Orphism;^[110] one element of the myth, however, the so-called "Orphic anthropogony", may be alluded to in the hymn to the Titans, which calls its addressees the "ancestors of our fathers".^[111] The Hymns also make no concrete prescriptions as to a certain way of life, though the absence of meat in the offerings could imply a prohibition of animal sacrifice, and the explicit disallowing of beans in the offering to Gaia may similarly indicate a forbiddenness around eating beans,^[112] both of which could suggest an Orphic way of life.^[113] In addition, the idea of purity holds significance in the Hymns, with the hymn to Eros asking the god to come to the initiates and "banish from them vile impulses",^[114] which potentially indicates adherence to some form of "sexual ethics".^[115]

One of the most salient characteristics of the Orphic Hymns is the strings of epithets which comprise a significant portion of their content.^[116] In contrast to the Homeric Hymns, where the middle part of individual hymns often presents a narrative involving the god, in the Orphic Hymns the development section consists mostly of these concatenations of epithets,^[117] which themselves serve as the primary vehicle of mythic content in the collection.^[118] The purpose of these chains of epithets is to acquire the attention of the god and to summon their powers;^[119] to this end, and to gain the goodwill of their addressee, a variety of appellations are used, each of which serves to highlight an aspect of the deity, such as elements of their power, locations of worship, or their part in myths.^[120] In addition, a significant portion of the epithets used are applied to more than one deity, contributing to the broader syncretistic tendencies of the text.^[121] While a number of the epithets in the collection are hapax legomena, quite a few are derived from earlier literature, especially the works of Homer and Hesiod, while others, though without prior attestation, are references to the deity's role in an existing myth;^[122] others still are allusions to known cult titles of the god, which were utilised in certain geographical locations.^[123] According to Rudhardt, while the paratactic clusters of epithets in the Hymns may seem to indicate "rudimentary thought", within them is contained a sort of syntax, where adjacent terms bear relation to each other in subtle ways.^[124]

A number of the gods featured in the Hymns are identified with one another.^[125] On the basis of shared attributes or associations, two deities in the collection may be brought closer together to the point of coalescing, partially or fully;^[126] these linkings of pairs of gods are not complete assimilations, however, as each deity, while adopting features of the other god, still retains their own individual characteristics.^[127] Though earlier scholars such as Jane Ellen Harrison saw this identifying tendency as conferring upon the collection an "atmosphere of mystical monotheism",^[128] this idea of a monotheistic bent to the Hymns has been rejected by more recent scholars.^[129] A notable instance of identification in the collection is that of the Orphic god Protogonos-Phanes with Dionysus, the latter of whom is referred to under several names of the former, such as Eubuleus and Protogonos.^[130] Other examples of deities who are identified in the Hymns include Artemis and Hecate,^[131] Rhea and the Mother of the gods,^[132] and Demeter and the Mother Antaia.^[133] Scholars have also noted the similarity between how deities are identified in the Hymns and other works of Orphic literature,^[134] with the collection seeming to follow an existing Orphic tradition in linking certain pairs of gods.^[135]

Most of the gods mentioned in the Orphic Hymns are known within mainstream Greek mythology.^[137] The only definitively Orphic deity in the collection is Protogonos,^[138] the "first-born god" who emerges from an egg, also referred to as Ericepaios, Phanes, Priapus and Antauges;^[139] he is addressed in Orphic Hymn 6, a hymn which scholars see as congruent with earlier Orphic literature.^[140] Of all the deities featured in the Hymns, however, the most prominent is Dionysus,^[141] the recipient of around eight separate hymns, more than any other god;^[142] these hymns address him in various manifestations,^[143] and comprise the central portion of the collection (OH 30–8).^[144] He appears throughout the collection, being explicitly mentioned in twenty-two of the eight-seven hymns,^[145] under a myriad of epithets.^[146] Across various hymns, he is described as the son of Zeus and either Semele or Persephone, as having been stitched into the thigh of Sabazius before his birth, and as having been nursed by nymphs or other figures as an infant;^[147] in addition, he is also associated in various ways with a number of other deities.^[148] Also prominent in the Hymns is Zeus, who receives four hymns, and is depicted in a manner largely in line with his characterisation in the standard Greek tradition;^[149] other major Greek gods of importance in the collection include Demeter and Persephone.^[150] Certain deities are portrayed quite differently from traditional depictions, such as Heracles, who is made both a Titan and a solar deity.^[151] The Hymns also mention various personifications whose names are common words, such as the Sea, the Sun, Sleep, and Death; in addition, the collection contains several references to known non-Greek gods, such as Isis and Men.^[152]

