# Hymns

- Author: [Synesius of Cyrene](https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/authors/synesius-of-cyrene/)
- Latin title: *Hymni*
- Date: ca. 395-413 (approximate)
- Source: W. Christ and M. Paranikas, eds., Anthologia Graeca carminum Christianorum (Leipzig: Teubner, 1871), pp. 3-23

- Translation: Claude, from the original text, unless a passage says otherwise; each passage below gives the translator
- Editions and translations: J.-P. Migne, ed., Patrologia Graeca 66 (Paris, 1859), cols. 1587-1616 (superseded here); N. Terzaghi, ed., Synesii Cyrenensis hymni (Rome, 1939); J. Vogt, ed., Synesios von Kyrene, Hymnen
- Work page: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/synesius-hymni/
- Passages: 64

## Hymn 1, lines 1–28

- URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/synesius-hymni/1-1/#p-1-1
- Source: Christ–Paranikas, Anthologia (1871), 3
- Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-11-12

Summary: Synesius turns his lyre from love poetry to a hymn to God, setting aside strength, beauty, wealth, and fame.

### Greek text

Ἄγε μοι, λίγεια φόρμιγξ,
μετὰ Τηΐαν ἀοιδὰν,
μετὰ Λεσβίαν τε μολπὰν
γεραρωτέροις ἐφ᾽ ὕμνοις
κελάδει δώριον ᾠδάν,
ἁπαλαῖς οὐκ ἐπὶ νύμφαις
ἀφροδίσιον γελώσαις,
θαλερῶν οὐδ᾽ ἐπὶ κούρων
πολυηράτοισιν ἥβαις·
θεοκύμονος γὰρ ἁγνὰ
σοφίας ἄχραντος ὠδὶς
μέλος ἐς θεῖον ἐπείγει
κιθάρας μίτους ἐρέσσειν,
μελιχρὰν δ᾽ ἄνωγεν ἄταν
χθονίων φυγεῖν ἐρώτων.
τί γὰρ ἀλκά, τί δὲ κάλλος,
τί δὲ χρυσός, τί δὲ φάμα,
βασιλήϊοί τε τιμαὶ
παρὰ τὰς θεοῦ μερίμνας;
ὁ μὲν ἵππον εὖ διώκοι,
ὁ δὲ τόξον εὖ τιταίνοι,
ὁ δὲ θημῶνα φυλάσσοι
κτεάνων, χρύσειον ὄλβον·
ἑτέρῳ δ᾽ ἄγαλμα χαίτη
καταειμένη τενόντων,
πολύυμνος δέ τις εἴη
παρὰ κούροις, παρὰ κούραις
ἀμαρύγμασιν προσώπων·

### English translation (Claude)

Come, my clear-voiced lyre,
after the Teian song,
after the Lesbian strain,
to more venerable hymns
sound out a Doric ode,
not for tender brides
laughing with love's laughter,
nor for the blooming youth
of young men much desired;
for the holy, unstained
birth-pang of God-conceiving wisdom
urges me to a divine song,
to ply the strings of the cithara,
and bids me flee the honeyed
ruin of earthly loves.
For what is strength, what is beauty,
what is gold, what is fame,
and the honors of kings,
beside thoughts of God?
Let one man drive a horse well,
another draw a bow well,
another guard a heap
of possessions, golden wealth;
for another let his hair be his pride,
flowing down over his neck,
and let someone be much sung
among young men and young women
for the brilliance of his face;

### Translation notes

- The “Teian song” is Anacreon of Teos; the “Lesbian strain” is Sappho and Alcaeus of Lesbos. The hymns are written in literary Doric Greek, hence the “Doric ode”. The English follows the Greek line by line; references give the line number printed by Christ–Paranikas (1871).

### Citation (SBL)

Synesius, Hymn. 1.1 (Christ–Paranikas, Anthologia (1871), 3; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/synesius-hymni/1-1).

## Hymn 1, lines 29–51

- URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/synesius-hymni/1-1/#p-1-29
- Source: Christ–Paranikas, Anthologia (1871), 3
- Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-11-12

Summary: The poet asks for a quiet life with wisdom and just enough to live on, and feels a divine song stirring in him.

### Greek text

ἐμὲ δ᾽ ἀψόφητον εἴη
βιοτὰν ἄσημον ἕλκειν,
τὰ μὲν εἰς ἄλλους ἄσημον
τὰ δὲ πρὸς θεὸν εἰδότα.
σοφία δέ μοι παρείη
ἀγαθὰ μὲν νεότατα,
ἀγαθὰ δὲ γῆρας ἕλκειν,
ἀγαθὰ δ᾽ ἄνασσα πλούτου·
πενίαν δ᾽ ἄμοχθος οἴσει
σοφία γελῶσα πικραῖς
ἄβατον βίου μερίμναις.
μόνον εἰ τόσον παρείη,
ὅσον ἄρκιον καλιῆς
ἀπὸ γειτόνων ἐρύκειν,
ἵνα μὴ χρεώ με κάμπτοι
ἐπὶ φροντίδας μελαίνας.
κλύε καὶ τέττιγος ᾠδὰν
δρόσον ὀρθρίαν πιόντος.
Ἴδε μοι βοῶσι νευραὶ
ἀκέλευστα, καί τις ὀμφὴ
περί τ᾽ ἀμφί τέ με ποτᾶται.
τί ποτ᾽ ἄρα τέξεταί μοι
μέλος ἁ θέσκελος ὠδίς;

### English translation (Claude)

but may it be mine, without a sound,
to draw out an obscure life,
obscure as far as others go,
but knowing the things that look toward God.
And may wisdom be with me,
good for youth,
good to draw me on into old age,
a good queen over wealth;
and poverty she will bear without toil,
wisdom, laughing, a poverty the bitter
cares of life cannot tread.
Only let there be enough,
as much as suffices to keep me
from my neighbors' huts,
so that need may not bend me
to dark anxieties.
Listen also to the cicada's song,
who has drunk the dew of dawn.
See, my strings cry out
unbidden, and a voice
flutters round and about me.
What song, then, will it bring to birth in me,
this divinely wondrous birth-pang?

### Translation notes

- Lines 40–42: he asks for enough not to have to go to his neighbors' doors in need.

### Citation (SBL)

Synesius, Hymn. 1.29 (Christ–Paranikas, Anthologia (1871), 3; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/synesius-hymni/1-29).

## Hymn 1, lines 52–77

- URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/synesius-hymni/1-1/#p-1-52
- Source: Christ–Paranikas, Anthologia (1871), 4
- Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-11-12

Summary: God the first Monad, beyond being, unfolds into a Triad; the poet then stops, refusing to reveal the higher mysteries.

### Greek text

Ὁ μὲν αὐτόσσυτος ἀρχά,
ταμίας πατήρ τ᾽ ἐόντων,
ἀλόχευτος ὑψιθώκων
ὑπὲρ οὐρανοῦ καρήνων
ἀλύτῳ κύδεϊ γαίων
θεὸς ἔμπεδος θαάσσει,
ἑνοτήτων ἑνὰς ἁγνή,
μονάδων μονάς τε πρώτη,
ἁπλότητας ἀκροτήτων
ἐνόωσα καὶ τεκοῦσα
ὑπερουσίοις λοχείαις·
ὅθεν αὐτὴ προθοροῦσα
διὰ πρωτόσπορον εἶδος
μονὰς ἄρρητα χυθεῖσα
τρικόρυμβον ἔσχεν ἀλκάν.
ὑπερούσιος δὲ παγὰ
στέφεται κάλλεϊ παίδων
ἀπὸ κέντρου τε θορόντων,
περὶ κέντρον τε ῥυέντων.
Μένε μοι θρασεῖα φόρμιγξ,
μένε, μηδὲ φαῖνε δήμοις
τελετὰς ἀνοργιάστους.
ἴθι καὶ τὰ νέρθε φώνει·
τὰ δ᾽ ἄνω σιγὰ καλύπτει,
ὁ δὲ νοῦς οἴοισιν ἤδη
μέλεται νοεροῖσι κόσμοις·

### English translation (Claude)

He, the self-sprung Beginning,
steward and father of things that are,
unbegotten, enthroned on high
above the summits of heaven,
exulting in imperishable glory,
sits, God unshaken,
holy Unity of unities,
and first Monad of monads,
the simplicities of the summits
uniting and begetting
in births beyond being;
from there, leaping forth herself
through the first-sown Form,
the Monad, poured out ineffably,
took on a triple-crested might.
And the Source beyond being
is crowned with the beauty of children
that have leapt forth from the center
and flowed around the center.
Stay, my bold lyre,
stay, and do not show to the crowds
rites not for the uninitiated.
Come, sing of things below;
the things above silence covers,
and Mind now cares
only for the intellectual worlds.

### Translation notes

- Synesius describes God in Neoplatonic terms: the first principle is the “Monad” (unit, in Greek feminine) and “Unity” (henad), beyond being; poured out through the “first-sown Form” (the Son), it becomes threefold (“triple-crested”), Synesius's way of speaking of the Trinity. “Unbegotten” renders ἀλόχευτος, literally “not born from a mother's labor”.
- Lines 71–73 use the language of the mystery cults: the higher truths are not to be disclosed to the uninitiated.

### Citation (SBL)

Synesius, Hymn. 1.52 (Christ–Paranikas, Anthologia (1871), 4; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/synesius-hymni/1-52).

## Hymn 1, lines 78–101

- URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/synesius-hymni/1-1/#p-1-78
- Source: Christ–Paranikas, Anthologia (1871), 4
- Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-11-12

Summary: The divine Mind is shared out undivided to stars, angels, and human souls, and the human mind, sunk in matter, forgets its origin but keeps some light.

### Greek text

ἀγαθὰ γὰρ ἔνθεν ἤδη
βροτέου πνεύματος ἀρχὰ
ἀμερίστως ἐμερίσθη,
ὁ καταιβάτας ἐς ὕλαν
νόος ἄφθιτος, τοκήων
θεοκοιράνων ἀπορρώξ,
ὀλίγα μὲν, ἀλλ᾽ ἐκείνων.
ὅλος οὗτος εἷς τε πάντῃ,
ὅλος εἰς ὅλον δεδυκώς,
κύτος οὐρανῶν ἑλίσσει·
τὸ δ᾽ ὅλον τοῦτο φυλάσσων
νενεμημέναισι μορφαῖς
μεμερισμένος παρέστη,
ὁ μὲν ἀστέρων διφρείαις,
ὁ δ᾽ ἐς ἀγγέλων χορείας·
ὁ δὲ καὶ ῥέποντι δεσμῷ
χθονίαν εὕρετο μορφάν·
ἀπὸ δὲ σταθεὶς τοκήων
δνοφερὰν ἤρυσε λάθαν,
ἀλαωποῖσι μερίμναις
χθόνα θαυμάσας ἀτερπῆ
θεὸς ἐς θνητὰ δεδορκώς.
Ἔνι μάν, ἔνι τι φέγγος
κεκαλυμμέναισι γλήναις·

### English translation (Claude)

For from there, for good, already
the source of mortal spirit
was divided without division:
the imperishable Mind that came down
into matter, a fragment broken off
from its divine and sovereign parents,
small, yet theirs.
This Mind, whole and everywhere one,
whole entering into the whole,
turns the vault of the heavens;
and, guarding this whole,
in apportioned forms
it stands present, divided,
one part in the chariots of the stars,
another in the choirs of angels;
and another, with a downward-sinking bond,
found an earthly form,
and, set apart from its parents,
drew up dark forgetfulness,
and with blind cares
marveled at the joyless earth,
a god gazing on mortal things.
Yet there is, there is some light
in eyes that are veiled;

### Translation notes

- This is the Neoplatonic account of the soul's descent: the human mind is a “fragment” of the divine that comes down into matter, drinks forgetfulness (Lethe), and is distracted by earthly cares. Synesius held to the pre-existence of the soul even as a bishop. The “parents” are the divine principles from which the mind comes.
- Line 78: the construction of ἀγαθὰ (“good”) is unclear; it is rendered adverbially, “for good”.

### Citation (SBL)

Synesius, Hymn. 1.78 (Christ–Paranikas, Anthologia (1871), 4; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/synesius-hymni/1-78).

## Hymn 1, lines 102–127

- URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/synesius-hymni/1-1/#p-1-102
- Source: Christ–Paranikas, Anthologia (1871), 4
- Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-11-12

Summary: Blessed is the soul that escapes matter and climbs toward God, who comes to meet it with outstretched hands and a guiding ray.

### Greek text

ἔνι καὶ δεῦρο πεσόντων
ἀναγώγιός τις ἀλκά,
ὅτε κυμάτων φυγόντες
βιοτησίων ἀκηδεῖς
ἁγίας ἔστειλαν οἴμους
πρὸς ἀνάκτορον τοκῆος.
μάκαρ ὅστις βορὸν ὕλας
προφυγὼν ὕλαγμα, καὶ γᾶς
ἀναδὺς ἅλματι κούφῳ
ἴχνος ἐς θεὸν τιταίνει.
μάκαρ ὅστις μετὰ μοίρας,
μετὰ μόχθους, μετὰ πικρὰς
χθονογηθεῖς μελεδῶνας
ἐπιβὰς νόου κελεύθων
βυθὸν εἶδεν θεολαμπῆ.
Πόνος ἔσθ᾽ ὅλαν τανύσθαι
κραδίαν ὅλοισι ταρσοῖς
ἀναγωγίων ἐρώτων.
μόνον ἐμπέδωσον ὁρμὰν
νοερηφόροισιν ὁρμαῖς·
ὁ δέ τοι πέλας φανεῖται
γενέτας χεῖρας ὀρεγνύς·
προθέοισα γάρ τις ἀκτὶς
καταλάμψει μὲν ἀταρπούς,
πετάσει δέ τοι νοητὸν
πεδίον, κάλλεος ἀρχάν.

### English translation (Claude)

there is also, for those who have fallen here,
a strength that leads them upward,
when, escaping the waves
of life, free of care,
they set out on the holy paths
to the palace of their Parent.
Blessed is he who, fleeing
the voracious barking of matter, and
rising up from earth with a light leap,
stretches his step toward God.
Blessed is he who, after his lot,
after toils, after the bitter
cares that delight in earth,
has set foot on the paths of Mind
and seen the God-illumined depth.
It is a labor to stretch
the whole heart on the whole wings
of loves that lead upward.
Only make firm your impulse
with impulses that carry toward Mind;
and near you will appear
the Begetter, stretching out his hands;
for a ray running before
will light up the paths
and spread before you the intelligible
plain, the source of beauty.

### Translation notes

- Line 109: “barking” (ὕλαγμα) plays on ὕλη, “matter”.

### Citation (SBL)

Synesius, Hymn. 1.102 (Christ–Paranikas, Anthologia (1871), 4; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/synesius-hymni/1-102).

## Hymn 1, lines 128–134

- URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/synesius-hymni/1-1/#p-1-128
- Source: Christ–Paranikas, Anthologia (1871), 5
- Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-11-12

Summary: The poet urges his soul to rise and be united with the Father.

### Greek text

Ἄγε μοι, ψυχά, πιοῖσα
ἀγαθορρύτοιο παγᾶς,
ἱκετεύσασα τοκῆα
ἀνάβαινε μηδὲ μέλλε
χθονὶ τὰ χθονὸς λιποῖσα·
τάχα δ᾽ ἂν μιγεῖσα πατρὶ
θεὸς ἐν θεῷ χορεύσαις.

### English translation (Claude)

Come, my soul, drink
from the spring that flows with good,
entreat the Parent,
go up, and do not delay;
leave to earth the things of earth;
and soon, mingled with the Father,
you would dance, God in God.

### Translation notes

- Line 134, “God in God”: the language of the soul's union with the divine in Neoplatonism, translated as written.

### Citation (SBL)

Synesius, Hymn. 1.128 (Christ–Paranikas, Anthologia (1871), 5; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/synesius-hymni/1-128).

## Hymn 2, lines 1–26

- URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/synesius-hymni/1-1/#p-2-1
- Source: Christ–Paranikas, Anthologia (1871), 5
- Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-11-12

Summary: A morning hymn to God who set the heavens in order, from the moon's sphere up past the stars to Mind and the silent realm beyond, where one Source shines as a threefold Form.

### Greek text

Πάλι φέγγος, πάλιν ἀώς,
πάλιν ἁμέρα προλάμπει
μετὰ νυκτίφοιτον ὄρφναν·
πάλι μοι λίγαινε, θυμέ,
θεὸν ὀρθρίοισιν ὕμνοις,
ὃς ἔδωκε φέγγος ἀοῖ,
ὃς ἔδωκεν ἄστρα νυκτὶ,
περικοσμίαν χορείαν.
πολυκύμονος μὲν ὕλας
ἐκάλυψε νῶτον αἰθὴρ
πυρὸς ἐμβεβὼς ἀώτῳ,
ἵνα κύδιμα σελάνα
πυμάταν ἄντυγα τέμνει·
ὑπὲρ ὀγδόαν δὲ δίναν
ἑλίκων ἀστροφορήτων
ῥόος ἀστέρων ἔρημος
ὑποκολπίους ἐλαύνων
πτύχας ἀντίον θεοίσας
μέγαν ἀμφὶ νοῦν χορεύει,
ὃς ἄνακτος ἄκρα κόσμου
πολιοῖς ἔρεφε ταρσοῖς.
τὰ πρόσω μάκαιρα σιγᾷ,
νοερῶν τε καὶ νοητῶν
ἄτομον τομὰν, καλύπτει.
Μία παγά, μία ῥίζα
τριφαὴς ἔλαμψε μορφά·

### English translation (Claude)

Light again, again the dawn,
again the day shines forth
after the night-roaming dark.
Again, my heart, sing clear
to God in morning hymns,
who gave light to the dawn,
who gave stars to the night,
a dance around the world.
Over the back of matter, rich in waves,
the ether spread its covering,
mounted on the flower of fire,
where the glorious moon
cuts the last circle;
and above the eighth whirl
of the star-bearing spirals
a flow empty of stars,
driving on the folds within its bosom
that run the opposite way,
dances around the great Mind,
which with grey wings roofs over
the summits of the King's world.
What lies beyond, blessed silence
covers, of the intellectual and the intelligible
the undivided division.
One Source, one Root,
a threefold-shining Form has shone;

### Translation notes

- The cosmology is the ancient one: the moon's sphere is the lowest (“the last circle”), the fixed stars form the eighth sphere, and above it a starless sphere turns against the inner ones; beyond the physical heavens is the divine Mind, and beyond that what can only be honored in silence. “Intellectual and intelligible” are the Neoplatonic terms for what thinks and what is thought.
- Lines 25–26 begin Synesius's description of the Trinity: one Source and Root, shining in three.

