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κισσοκόμην Διόνυσον ἐρίβρομον ἄρχομ᾽ ἀείδειν,
Ζηνὸς καὶ Σεμέλης ἐρικυδέος ἀγλαὸν υἱόν,
ὃν τρέφον ἠύκομοι Νύμφαι παρὰ πατρὸς ἄνακτος
δεξάμεναι κόλποισι καὶ ἐνδυκέως ἀτίταλλον
Νύσης ἐν γυάλοις: ὃ δ᾽ ἀέξετο πατρὸς ἕκητι 5
ἄντρῳ ἐν εὐώδει μεταρίθμιος ἀθανάτοισιν.
αὐτὰρ ἐπειδὴ τόνδε θεαὶ πολύυμνον ἔθρεψαν,
δὴ τότε φοιτίζεσκε καθ᾽ ὑλήεντας ἐναύλους,
κισσῷ καὶ δάφνῃ πεπυκασμένος: αἳ δ᾽ ἅμ᾽ ἕποντο
Νύμφαι, ὃ δ᾽ ἐξηγεῖτο: βρόμος δ᾽ ἔχεν ἄσπετον ὕλην. 10
καὶ σὺ μὲν οὕτω χαῖρε, πολυστάφυλ᾽ ὦ Διόνυσε:
δὸς δ᾽ ἡμᾶς χαίροντας ἐς ὥρας αὖτις ἱκέσθαι,
ἐκ δ᾽ αὖθ᾽ ὡράων εἰς τοὺς πολλοὺς ἐνιαυτούς.
I begin to sing of ivy-crowned Dionysus, the loud-crying god,
splendid son of Zeus and glorious Semele.
The rich-haired Nymphs received him in their bosoms
from the lord his father and fostered and nurtured him carefully
in the dells of Nysa, where by the will of his father [5]
he grew up in a sweet-smelling cave, being reckoned among the immortals.
But when the goddesses had brought him up, a god oft hymned,
then began he to wander continually through the woody coombes,
thickly wreathed with ivy and laurel. And the Nymphs followed in his train
with him for their leader; and the boundless forest was filled with their outcry. [10]
And so hail to you, Dionysus, god of abundant clusters!
Grant that we may come again rejoicing to this season,
and from that season onwards for many a year.
Anonymous. The Homeric Hymns and Homerica with an English Translation by Hugh G. Evelyn-White. Cambridge, MA., Harvard University Press; London, William Heinemann Ltd. 1914.