Several gods addressed in the Orphic Hymns have little or no literary attestation outside of the collection; three of these deities previously unknown outside of the Hymns—Mise, Hipta, and Melinoe—have since been discovered in inscriptions in Asia Minor,^[153] leading scholars to consider the region to be the collection's place of origin.^[154] In the Hymns, Mise is depicted as an androgynous deity, identified with Dionysus, and described as the daughter of the Egyptian goddess Isis,^[155] and mention of her in inscriptions around Pergamon indicate that she featured in cult in the region.^[156] Hipta is portrayed by the collection as the nurse of the infant Dionysus, and described as "glorifying" the mysteries of Sabazios;^[157] inscriptions near Lydian Philadelphia, dating between the 1st and 4th centuries AD, similarly associate her with Sabazios, and evince that she was the subject of cult in the area (and perhaps indicate that she had her own sanctuary there).^[158] Melinoe is a goddess in the Hymns associated with Hecate and seemingly considered the daughter of Zeus and Persephone,^[159] who is also mentioned on a bronze tablet from Pergamon.^[160] According to Morand, this epigraphic evidence, which is roughly contemporaneous with the Orphic Hymns,^[161] indicates deities such as Mise and Hipta were not invented by the author of the Hymns.^[162]

There exist no references to the Orphic Hymns in antiquity;^[163] though hymns attributed to Orpheus are mentioned in works such as the Derveni papyrus and Pausanias's Description of Greece, these almost certainly do not refer to the collection of eight-seven hymns.^[164] The earliest definite reference to the Hymns comes from the Byzantine writer Johannes Galenos, who mentions the collection thrice in his scholium on Hesiod's Theogony.^[165] He refers to epithets from the hymns to Helios and Selene,^[166] and quotes lines from those to Helios and Hecate;^[167] according to Rance Hunsucker, it is relatively likely that Galenos was in possession of a full copy of the collection.^[168]

In the early Middle Ages (or perhaps late antiquity), the Orphic Hymns were collected into a single codex, which also contained the Homeric Hymns, the Orphic Argonautica, and the Hymns of Callimachus and Proclus.^[169] The earliest known codex containing the Orphic Hymns to arrive in Western Europe was brought to Venice from Constantinople by Giovanni Aurispa in 1423^[170]—a manuscript which likely dated to the 12th or 13th century^[171]—and shortly afterwards, in 1427, Francesco Filelfo brought to Italy another codex containing the collection; both of these manuscripts are among those which are now lost.^[172] The surviving codices, of which there are thirty-seven, all date roughly between 1450 and 1550, and often include the Homeric Hymns, the Orphic Argonautica, Hesiodic works, or the Hymns of Callimachus or Proclus.^[173] All of the extant codices descend from the archetype Ψ,^[174] which may have been the manuscript transported by Aurispa to Venice.^[175] From this manuscript are derived four apographs—φ, θ, A, and B (in chronological order of transcription)—which resulted from the gradual degeneration of the archetype.^[176] The hyparchetypes φ and θ themselves sit at the head of stemmata,^[177] with both manuscripts being recoverable only from their descendants,^[178] while A and B, which omit the Homeric Hymns (and in the latter case the Hymns of Callimachus also), are preserved in surviving editions.^[179] Another manuscript, h, of less clear origin, was likely also an apograph of Ψ, though it may not have been an immediate descendant.^[180]

In the mid 15th century, following the arrival of the codex brought by Aurispa to Renaissance Italy, the Orphic Hymns seem to have attained a level of popularity amongst the educated.^[181] This attention around the work, however, may have been due to the Greek scholar and Neoplatonist Gemistos Plethon, who visited Florence around this time,^[182] and seems to have known of the collection;^[183] Rudolf Keydell has even postulated that the manuscript h may have had its origins with Plethon.^[184] In the latter part of the 15th century, the Neoplatonist Marsilio Ficino translated the Orphic Hymns into Latin during his youth, seemingly the first translation of the collection, though it remained unpublished.^[185] The editio princeps of the Hymns was produced in Florence in 1500 by Filippo Giunta;^[186] this codex, denoted in the manuscript tradition by Iunt, is descended from φ.^[187] This was followed shortly afterwards by the publication of an edition by the Aldine Press in 1517, and the first printing of a translation (in Latin) of the collection in 1519, written by Marcus Musurus;^[188] by the end of the 16th century, a total of six editions had been published.^[189] Editions of the Hymns published over the following two centuries are surpassed by the version of the text in the voluminous 1805 collection of Orphic literature by Gottfried Hermann.^[190] Around this time also came the first complete English translation of the collection, produced in 1792 by the Neoplatonist Thomas Taylor, and the first complete German translation, by David Karl Philipp Dietsch, published in 1822.^[191] Hermann's edition was followed by Jenő Ábel [de]'s 1885 collection of Orphic literature, which has been heavily criticised, including his rendering of the Hymns.^[192] In the 20th century, the critical edition by Willhelm Quandt, first published in 1941, and revised in 1955 with additions,^[193] sought to provide an accurate reconstruction of Ψ, with the exception of a number of what Quandt perceived to be spelling errors in the archetype, which he corrects.^[194] Recent renderings of the Hymns include the 1977 English translation by Apostolos Athanassakis, the first since Taylor's,^[195] the 2000 edition, with Italian translation and commentary, by Gabriela Ricciardelli,^[196] and the 2014 Budé edition by Marie-Christine Fayant, with French translation and commentary.^[197]