### Citation (SBL)

Synesius, Hymn. 2.1 (Christ–Paranikas, Anthologia (1871), 5; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/synesius-hymni/2-1).

## Hymn 2, lines 27–54

- URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/synesius-hymni/1-1/#p-2-27
- Source: Christ–Paranikas, Anthologia (1871), 5
- Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-11-12

Summary: Father, Son (Wisdom), and holy Breath shine as one; from them come the angels and, down at the level of matter, the daemons.

### Greek text

ἵνα γὰρ βυθὸς πατρῷος,
τόθι καὶ κύδιμος υἱός,
κραδιαῖόν τι λόχευμα,
σοφία κοσμοτεχνῖτις·
ἑνοτήσιόν τε φέγγος
ἁγίας ἔλαμψε πνοιᾶς.
μία παγά, μία ῥίζα
ἀγαθῶν ἀνέσχεν ὄλβον
ὑπερούσιόν τε βλάστην
γονίμοις ζέοισαν ὁρμαῖς·
τά τ᾽ ἑνουσίων προλάμπει
μακάρων ἀρρητὰ φέγγη.
ὅθεν ἐγκόσμιος ἤδη
χορὸς ἀφθίτων ἀνάκτων
γενετήριόν τε κῦδος
τό τε πρωτόσπορον εἶδος
νοεροῖς ἔμελψεν ὕμνοις·
πέλας εὐμενῶν τοκήων
στρατὸς ἀγγέλων ἀγήρως
τὰ μὲν ἐς νόον δεδορκὼς
δρέπεται κάλλεος ἀρχάν,
τὰ δ᾽ ἐς ἄντυγας δεδορκὼς
διέπει βένθεα κόσμου,
τὸν ὕπερθε κόσμον ἕλκων
νεάτας καὶ μέχρις ὕλας,
ἵνα δαιμόνων ὅμιλον
φύσις ἰζάνοισα τίκτει
πολύθρουν καὶ πολυμήταν·

### English translation (Claude)

for where the Father's depth is,
there too is the glorious Son,
an offspring from the heart,
Wisdom, artificer of the world;
and the unifying light
of the holy Breath has shone.
One Source, one Root
has sent up a wealth of good things,
a sprouting beyond being,
seething with fruitful impulses;
and of the blessed ones of one substance
the ineffable lights shine forth.
From there, now within the world,
the chorus of immortal lords
has sung the glory of the Begetter
and the first-sown Form
in intellectual hymns.
Near the kindly Parents
the ageless host of angels,
in part gazing toward Mind,
plucks the source of beauty,
in part gazing toward the circles,
governs the depths of the world,
drawing the world above
down even to the lowest matter,
where nature, settling down,
gives birth to the throng of daemons,
noisy and full of designs.

### Translation notes

- “Breath” (πνοιά) is Synesius's poetic word for the Holy Spirit. “Of one substance” renders ἑνουσίων, close to the Nicene homoousios. “Parents” (line 44) is plural, as in the Greek.
- “Daemons” are the intermediate spirits of Neoplatonic cosmology, not necessarily evil.

### Citation (SBL)

Synesius, Hymn. 2.27 (Christ–Paranikas, Anthologia (1871), 5; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/synesius-hymni/2-27).

## Hymn 2, lines 55–82

- URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/synesius-hymni/1-1/#p-2-55
- Source: Christ–Paranikas, Anthologia (1871), 5
- Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-11-12

Summary: God is the root of all things, beyond every opposite; the poet hails him and asks for wisdom and a calm life free of poverty and of the harm of wealth.

### Greek text

ὅθεν ἥρως, ὅθεν ἤδη
περὶ γᾶν σπαρεῖσα πνοιὰ
χθονὸς ἐζώωσε μοίρας
πολυδαιδάλοισι μορφαῖς·
τὰ δὲ πάντα σεῖο βουλᾶς
ἔχεται· σὺ δ᾽ ἐσσὶ ῥίζα
παρεόντων, πρὸ τ᾽ ἐόντων,
μετεόντων, ἐνεόντων·
σὺ πατήρ, σὺ δ᾽ ἐσσὶ μάτηρ,
σὺ δὲ ἄρρην, σὺ δὲ θῆλυς,
σὺ δὲ φωνά, σὺ δὲ σιγά,
φύσεως φύσις γονῶσα,
σὺ δ᾽ ἄναξ, αἰῶνος αἰών.
τὸ μὲν ἡ θέμις βοᾶσαι·
μέγα χαῖρε, ῥίζα κόσμου,
μέγα χαῖρε, κέντρον ὄντων,
μονὰς ἀμβρότων ἀριθμῶν
προανουσίων ἀνάκτων.
μέγα χαίροις, μέγα χαίροις,
ὅτι πὰρ θεῷ τὸ χαίρειν·
ἐπ᾽ ἐμοῖς ἵλαον οὖας
τάνυσον χοροῖσιν ὕμνων·
σοφίας ἄνοιγε φέγγος,
κατάχει κύδιμον ὄλβον,
κατάχει χάριν λιποῦσαν
βιοτᾶς γαληνιώσας,
πενίαν ἐκτὸς ἐλαύνων
χθονίαν τε κῆρα πλούτου·

### English translation (Claude)

From there the heroes; from there now
the breath, sown about the earth,
has given life to the portions of earth
in forms of manifold art.
And all things hang upon
your will; you are the root
of things present, of things before,
of things to come, of things within.
You are father, you are mother,
you are male, you are female,
you are voice, you are silence,
nature begetting nature,
you are Lord, the Aeon of the aeon.
This much it is right to cry aloud:
Hail greatly, root of the world,
hail greatly, center of things that are,
Monad of immortal numbers,
of lords before being.
Hail greatly, hail greatly,
for with God is rejoicing.
To my choirs of hymns
stretch out a gracious ear;
open the light of wisdom,
pour down glorious blessing,
pour down the rich grace
of a calm life,
driving poverty far off
and the earthly doom of wealth;

### Translation notes

- Lines 63–66 (“father … mother … male … female … voice … silence”) use paradoxes found in Neoplatonic and Gnostic hymns to say that God is beyond every pair of opposites; translated as written.
- Line 74 plays on “hail” (χαῖρε, literally “rejoice”) and “rejoicing” (χαίρειν).
- Line 79: the printed λιποῦσαν (“having left”) gives no sense; translated by sense as “rich” (as if λιπαράν). The reading is uncertain.

### Citation (SBL)

Synesius, Hymn. 2.55 (Christ–Paranikas, Anthologia (1871), 5; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/synesius-hymni/2-55).

## Hymn 2, lines 83–91

- URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/synesius-hymni/1-1/#p-2-83
- Source: Christ–Paranikas, Anthologia (1871), 6
- Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-11-12

Summary: The poet prays to be kept from disease, passion, and care so that his mind may rise and celebrate the mysteries of the Son.

### Greek text

μελέων ἔρυκε νούσους,
παθέων δ᾽ ἄκοσμον ὁρμὰν
φρενοκηδεῖς τε μερίμνας
ἀπό μοι ζωᾶς ἐρύκοις,
ἵνα μὴ τὸ νοῦ πτέρωμα
ἐπιβρίσῃ χθονὸς ἄτα·
ἄνετον δὲ ταρσὸν αἴρων
περὶ σᾶς ὄργια βλάστας
τὰ πανάρρητα χορεύσω.

### English translation (Claude)

keep diseases from my limbs,
and the disordered rush of passions
and cares that trouble the mind
may you keep from my life,
so that the plumage of the mind
may not be weighed down by the ruin of earth;
but lifting a freed wing,
around the mysteries of your Offspring
I shall dance, mysteries wholly ineffable.

### Translation notes

- “Offspring” (βλάστα, literally “shoot”) is the Son.

### Citation (SBL)

Synesius, Hymn. 2.83 (Christ–Paranikas, Anthologia (1871), 6; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/synesius-hymni/2-83).

## Hymn 3, lines 1–28

- URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/synesius-hymni/1-1/#p-3-1
- Source: Christ–Paranikas, Anthologia (1871), 6
- Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-11-12

Summary: The poet calls his soul to quiet its passions and offer God a hymn as a bloodless sacrifice, sung everywhere and at every hour.

### Greek text

Ἄγε μοι ψυχὰ
ἱεροῖς ὕμνοις
ἐπιβαλλομένα
ὑληγενέας
εὔνασον οἴστρους·
θώρησσε δὲ νοῦ
ζαμενεῖς ὁρμάς.
Βασιλῆϊ θεῶν
πλέκομεν στέφανον
θῦμ᾽ ἀναίμακτον,
ἐπέων λοιβάς.
Σὲ μὲν ἐν πελάγει,
σὲ δ᾽ ὑπὲρ νάσων,
σὲ δ᾽ ἐν ἀπείροις,
ἐπί τε πτολίων
κραναῶν τ᾽ ὀρέων,
καὶ κατὰ κλεινῶν
ὁπόταν πεδίων
στάσω διδύμους
γυίων ταρσούς,
σέ, μάκαρ, μέλπω,
γενέτα κόσμου.
σοὶ νύξ με φέρει
τὸν ἀοιδόν, ἄναξ·
σοὶ δ᾽ ἀμερίους,
σοὶ δ᾽ ἀῴους,
σοὶ δ᾽ ἑσπερίους
ὕμνους ἀνάγω.

### English translation (Claude)

Come, my soul,
to sacred hymns
applying yourself,
the matter-born
frenzies lull to sleep;
and arm the mind's
vehement impulses.
For the King of the gods
we weave a crown,
a bloodless sacrifice,
libations of words.
You on the sea,
you over the islands,
you on the mainlands,
and in the cities
and on the rugged mountains,
and over the famous
plains, whenever
I set the twin
soles of my feet,
you, Blessed One, I sing,
Begetter of the world.
To you the night brings me,
the singer, O Lord;
to you by day,
to you at dawn,
to you at evening
I bring up hymns.

### Translation notes

- “Gods” (line 8) is Synesius's Neoplatonic word for the higher spiritual beings under the supreme God; “bloodless sacrifice” (line 10) is a phrase also used of Christian worship.

### Citation (SBL)

Synesius, Hymn. 3.1 (Christ–Paranikas, Anthologia (1871), 6; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/synesius-hymni/3-1).

## Hymn 3, lines 29–54

- URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/synesius-hymni/1-1/#p-3-29
- Source: Christ–Paranikas, Anthologia (1871), 6
- Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-11-12

Summary: Sun, moon, and stars witness the poet's prayers; he has gone as a suppliant to God's sanctuaries, to the mountains, and into the Libyan desert.

### Greek text

ἴστορες αὗται
πολιῶν ἄστρων
μάναις τε δρόμοι·
καὶ μέγας ἵστωρ
ἅλιος ἁγνῶν
ἄστρων πρύτανις,
ὁσίαν ψυχᾶν
ἅγιος ταμίας.
Ἐπὶ σὰς αὐλάς,
ἐπὶ σοὺς κόλπους
τὸν ἀπόστροφον
ταναᾶς ὕλας
ταρσὸν ἐλάφρουν·
χαίρων ἵνα σου
προμολὰν ἱκόμαν,
νῦν ἐπὶ σεμνᾶς
τελετηφορίας
σηκοὺς ἁγίους
ἱκέτας ἔμολον·
νῦν ἐπὶ κλεινῶν
κορυφὰν ὀρέων
ἱκέτας ἔμολον·
νῦν ἐς ἐρήμας
αὐλῶνα μέγαν
Λιβύας ἔμολον,
πέζαν νοτίαν·

### English translation (Claude)

Witnesses are these,
the courses of the grey stars
and of the moon;
and a great witness,
the sun, of the pure
stars the president,
of holy souls
the holy steward.
To your courts,
to your bosom,
the foot that turns away
from far-stretching matter
I lightened,
rejoicing, where I reached
your forecourt.
Now to the solemn
places of your sacred rites,
to the holy precincts,
as a suppliant I have come;
now to the summits
of famous mountains
as a suppliant I have come;
now into the great valley
of the desert
of Libya I have come,
the southern border,

### Translation notes

- Lines 51–53 are reordered slightly for English word order.

### Citation (SBL)

Synesius, Hymn. 3.29 (Christ–Paranikas, Anthologia (1871), 6; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/synesius-hymni/3-29).

## Hymn 3, lines 55–81

- URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/synesius-hymni/1-1/#p-3-55
- Source: Christ–Paranikas, Anthologia (1871), 7
- Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-11-12

Summary: In the untouched desert the purified soul offers its hymn, and the poet calls all nature to silence.

### Greek text

τὰν οὔτ᾽ ἄθεον
πνεῦμα μολύνει,
οὔτε χαράσσει
ἴχνος ἀνθρώπων
ἀστυμερίμνων·
ἵνα σοι ψυχὰ
καθαρὰ παθέων,
λύσασα πόθους,
λήξασα πόνων,
λήξασα γόων,
θυμῶν, ἐρίδων,
ὅσα κηριτρεφῆ
ἀποσεισαμένα
καθαρᾷ γλώσσᾳ
γνώμῃ θ᾽ ὁσίᾳ
τὸν ὀφειλόμενον
ὕμνον ἀποίσῃ.
Εὐφαμείτω
αἰθὴρ καὶ γᾶ·
στάτω πόντος,
στάτω δ᾽ ἀήρ·
λήγετε πνοιαὶ
βαλίων ἀνέμων,
λήγετε ῥιπαὶ
γυρῶν ῥοθίων,
ποταμῶν προχοαί,
κραναὶ λιβάδες.

### English translation (Claude)

which neither a godless
breath defiles,
nor does the footprint
of city-anxious men
mark it,
so that to you my soul,
pure of passions,
having loosed its longings,
having ceased from toils,
having ceased from laments,
angers, strifes,
all that feeds death,
having shaken them off,
with pure tongue
and holy mind
may render the hymn
that is owed.
Let there be holy silence
in ether and earth;
let the sea stand still,
and let the air stand still;
cease, you breaths
of the swift winds,
cease, you rushings
of the curving surf,
outpourings of rivers,
springs from the rocks.

### Citation (SBL)

Synesius, Hymn. 3.55 (Christ–Paranikas, Anthologia (1871), 7; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/synesius-hymni/3-55).

## Hymn 3, lines 82–110

- URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/synesius-hymni/1-1/#p-3-82
- Source: Christ–Paranikas, Anthologia (1871), 7
- Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-11-12

Summary: The poet bids the serpent, the daemon of matter, to sink away, asks the Father to drive off the soul-devouring hounds, and commits his prayer to God's ministers.

### Greek text

ἐχέτω σιγὰ
κόσμου λαγόνας,
ἱερευομένων
ἁγίων ὕμνων·
δύτω κατὰ γᾶς
ὀφίων σύρμος,
δύτω κατὰ γᾶς
καὶ πτανὸς ὄφις,
δαίμων ὕλας,
νεφέλα ψυχᾶς,
εἰδωλοχαρής,
εὐχαῖς σκύλακας
ἐπιθωΰσσων.
σὺ πάτερ, σὺ μάκαρ,
σὺ ψυχοβόρους
ἀπέρυκε κύνας
ψυχᾶς ἀπ᾽ ἐμᾶς,
εὐχᾶς ἀπ᾽ ἐμᾶς,
ζωᾶς ἀπ᾽ ἐμᾶς,
ἔργων ἀπ᾽ ἐμῶν.
ἁ δ᾽ ἁμετέρα
πραπίδων λοιβὰ
σοῖς ἐριτίμοις
μελέτω προπόλοις,
πορθμεῦσι σοφοῖς
ἁγίων ὕμνων.
Ἤδη φέρομαι
ἐπὶ βαλβίδας
ἱερῶν ἐπέων·

### English translation (Claude)

Let silence hold
the flanks of the world,
while the holy hymns
are offered in sacrifice.
Let it sink beneath the earth,
the trail of serpents;
let it sink beneath the earth,
the winged serpent too,
the daemon of matter,
the cloud of the soul,
delighting in idols,
that sets its hounds
baying at prayers.
You, Father, you, Blessed One,
the soul-devouring
hounds drive away
from my soul,
from my prayer,
from my life,
from my works.
And may our
libation of the heart
be a care to your
much-honored ministers,
the wise ferrymen
of holy hymns.
Now I am borne
to the starting-line
of sacred words;

### Translation notes

- The “winged serpent”, “daemon of matter” delighting in idols, is the evil spirit; the “ministers” who carry hymns up to God are the angels.

### Citation (SBL)

Synesius, Hymn. 3.82 (Christ–Paranikas, Anthologia (1871), 7; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/synesius-hymni/3-82).

## Hymn 3, lines 111–137

- URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/synesius-hymni/1-1/#p-3-111
- Source: Christ–Paranikas, Anthologia (1871), 7
- Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-11-12

Summary: The poet asks pardon for daring to speak of God, whose brightness no eye can bear, so that the mind turns instead to the first-appearing Form.

### Greek text

ἤδη καναχεῖ
ὀμφὰ περὶ νοῦν.
Μάκαρ, ἵλαθί μοι,
πάτερ, ἵλαθί μοι,
εἰ παρὰ κόσμον,
εἰ παρὰ μοῖραν
τῶν σῶν ἔθιγον.
τίνος ὄμμα σοφόν,
τίνος ὄμμα πολύ,
ταῖς σαῖς στεροπαῖς
ἀνακοπτόμενον,
οὐ καταμύσει;
ἀτενὲς δὲ δρακεῖν
ἐπὶ σοὺς πυρσοὺς
θέμις οὐδὲ θεοῖς·
πίπτων δὲ νόος
ἀπὸ σᾶς σκοπιᾶς
τὰ πέλας σαίνει,
ἀκίχητα κιχεῖν
ἐπιβαλλόμενος,
προσιδεῖν αὐγὰν
ἀκάμαντι βυθῷ
ἀμαρυσσομέναν·
ἀβάτων δ᾽ ἀποβὰς
ἐπὶ πρωτοφανὲς
εἶδος ἐρείδει
ὄμματος ὁλκάν·

### English translation (Claude)

now there rings
a voice around my mind.
Blessed One, be gracious to me,
Father, be gracious to me,
if beyond due order,
if beyond my portion,
I have touched what is yours.
Whose eye, however wise,
whose eye, however great,
by your lightnings
beaten back,
will not close?
To gaze steadily
upon your fires
is not lawful even for gods;
and the mind, falling
from your watchtower,
fawns on what is near,
while it tries to reach
the unreachable,
to look upon the radiance
in the tireless depth
flashing;
but stepping off from the untrodden,
on the first-appearing
Form it fixes
the pull of its eye;

### Translation notes

- The “first-appearing Form” (πρωτοφανὲς εἶδος) is the Son, through whom the unapproachable Father is seen.

