Prayer to Apollo by Aleister Crowley

[Sirona]

Hello,

I'd like to draw your attention to a nice find while I was looking for "prayers to Apollo". It is a poem by Aleister Crowley. I know it is not ancient, but I found it very impressive.

Hymn to Apollo

 

[von bek]

 

[von bek]

Great share!

Here are a few more hymns to Apollo:

Orphic Hymn to Apollo:

"To Apollon. Blest Paian (Paean), come, propitious to my prayer, illustrious power, whom Memphian tribes revere, Tityoktonos (Slayer of Tityos), and the god of Health, Lykoreus (Lycoreus), Phoibos (Phoebus), fruitful source of wealth: Pytheion (Pythian), golden-lyred, the field from thee receives its constant rich fertility. Titan, Gryneion, Smyntheus, thee I sing, Pythoktonos (Python-Slayer), hallowed, Delphion king: rural, light-bearing Daimon, and Mousagetos (Leader of the Muses), noble and lovely, armed with arrows dread: far-darting, Bakkhion (Bacchian), twofold and divine, power far diffused, and course oblique is thine. O Delion king, whose light-producing eye views all within, and all beneath the sky; whose locks are gold, whose oracles are sure, who omens good revealest, and precepts pure; hear me entreating for he human kind, hear, and be present with benignant mind; for thou surveyest this boundless aither all, and every part of this terrestrial ball abundant, blessed; and thy piercing sight extends beneath the gloomy, silent night; Beyond the darkness, starry-eyed, profound, the table roots, deep-fixed by thee, are found. The world's wide bounds, all-flourishing, are thine, thyself of all the source and end divine. 'Tis thine all nature's music to inspire with various-sounding, harmonious lyre: now the last string thou tunest to sweet accord, divinely warbling, now the highest chord; the immortal golden lyre, now touched by thee, responsive yields a Dorian melody. All nature's tribes to thee their difference owe, and changing seasons from thy music flow: hence, mixed by thee in equal parts, advance summer and winter in alternate dance; this claims the highest, that the lowest string, the Dorian measure tunes the lovely spring: hence by mankind Pan royal, two-horned named, shrill winds emitting through the syrinx famed; since to thy care the figured seal's consigned, which stamps the world with forms of every kind. Hear me, blest power, and in these rites rejoice, and save thy mystics with a suppliant voice."

From the Homeric Hymn to Apollo:

I will remember and not be unmindful of Apollo who shoots afar. As he goes through the house of Zeus, the gods tremble before him and all spring up from their seats when he draws near, as he bends his bright bow. But Leto alone stays by the side of Zeus who delights in thunder; and then she unstrings his bow, and closes his quiver, and takes his archery from his strong shoulders in her hands and hangs them on a golden peg against a pillar of his father's house. Then she leads him to a seat and makes him sit: and the Father gives him nectar in a golden cup welcoming his dear son, while the other gods make him sit down there, and queenly Leto rejoices because she bare a mighty son and an archer. Rejoice, blessed Leto, for you bare glorious children, the lord Apollo and Artemis who delights in arrows; her in Ortygia, and him in rocky Delos, as you rested against the great mass of the Cynthian hill hard by a palm-tree by the streams of Inopus.

HOMERIC HYMNS 1-3 - Theoi Classical Texts Library

 

[von bek]

Another Homeric hymn to Apollo:

Phoebus, of you even the swan sings with clear voice to the beating of his wings, as he alights upon the bank by the eddying river Peneus; and of you the sweet-tongued minstrel, holding his high-pitched lyre, always sings both first and last. And so hail to you, lord! I seek your favour with my song.

 

[Maponos]

I'm not overly fond of Aleister Crowley being associated with Apollo.

 

[von bek]

I'm not overly fond of Aleister Crowley being associated with Apollo.

While I am no fan of Crowley in general, I quite like the hymn he wrote to Apollo.

 

[rocala]

Phoebus, of you even the swan sings with clear voice to the beating of his wings, as he alights upon the bank by the eddying river Peneus; and of you the sweet-tongued minstrel,

@von bek Thank you. Utter beauty.

 

[The Emperor of Mankind]

I'm not overly fond of Aleister Crowley being associated with Apollo.

Why not?

 

[von bek]

Why not?

I hesitate to speak for the OP; but, I suspect that he may be uncomfortable with a figure as committed to the esoteric as Crowley being associated with a god of reason and order like Lord Apollo. Plus, Apollo represents a more conservative, (for lack of a better word) view of religion while Crowley's system seems to apply a more emotional sensibility that seems more in tune with the worship of Dionysos.

As an aside, the dichotomy of the Apollonian vs the Dionysian seems to be overblown and really amounts to a modern projection back onto ancient Hellenic.religion. Nietzsche is the first writer (though not the only) I have seen make a big deal out of this dichotomy, one that really springs from his own mind. When you read the sources that date back to the days of ancient Greece, I have been hard-pressed to see this distinction between the two deities as representing a profound difference within society. In fact, the worship of both seems ideal for a balanced mental state. As you probably already know, both Apollo and Dionysos were honored and worshipped at Delphi. Apollo ruled from spring to fall, while Dionysos reigned at Delphi during the winter season. I digress, though...