More Basic Basics of Ancient Greek: How to pray the ancient way
So you’re a Hellenic polytheist, and you’ve decided to add a touch of history to your prayers: you want to say them, or part of them, in Ancient Greek. While this is by no means a requirement - the Gods will surely understand you no matter which language you speak - Ancient Greek in prayer and ritual can function like a liturgical language, and can make you feel closer to those who first practised this religion. But where to start? Which words to use? This post is here to help.
The following words and phrases are all drawn from ancient texts, ranging from the 8th century BC to the 4th century AD. (If you’re curious about where a certain phrase appears, you’re welcome to send me an ask.) Pick the ones that resonate most with you, try them out, and have fun!
Pro tip: before we start, I recommend that you get familiar with the alphabet and standard pronunciation, and for more versatility, check out the basics of Greek grammar and how the case system works.
However, if it’s all too much for you, skip to the end where I’ll offer a few templates ready for you to use!
Greetings and invocations
The most common Ancient Greek greeting, which you might’ve encountered before, is χαῖρε. When addressing several people or Gods, it’s χαίρετε. It literally means “rejoice!” and has a similar usage to “hail”, “salve/salvete” or simply “hi”.
In the Iliad 23.179, Achilles greets Patroclus’ dead soul with the phrase χαῖρέ μοι, ὦ Πάτροκλε, καὶ εἰν Ἀίδαο δόμοισι: I greet you (litt. “rejoice for me”), Patroclus, even in the home of Hades.
However, in prayers and hymns, χαῖρε/χαίρετε is less common as a greeting than as a farewell. A more common formula is κλυθί μοι: this means “listen to me”. When addressing several deities, use the plural form κλῦτε μοι.
The next thing you will need is the name of the deity or deities, in the vocative. This is the most important part: many prayers skip χαῖρε and κλυθί μοι and start directly with the deity. As in the quote above, the name can be preceded by ὦ, which is the equivalent of English “O”.
Here are the names of major Hellenic deities (nominative) with their forms in the vocative:
Ἥρα/Ἥρη (Hera): same as nominative
Ποσειδών (Poseidon): Πόσειδον
Δημήτηρ (Demeter): Δήμητερ
Ἑστία/Ἑστίη (Hestia): same as nominative
Ἀθηνᾶ/Ἀθήνη (Athena): same as nominative
Ἄρτεμις (Artemis): Ἄρτεμι
Ἀπόλλων (Apollon): Ἄπολλον
Ἥφαιστος (Hephaistos): Ἥφαιστε
Διόνυσος (Dionysos): Διόνυσε
Περσεφόνη (Persephone): same as nominative
Bonus: in both nominative and vocative, God is θεός, Goddess is θεά, Gods is θεοί, and Goddesses is θεαί.
To invoke two or more deities, use και, τε και or τε… τε, which all mean “and”, e.g.: Ἄρτεμι καὶ Ἄπολλον, Ζεῦ τε καὶ Ἥρη, Δημήτηρ τε Περσεφόνη τε.
Another option is καλέω, “I call”, or κικλῄσκω, “I summon”. If you choose one of these, you will need the name of the deity and their epithets in the accusative, not in the vocative as above. (If you have trouble figuring out a certain deity’s name, let me know.)
After calling upon the deity, you will need to qualify them using one or more epithets. These will need to be in the same case as the deity’s name (vocative or accusative, depending on the formula you chose). The Theoi Project provides lists of epithets for each deity which you may want to look through. Make sure to choose aspects and areas appropriate to your request, as in the following examples:
ἀλλ᾽ ἄγ᾽ Ἐλευσῖνος θυοέσσης δῆμον ἔχουσα / καὶ Πάρον ἀμφιρύτην Ἀντρῶνά τε πετρήεντα, / πότνια, ἀγλαόδωρ᾽, ὡρηφόρε, Δηοῖ ἄνασσα: but now, you who hold the people of sweet-smelling Eleusis, and Paros encircled by sea and rocky Antron, lady, giver of beautiful gifts, bringer of seasons, queen Deo (Homeric Hymn to Demeter 490-492)
The Homeric Hymn to Demeter is concerned with Demeter in her seasonal, fertility aspects, as well as how she came to be worshipped in Eleusis. The epithets chosen by the author in the above quote reflect this.