### Citation (SBL)

Synesius, Hymn. 3.111 (Christ–Paranikas, Anthologia (1871), 7; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/synesius-hymni/3-111).

## Hymn 3, lines 138–165

- URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/synesius-hymni/1-1/#p-3-138
- Source: Christ–Paranikas, Anthologia (1871), 8
- Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-11-12

Summary: The poet heaps titles on the Father: self-fathered, fatherless, Mind before being, Root of the worlds, beyond gods and minds.

### Greek text

ὅθεν αἰνύμενος
ἐπὶ σοὺς ὕμνους
ἄνθεα φωτὸς
ἀορίστοις ἀνέμοις
ἀναπαῦσαι βολάν,
τὰ σὰ σοὶ πάλι δούς.
τί γὰρ οὐ σόν, ἄναξ;
πατέρων πάντων
πάτερ, αὐτοπάτωρ,
προπάτωρ, ἀπάτωρ,
υἱὲ σεαυτοῦ,
ἓν ἑνὸς πρότερον,
ὄντων σπέρμα,
πάντων κέντρον,
προανούσιε νοῦ,
κόσμων ῥίζα
τῶν ἀρχεγόνων,
ἀμφιφαὲς φῶς,
ἀτρέκεια σοφά,
παγὰ σοφίας,
κεκαλυμμένε νοῦ
ἰδίαις αὐγαῖς,
ὄμμα σεαυτοῦ
πρηστηροκράτορ,
αἰωνοτόκε,
αἰωνόβιε,
ἐπέκεινα θεῶν,
ἐπέκεινα νόων·

### English translation (Claude)

from there, taking up
for your hymns
flowers of light,
in boundless winds
it seeks to rest its gaze,
giving you back again what is yours.
For what is not yours, Lord?
Of all fathers
Father, Self-father,
Forefather, Fatherless,
Son of yourself,
One before One,
Seed of things that are,
Center of all,
Mind before being,
Root of the worlds,
the primal ones,
Light shining all around,
wise Truth,
Source of wisdom,
Mind veiled
by your own rays,
Eye of yourself,
Ruler of the lightning-storm,
Begetter of the aeons,
living through the aeons,
beyond the gods,
beyond the minds,

### Translation notes

- Lines 138–143 are obscure; their construction (especially ἀορίστοις ἀνέμοις ἀναπαῦσαι βολάν) is uncertain, and they are translated by sense.
- Titles such as “Self-father”, “Fatherless”, and “Son of yourself” are paradoxes from Neoplatonic and Chaldaean language for the first principle's self-sufficiency, translated as written.

### Citation (SBL)

Synesius, Hymn. 3.138 (Christ–Paranikas, Anthologia (1871), 8; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/synesius-hymni/3-138).

## Hymn 3, lines 166–190

- URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/synesius-hymni/1-1/#p-3-166
- Source: Christ–Paranikas, Anthologia (1871), 8
- Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-11-12

Summary: God is Source, Root, Monad, Mind, the One in and before all things, and the initiate mind can only circle the ineffable depth with words.

### Greek text

θάτερα νωμῶν,
νοερητόκε νοῦ,
ὀχετηγὲ θεῶν,
πνευματοεργὲ
καὶ ψυχοτρόφε·
παγὰ παγῶν,
ἀρχῶν ἀρχά,
ῥιζῶν ῥίζα·
μονὰς εἶ μονάδων,
ἀριθμῶν ἀριθμός,
μονὰς ἠδ᾽ ἀριθμός,
νοῦς καὶ νοερὸς
καὶ τὸ νοητὸν
καὶ πρὸ νοητοῦ·
ἓν καὶ πάντα,
ἓν διὰ πάντων,
ἕν τε πρὸ πάντων,
σπέρμα τὸ πάντων,
ῥίζα καὶ ὄρπαξ,
φύσις ἐν νοεροῖς,
θῆλυ καὶ ἄρρεν·
μύστας δὲ νόος
τά τε καὶ τὰ λέγει,
βυθὸν ἄρρητον
ἀμφιχορεύων.

### English translation (Claude)

governing the other realm,
Mind that begets mind,
Channel-maker of gods,
Worker of spirit
and Nourisher of souls;
Source of sources,
Beginning of beginnings,
Root of roots;
you are Monad of monads,
Number of numbers,
Monad and Number,
Mind and the thinking
and the thought
and what is before the thought;
One and all,
One through all,
and One before all,
the Seed of all,
Root and branch,
Nature in the intellectual realm,
female and male.
And the initiate mind
says this and that,
dancing around
the ineffable depth.

### Translation notes

- Line 166: the sense of θάτερα νωμῶν (“governing the other [things]”) is uncertain.
- Lines 177–179 use the Neoplatonic distinction between mind, the act of thinking (νοερός), and the object of thought (νοητόν).

### Citation (SBL)

Synesius, Hymn. 3.166 (Christ–Paranikas, Anthologia (1871), 8; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/synesius-hymni/3-166).

## Hymn 3, lines 191–216

- URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/synesius-hymni/1-1/#p-3-191
- Source: Christ–Paranikas, Anthologia (1871), 8
- Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-11-12

Summary: The Father begets the Son, Wisdom, without loss or division; the poet hymns God as Monad and Triad at once.

### Greek text

Σὺ τὸ τίκτον ἔφυς,
σὺ τὸ τικτόμενον,
σὺ τὸ φωτίζον,
σὺ τὸ λαμπόμενον,
σὺ τὸ φαινόμενον,
σὺ τὸ κρυπτόμενον,
φῶς κρυπτόμενον
ἰδίαις αὐγαῖς·
ἓν καὶ πάντα
ἓν καθ᾽ ἑαυτὸ
καὶ δι᾽ ἁπάντων·
σὺ γὰρ ἐξεχύθης,
ἀρρητοτόκε,
ἵνα παῖδα τέκῃς
κλεινὰν σοφίαν
δημιοεργόν·
προχυθεὶς δὲ μένεις
ἀτόμοισι τομαῖς
μαιευόμενος.
Ὑμνῶ σε, μονάς,
ὑμνῶ σε, τριάς·
μονὰς εἶ τριὰς ὤν,
τριὰς εἶ μονὰς ὤν·
νοερὰ δὲ τομὰ
ἄσχιστον ἔτι
τὸ μερισθὲν ἔχει.

### English translation (Claude)

You are that which begets,
you that which is begotten,
you that which gives light,
you that which is lit,
you that which appears,
you that which is hidden,
light hidden
by its own rays;
One and all,
One by itself
and through all.
For you were poured forth,
ineffable Begetter,
to beget a Son,
glorious Wisdom,
the Craftsman;
and, poured forth, you remain,
by undivided divisions
bringing to birth.
I hymn you, Monad,
I hymn you, Triad;
you are Monad, being Triad,
you are Triad, being Monad;
and an intellectual division
keeps still unsplit
what has been divided.

### Translation notes

- “Craftsman” renders δημιουργός, the Platonic name for the maker of the world, here applied to the Son.
- Lines 210–216 state the Trinity in Neoplatonic terms: one and three, divided only in a way that leaves the whole undivided.

### Citation (SBL)

Synesius, Hymn. 3.191 (Christ–Paranikas, Anthologia (1871), 8; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/synesius-hymni/3-191).

## Hymn 3, lines 217–244

- URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/synesius-hymni/1-1/#p-3-217
- Source: Christ–Paranikas, Anthologia (1871), 9
- Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-11-12

Summary: The Father's Will, the Spirit, stands between Father and Son; none of the three may be called second or third, and the Son appears with the Father by the Father's Will.

### Greek text

ἐπὶ παιδὶ χύθης
ἰότατι σοφᾷ,
αὐτὰ δ᾽ ἰότας
βλάστησε μέσα
φύσις ἄφθεγκτος,
τὸ προούσιον ὄν.
οὐ θέμις εἰπεῖν
δεύτερον ἐκ σοῦ·
οὐ θέμις εἰπεῖν
τρίτον ἐκ πρώτου.
Ὠδὶς ἱερά,
ἄρρητε γονά,
ὅρος εἶ φυσίων
τᾶς τικτοίσας
καὶ τικτομένας.
σέβομαι νοερῶν
κρυφίαν τάξιν·
χωρεῖ τι μέσον
οὐ καταχθέν.
Ἄφθεγκτε γόνε
πατρὸς ἀφθέγκτου,
ὠδὶς διὰ σέ,
διὰ δ᾽ ὠδῖνος
αὐτὸς ἐφάνθης,
ἅμα πατρὶ φανεὶς
ἰότατι πατρός·
ἰότας σὺ δ᾽ ἀεὶ
παρὰ σεῖο πατρί·

### English translation (Claude)

You were poured forth upon the Son
by wise Will,
and Will herself
sprang up in the middle,
a nature beyond utterance,
the being before being.
It is not right to say
“second” of what is from you;
it is not right to say
“third” of what is from the first.
Holy Birth-pang,
ineffable Offspring,
you are the boundary of the natures,
of the one that begets
and of the one begotten.
I revere, of the intellectual realm,
the hidden order:
something in the middle proceeds
and is not brought down.
Unutterable Offspring
of an unutterable Father,
the birth-pang was for your sake,
and through the birth-pang
you yourself appeared,
appearing together with the Father
by the Father's Will;
and you are ever Will
beside your Father.

### Translation notes

- Synesius calls the Holy Spirit the Father's “Will” (ἰότας) and “Birth-pang” (ὠδίς), standing “in the middle” between Father and Son; he refuses to rank the persons as “second” or “third”.
- Lines 243–244 are ambiguous: “you” may be the Son (who is himself called the Father's Will) or the Will addressed directly.

### Citation (SBL)

Synesius, Hymn. 3.217 (Christ–Paranikas, Anthologia (1871), 9; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/synesius-hymni/3-217).

## Hymn 3, lines 245–269

- URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/synesius-hymni/1-1/#p-3-245
- Source: Christ–Paranikas, Anthologia (1871), 9
- Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-11-12

Summary: The eternal generation is beyond time; the poet rebukes those who speculate boldly on it and praises the Father who guards the holy from deceit.

### Greek text

οὐδ᾽ ὁ βαθύρρους
χρόνος οἶδε γονὰς
τὰς ἀρρήτους·
αἰὼν δὲ γέρων
τὸν ἀμήρυτον
τόκον οὐκ ἐδάη·
ἅμα πατρὶ φάνη
γενόμενος αἰών·
ὁ γενησόμενος.
Τίς ἐπ᾽ ἀφθέγκτοις
ἐβράβευσε τόλμαν;
ἀλαῶν μερόπων
δαιδαλογλώσσων
ἄθεοι τόλμαι·
σὺ δὲ φωτοδότας
φωτὸς νοεροῦ·
σκολιᾶς δ᾽ ἀπάτας
ἀνέχεις ὁσίων
πραπίδας μερόπων
ἐς ζόφον ὕλας
μὴ καταδῦναι.
Σέ, πάτερ κόσμων,
πάτερ αἰώνων,
αὐτουργὲ θεῶν,
εὐαγὲς αἰνεῖν.

### English translation (Claude)

Not even deep-flowing
Time knows the births
that are ineffable;
nor did aged Aeon
learn of the birth
that cannot be unwound;
with the Father he appeared,
Aeon, coming into being,
he who will come into being.
Over things unutterable
who awarded a prize to daring?
Of blind mortals
with cunning tongues
the godless daring!
But you are the light-giver
of intellectual light;
and from crooked deceit
you hold up the minds
of holy mortals,
lest into the darkness of matter
they sink.
You, Father of the worlds,
Father of the aeons,
Self-worker of gods,
it is holy to praise.

### Translation notes

- Lines 251–253 are obscure and translated literally; the sense seems to be that Aeon (eternity) itself arises together with the Father and does not precede the Son's birth.
- Lines 254–258 rebuke presumptuous speculation about the divine generation, perhaps aimed at the theological controversies of his day; whom he means is not said.

### Citation (SBL)

Synesius, Hymn. 3.245 (Christ–Paranikas, Anthologia (1871), 9; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/synesius-hymni/3-245).

## Hymn 3, lines 270–288

- URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/synesius-hymni/1-1/#p-3-270
- Source: Christ–Paranikas, Anthologia (1871), 9
- Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-11-12

Summary: All the ranks of spiritual beings, the intellectual powers and the minds of the stars, sing God's praise.

### Greek text

Σὲ μὲν οἱ νοεροὶ
μέλπουσιν, ἄναξ,
σὲ δὲ κοσμαγοὶ
ὀμματολαμπεῖς
νόες ἀστέριοι
ὑμνοῦσι, μάκαρ,
οὓς πέρι κλεινὸν
σῶμα χορεύει.
πᾶσά σε μέλπει
γενεὰ μακάρων,
οἱ περὶ κόσμον,
οἱ κατὰ κόσμον,
οἱ ζωναῖοι,
οἵ τ᾽ ἄζωνοι
κόσμου μοίρας
ἐφέπουσι σοφοί,
ἀμφιβατῆρες
οἱ περὶ κλεινοὺς
οἰκοφόρους·

### English translation (Claude)

You the intellectual ones
sing, O Lord,
and you the world-leading,
eye-bright
starry minds
hymn, Blessed One,
round whom the glorious
body dances.
You the whole race
of the blessed sings,
those around the world,
those within the world,
those of the zones,
and those without zones
who govern the portions
of the world in wisdom,
those who walk around
the glorious
house-bearers;

### Translation notes

- “Of the zones” and “without zones” (ζωναῖοι, ἄζωνοι) are classes of spiritual powers in late Neoplatonic and Chaldaean cosmology, tied to the planetary spheres or free of them; the “house-bearers” are probably the heavenly bodies that have “houses” in the zodiac. The exact reference is uncertain.

### Citation (SBL)

Synesius, Hymn. 3.270 (Christ–Paranikas, Anthologia (1871), 9; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/synesius-hymni/3-270).

## Hymn 3, lines 289–311

- URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/synesius-hymni/1-1/#p-3-289
- Source: Christ–Paranikas, Anthologia (1871), 10
- Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-11-12

Summary: Angels, heroes, souls, and Nature herself praise God, who governs Nature with his life-giving breath and is the Nature of natures.

### Greek text

οὓς ἀγγελικὰ
προχέει χεῖρα
τό τε κυδῆεν
γένος ἡρώων,
ἔργα τὰ θνητῶν
κρυφίαισιν ὁδοῖς
διανισσόμενον,
[ἔργα βρότεια]
ψυχά τ᾽ ἀκλινὴς
καὶ κλινομένα
ἐς μελαναυγεῖς
χθονίους ὄγκους.
Σὲ μάκαιρα φύσις
φύσεώς τε γονὰ,
μάκαρ, ὑμνέει,
τᾶς Ζειδώροις
ἐφέπεις πνοιαῖς,
ἀπὸ σῶν ὀχετῶν
κατασυρομέναις,
προκυλινδομέναις·
σὺ γὰρ, ἀχράντων
ἡγέτα κόσμων,
φύσις εἶ φυσίων·

### English translation (Claude)

whom the angelic
band pours forth,
and the glorious
race of heroes,
the works of mortals
by hidden paths
passing through,
[mortal works],
and the soul that does not incline
and the soul that inclines
toward the dark-gleaming
masses of earth.
You blessed Nature
and the offspring of Nature
hymn, Blessed One,
she whom with life-giving
breaths you govern,
from your channels
sweeping down,
rolling onward;
for you, of undefiled
worlds the Leader,
are Nature of natures;

### Translation notes

- Line 290: the sense of χεῖρα (“hand”, here taken as “band”) is uncertain.
- Line 296: the words “mortal works” are bracketed by Christ–Paranikas, apparently as a gloss repeating line 293; translated in brackets.

### Citation (SBL)

Synesius, Hymn. 3.289 (Christ–Paranikas, Anthologia (1871), 10; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/synesius-hymni/3-289).

## Hymn 3, lines 312–332

- URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/synesius-hymni/1-1/#p-3-312
- Source: Christ–Paranikas, Anthologia (1871), 10
- Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-11-12

Summary: God sustains the world of birth and decay, an image of eternity, so that even its lowest parts share in life through an everlasting cycle.

### Greek text

σὺ φύσιν θάλπεις,
γένεσιν θνατῶν,
τᾶς ἀενάῳ
ἰνδαλμῶνα,
ἵνα καὶ πυμάτα
μερὶς ἐν κόσμῳ
λελάχῃ ζωᾶς
ἐπαμειβομένας·
οὐ γὰρ θέμις ἦν
τρύγα τὰν κόσμου
κορυφαῖς ἐρίσαι·
τὸ δὲ ταχθὲν ὅλως
ἐς χορὸν ὄντων
οὐκέτ᾽ ὀλεῖται·
ἄλλο δ᾽ ἀπ᾽ ἄλλου,
διὰ δ᾽ ἀλλήλων
πάντ᾽ ἀπολαύει·
ἐξ ὀλλυμένων
κύκλος αἴδιος
ταῖς σαῖς πνοιαῖς
ἀναθαλπόμενος.

### English translation (Claude)

You warm nature,
the coming-to-be of mortals,
of the ever-flowing
an image,
so that even the last
portion in the world
may have its share of life
in its alternation;
for it was not right
that the dregs of the world
should vie with its summits;
but what has once been ranked
in the chorus of things that are
will no longer perish;
one from another
and through one another
all things have their enjoyment;
from things that perish
an everlasting cycle,
by your breaths
warmed again.

### Translation notes

- Lines 314–315: the construction of τᾶς ἀενάῳ ἰνδαλμῶνα is uncertain; rendered as “an image of the ever-flowing”.
- The everlasting cycle of coming-to-be and passing-away is a Platonic and Aristotelian idea.

### Citation (SBL)

Synesius, Hymn. 3.312 (Christ–Paranikas, Anthologia (1871), 10; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/synesius-hymni/3-312).

## Hymn 3, lines 333–357

- URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/synesius-hymni/1-1/#p-3-333
- Source: Christ–Paranikas, Anthologia (1871), 10
- Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-11-12

Summary: All of nature, from the heavens to plants, beasts, birds, and fish, joins in one harmony of praise to God.

