The Orphic Hymns

Traditions

Greek and Roman mysteries

Role in the tradition

Primary source Written from inside the tradition: scripture, revelation, a grimoire, a manifesto or a practical treatise.

Public attention

Major Wikipedia has an article about it in 14 languages.

• Taylor's translation ↗ sacred-texts.com checked against the Internet Archive's copy of February 03, 2026, because the site refuses scripts · archived copy

The Orphic Hymns are a collection of eighty-seven ancient Greek hymns addressed to various deities, which were attributed in antiquity to the mythical poet Orpheus. They were composed in Asia Minor, most likely around the 2nd or 3rd centuries AD, and were used in the rites of a religious community which existed in the region. The Hymns are among the few extant works of Orphic literature, and recent scholars have observed parallels between the collection and other Orphic works.

From the Wikipedia article Orphic Hymns, revision 1365239638, under CC BY-SA 4.0. Wikidata Q1313790: “collection of 87 short religious poems composed in either the late Hellenistic or early Roman era”.