The deities to whom each of the Orphic Hymns are dedicated are as follows:^[198]

• Taylor, Thomas, The Mystical Hymns of Orpheus, London, Bertram Dobell, 1824. Internet Archive. Originally published in 1792; completely outdated.
• Hermann, G., Orphica, Leipzig, C. Fritsch, 1805. Internet Archive.
• Dietsch, David Karl Philipp, Die Hymnen des Orpheus: griechisch und deutsch, Erlangen, Palm und Enke Verlag, 1822.
• Abel, Eugenius, Orphica, Leipzig, Sumptibus Fecit G. Freytag, 1885. Internet Archive. Online version at Wikisource.
• Plassmann, J. O., Orpheus: Altgriechische Mysteriengesänge, Jena, Diederichs, 1928.
• Quandt, Wilhelm, Orphei Hymni, Berlin, Weidmann, 1955.
• Athanassakis, Apostolos N., The Orphic Hymns: Text, Translation, and Notes, Scholars Press, 1977. ISBN 978-0-89130-119-6.
• Ricciardelli, Gabriella, Inni Orfici, Fondazione Lorenzo Valla, 2000. ISBN 978-8-804-47661-0.
• Athanassakis, Apostolos N., and Benjamin M. Wolkow, The Orphic Hymns, Johns Hopkins University Press, 2013. ISBN 978-1-4214-0882-8. Internet Archive. Google Books.
• Fayant, Marie-Christine, Hymnes Orphiques, Paris, Collection Budé, Paris, Les Belles Lettres, 2014. ISBN 978-2-251-00593-5.

• Athanassakis, Apostolos N., and Benjamin M. Wolkow, The Orphic Hymns, Johns Hopkins University Press, 2013. ISBN 978-1-4214-0882-8. Internet Archive. Google Books.
• Bernabé, Alberto, "Marie-Christine Fayant, Hymnes orphiques", Bryn Mawr Classical Review, 2015. BMCR 2015.09.18.
• Borgeaud, Philippe (2008), "Préface", in Opera inedita: Essai sur la religion grecque & Recherches sur les Hymnes orphiques, authored by Jean Rudhardt, Liege, Presses universitaires de Liège, 2008. ISBN 978-2-960-07172-6.
• Borgeaud, Philippe (2014), "Hymnes orphiques, texte établi et traduit par Marie-Christine Fayant", in Revue genevoise d'anthropologie et d'histoire des religions, Vol. 11, pp. 213–218, 2014.
• Blanc, Alain, "Hymnes Orphiques by M.-Chr. Fayant", in Revue des Études Grecques, Vol. 130, No. 1, pp. 300–304, 2017. JSTOR 44322615.
• Blumenthal, Albrecht von, "Orphei Hymni ed. Guilelmus Quandt", in Gnomon, Vol. 19, No. 3, pp. 140–145, 1943. JSTOR 27676959.
• Brill’s New Pauly: Encyclopaedia of the Ancient World. Antiquity, Volume 10, Obl-Phe, editors: Hubert Cancik, Helmuth Schneider, Brill, 2007. ISBN 978-90-04-14215-2. Online version at Brill.
• Diller, Aubrey, "The autographs of Georgius Gemistus Pletho", in Scriptorium, Vol. 10, No. 1, pp. 27–41, 1956.
• Edmonds, Radcliffe G., Drawing Down the Moon: Magic in the Ancient Greco-Roman World, Princeton University Press, 2019. ISBN 9780691156934.
• Flach, Hans, Glossen und Scholien zur Hesiodischen Theogonie mit Prolegomena, Bibliotheca Teubneriana, Leipzig, Teubner, 1876. Internet Archive.
• Garezou, Maria-Xeni, "Orpheus", in Lexicon Iconographicum Mythologiae Classicae (LIMC) VII.1., Zürich and Munich, Artemis Verlag, 1994. ISBN 3-7608-8751-1. Internet Archive.
• Graf, Fritz (1992), "Nachwort", in Orpheus: Altgriechische Mysterien, pp. 161–175, authored by J. O. Plassmann, Munich, Diederichs, 1992. ISBN 3-424-00740-4.
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