### Greek text

σοὶ διὰ πάντων
ἵστησι χοροὺς
μάτειρα φύσις
ἰδίαις χροίαις,
ἰδίοις ἔργοις
δαιδαλλομένων,
ἐκ δὲ ζώων
ἑτεροφθόγγων
μίαν ἁρμονίαν
ὁμόφωνον ἄγει.
σοὶ πάντα φέρει
αἶνον ἀγήρων,
ἀὼς καὶ νύξ,
στεροπαί, νιφάδες,
οὐρανὸς αἴθων
καὶ γᾶς ῥίζαι,
ὕδωρ, ἀήρ,
σώματα πάντα,
πνεύματα πάντα,
σπέρματα, καρποί,
φυτὰ καὶ ποῖαι,
ῥίζαι, βοτάναι,
βοτὰ καὶ πτηνὰ
καὶ νηχομένων
νεπόδων ἀγέλαι.

### English translation (Claude)

For you, through all things,
she sets up choirs,
mother Nature,
with their own colors,
with their own works
adorned,
and from living creatures
of different voices
one harmony
she leads in unison.
To you all things bring
ageless praise,
dawn and night,
lightnings, snows,
the blazing heaven
and the roots of the earth,
water, air,
all bodies,
all spirits,
seeds, fruits,
plants and grasses,
roots, herbs,
cattle and birds,
and of swimming
fish the shoals.

### Scripture references

- Ps 148:3–10: echo, medium confidence

### Translation notes

- The catalogue of creatures praising God recalls Ps 148.

### Citation (SBL)

Synesius, Hymn. 3.333 (Christ–Paranikas, Anthologia (1871), 10; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/synesius-hymni/3-333).

## Hymn 3, lines 358–385

- URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/synesius-hymni/1-1/#p-3-358
- Source: Christ–Paranikas, Anthologia (1871), 10
- Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-11-12

Summary: The poet asks God to look on his weak soul at prayer in Libya, to give it upward-leading light, and to keep him in gentle circumstances while he lives in the body.

### Greek text

Ἴδε καὶ ψυχὰν
ὀλιγοδρανέα,
ὀλιγηπελέα
ἐπὶ σᾶς Λιβύας,
ἐπὶ σᾶς σεπτᾶς
ἱερημολίας
ὁσίαις εὐχαῖς
ἐπιμεμβλομέναν,
τὰν ἀμφιπολεῖ
νέφος ὑλαῖον·
σὸν δ᾽ ὄμμα, πάτερ,
κοπτικὸν ὕλας.
Νῦν μοι κραδία
τοῖς σοῖς ὕμνοις
πιαινομένα
ἐθόωσε νόον
πυρίαις ὁρμαῖς·
σὺ δὲ λάμψον, ἄναξ,
ἀνάγωγα φάη.
νεῦσον δέ, πάτερ,
σῶμα φυγοῖσαν
μηκέτι δῦναι
ἐς χθονὸς ἄταν.
ὄφρα δὲ ζωᾶς
ὑλοδιαίτου
δεσμοῖσι μένω,
πραεῖα, μάκαρ,
βόσκοι με τύχα·

### English translation (Claude)

Look also on a soul
of little strength,
of little power,
in your Libya,
at your august
holy observances
with holy prayers
busying herself,
a soul round which hovers
a cloud of matter;
but your eye, Father,
cuts through matter.
Now my heart,
with your hymns
grown rich,
has quickened my mind
with fiery impulses;
and you, Lord, shine
lights that lead upward.
Grant, Father,
that, having fled the body,
she sink no more
into the ruin of earth.
And while, of a life
spent in matter,
in the bonds I remain,
may a gentle fortune, Blessed One,
nourish me;

### Translation notes

- Line 363: the sense of ἱερημολίας (“holy observances”, perhaps “sacred going” or procession) is uncertain.

### Citation (SBL)

Synesius, Hymn. 3.358 (Christ–Paranikas, Anthologia (1871), 10; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/synesius-hymni/3-358).

## Hymn 3, lines 386–407

- URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/synesius-hymni/1-1/#p-3-386
- Source: Christ–Paranikas, Anthologia (1871), 11
- Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-11-12

Summary: The poet asks to be free of cares that steal leisure from God, and offers his hymn to the Father and to the Son, Wisdom, who comes forth from the Father yet remains in him.

### Greek text

μηδ᾽ ἐμπόδιον
πνεύσειε νόου
φροντίσι λυγραῖς
δάπτοισα βίον,
ἵνα μὴ τὰ θεοῦ
ἄσχολος εἴην,
μηδ᾽ ἔτι τοίοις
ἐναλινδοίμαν,
ὅθεν ἐκπροφυγὼν
δώροισι τεοῖς
στέφος εὐαγέων
ἀπὸ λειμώνων
σοὶ τοῦτο πλέκω,
σοὶ τόνδε φέρω
αἶνον, ἀχράντων
ἡγέτα κόσμων,
καὶ παιδὶ σοφῷ,
αὐτᾷ σοφίᾳ,
τὸν ἀπ᾽ ἀρρήτων
ἔχεας κόλπων,
ἐν σοὶ δὲ μένει
σέθεν ἐκπροθορών,

### English translation (Claude)

and may it not blow
as a hindrance to my mind,
with grievous cares
devouring my life,
so that I may not, for the things of God,
lack leisure,
nor any longer among such things
may wallow;
escaping from there
by your gifts,
a garland from pure
meadows
I weave for you,
to you I bring this
praise, of undefiled
worlds the Leader,
and to your wise Son,
Wisdom herself,
whom from your ineffable
bosom you poured forth,
and he remains in you
though leaping forth from you,

### Scripture references

- John 1:18: echo, low confidence

### Citation (SBL)

Synesius, Hymn. 3.386 (Christ–Paranikas, Anthologia (1871), 11; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/synesius-hymni/3-386).

## Hymn 3, lines 408–435

- URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/synesius-hymni/1-1/#p-3-408
- Source: Christ–Paranikas, Anthologia (1871), 11
- Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-11-12

Summary: The Son governs all things down to the earth and relieves mortals' griefs; the poet now pays God a debt of thanks from his years in Thrace beside the imperial palace.

### Greek text

ἵνα πάντα σοφαῖς
ἐφέπῃ πνοιαῖς,
διέπῃ πολιῶν
βάθος αἰώνων,
διέπῃ ταρσοὺς
κραναοῦ κόσμου
μέχρι καὶ νεάτου
πυθμένος ὄντων
χθονίας μοίρας,
ὁσίαις πραπίσιν
ἐλλαμπόμενος,
λύῃ δὲ πόνους
ἠδὲ μερίμνας
διερῶν μερόπων,
ἀγαθῶν κράντωρ,
ἐλατὴρ ἀχέων.
τί δὲ θαῦμα, θεὸν
τὸν κοσμοτέχναν
ἰδίων ἔργων
κῆρας ἐρύκειν;
Τόδε σοι, μεγάλου
κοίρανε κόσμου,
τίσιν ἔμολον
χρέος ἐκ Θρῄκης,
ἵνα τὰν τριετίν
ᾤκησα γύαν
παρ᾽ ἀνακτόριον
γαίας μέλαθρον·

### English translation (Claude)

so that he may govern all things
by wise breaths,
may rule the grey
depth of the aeons,
may rule the reaches
of the rugged world
even to the lowest
floor of things that are,
the earthly portion,
shining into holy
minds,
and may loose the toils
and cares
of living mortals,
accomplisher of good things,
driver-away of griefs.
What wonder is it that God,
the Craftsman of the world,
from his own works
should ward off dooms?
This to you, of the great
world the Lord,
as payment I have come,
a debt from Thrace,
where for three years
I dwelt in the land
beside the royal
hall of the earth;

### Translation notes

- Lines 428–435 refer to Synesius's embassy for Cyrene to the imperial court at Constantinople (in Thrace), where he spent three years around AD 400 (the exact dates are disputed).

### Citation (SBL)

Synesius, Hymn. 3.408 (Christ–Paranikas, Anthologia (1871), 11; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/synesius-hymni/3-408).

## Hymn 3, lines 436–458

- URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/synesius-hymni/1-1/#p-3-436
- Source: Christ–Paranikas, Anthologia (1871), 11
- Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-11-12

Summary: In Constantinople the poet toiled and wept for his homeland and prayed in every church for the success of his mission.

### Greek text

ἔτλαν δὲ πόνους,
ἔτλαν δ᾽ ὀδύνας
πολυδακρύτους,
ὤμοισι φέρων
ματέρα πάτραν.
ῥαίνετο μὲν γᾶ
ἱδρῶτι μελῶν
ἀεθλευόντων
ἆμαρ ἐπ᾽ ἆμαρ·
ῥαίνετο δ᾽ εὐνὰ
κανθῶν λιβάσιν
ὀλοφυρομένων
νύκτ᾽ ἐπὶ νύκτα.
νηοὶ δ᾽ ὁπόσοι
δέδμηντο, ἄναξ,
ἐπὶ σαῖς ἁγίαις
τελετηφορίαις,
ἐπὶ πάντας ἔβαν,
πρηνὴς ἱκέτας
δάπεδον βλεφάρων
δεύων νοτίσι,
μή μοι κενεὰν
ὁδὸν ἀντᾶσαι·

### English translation (Claude)

I endured toils,
I endured pains
of many tears,
bearing on my shoulders
my motherland.
The ground was sprinkled
with the sweat of my limbs
as they struggled
day after day;
my bed was sprinkled
with the drops of my eyes
as they lamented
night after night.
As many temples
as were built, Lord,
for your holy
rites,
to all of them I went,
a suppliant, face down,
the floor with my eyelids'
moisture wetting,
that I might not meet
with an empty journey;

### Translation notes

- “Temples” (νηοί) are the churches of the city.

### Citation (SBL)

Synesius, Hymn. 3.436 (Christ–Paranikas, Anthologia (1871), 11; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/synesius-hymni/3-436).

## Hymn 3, lines 459–481

- URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/synesius-hymni/1-1/#p-3-459
- Source: Christ–Paranikas, Anthologia (1871), 12
- Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-11-12

Summary: The poet sought the help of the saints honored in Thrace and at Chalcedon, who shared his prayers, and God rescued his troubled homeland.

### Greek text

ἱκέτευσα θεούς
δρηστῆρας, ὅσοι
γονόεν Θρήκης
κατέχουσι πέδον,
οἵ τ᾽ ἀντιπέρην
Καλχηδονίας
ἐφέπουσι γύας,
οὓς ἀγγελικαῖς
ἔστεψας, ἄναξ,
αὐγαῖσι, τεοὺς
ἱεροὺς προπόλους.
σύν μοι μάκαρες
ἐλάβοντο λιτᾶν,
σύν μοι πολέων
ἐλάβοντο πόνων.
οὐ μοι ζωὰ
τάμος δὲ φίλα
διὰ γᾶν πατρίαν
στυφελιζομέναν,
τὰν ἐξ ἀχέων
ἔστασας, ἄναξ,
αὐτὸς ἀγήρως,
κοίρανε κόσμου.

### English translation (Claude)

I entreated the gods
who serve you, all who
the fertile plain
of Thrace hold,
and those who, across the strait,
the fields of Chalcedon
tend,
whom with angelic
rays you crowned, Lord,
your own
holy ministers.
With me the blessed ones
took up my prayers,
with me in many
toils they shared.
Life was not dear to me
at that time,
because my fatherland
was being battered;
but it, out of its griefs,
you set upright, Lord,
you yourself, the ageless,
Lord of the world.

### Translation notes

- The “gods who serve you” are apparently the martyrs or saints whose shrines stood in Thrace and across the Bosporus at Chalcedon (where St Euphemia was honored); “gods” is Synesius's Neoplatonic word for blessed spirits. The identification is probable, not certain.

### Citation (SBL)

Synesius, Hymn. 3.459 (Christ–Paranikas, Anthologia (1871), 12; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/synesius-hymni/3-459).

## Hymn 3, lines 482–509

- URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/synesius-hymni/1-1/#p-3-482
- Source: Christ–Paranikas, Anthologia (1871), 12
- Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-11-12

Summary: God restored the poet's strength and brought his mission to a happy end; he asks that the gains be kept for the Libyans and that he be freed from toil, disease, and care.

### Greek text

ἤδη ψυχᾶς
ἀποτρυομένας,
ἤδη μελέων
κατερειπομένων
ὑπέρεισας ἐμὰν
ἄρθρων δύναμιν,
τλάμονι ψυχᾷ
μένος ἐμπνεύσας·
καμάτων δὲ γλυκὺ
εὗρε τέκμωρ
κατὰ θυμὸν ἐμὸν,
ἔργοισιν, ἄναξ,
ὀπάσας δολιχῶν
ἄμπαυμα πόνων.
τὰ σὰ πάντα, μάκαρ,
Λιβύεσσι σάου
ἐς μηκεδανὸν
μήρυμα χρόνου,
διὰ σᾶς μνάμαν
εὐεργεσίας,
διά τε ψυχὰν
αἰνὰ παθοῖσαν·
ἱκέτα δὲ δίδου
βιοτὰν ἀσινῆ,
λύε με μόχθων,
λύε με νούσων,
λύε μερίμνων
κηριτρεφέων·

### English translation (Claude)

When my soul was already
worn out,
when my limbs were already
collapsing,
you propped up my
strength of joints,
into my wretched soul
breathing vigor;
and for my toils a sweet
end was found
as my heart desired,
for to my labors, Lord,
you granted, from long
toils, a rest.
All that is yours, Blessed One,
keep safe for the Libyans
to a long
thread of time,
for the memory of your
kindness,
and for the sake of the soul
that suffered terribly;
and to your suppliant give
a life unharmed;
free me from toils,
free me from diseases,
free me from cares
that feed death;

### Citation (SBL)

Synesius, Hymn. 3.482 (Christ–Paranikas, Anthologia (1871), 12; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/synesius-hymni/3-482).

## Hymn 3, lines 510–537

- URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/synesius-hymni/1-1/#p-3-510
- Source: Christ–Paranikas, Anthologia (1871), 12
- Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-11-12

Summary: The poet asks to be spared both riches and poverty, which drag the soul to earth, and prays for the light of wisdom and the path to God.

### Greek text

νεῦσον νοεράν
προπόλῳ ζωάν.
μή μοι χθονίους
ὄμβρους ἀφένου
κρήνειας, ἄναξ,
ἵνα μὴ τὰ θεοῦ
ἄσχολος εἴην·
μηδὲ κατηφὴς
πενία μελάθροις
ἐγχριμπτομένα
περὶ γᾶν ἕλκοι
φροντίδα θυμοῦ.
ἄμφω ψυχὰν
βρίθει περὶ γᾶν·
ἄμφω δὲ νόου
ἐπίληθα πέλει,
ὅτε μὴ σύ, μάκαρ,
ὀρέγοις ἀλκάν.
Ναί, πάτερ, ἁγνᾶς
παγὰ σοφίας,
λάμψον πραπίσιν
ἀπὸ σῶν κόλπων
νοερὸν φέγγος·
στράψον κραδίᾳ
ἀπὸ σᾶς ἀλκᾶς
σοφίας αὐγὰν
καὶ τὰν ἐπὶ σοὶ
ἱερὰν ἀτραπόν·

### English translation (Claude)

grant an intellectual
life to your minister.
Do not on me earthly
showers of wealth
pour down, Lord,
so that I may not, for the things of God,
lack leisure;
nor let downcast
poverty, to my house
drawing near,
drag down to earth
the care of my heart.
Both weigh the soul
down toward earth;
both make the mind
forgetful,
when you, Blessed One,
do not hold out your strength.
Yes, Father, of pure
wisdom the Source,
shine into my mind
from your bosom
intellectual light;
flash into my heart
from your might
the radiance of wisdom
and the holy path
that leads to you;

### Scripture references

- Prov 30:8: echo, low confidence

### Translation notes

- The prayer for neither wealth nor poverty recalls Prov 30:8.

### Citation (SBL)

Synesius, Hymn. 3.510 (Christ–Paranikas, Anthologia (1871), 12; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/synesius-hymni/3-510).

## Hymn 3, lines 538–563

- URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/synesius-hymni/1-1/#p-3-538
- Source: Christ–Paranikas, Anthologia (1871), 13
- Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-11-12

Summary: The poet asks for God's seal to drive off the daemons, for a sound body and pure spirit, and for release from the bonds of matter, since he carries in him a spark of the divine mind.

### Greek text

σύνθημα δίδου
σφραγῖδα τεάν,
κηριτρεφέας
δαίμονας ὕλας
σεύων ζωᾶς
εὐχᾶς τ᾽ ἀπ᾽ ἐμᾶς·
καὶ σῶμα σάου
ἀρτεμὲς, ἐχθραῖς
ἄβατον λώβαις·
καὶ πνεῦμα σάου
ἀμόλυντον, ἄναξ.
Ἡ μὰν ἤδη
δνοφερὰν ὕλας
κηλῖδα φέρω·
ἔχομαι δὲ πόθοις,
χθονίοις δεσμοῖς.
Σὺ δὲ ῥύσιος εἶ,
σὺ καθάρσιος εἶ·
ἀπόλυε κακῶν,
ἀπόλυε νόσων,
ἀπόλυε πέδας·
σὸν σπέρμα φέρω,
εὐηγενέος
σπινθῆρα νόου,
ἐς βάθος ὕλας
κατακεκλιμένον·

### English translation (Claude)

give me as a token
your seal,
the death-feeding
daemons of matter
driving from my life
and from my prayer;
and keep my body
sound, by hostile
injuries untouched;
and keep my spirit
undefiled, Lord.
Truly, already
the dark stain of matter
I carry;
I am held by longings,
by earthly bonds.
But you are the Deliverer,
you are the Purifier;
release me from evils,
release me from diseases,
release my fetters;
your seed I carry,
of a noble-born
mind the spark,
into the depth of matter
sunk down;

### Translation notes

- “Seal” and “token” (σφραγίς, σύνθημα) may refer to the seal of baptism or the sign of the cross; σύνθημα is also the Chaldaean word for a divine password. The reference is not stated.
- The “spark” of the mind sunk in matter is a Neoplatonic and Chaldaean image.

### Citation (SBL)

Synesius, Hymn. 3.538 (Christ–Paranikas, Anthologia (1871), 13; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/synesius-hymni/3-538).

## Hymn 3, lines 564–592

- URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/synesius-hymni/1-1/#p-3-564
- Source: Christ–Paranikas, Anthologia (1871), 13
- Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-11-12

Summary: The soul, God's daughter, came down to serve on earth but has become matter's slave; it still keeps a little sight of God and begs for pity.

### Greek text

σὺ γὰρ ἐν κόσμῳ
κατέθου ψυχάν,
διὰ δὲ ψυχᾶς
ἐν σώματι νοῦν
ἔσπειρας, ἄναξ.
τὰν σὰν κούραν
ἐλέαιρε, μάκαρ·
κατέβαν ἀπὸ σοῦ
χθονὶ θητεῦσαι·
ἀντὶ δὲ θῆσσας
γενόμαν δούλα·
ὕλα με μάγοις
ἐπέδησε τέχναις.
ἔτι μὰν ἔνι μοι
βαιόν τι μένος
κρυφίας γλήνας·
οὔπω πᾶσαν
ἔσβεσεν ἀλκάν·
κέχυται δὲ πολὺς
ἐφύπερθε κλύδων,
ἀλαῶπα τιθεὶς
τὰν θεοδερκῆ.
ἐλέαιρε, πάτερ,
κούραν ἱκέτιν,
τὰν πολλάκι δὴ
νοεραῖς ἀνόδοις
ἐπιβαλλομέναν
λαμυρᾶς ὕλας
ἵμερος ἄγχει.

### English translation (Claude)

for you in the world
set down the soul,
and through the soul
in the body mind
you sowed, Lord.
Your daughter
pity, Blessed One;
I came down from you
to serve on earth for hire;
but instead of a hired servant
I became a slave;
matter with magic
arts has bound me.
Yet still there is in me
some little strength
of the hidden eye;
not yet all
its might has it quenched;
but a great flood is poured
over it,
making blind
the eye that sees God.
Pity, Father,
your suppliant daughter,
whom often,
on the ascents of mind
as she sets out,
a longing for greedy matter
chokes.

### Translation notes

- The soul (feminine in Greek) speaks as God's “daughter” who came down as a hired servant and became a slave: the Neoplatonic picture of the soul's descent.

### Citation (SBL)

Synesius, Hymn. 3.564 (Christ–Paranikas, Anthologia (1871), 13; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/synesius-hymni/3-564).

## Hymn 3, lines 593–618

- URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/synesius-hymni/1-1/#p-3-593
- Source: Christ–Paranikas, Anthologia (1871), 13
- Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-11-12

Summary: The poet asks God to kindle the seed of light in him and set him where neither earth nor fate can drag him back.

### Greek text

σὺ δὲ λάμψον, ἄναξ,
ἀνάγωγα φάη·
ἅψον δὲ σέλας
καὶ πυρκαϊάν,
σπέρμα τὸ βαιὸν
αὔξων ἐν ἐμῷ
κράτος ἀώτῳ.
θρονισόν με, πάτερ,
φωτὸς ἐν ἀλκᾷ
ζωηφορίου,
ἵνα χεῖρα φύσις
οὐκ ἐπιβάλλει,
ὅθεν οὐκέτι γᾶ,
οὐ μοιραία
κλῶσις ἀνάγκας
παλίνορσον ἄγει.
λιπέτω, φυγέτω
δολερὰ γένεσις
θεράποντα τεόν·
ἐμέθεν δέ, πάτερ,
χθονίου τε κλόνου
πῦρ μέσον εἴη.
νεῦσον, γενέτα,
νεῦσον προπόλῳ
ἤδη νοερὰς
πετάσαι ταρσούς·

### English translation (Claude)

But you, Lord, shine
lights that lead upward;
kindle a flame
and a blaze,
the little seed
increasing in my
inmost flower, its strength.
Enthrone me, Father,
in the might of light
that bears life,
where nature
lays no hand,
from where no longer earth,
nor the fated
spinning of Necessity
brings me back again.
Let it leave, let it flee,
deceitful Generation,
from your servant;
and between me, Father,
and the earthly turmoil
let fire stand in the middle.
Grant, Begetter,
grant to your minister
now intellectual
wings to spread;

### Extrabiblical texts

- Plato, Resp. 616c–617d (Plato (works)): echo, low confidence

### Translation notes

- “The fated spinning of Necessity” recalls the spindle of Necessity and the Fates in Plato's myth of Er (Republic 10); “Generation” (γένεσις) is the realm of birth and decay.

### Citation (SBL)

Synesius, Hymn. 3.593 (Christ–Paranikas, Anthologia (1871), 13; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/synesius-hymni/3-593).

## Hymn 3, lines 619–647

- URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/synesius-hymni/1-1/#p-3-619
- Source: Christ–Paranikas, Anthologia (1871), 14
- Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-11-12

Summary: The soul is to bear the Father's seal, which frightens the daemons and opens the gates of light, and the poet turns away from earthly life.

### Greek text

ἤδη φερέτω
σφραγῖδα πατρὸς
ἱκέτις ψυχά,
δεῖμα μὲν ἐχθροῖς
δαίμοσιν, οἳ γᾶς
ἀπὸ κευθμώνων
ἀναπαλλόμενοι
πνείουσι βροτοῖς
ἀθέους ὁρμάς,
σύνθημα δὲ σοῖς
ἁγνοῖς προπόλοις,
οἳ κατὰ κλεινοῦ
βένθεα κόσμου
πυρίων ἀνόδων
κληϊδοφόροι,
ἵνα μοι φάεος
πετάσωσι πύλας·
ἔτι δ᾽ ἀλεμάτας
ἐπὶ γᾶς ἕρπων
μὴ χθονὸς εἴην·
πυρίων δ᾽ ἔργων
καὶ τῇδε δίδου
μάρτυρα καρπὸν,
ὀμφὰς ἀτρεκεῖς
ὅσα τ᾽ ἐν ψυχαῖς
τὰν ἀμβροσίαν
ἐλπίδα θάλπει.
Μετά μοι μέλεται
χθονίας βιοτᾶς·

### English translation (Claude)

now let it bear
the Father's seal,
my suppliant soul,
a terror to the hostile
daemons, who from the earth's
hiding places
leaping up
breathe into mortals
godless impulses,
and a token to your
pure ministers,
who through the glorious
world's depths
of the fiery ascents
are the key-bearers,
that for me, of light
they may open the gates.
And still, a wanderer
creeping on the earth,
may I not be of the earth;
of fiery works
here too grant
the fruit as witness,
true voices,
and all that in souls
the immortal
hope keeps warm.
I repent of
earthly life:

### Translation notes

- The angels are pictured as key-bearers of the gates on the soul's ascent through the heavens.
- Lines 646–647: Μετά μοι μέλεται is taken as the verb μεταμέλεται (“I repent”) split in two (tmesis); the printed spacing would allow “earthly life is my care only afterward”.

### Citation (SBL)

Synesius, Hymn. 3.619 (Christ–Paranikas, Anthologia (1871), 14; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/synesius-hymni/3-619).

## Hymn 3, lines 648–674

- URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/synesius-hymni/1-1/#p-3-648
- Source: Christ–Paranikas, Anthologia (1871), 14
- Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-11-12

Summary: The poet renounces worldly ambition and pleasure, since matter always mixes sweet with bitter and every earthly delight brings its opposite.

### Greek text

ἔρρετε λῆμαι
ἀθέων μερόπων,
πτολίων τε κράτη·
ἔρρετε πᾶσαι
ἆται γλυκεραὶ
ἄχαρίς τε χάρις,
οἶσιν ψυχὰν
θωπευομέναν
γᾶ λάτριν ἔχει·
ἁ μέγα δειλὰ
ἰδίων τ᾽ ἀγαθῶν
ἔπιεν λάθαν,
μέχρις ἐγκύρσῃ
φθονερᾷ μερίδι·
δοιὰς γὰρ ἔχει
μαστροπὸς ὕλα·
ὃς δὲ τραπέζας
ἐπορεξάμενος
μελιχρῶν ἔθιγεν,
ἢ μέγα κλαύσει
πικρὰν μερίδα
τῶν ἀντίξων
συνεφελκομένων·
ὅδε γὰρ χθονίας
θεσμὸς ἀνάγκας
διχόθεν θνατοῖς
βίον οἰνοχοεῖ·

### English translation (Claude)

away with you, ambitions
of godless mortals,
and powers of cities;
away with you, all
sweet follies of ruin,
and graceless grace,
by which the soul,
flattered,
earth holds as its hireling;
she, very wretched,
of her own goods
has drunk forgetfulness,
until she meets
with an envious portion;
for two portions
matter, the procuress, holds.
And whoever, for the tables
reaching out,
has touched the honeyed food,
will weep greatly
at the bitter portion
of the opposites
drawn along with it;
for this is the law
of earthly Necessity:
from two sides for mortals
it pours out life like wine.

### Extrabiblical texts

- Homer, Il. 24.527–533 (Homer, Iliad): allusion, medium confidence

### Translation notes

- The two portions poured out for mortals recall Zeus's two jars of good and evil in Homer, Il. 24.527–533.

### Citation (SBL)

Synesius, Hymn. 3.648 (Christ–Paranikas, Anthologia (1871), 14; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/synesius-hymni/3-648).

## Hymn 3, lines 675–700

- URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/synesius-hymni/1-1/#p-3-675
- Source: Christ–Paranikas, Anthologia (1871), 14
- Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-11-12

Summary: Only God gives unmixed good; the poet, having tasted the snare of matter, flees toward the Father and asks for wings to rise.

### Greek text

τὸ δ᾽ ἀκηράσιον
ἀμιγές τ᾽ ἀγαθὸν
θεὸς ἢ τὰ θεοῦ.
Μεθύοισα γλυκεῖ
κρητῆρι γύας
ἔψαυσα κακῶν,
ἐνέκυρσα παγᾷ,
ἐδάην ἄταν
ἐπιμηθειάδα·
στυγέω δὲ νόμους
ἀλλοπροσάλλους,
ἐς τὸν ἀκηδῆ
λειμῶνα πατρὸς
σπεύδων τανύω
φυγάδας ταρσούς,
φυγάδας διδύμων
ὕλας δώρων.
Ἴδε με, ζωᾶς
νοερᾶς ταμία,
ἴδε σὰν ἱκέτιν
ψυχὰν ἐπὶ γᾶς
νοεραῖς ἀνόδοις
ἐπιβαλλομέναν·
σὺ δὲ λάμψον, ἄναξ,
ἀνάγωγα φάη
πτερὰ κοῦφα διδούς·

### English translation (Claude)

But the undefiled
and unmixed good
is God, or the things of God.
Drunk from a sweet
mixing-bowl, the fields
of evils I touched,
I fell into the snare,
I learned the ruin
of Epimetheus;
I loathe the laws
that veer this way and that;
to the carefree
meadow of the Father
hastening, I stretch
fugitive wings,
fugitive from the twin
gifts of matter.
Look on me, of intellectual
life the Steward,
look on your suppliant,
a soul on earth
on intellectual ascents
setting out;
and you, Lord, shine
lights that lead upward,
giving light wings;

### Extrabiblical texts

- Hesiod, Op. 83–89 (Hesiod, Works and Days): allusion, medium confidence

### Translation notes

- Line 681: παγᾷ is taken as πάγα, “snare” (as at 9.4), not παγά, “spring”.
- Lines 682–683: the “ruin of Epimetheus” is the folly of afterthought; in Hesiod, Epimetheus accepted Pandora, through whom evils came to mankind (Works and Days 83–89).

### Citation (SBL)

Synesius, Hymn. 3.675 (Christ–Paranikas, Anthologia (1871), 14; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/synesius-hymni/3-675).

## Hymn 3, lines 701–729

- URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/synesius-hymni/1-1/#p-3-701
- Source: Christ–Paranikas, Anthologia (1871), 15
- Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-11-12

Summary: The soul, a heavenly drop poured out on earth, asks to be freed from the passions and returned to its source, to sing with the heavenly choir.

### Greek text

ἄμμα δὲ κόψον,
χάλασον περόναν
διδύμων παθέων,
οἶσιν ψυχὰν
δολόεσσα φύσις
κάμπτει κατὰ γᾶς·
δός με φυγοῖσαν
σώματος ἄταν
θοὸν ἅλμα βαλεῖν
ἐπὶ σὰς αὐλάς,
ἐπὶ σοὺς κόλπους,
ὅθεν ἁ ψυχᾶς
προρέει παγά.
λιβὰς οὐρανία
κέχυμαι κατὰ γᾶς·
παγᾷ με δίδου,
ὅθεν ἐξεχύθην
φυγὰς ἀλῆτις.
νεῦσον προγόνῳ
φωτὶ μιγῆναι·
νεῦσον δ᾽ ὑπὸ σοὶ
ταμιευομέναν
σὺν ἄνακτι χορῷ
ἀνάγειν ὁσίως
νοεροὺς ὕμνους·
νεῦσον δέ, πάτερ,
φωτὶ μιγεῖσαν
μηκέτι δῦναι
ἐς χθονὸς ἄταν.

### English translation (Claude)

cut the knot,
loosen the clasp
of the twin passions,
by which the soul
deceitful Nature
bends down to earth;
grant that, having fled
the ruin of the body,
I may make a swift leap
to your courts,
to your bosom,
from where the soul's
spring flows forth.
A heavenly drop,
I have been poured out upon the earth;
give me back to the spring
from which I was poured,
a wandering exile.
Grant that with the primal
light I may be mingled;
grant that, under you
kept in stewardship,
with the royal choir
I may bring up in holiness
intellectual hymns;
grant, Father,
that, mingled with the light,
I may sink no more
into the ruin of earth.

### Citation (SBL)

Synesius, Hymn. 3.701 (Christ–Paranikas, Anthologia (1871), 15; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/synesius-hymni/3-701).

## Hymn 3, lines 730–734

- URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/synesius-hymni/1-1/#p-3-730
- Source: Christ–Paranikas, Anthologia (1871), 15
- Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-11-12

Summary: The hymn closes by repeating the prayer for gentle circumstances while the poet remains in the body.

### Greek text

ὄφρα δὲ ζωᾶς
ὑλοδιαίτου
δεσμοῖσι μένω,
πραεῖα, μάκαρ,
βόσκοι με τύχα.

### English translation (Claude)

And while, of a life
spent in matter,
in the bonds I remain,
may a gentle fortune, Blessed One,
nourish me.

### Translation notes

- These lines repeat 3.381–385.

### Citation (SBL)

Synesius, Hymn. 3.730 (Christ–Paranikas, Anthologia (1871), 15; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/synesius-hymni/3-730).

## Hymn 4, lines 1–27

- URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/synesius-hymni/1-1/#p-4-1
- Source: Christ–Paranikas, Anthologia (1871), 15
- Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-11-12

Summary: At every hour of day and night the poet sings God as healer and giver of wisdom, asking to be kept pure of earthly care so as to hymn the hidden root of all.

### Greek text

Σὲ μὲν ἀρχομένας,
σὲ δ᾽ ἀεξομένας,
σὲ δὲ μεσσοίσας,
σὲ δὲ παυομένας
ἀοῦς ἱερᾶς,
ζαθέας νυκτὸς
μέλπω, γενέτα,
παίων ψυχῶν,
παίων γυίων,
δῶτορ σοφίας,
ἐλατὴρ νούσων,
δῶτορ ψυχαῖς
ἀπόνου βιοτᾶς,
ἂν μὴ στείβει
χθονία φροντίς,
μάτηρ ἀχέων,
μάτηρ παθέων,
ὧν μοι ζωὰ
καθαρὰ μενέτω,
ἵνα τὰν πάντων
κρυφίαν ῥίζαν
ὑμνοῖσα λέγω,
μηδ᾽ ἀπαγωγοῖς
ἄτῃσι θεοῦ
νοσφιζοίμην.
Σέ, μάκαρ, μέλπω,
κοίρανε κόσμου·

### English translation (Claude)

You at the beginning,
you at the growing,
you at the midst,
you at the ending
of holy dawn
and of sacred night
I sing, Begetter,
Healer of souls,
Healer of limbs,
Giver of wisdom,
Driver-away of diseases,
Giver to souls
of a life free of toil,
which earthly care
does not tread,
mother of griefs,
mother of passions;
from these may my life
remain pure,
that of all things
the hidden root
I may tell in hymns,
and by no misleading
follies from God
be cut off.
You, Blessed One, I sing,
Lord of the world;

### Translation notes

- “Mother of griefs, mother of passions” (lines 16–17) describes earthly care.

### Citation (SBL)

Synesius, Hymn. 4.1 (Christ–Paranikas, Anthologia (1871), 15; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/synesius-hymni/4-1).

## Hymn 4, lines 28–50

- URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/synesius-hymni/1-1/#p-4-28
- Source: Christ–Paranikas, Anthologia (1871), 16
- Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-11-12

Summary: The poet calls the whole world to silence for his hymn and bids the daemons of dens and tombs to flee.

### Greek text

γᾶ σιγάτω
ἐπὶ σοῖς ὕμνοις,
ἐπὶ σαῖς εὐχαῖς
εὐφαμείτω
ὅσα κόσμος ἔχει·
σὰ γὰρ ἔργα, πάτερ·
καταπαυέσθω
ἀνέμων ῥοῖζος,
ἦχος δένδρων,
θρόος ὀρνίθων·
ἥσυχος αἰθήρ,
ἥσυχος ἀήρ
κλυέτω μολπᾶς·
ὑδάτων δὲ χύσις
ἄψοφος ἤδη
στήτω κατὰ γᾶς.
οἱ δ᾽ ἐμπόδιοι
ἁγίων ὕμνων
κευθμωνοχαρεῖς
καὶ τυμβονόμοι
δαίμονες ἤδη
φυγέτωσαν ἐμὰν
ὁσίαν εὐχάν·

### English translation (Claude)

let earth be silent
at your hymns;
at your prayers
let all keep holy silence
that the world holds;
for they are your works, Father.
Let it cease,
the whirring of winds,
the sound of trees,
the clamor of birds;
let the ether in quiet,
let the air in quiet
hear the song;
and let the pouring of the waters,
now soundless,
stand still on the earth.
And those who hinder
holy hymns,
delighting in hidden dens
and haunting tombs,
the daemons, now
let them flee my
holy prayer.

### Citation (SBL)

Synesius, Hymn. 4.28 (Christ–Paranikas, Anthologia (1871), 16; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/synesius-hymni/4-28).

## Hymn 4, lines 51–79

- URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/synesius-hymni/1-1/#p-4-51
- Source: Christ–Paranikas, Anthologia (1871), 16
- Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-11-12

Summary: The poet asks the angels to carry his prayers and hails the Father with titles of supremacy, from whom the Spirit comes to give life to the visible world.

### Greek text

ἀγαθοὶ δ᾽ ὁπόσοι
μάκαρες νοεροῦ
πρόπολοι γενέτου
κατέχουσι βάθη
ἄκρα τε κόσμου,
ὕμνων ἵλεῳ
πεύθοιντο πατρός,
ἵλεῳ δὲ λιτὰς
ἀνάγοιεν ἐμάς.
Μονὰς ὦ μονάδων,
πάτερ ὦ πατέρων,
ἀρχῶν ἀρχά,
παγῶν παγά,
ῥιζῶν ῥίζα,
ἀγαθῶν ἀγαθόν,
ἄστρων ἄστρον,
κόσμων κόσμε,
ἰδεῶν ἰδέα,
βύθιον κάλλος,
κρύφιον σπέρμα,
πάτερ αἰώνων,
πάτερ ἀφθέγκτων
νοερῶν κόσμων,
ὅθεν ἀμβροσία
σταλάοισα πνοά,
σώματος ὄγκοις
ἐπινηξαμένα,
δεύτερον ἤδη
κόσμον ἀνάπτει.

### English translation (Claude)

But all the good,
blessed ministers
of the intellectual Begetter,
who hold the depths
and the heights of the world,
graciously of the hymns
to the Father may they learn,
and graciously bring up
my prayers.
O Monad of monads,
O Father of fathers,
Beginning of beginnings,
Source of sources,
Root of roots,
Good of goods,
Star of stars,
World of worlds,
Idea of ideas,
Beauty of the depth,
hidden Seed,
Father of the aeons,
Father of the unutterable
intellectual worlds,
from whom an ambrosial
Breath, distilling,
upon the masses of body
floating,
kindles now
a second world.

### Translation notes

- The “ambrosial Breath” that kindles “a second world” is the Holy Spirit (or, in Neoplatonic terms, the world-soul) giving life to the material world.

### Citation (SBL)

Synesius, Hymn. 4.51 (Christ–Paranikas, Anthologia (1871), 16; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/synesius-hymni/4-51).

## Hymn 4, lines 80–105

- URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/synesius-hymni/1-1/#p-4-80
- Source: Christ–Paranikas, Anthologia (1871), 16
- Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-11-12

Summary: The poet hymns the Father in word and silence, the Son together with the Father, and the Holy Spirit as the Father's fruitful Will standing between Father and Son.

### Greek text

Ὑμνῶ σε, μάκαρ,
καὶ διὰ φωνᾶς,
ὑμνῶ σε, μάκαρ,
καὶ διὰ σιγᾶς·
ὅσα γὰρ φωνᾶς,
τόσα καὶ σιγᾶς
αἴεις νοεράς.
ὑμνῶ δὲ γόνον
τὸν πρωτόγονον
καὶ πρωτοφαῆ.
Γόνε κύδιστε
πατρὸς ἀφθέγκτου,
σέ, μάκαρ, μεγάλῳ
πατρὶ συνυμνῶ,
καὶ τὰν ἐπὶ σοὶ
ὠδῖνα πατρός,
γόνιμον βουλάν,
μεσάταν ἀρχάν,
ἁγίαν πνοιάν,
κέντρον γενέτου,
κέντρον δὲ κόρου·
αὐτὰ μάτηρ,
αὐτὰ γνωτά,
αὐτὰ θυγάτηρ
μαιωσαμένα
κρυφίαν ῥίζαν·

### English translation (Claude)

I hymn you, Blessed One,
with voice,
I hymn you, Blessed One,
with silence too;
for as many as of voice,
so many also of silence
you hear, when they are of the mind.
And I hymn the Offspring,
the firstborn
and first-shining.
Most glorious Offspring
of an unutterable Father,
you, Blessed One, with the great
Father I hymn together,
and, with regard to you,
the Father's birth-pang,
fruitful Will,
the middle Principle,
the holy Breath,
center of the Begetter,
center of the Son;
she is mother,
she is sister,
she is daughter,
who has brought to birth
the hidden Root;

### Translation notes

- Line 86: the construction of αἴεις νοεράς is uncertain; translated by sense.
- Lines 101–105: the Spirit (πνοιά, feminine in Greek) is called mother, sister, and daughter; Synesius's poetic language for the Spirit's relation to Father and Son, translated as written.

### Citation (SBL)

Synesius, Hymn. 4.80 (Christ–Paranikas, Anthologia (1871), 16; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/synesius-hymni/4-80).

## Hymn 4, lines 106–133

- URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/synesius-hymni/1-1/#p-4-106
- Source: Christ–Paranikas, Anthologia (1871), 16
- Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-11-12

Summary: The Spirit stands between Father and Son as God from God; God is Monad and Triad, and the Word, begotten by the Father's Mind, stays in the Father while governing the worlds.

### Greek text

ἵνα γὰρ προχυθῇ
ἐπὶ παιδὶ πατήρ,
αὐτὰ πρόχυσις
εὕρετο βλάστην·
ἔστη δὲ μέσα
θεὸς ἐκ τε θεοῦ·
[διὰ παῖδά τε καὶ
διὰ τὰν κλεινὰν
πατρὸς ἀθανάτου
πρόχυσιν υἱὸς
εὕρετο βλάστην.]
Μονὰς εἶ τριὰς ὤν,
μονὰς ἅ γε μένεις
καὶ τριὰς εἶ δή.
νοερὰ δὲ τομὰ
ἄσχιστον ἔτι
τὸ μερισθὲν ἔχει·
προθορὼν δὲ μένει
γόνος ἐν γενέτᾳ,
καὶ πάλιν ἔξω
τὰ πατρὸς διέπει
κόσμοις κατάγων
ὄλβον ζωᾶς,
ὅθεν αὐτὸς ἔχει·
λόγος, ὃν μεγάλῳ
πατρὶ συνυμνῶ,
νόος ἀρρήτου
τίκτει σε πατρός·

### English translation (Claude)

For so that there might be poured forth
upon the Son the Father,
the outpouring itself
found a sprouting;
and she stood in the middle,
God from God.
[Through the Son and
through the glorious
of the immortal Father
outpouring, the Son
found a sprouting.]
You are Monad, being Triad;
a Monad who remains
and are Triad indeed.
And an intellectual division
keeps still unsplit
what has been divided;
and, leaping forth, there remains
the Offspring in the Begetter,
and again outside
governs the Father's things,
bringing down to the worlds
the wealth of life
from where he himself has it.
O Word, whom with the great
Father I hymn together,
the Mind of the unutterable
Father begets you;

### Scripture references

- John 1:1: echo, low confidence

### Translation notes

- Lines 108–111: the “outpouring” (πρόχυσις, feminine) is the Spirit, who “stood in the middle, God from God”.
- Lines 112–116 are bracketed by Christ–Paranikas as probably not genuine; translated in brackets.

### Citation (SBL)

Synesius, Hymn. 4.106 (Christ–Paranikas, Anthologia (1871), 16; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/synesius-hymni/4-106).

## Hymn 4, lines 134–159

- URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/synesius-hymni/1-1/#p-4-134
- Source: Christ–Paranikas, Anthologia (1871), 17
- Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-11-12

Summary: The Word, first-born from the Father, is the root of all creation; through him all nature receives life, and the heavens move at his command.

### Greek text

καὶ σὺ κυηθεὶς
λόγος εἶ γενέτου,
πρῶτος πρώτας
προθορὼν ῥίζας,
ῥίζα δὲ πάντων
τῶν μετὰ κλεινὰν
τὰν σὰν γένναν·
μονὰς ἄρρητος,
σπέρμα τὸ πάντων
σπέρμα σε πάντων
ἐσπέρμηνεν·
σὺ γὰρ ἐν πᾶσι·
διὰ σοῦ δὲ φύσις
ὑπάτα, μεσάτα,
νεάτα τε θεοῦ
ἀπέλαυσε πατρὸς
ἀγαθῶν δώρων
γονίμου ζωᾶς.
Σοὶ μὲν ἀγήρως
ἄπονον τροχιὰν
σφαῖρα κυλίνδει·
ὑπὸ σὰν τάξιν
κύτεος μεγάλου
βριαραῖς δίναις
ἑβδομὰς ἄστρων
ἀντιχορεύει·

### English translation (Claude)

and you, conceived,
are the Word of the Begetter,
first from the first
Root leaping forth,
and root of all
that came after your glorious
birth.
The ineffable Monad,
Seed of all things,
as the seed of all things
has sown you;
for you are in all;
and through you nature,
highest, middle,
and lowest, of God
the Father has enjoyed
the good gifts
of fruitful life.
For you the ageless
sphere its effortless
course rolls;
under your order,
of the great vault
in mighty whirls,
the seven of the stars
dances in counter-motion;

### Scripture references

- John 1:3: echo, medium confidence
- Col 1:16–17: echo, low confidence

### Translation notes

- Lines 152–159: the outer sphere of the fixed stars turns one way and the seven planets move against it, as in ancient astronomy.

### Citation (SBL)

Synesius, Hymn. 4.134 (Christ–Paranikas, Anthologia (1871), 17; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/synesius-hymni/4-134).

## Hymn 4, lines 160–185

- URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/synesius-hymni/1-1/#p-4-160
- Source: Christ–Paranikas, Anthologia (1871), 17
- Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-11-12

Summary: The Son holds the heavens and the ages together and gives every rank of being, in heaven, air, earth, and below the earth, its work and its life.

### Greek text

τὰ δὲ πολλὰ μίαν
πτύχα καλλύνει
φέγγεα κόσμου
διὰ σὰν βουλάν,
γόνε κύδιστε·
σὺ γὰρ ἀμφιθέων
κύτος οὐράνιον,
δρόμον αἰώνων
ἄλυτον συνέχεις·
ὑπὸ σοῖς δέ, μάκαρ,
ἁγίοις θεσμοῖς
ἐν ἀπειροβαθοῦς
αἴθρας λαγόσι
πολιῶν ἄστρων
ἀγέλα νέμεται.
Σὺ μὲν οὐρανίοις,
σὺ δ᾽ ἐνηερίοις,
σὺ δ᾽ ἐπιχθονίοις,
σὺ δ᾽ ὑποχθονίοις
ἔργα μερίζεις,
ζωάν τε νέμεις.
σὺ νόου πρύτανις
ταμίας τε θεοῖς
θνατῶν θ᾽ ὁπόσοι
νοερᾶς μοίρας
ἔσπασαν ὄμβρους·

### English translation (Claude)

and one fold the many
lights of the world
adorn,
by your counsel,
most glorious Offspring;
for you, running round
the heavenly vault,
the course of the aeons
hold together unbroken;
and under your, Blessed One,
holy laws,
in the boundless-deep
flanks of the clear sky
of the grey stars
the herd is pastured.
You to the heavenly,
you to those in the air,
you to those on earth,
you to those under the earth
apportion their works
and distribute life.
You are president of Mind
and steward for the gods
and for as many mortals
as of the intellectual portion
have drawn the showers;

### Scripture references

- Col 1:17: echo, low confidence
- Phil 2:10: echo, low confidence

### Citation (SBL)

Synesius, Hymn. 4.160 (Christ–Paranikas, Anthologia (1871), 17; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/synesius-hymni/4-160).

## Hymn 4, lines 186–212

- URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/synesius-hymni/1-1/#p-4-186
- Source: Christ–Paranikas, Anthologia (1871), 17
- Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-11-12

Summary: Through the Son, life and cohesion flow from the Father down through the spiritual worlds to every creature, and the visible world receives its form from the intellectual world.

### Greek text

σὺ ψυχοδότας
οἷς ἐκ ψυχᾶς
τέταται ζωὰ
καὶ φύσις ἀκμῆς·
ἀλαὸν ψυχᾶς
βλάστημα τεᾶς
κρέμαται σειρᾶς·
χὠπόσα τᾶς σᾶς
στέρεται πνοιᾶς,
ἀπὸ σῶν κόλπων
δρέπεται συνοχὰν
πορθμευομέναν
διὰ σᾶς ἀλκᾶς
ἐξ ἀρρήτων
πατρικῶν κόλπων
κρυφίας μονάδος,
ὅθεν ὁ ζωᾶς
ὀχετὸς προρέων
φέρεται μέχρι γᾶς
διὰ σᾶς ἀλκᾶς,
δι᾽ ἀτεκμάρτων
νοερῶν κόσμων·
ἔνθεν δέχεται
καταβαίνοισαν
ἀγαθῶν κράναν
νοεροῦ μορφά,
κόσμος ὁρατός.

### English translation (Claude)

you are the Soul-giver
to those in whom from soul
life is stretched
and the nature of vigor;
the blind
sprout of your soul
hangs from your chain;
and all that
lacks your breath
from your bosom
draws its cohesion,
ferried across
through your might
from the unutterable
bosom of the Father,
of the hidden Monad,
whence the channel
of life, flowing forth,
is borne down to earth
through your might,
through the untraceable
intellectual worlds;
from there receives
the descending
spring of good things,
the form of the intellectual world,
the visible world.

### Translation notes

- Line 189: the sense of φύσις ἀκμῆς (“nature of vigor”) is uncertain.
- The “chain” (σειρά) is the Neoplatonic chain of being by which lower things depend on higher; the “blind sprout” of soul is the irrational life of plants and animals.

### Citation (SBL)

Synesius, Hymn. 4.186 (Christ–Paranikas, Anthologia (1871), 17; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/synesius-hymni/4-186).

## Hymn 4, lines 213–241

- URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/synesius-hymni/1-1/#p-4-213
- Source: Christ–Paranikas, Anthologia (1871), 18
- Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-11-12

Summary: The sun is the visible image of the intellectual Son; the poet kneels before the unknowable Father and asks for pity.

### Greek text

Ἅλιον οὗτος
δεύτερον ἔσχεν
ὑστεροφεγγοῦς
φωτὸς γενέταν,
ὀμματολαμπῆ
τᾶς γινομένας
καὶ φθειρομένας
ταμίαν ὕλας,
υἱοῦ νοεροῦ
τύπον αἰσθητόν,
ἀγαθῶν παροχὰν
ἐγκοσμογενῶν
διὰ σὰν βουλάν,
γόνε κύδιστε.
Πάτερ ἄγνωστε,
πάτερ ἄρρητε,
ἄγνωστε νόῳ,
ἄρρητε λόγῳ,
νόος ἐσσὶ νόου,
ψυχᾶν ψυχά,
φύσις εἶ φυσίων.
γόνυ σοι κάμπτων
ἴδε τοῦτο, λάτρις
πίπτω κατὰ γᾶς
ἱκέτας ἀλαός·
σὺ δέ, φωτοδότα
φωτὸς νοεροῦ,
ἐλέαιρε, μάκαρ,
ἱκέτιν ψυχάν·

### English translation (Claude)

This world has the sun
as a second
begetter of later-shining
light,
eye-bright,
of the coming-to-be
and perishing
matter the steward,
of the intellectual Son
the visible image,
the provider of good things
born within the world,
by your counsel,
most glorious Offspring.
Unknown Father,
unutterable Father,
unknown to mind,
unutterable to word,
you are Mind of mind,
Soul of souls,
Nature of natures.
Bending my knee to you,
see, I, your servant,
fall to the ground,
a blind suppliant;
but you, light-giver
of intellectual light,
pity, Blessed One,
a suppliant soul;

### Extrabiblical texts

- Plato, Resp. 508b–c (Plato (works)): allusion, medium confidence

### Translation notes

- The sun as the visible image of a higher light recalls Plato's comparison of the sun with the Good (Republic 6.508b–c); Synesius applies it to the Son.

### Citation (SBL)

Synesius, Hymn. 4.213 (Christ–Paranikas, Anthologia (1871), 18; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/synesius-hymni/4-213).

## Hymn 4, lines 242–263

- URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/synesius-hymni/1-1/#p-4-242
- Source: Christ–Paranikas, Anthologia (1871), 18
- Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-11-12

Summary: The poet asks God to drive the earthly daemon, the power of the passions, away from every part of his life.

### Greek text

σεῦε δὲ νούσους,
σεῦε μερίμνας
τὰς ψυχοβόρους,
σεῦε δ᾽ ἀναιδῆ
κύνα τὸν χθόνιον,
δαίμονα γαίας
ψυχᾶς ἀπ᾽ ἐμᾶς,
εὐχᾶς ἀπ᾽ ἐμᾶς,
ζωᾶς ἀπ᾽ ἐμᾶς,
ἔργων ἀπ᾽ ἐμῶν.
σώματος ἔξω,
πνεύματος ἔξω,
πάντων ἔξω
τῶν ἁμετέρων
δαίμων μενέτω·
λιπέτω, φυγέτω
δαίμων ὕλας,
παθέων ἀλκά,
ἀνάγωγον ὁδὸν
διατειχίζων,
τὰς θεοδιφεῖς
βλάπτων ὁρμάς·

### English translation (Claude)

drive away diseases,
drive away cares
that devour the soul,
drive away the shameless
earthly hound,
the daemon of the earth,
from my soul,
from my prayer,
from my life,
from my works.
Outside my body,
outside my spirit,
outside all
that is ours
let the daemon remain;
let him leave, let him flee,
the daemon of matter,
the might of the passions,
the upward-leading road
walling off,
and the God-seeking
impulses harming.

### Citation (SBL)

Synesius, Hymn. 4.242 (Christ–Paranikas, Anthologia (1871), 18; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/synesius-hymni/4-242).

## Hymn 4, lines 264–285

- URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/synesius-hymni/1-1/#p-4-264
- Source: Christ–Paranikas, Anthologia (1871), 18
- Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-11-12

Summary: The poet asks for a guardian angel to watch over his body, spirit, soul, prayers, and works.

### Greek text

ἕταρον δὲ δίδου
ξυνωνὸν, ἄναξ,
ἁγίας ἅγιον
ἄγγελον ἀλκᾶς,
ἄγγελον εὐχᾶς
τᾶς θεολαμποῦς,
φίλον ἐσθλοδόταν,
φύλακα ψυχᾶς,
φύλακα ζωᾶς,
εὐχᾶν φρουρόν,
ἔργων φρουρόν·
σῶμα δὲ σώζοι
καθαρὸν νούσων,
πνεῦμα δὲ σώζοι
καθαρὸν λώβας,
ψυχᾷ δ᾽ ἐπάγοι
παθέων λάθαν,
ἵνα καὶ ζωὰν
τὰν γαιοτραφῆ
τοῖς σοῖς ὕμνοις
πιαίνηται
ταρσὸς ψυχᾶς·

### English translation (Claude)

And give me as a companion,
a partner, Lord,
a holy one of holy
strength, an angel,
an angel of prayer,
of God-illumined prayer,
a friend who gives good things,
guardian of soul,
guardian of life,
watcher of prayers,
watcher of works;
may he keep my body
pure of diseases,
may he keep my spirit
pure of outrage,
and bring to my soul
forgetfulness of passions,
so that even in the life
that earth nourishes
by your hymns
may grow rich
the wing of the soul;

### Scripture references

- Ps 91:11 (90:11 LXX): echo, low confidence

### Citation (SBL)

Synesius, Hymn. 4.264 (Christ–Paranikas, Anthologia (1871), 18; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/synesius-hymni/4-264).

## Hymn 4, lines 286–299

- URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/synesius-hymni/1-1/#p-4-286
- Source: Christ–Paranikas, Anthologia (1871), 19
- Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-11-12

Summary: The hymn ends with a prayer that after death the soul may rise, free of matter, to God, its source.

### Greek text

ἵνα καὶ ζωὰν
τὰν μετὰ μοίρας,
τὰν μετὰ δεσμοὺς
τοὺς χθονοβριθεῖς,
καθαρὰν ὕλας,
ὅσον ἐξανύω
ἐπὶ σὰς αὐλάς,
ἐπὶ σοὺς κόλπους,
ὅθεν ἁ ψυχᾶς
προρέει παγά.
Σὺ δὲ χεῖρα δίδου,
σὺ κάλει, σύ, μάκαρ,
ὕλας ἄναγε
ἱκέτιν ψυχάν.

### English translation (Claude)

and so that also the life
after my fate,
after the bonds
that weigh down to earth,
pure of matter,
I may travel through
to your courts,
to your bosom,
from where the soul's
spring flows forth.
Give me your hand,
call me, you, Blessed One,
out of matter lead up
your suppliant soul.

### Citation (SBL)

Synesius, Hymn. 4.286 (Christ–Paranikas, Anthologia (1871), 19; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/synesius-hymni/4-286).

## Hymn 5, lines 1–28

- URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/synesius-hymni/1-1/#p-5-1
- Source: Christ–Paranikas, Anthologia (1871), 19
- Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-11-12

Summary: A hymn to Christ, born of a virgin by the Father's counsel, light from the Father, creator of the world and Savior of humankind.

### Greek text

Ὑμνῶμεν κοῦρον νύμφας,
νύμφας οὐ νυμφευθείσας
ἀνδρῶν μοιραίαις κοίταις·
ἄρρητοι πατρὸς βουλαὶ
ἔσπειραν Χριστοῦ γένναν,
ἁ σεμνὰ νύμφας ὠδὶς
ἀνθρώπου φῆνεν μορφάν,
ὃς θνατοῖσιν πορθμευτὰς
ἦλθεν φωτὸς παγαίου·
ἁ δ᾽ ἄρρητος σεῦ βλάστα
αἰώνων οἶδεν ῥίζαν.
αὐτὸς φῶς εἶ παγαῖον,
συλλάμψας ἀκτὶς πατρί,
ῥήξας δ᾽ ὀρφναίαν ὕλαν
ψυχαῖς ἐλλάμπεις ἁγναῖς·
αὐτὸς μὲν κόσμου κτίστας,
κλεινῶν σφαιρωτὰς ἄστρων,
κέντρων γαίας ῥιζωτάς,
αὐτὸς δ᾽ ἀνθρώπων σωτήρ.
σοὶ μὲν Τιτὰν ἱππεύει,
ἀοῦς ἄσβεστος παγά,
σοὶ δ᾽ ἁ ταυρῶπις μήνα
τὰν νυκτὸς ὄρφναν λύει·
σοὶ τίκτονται καρποί,
σοὶ καὶ βόσκονται ποίμναι.
ἐκ σᾶς ἀρρήτου παγᾶς
ζείδωρον πέμπων αἴγλαν,
πιαίνεις κόσμων ταρσούς·

### English translation (Claude)

Let us hymn the Son of the bride,
the bride not wedded
in the fated beds of men.
The ineffable counsels of the Father
sowed the birth of Christ;
the holy birth-pang of the bride
brought to light the form of a man,
who came to mortals as the ferryman
of light from the Source.
And your ineffable sprouting
knows the root of the aeons.
You yourself are light from the Source,
a ray shining together with the Father,
and, breaking through dark matter,
you shine into pure souls.
You are the creator of the world,
who set the glorious stars in their spheres,
who rooted the centers of the earth,
and you are the Savior of humankind.
For you the Titan rides,
unquenchable source of the dawn,
for you the bull-faced moon
dissolves the darkness of night;
for you fruits are born,
for you too the flocks are pastured.
From your ineffable source
sending a life-giving radiance,
you enrich the wide reaches of the worlds.

### Scripture references

- Luke 1:34–35: allusion, medium confidence
- Matt 1:18–25: allusion, medium confidence
- John 1:9: echo, low confidence
- John 1:3: echo, medium confidence

### Translation notes

- The “bride not wedded” is the Virgin Mary. The “Titan” is the sun (Helios) and the “bull-faced” (horned) moon is the crescent: traditional poetic names, here made servants of Christ.

### Citation (SBL)

Synesius, Hymn. 5.1 (Christ–Paranikas, Anthologia (1871), 19; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/synesius-hymni/5-1).

## Hymn 5, lines 29–57

- URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/synesius-hymni/1-1/#p-5-29
- Source: Christ–Paranikas, Anthologia (1871), 19
- Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-11-12

Summary: The poet asks Christ for health, persuasive speech, a fame worthy of his ancestors, and a pure life that leads his soul back to God, as he hymns Father, Son, and Spirit.

### Greek text

ἐκ σῶν βλάστησεν κόλπων
καὶ φῶς καὶ νοῦς καὶ ψυχά·
τὰν σὰν οἴκτειρον κούραν
γυίοις εἰρχθεῖσαν θνατοῖς·
μοίρας θ᾽ ὑλαίοις μέτροις
νούσων ἐκσώζοις λύβας
ἀσκηθῆ γυίων ἀλκάν.
Νεῦσον μὲν μύθοις πειθώ,
νεῦσον δ᾽ ἔργοισιν κῦδος
ἀρχαίαις πρέψαι φάμαις
τὰς Κυράνας καὶ Σπάρτας·
λύπαις δ᾽ ἄστιπτος ψυχὰ
πραεῖαν ζωὰν ἕλκοι
θρέπτειραν, δισσὰς γλήνας
ἐς σὸν φέγγος τείνοισα,
ὡς ἐξ ὕλας φοιβαθεῖς
ἀστρέπτους οἴμους σπεύσω,
φύξηλις γαίας μόχθων,
μιχθῆναι ψυχᾶς παγᾷ.
Τοίαν ἄχραντον ζωὰν
τῷ σῷ κραίνοις φορμικτῇ,
εὖτ᾽ ἂν σοι στέλλων μολπάν,
τὰν σὰν κυδαίνων ῥίζαν,
μήκιστον πατρὸς κῦδος,
καὶ τὰν σύνθωκον πνοιὰν
μέσσαν ῥίζας καὶ βλάστας,
καὶ πατρὸς μέλπων ἀλκὰν
τοῖς σοῖς ὕμνοις ἀμπαύω
κλεινὰν ὠδῖνα ψυχᾶς.

### English translation (Claude)

From your bosom sprang
both light and mind and soul.
Pity your daughter,
shut in mortal limbs;
and within fate's material measures
may you save from the outrages of diseases
the strength of my limbs unharmed.
Grant persuasion to my words,
grant glory to my deeds,
to be worthy of the ancient fame
of Cyrene and of Sparta;
and may my soul, untrodden by griefs,
draw out a gentle life
that nourishes it, turning its two eyes
toward your light,
so that, purified from matter,
I may hasten on paths that do not turn back,
a fugitive from the toils of earth,
to mingle with the Source of the soul.
Such an undefiled life
may you grant to your lyre-player,
when, sending up to you a song,
glorifying your Root,
the Father's highest glory,
and the Breath enthroned with you,
the middle between Root and Sprout,
and singing the Father's might,
in your hymns I lay to rest
the glorious birth-pang of my soul.

### Translation notes

- Line 39: Cyrene was founded from Thera, a Spartan colony; Synesius traced his descent to the Spartan kings.
- Lines 51–54: the “Root” is the Father, the “Sprout” the Son, and the “Breath enthroned with you … the middle between Root and Sprout” the Holy Spirit.

### Citation (SBL)

Synesius, Hymn. 5.29 (Christ–Paranikas, Anthologia (1871), 19; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/synesius-hymni/5-29).

## Hymn 5, lines 58–68

- URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/synesius-hymni/1-1/#p-5-58
- Source: Christ–Paranikas, Anthologia (1871), 20
- Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-11-12

Summary: The hymn ends by hailing the Father as source of the Son, the Son as form and seal of the Father, and the Spirit as center of both.

### Greek text

Χαίροις, ὦ παιδὸς παγά,
χαίροις, ὦ πατρὸς μορφά·
χαίροις, ὦ παιδὸς κρηπίς,
χαίροις, ὦ πατρὸς σφρηγίς·
χαίροις, ὦ παιδὸς κάρτος,
χαίροις, ὦ πατρὸς κάλλος·
χαίροις δ᾽ ἄχραντος πνοιά,
κέντρον κούρου καὶ πατρός·
τάν μοι πέμποις σὺν πατρὶ
ἀρδοισαν ψυχᾶς ταρσούς,
κράντειραν θείων δώρων.

### English translation (Claude)

Hail, O Source of the Son,
hail, O Form of the Father;
hail, O Foundation of the Son,
hail, O Seal of the Father;
hail, O Might of the Son,
hail, O Beauty of the Father;
and hail, undefiled Breath,
center of the Son and of the Father;
may you send her to me with the Father,
watering the wings of my soul,
accomplisher of divine gifts.

### Scripture references

- Heb 1:3: echo, low confidence
- John 15:26: echo, low confidence

### Translation notes

- The greetings alternate between the Father (Source, Foundation, Might of the Son) and the Son (Form, Seal, Beauty of the Father). In line 66 Christ is asked to send the Spirit (feminine πνοιά) together with the Father.

### Citation (SBL)

Synesius, Hymn. 5.58 (Christ–Paranikas, Anthologia (1871), 20; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/synesius-hymni/5-58).

## Hymn 6, lines 1–29

- URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/synesius-hymni/1-1/#p-6-1
- Source: Christ–Paranikas, Anthologia (1871), 20
- Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-11-12

Summary: A hymn to the Son, only-begotten from the only Father, who governs heaven, angels, and daemons, gives the Spirit to the earth, and frees mortals from death; the poet asks for calm and health.

### Greek text

Μετὰ παγᾶς ἁγίας αὐτολοχεύτου
ἀρρήτων ἑνοτήτων ἐπέκεινα
θεὸν ἄμβροτον, θεοῦ κύδιμον υἱά,
μόνον ἐκ μόνου πατρὸς παῖδα θορόντα
στεφανώσομεν σοφοῖς ἄνθεσιν ὕμνων,
ὃν βουλᾶς πατρικᾶς ἄφραστος ὠδὶς
ἀγνώστων ἀνέδειξε παῖδα κόλπων,
ἃ πατρὸς λοχίους ἔφηνε καρποὺς
καὶ φήνασα φάνη μεσσοπαγὴς νοῦς·
ἐν παγᾷ δὲ μένουσι καὶ χυθέντες.
σοφία νόου πατρὸς, κάλλεος αὐτὰ,
σοὶ τεχθέντι πατὴρ ἔνευσε τίκτειν,
σὺ τὸ κρυπτὸν εἶ πατρὸς σπέρμα προλάμπων·
σὲ γὰρ ἀρχὰν γενέτας ἔδωκε κόσμοις,
κατάγειν ἐκ νοερῶν σώμασι μορφάς·
σὺ μὲν οὐρανοῦ σοφᾷ ἄντυγα νωμᾷς,
τὰν δ᾽ ἄστρων ἀγέλαν ἀεὶ νομεύεις·
σὺ δὲ τᾶς ἀγγελικᾶς, ἄναξ, χορείας
καὶ τᾶς δαιμονίας φάλαγγος ἄρχεις,
σὺ δὲ καὶ φύσιν φθιτὰν ἀμφιχορεύεις,
ἀμέριστον περὶ γᾶν πνεῦμα μερίζεις,
καὶ παγᾷ τὸ δοθὲν πάλιν συνάπτεις,
θνατοὺς ἐκ θανάτου λύων ἀνάγκας.
Ἱλήκοις ἐπὶ σῶν στέμμασιν ὕμνων,
βιοτᾶς ὑμνοπόλῳ νέμων γαλάναν·
εὐρίπων προχοὰν στᾶσον ἀλήτιν,
τερσαίνων ὁλοοὺς κλύδωνας ὕλας·
ψυχᾶς καὶ μελέων ἔρυκε νούσους·
παθέων οὐλομέναν κοίμισον ὁρμάν·

### English translation (Claude)

After the holy, self-begotten Source,
beyond ineffable unities,
God immortal, God's glorious Son,
the only Child leapt forth from the only Father,
we shall crown with wise flowers of hymns,
whom the unutterable birth-pang of the Father's will
showed forth as Son from an unknown bosom;
she brought to light the Father's fruit of birth,
and, having brought it to light, appeared herself, a mind set in the middle;
and in the Source they remain, though poured forth.
Wisdom of the Father's Mind, Beauty itself,
to you, when born, the Father granted to beget;
you are the hidden seed of the Father, shining forth;
for the Begetter gave you as beginning to the worlds,
to bring down forms from the intellectual realm to bodies.
You turn the vault of heaven with wisdom,
and ever shepherd the herd of the stars;
you, Lord, rule the angelic choir
and the phalanx of the daemons;
you dance around perishable nature too,
you divide about the earth the undivided Spirit,
and join what was given back again to the Source,
freeing mortals from the necessity of death.
Be gracious at the garlands of your hymns,
granting the hymn-maker calm in life;
stop the wandering outflow of the straits,
drying up the deadly waves of matter;
keep diseases from soul and limbs;
lull to sleep the destructive rush of the passions;

### Scripture references

- John 1:18: echo, low confidence
- John 1:3: echo, low confidence
- Heb 2:15: echo, low confidence

### Translation notes

- Lines 6–10: the “birth-pang of the Father's will” (the Holy Spirit) brings the Son to light and appears as “a mind set in the middle”; Son and Spirit remain in the Father though poured forth.
- Lines 21–22: the Spirit given to each soul is returned to its source when souls are set free from death.

### Citation (SBL)

Synesius, Hymn. 6.1 (Christ–Paranikas, Anthologia (1871), 20; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/synesius-hymni/6-1).

## Hymn 6, lines 30–37

- URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/synesius-hymni/1-1/#p-6-30
- Source: Christ–Paranikas, Anthologia (1871), 20
- Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-11-12

Summary: The poet asks to be spared the harms of wealth and poverty and given good repute and leisure to cultivate wisdom.

### Greek text

πλούτου καὶ πενίας ἄλαλκε κῆρας·
ἔργοις κυδαλίμαν ὄπασσον ὀμφάν·
ἐν λαοῖς ἀγαθὰν ἄνοιγε φάμαν
πειθοῦς πραϋλόγῳ στέφων ἀώτῳ,
ἵνα μοι νόος δρέπῃ σχολὰν ἀκύμων,
μηδ᾽ ἐν ταῖς χθονίαις στένω μερίμναις·
ἀλλ᾽ ἐκ σῶν ὀχετῶν ὑψιφορήτων
ὠδῖσιν σοφίας νόον κατάρδω.

### English translation (Claude)

ward off the dooms of wealth and poverty;
grant to my deeds a glorious voice;
open among the people a good report,
crowning me with the gentle-spoken flower of persuasion,
so that my mind may harvest a leisure without waves,
and I may not groan among earthly cares;
but from your channels, borne on high,
with birth-pangs of wisdom I may water my mind.

### Citation (SBL)

Synesius, Hymn. 6.30 (Christ–Paranikas, Anthologia (1871), 20; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/synesius-hymni/6-30).

## Hymn 7, lines 1–29

- URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/synesius-hymni/1-1/#p-7-1
- Source: Christ–Paranikas, Anthologia (1871), 20
- Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-11-12

Summary: Synesius claims to be the first to hymn Jesus to the lyre and tells of the Magi, astonished at the child, who bring gold, frankincense, and myrrh.

### Greek text

Πρῶτος νόμον εὑρόμαν
ἐπὶ σοί, μάκαρ, ἄμβροτε,
γόνε κύδιμε παρθένου,
Ἰησοῦ Σολυμῇϊε,
νεοπαγέσιν ἁρμογαῖς
κρέξαι κιθάρας μίτους.
Ἀλλ᾽ εὐμενέοις, ἄναξ,
καὶ δέχνυσο μουσικὰν
ἐξ εὐαγέων μελῶν.
ὑμνήσομεν ἄφθιτον
θεὸν υἱὰ θεοῦ μέγαν,
αἰωνοτόκου πατρὸς
τὸν κοσμογόνον κόρον,
τὰν παντομιγῆ φύσιν,
σοφίαν ἀπερείσιον,
τὸν ἐπουρανίοις θεόν,
τὸν ὑποχθονίοις νέκυν.
Ἐχύθης ὅτ᾽ ἐπὶ χθονὶ
βροτέας ἀπὸ νηδύος,
μάγος ἁ πολύφρων τέχνα
ἐξ ἀστέρος ἀντολᾶς
θάμβησεν ἀμήχανος,
τί τὸ τικτόμενον βρέφος,
τίς ὁ κρυπτόμενος θεός,
θεὸς ἢ νέκυς βασιλεύς·
ἄγε δῶρα κομίζετε
σμύρνης ἐναγίσματα,
χρυσοῦ τ᾽ ἀναθήματα,
λιβάνου τε θύη καλά.

### English translation (Claude)

I was the first to find a strain
for you, Blessed One, Immortal,
glorious Offspring of the Virgin,
Jesus of Solyma,
in new-fitted harmonies
to strike the strings of the cithara.
But be kind, Lord,
and receive the music
from holy songs.
We shall hymn the immortal
God, the great Son of God,
of the aeon-begetting Father
the world-begetting Son,
the nature mingled with all,
boundless Wisdom,
God to those in heaven,
a corpse to those under the earth.
When you were poured out on earth
from a mortal womb,
the magian art of many thoughts
from the star's rising
was astonished, at a loss:
what is this child being born,
who is the hidden God,
God, or corpse, or king?
Come, bring gifts:
offerings of myrrh,
votive gifts of gold,
and fair incense of frankincense.

### Scripture references

- Matt 2:1–11: allusion, high confidence

### Translation notes

- “Solyma” is a poetic name for Jerusalem. The claim in lines 1–6 to be the first to set hymns to Christ to this kind of lyre music is Synesius's own.
- Line 17, “a corpse to those under the earth”: Christ's death and descent to the dead.
- Lines 20–29 retell Matt 2:1–11; the Magi's three gifts are interpreted in 7.30–32.

### Citation (SBL)

Synesius, Hymn. 7.1 (Christ–Paranikas, Anthologia (1871), 20; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/synesius-hymni/7-1).

## Hymn 7, lines 30–42

- URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/synesius-hymni/1-1/#p-7-30
- Source: Christ–Paranikas, Anthologia (1871), 21
- Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-11-12

Summary: Frankincense for God, gold for the King, myrrh for the tomb; Christ cleansed earth, sea, air, and the underworld, going to Hades as helper of the dead.

### Greek text

θεὸς εἶ, λίβανον δέχου·
χρυσὸν βασιλεῖ φέρω·
σμύρνη τάφος ἁρμόσει.
Καὶ γᾶν ἐκάθηρας,
καὶ πόντια κύματα,
καὶ δαιμονίας ὁδούς,
ῥαδινὰν χύσιν ἀέρος,
καὶ νερτερίους μυχούς.
φθιμένοισι βοηθὸς
θεὸς εἰς ἅιδην σταλείς.
Ἀλλ᾽ εὐμενέοις, ἄναξ,
καὶ δέχνυσο μουσικὰν
ἐξ εὐαγέων μελῶν.

### English translation (Claude)

You are God: receive the frankincense;
gold I bring to the King;
myrrh will befit the tomb.
And you cleansed the earth,
and the waves of the sea,
and the paths of the daemons,
the yielding flow of the air,
and the recesses below;
a helper to the dead,
God, sent into Hades.
But be kind, Lord,
and receive the music
from holy songs.

### Scripture references

- Matt 2:11: allusion, high confidence
- 1 Pet 3:19: echo, low confidence

### Translation notes

- Lines 30–32 give the common early Christian reading of the gifts: frankincense for his deity, gold for his kingship, myrrh for his death and burial.
- Lines 38–39 (“a helper to the dead, / God, sent into Hades”) are read from faint print in Christ–Paranikas; the reading φθιμένοισι βοηθὸς / θεὸς εἰς ἅιδην σταλείς is not fully certain. The descent to the dead recalls 1 Pet 3:19.

### Citation (SBL)

Synesius, Hymn. 7.30 (Christ–Paranikas, Anthologia (1871), 21; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/synesius-hymni/7-30).

## Hymn 8, lines 1–28

- URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/synesius-hymni/1-1/#p-8-1
- Source: Christ–Paranikas, Anthologia (1871), 21
- Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-11-12

Summary: The poet asks Christ for a life free of harm, wisdom, health, and a good old age, and thanks him for raising his brother from the point of death.

### Greek text

Ὑπὸ δώριον ἁρμογὰν
ἐλεφαντοδέτων μίτων
στάσω λιγυρὰν ὄπα
ἐπὶ σοί, μάκαρ, ἄμβροτε,
γόνε κύδιμε παρθένου·
σὺ δέ μου βιοτὰν σάου
παναπήμονα, κοίρανε,
λύπαις ἄβατον διδούς
καὶ νύκτα καὶ ἀμέραν.
λάμποις πραπίσιν σέλας
νοερᾶς ἀπὸ παγᾶς·
σθένος ἀρτεμέων μελῶν
καὶ κῦδος ἐπ᾽ ἔργμασι
νεότατι νέμοις ἐμᾷ·
λιπαρὸν δὲ φέροις ἔτος
ἐς γήραος ἁδονάν,
ἐρίτιμον ἀέξων
πινυτὰν σὺν ὑγείᾳ.
γνωτὸν δὲ φυλάσσοις,
τόν μοι νέον, ἄφθιτε,
ἤδη χθονίαν πύλαν
παραμειβόμενον ποδὶ
ἄψορρον ἀνήγαγες,
ἐμὰ κήδεα καὶ γόους,
ἐμὰ δάκρυα καὶ φρενῶν
σβέσας αἰθομέναν φλόγα·
ἐβίωσας καὶ νέκυν
διὰ σόν, πάτερ, ἱκέταν.

### English translation (Claude)

To a Doric harmony
of ivory-bound strings
I shall set a clear voice
for you, Blessed One, Immortal,
glorious Offspring of the Virgin;
and keep my life
free from all harm, Lord,
granting it untrodden by griefs
both night and day.
May you shine into my mind a gleam
from the intellectual Source;
strength of sound limbs
and glory in deeds
may you assign to my youth;
and bring a prosperous span
to the pleasure of old age,
increasing much-honored
prudence together with health.
And guard my brother,
my young one, Immortal,
whom, already the earthly gate
passing with his foot,
you brought back up again,
my sorrows and laments,
my tears, and of my heart
quenching the burning flame;
you brought to life even one dead
for the sake of your suppliant, Father.

### Translation notes

- Lines 19–28: Synesius's brother (perhaps Euoptius; the name is not given) had been at the point of death (“the earthly gate”, the gate to the underworld) and recovered. Christ is addressed as “Father” in line 28, as in Synesius's other hymns to the Son.

### Citation (SBL)

Synesius, Hymn. 8.1 (Christ–Paranikas, Anthologia (1871), 21; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/synesius-hymni/8-1).

## Hymn 8, lines 29–53

- URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/synesius-hymni/1-1/#p-8-29
- Source: Christ–Paranikas, Anthologia (1871), 21
- Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-11-12

Summary: The poet prays for his children, his household, and his wife, that their marriage bed stay pure and faithful, and for his soul after death.

### Greek text

γνωτάν τε συνωρίδα
τεκέων τε φυλάσσοις.
ὅλον ἡσυχίαν δόμον
ὑπὸ σᾷ χερὶ κρύπτοις·
καί μοι ζυγίων, ἄναξ,
ξυνήονα δεμνίων
ἀπόνουσον, ἀπήμονα,
ἐρίηρον, ὁμόφρονα,
κρυφίων ἀδαήμονα
ὀάρων ἄλοχον σάου·
ὅσιον δ᾽ ἐφέποι λέχος
πανακήρατον, εὐαγές,
ἀδίκοις ἄβατον πόθοις.
ψυχὰν δὲ λυθεῖσαν
χθονίου βιότου πέδας
ἐξαίνυσο πημάτων
καὶ λευγαλέας ἄτας.
σὺν δ᾽ εὐαγέων χοροῖς
ὕμνους ἀνάγειν δίδου
ἐπὶ κύδεϊ σοῦ πατρὸς
καὶ κάρτεϊ σῷ, μάκαρ.
πάλιν ὑμνοπολεύσω.
πάλι σοι μέλος ᾄσω,
τάχα καὶ κιθάραν πάλιν
πανακήρατον ἁρμόσω.

### English translation (Claude)

and the brother pair
of my children may you guard.
The whole house in quiet
may you hide under your hand;
and for me, Lord, of the yoked
bed the sharer,
free from disease, free from harm,
dear, of one mind,
ignorant of secret
love-talk, my wife, keep safe;
and may she keep a holy bed,
wholly unblemished, pure,
untrodden by unlawful desires.
And my soul, when freed
from the fetters of earthly life,
snatch away from sufferings
and from grievous ruin.
And with the choirs of the pure
grant me to bring up hymns
to the glory of your Father
and to your might, Blessed One.
Again I shall make hymns,
again sing you a song,
soon tune the lyre again
wholly unblemished.

### Scripture references

- Heb 13:4: echo, medium confidence

### Translation notes

- Line 29: “brother pair” (γνωτὰ συνωρίς) suggests two of Synesius's sons, possibly twins.
- Lines 33–41 pray for a faithful wife and a pure marriage bed (cf. Heb 13:4). Synesius was married, and at his election as bishop he declared he would not give up his wife (Ep. 105).

### Citation (SBL)

Synesius, Hymn. 8.29 (Christ–Paranikas, Anthologia (1871), 21; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/synesius-hymni/8-29).

## Hymn 9, lines 1–26

- URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/synesius-hymni/9-1/#p-9-1
- Source: Christ–Paranikas, Anthologia (1871), 22
- Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-11-12

Summary: Christ, born of the Virgin, drove the serpent from Paradise, came down to earth in a mortal body and down to Hades, which trembled, and freed the souls of the holy.

### Greek text

Πολυήρατε, κύδιμε,
σὲ μάκαρ, γόνε παρθένου
ὑμνῶ Σολυμῇϊδος,
ὃς τὰν δολίαν πάγαν,
χθόνιον μεγάλων ὄφιν
πατρὸς ἤλασας ὀρχάτων·
[ὃς καρπὸν ἀπώμοτον
τροφὸν ἀργαλέου μόρου
πόρεν ἀρχεγόνῳ νοεράν.
στεφανηφόρε, κύδιμε,
σὲ, πάτερ, παῖ παρθένου
ὑμνῶ Σολυμῇϊδος.]
Κατέβας μέχρι καὶ χθονὸς
ἐπίδημος ἐφαμέροις,
βρότεον φορέων δέμας.
κατέβας δ᾽ ὑπὸ Τάρταρα,
ψυχῶν ὅθι μυρία
θάνατος νέμεν ἔθνεα.
φρίξεν σε γέρων τότε
Ἀΐδας ὁ παλαιγενής,
καὶ λαοβόρος κύων
ἀνεχάσσατο βηλοῦ·
λύσας δ᾽ ἀπὸ πημάτων
ψυχῶν ὁσίους χοροὺς
θιάσοισιν ἀκηράτοις
ὕμνους ἀνάγεις πατρί.

### English translation (Claude)

Much-beloved, glorious one,
you, Blessed, Offspring of the Virgin
of Solyma, I hymn,
who drove the treacherous snare,
the earthly serpent, from the great
Father's gardens;
[who gave the forbidden fruit,
the nurse of a grievous death,
to the first-born, food for the mind.
Crown-bearer, glorious one,
you, Father, Child of the Virgin
of Solyma, I hymn.]
You came down even to earth,
a sojourner among creatures of a day,
wearing a mortal frame;
and you came down beneath Tartarus,
where countless nations of souls
Death was shepherding.
Then old Hades,
the ancient-born, shuddered at you,
and the people-devouring hound
drew back from the threshold;
and, loosing from their sufferings
the holy choirs of souls,
with pure companies
you bring up hymns to the Father.

### Scripture references

- Gen 3:1–6: allusion, medium confidence
- Phil 2:7: echo, low confidence
- Eph 4:9: allusion, medium confidence
- 1 Pet 3:19: echo, low confidence

### Translation notes

- Lines 4–6: the serpent of Gen 3, driven from the “gardens” (Paradise).
- Lines 7–12 are bracketed by Christ–Paranikas as probably not genuine; translated in brackets. In line 7 “who” refers to the serpent; line 9 is obscure (νοεράν does not agree with “fruit”), and “food for the mind” is uncertain.
- Lines 16–26: the descent to the dead; the “people-devouring hound” is Cerberus, the guard-dog of Hades in Greek myth, used as a figure.

### Citation (SBL)

Synesius, Hymn. 9.1 (Christ–Paranikas, Anthologia (1871), 22; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/synesius-hymni/9-1).

## Hymn 9, lines 27–53

- URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/synesius-hymni/9-1/#p-9-27
- Source: Christ–Paranikas, Anthologia (1871), 22
- Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-11-12

Summary: At Christ's ascension the daemons of the air trembled while the heavens, stars, moon, and sun rejoiced and acknowledged him as the source of their light.

### Greek text

[στεφανηφόρε, κύδιμε,
σὲ, πάτερ, παῖ παρθένου
ὑμνῶ Σολυμῇϊδος.]
Ἀνιόντα σε, κοίρανε,
τὰ κατ᾽ ἠέρος ἄσπετα
τρέσεν ἔθνεα δαιμόνων,
θάμβησε δ᾽ ἀκηράτων
χορὸς ἄμβροτος ἀστέρων·
αἰθὴρ δὲ γελάσσας,
σοφὸς ἁρμονίας πατήρ,
ἐξ ἑπτατόνου λύρας
ἐκεράσσατο μουσικὰν
ἐπινίκιον ἐς μέλος.
μείδησεν Ἑωσφόρος,
ὁ διάκτορος ἁμέρας,
καὶ χρύσεος Ἕσπερος,
κυθερήϊος ἀστήρ·
ἁ μὲν κεροέν σέλας
πλήσασα ῥόου πυρὸς
ἀγεῖτο σελάνα,
ποιμὴν νυχίων θεῶν·
τὰν δ᾽ εὐρυφαῆ κόμαν
Τιτὰν ἐπετάσσατο
ἄρρητον ὑπ᾽ ἴχνιον·
ἔγνω δὲ γόνον θεοῦ,
τὸν ἀριστοτέχναν νόον,
ἰδίου πυρὸς ἀρχάν.

### English translation (Claude)

[Crown-bearer, glorious one,
you, Father, Child of the Virgin
of Solyma, I hymn.]
As you went up, Lord,
the countless ones through the air,
the nations of daemons, trembled,
and the immortal choir
of the pure stars was amazed;
and the ether, laughing,
wise father of harmony,
from the seven-toned lyre
mixed music
into a victory song.
The Morning Star smiled,
the messenger of day,
and golden Hesperus,
Cythera's star;
her horned gleam
filling with a stream of fire,
the moon led the way,
shepherd of the gods of night;
and his wide-shining hair
the Titan spread out
beneath your unutterable footstep;
and he knew the Offspring of God,
the Mind, supreme craftsman,
the source of his own fire.

### Scripture references

- Eph 4:8–10: allusion, medium confidence
- Eph 2:2: echo, low confidence

### Translation notes

- Lines 27–29 (the refrain) are bracketed by Christ–Paranikas; translated in brackets.
- The “seven-toned lyre” is the harmony of the seven planetary spheres. The Morning Star and Hesperus (“Cythera's star”, Aphrodite's) are both the planet Venus; the “Titan” is the sun. The daemons of the air recall Eph 2:2.

### Citation (SBL)

Synesius, Hymn. 9.27 (Christ–Paranikas, Anthologia (1871), 22; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/synesius-hymni/9-27).

## Hymn 9, lines 54–70

- URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/synesius-hymni/9-1/#p-9-54
- Source: Christ–Paranikas, Anthologia (1871), 22
- Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-11-12

Summary: Christ passes beyond the visible heavens to the silent intellectual realm, where there is no time or decay, only ageless Eternity.

### Greek text

Σὺ δὲ ταρσὸν ἐλάσσας
κυανάντυγος οὐρανοῦ
ὑπερήλαο νώτων,
σφαίρῃσι δ᾽ ἐπέπτας
νοεραῖσιν ἀκηράτοις,
ἀγαθῶν ὅθι παγά,
σιγώμενος οὐρανός·
ἔνθ᾽ οὔτε βαθύρροος
ἀκαμαντοπόδας χρόνος
χθονὸς ἔκγονα σύρων,
οὐ κῆρες ἀναιδέες
βαθυκύμονος ὕλας·
ἀλλ᾽ αὐτὸς ἀγήραος
αἰὼν ὁ παλαιγενής,
νέος ὢν ἅμα καὶ γέρων
τᾶς ἀενάω μονᾶς
ταμίας πέλεται θεοῖς.

### English translation (Claude)

And you, plying your wing,
over the dark-blue-vaulted heaven's
back passed beyond,
and alighted on the spheres,
intellectual and pure,
where the source of good things is,
the heaven kept in silence;
there neither deep-flowing
Time with tireless feet,
dragging the offspring of the earth,
nor the shameless dooms
of deep-surging matter;
but ageless Aeon himself,
the ancient-born,
young and old at once,
of the ever-flowing abode
is steward for the gods.

### Scripture references

- Heb 4:14: echo, low confidence

### Translation notes

- “Aeon” is Eternity personified, as at 3.248.

### Citation (SBL)

Synesius, Hymn. 9.54 (Christ–Paranikas, Anthologia (1871), 22; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/synesius-hymni/9-54).

## Hymn 10, lines 1–20

- URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/synesius-hymni/9-1/#p-10-1
- Source: Christ–Paranikas, Anthologia (1871), 23
- Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-11-12

Summary: A short closing prayer: the sinful writer asks Christ to remember him, free him from inborn passions, and let him see his glory and sing to him with the Father and the Spirit.

### Greek text

Μνώεο Χριστέ,
υἱὲ θεοῖο
ὑψιμέδοντος,
οἰκέτεω σεῦ,
κῆρ᾽ ἀλιτροῖο
τάδε γράψαντος·
καί μοι ὄπασσον
λῦσιν παθέων
κηριτρεφέων,
τά μοι ἐμφυῆ
ψυχᾷ ῥυπαρᾷ·
δὸς δὲ ἰδέσθαι,
σῶτερ Ἰησοῦ,
ζαθέαν αἴγλαν
σάν, ἔνθα φανεὶς
μέλψω ἀοιδὰν
παιόνι ψυχᾶν,
παιόνι γυίων,
πατρὶ σὺν μεγάλῳ
πνεύματί θ᾽ ἁγνῷ.

### English translation (Claude)

Remember, Christ,
Son of God
who rules on high,
your servant,
sinful at heart,
who wrote these things;
and grant me
release from the passions
that feed death,
which are inborn
in my soiled soul;
and grant me to see,
Savior Jesus,
your holy
radiance, where, appearing,
I shall sing a song
to the Healer of souls,
the Healer of limbs,
with the great Father
and the holy Spirit.

### Scripture references

- Luke 23:42: echo, medium confidence

### Translation notes

- This short poem, in a different meter from the others, closes the collection as Hymn 10.
- Line 17: the manuscripts read ψυχὰν; Christ–Paranikas print Boissonade's correction ψυχᾶν (“of souls”).

### Citation (SBL)

Synesius, Hymn. 10.1 (Christ–Paranikas, Anthologia (1871), 23; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/synesius-hymni/10-1).