ὦ πότνια, πότνια, θύμασιν βροτησίοις / χαρεῖσα: o lady, lady, rejoicing in human sacrifice (Euripides Iphigenia in Aulis 1524-1525)
This line is spoken just before Iphigenia is sacrificed to Artemis, so it makes sense to describe the Goddess as appreciating this kind of ritual.
Ζεῦ ἄνα, Δωδωναῖε, Πελασγικέ, τηλόθι ναίων, / Δωδώνης μεδέων δυσχειμέρου: lord Zeus, Dodonian, Pelasgian, who lives afar, ruler of harsh-weathered Dodona (Iliad 16.233-234)
Here, Achilles is calling on a particularly archaic and venerable aspect of Zeus in the hopes that Patroclus will be kept safe. Dodona, the oldest known oracle of Zeus, and the Pelasgians, pre-Greek peoples, underline this ancient power.
If making a request, you may want to mention past offerings and devotions you have made for the deity. This usually takes the form “if ever I…”, as in the Iliad 503-504: εἰ ποτε δή σε μετ’ ἀθανάτοισιν ὄνησα / ἢ ἔπει ἢ ἔργῳ: if ever I, among the immortals, pleased you in words or in actions…
In simpler words: εἰ ποτε σε (sg)/ὑμᾶς (pl) ὄνησα ἢ ἔπει ἢ ἔργῳ, “if ever I pleased you (sg/pl) in words or in actions”.
After this, you can move straight on to your prayer, or you can specify: μοι κρῆνον (sg)/κρῆνατε (pl) ἐέλδωρ, “fulfill (sg/pl) my wish”, or λιτὰς ἐμῶν δέξο/δέξασθε, “receive my prayers”.
Supplications and thanksgiving
Then, finally, you get to the actual prayer. This can take two forms: supplication (please grant me a thing) or thanksgiving (thank you for granting me a thing).
In a supplication, you can either use a verb in the imperative (grant me a thing) or in the optative (may you grant me a thing). Though giving orders to a deity may seem strange, neither is more polite or appropriate than the other - you can choose whichever you prefer. Here are a few verbs you might find useful:
φέρε/φέρετε (imperative sg/pl), φέροις/φέροιτε (optative sg/pl): to bring (+ accusative)
πέμπε/πέμπετε, πέμποις/πέμποιτε: to send (+ acc.)
δίδου/δίδοτε, διδοῖς/διδοῖτε: to give (+ acc.)
ἰάτρευε/ἰατρεύετε, ἰατρεύοις/ἰατρεύοιτε: to heal (+ acc.)
ἐπιμελέου/ἐπιμελέσθε ὑπέρ, ἐπιμελέοιο/ἐπιμελέοισθε ὑπέρ: to take care of X (+ genitive)
Some things you can pray for:
ἐγω (nom.), με/ἐμε (acc.), μου/ἐμου (gen.): I, me
μήτηρ (nom.), μητέρα (acc.), μητρός (gen.): mother
πατήρ, πατέρα, πατρός: father
ἀδελφός, ἀδελφόν, ἀδελφοῦ: brother
φίλος, ον, ου (male) φίλη, ην, ης (female): friend
ἀλκή, ήν, ῆς or βία, αν, ας: strength
θάρρος, ος, ους: emotional strength, courage
ἀγαθή τύχη, ἀγαθήν τύχην, ἀγαθῆς τύχης: good luck
σωτηρία, αν, ας: safety, preservation
In a fragment of a poem by Simonides (PMG 543), Danae prays that her troubles reach an end, saying εὑδέτω δ’ ἄμετρον κακόν: may this endless sorrow sleep. Εὑδέτω κακόν or variants like εὑδέτω φόβον (”may fear/panic sleep”), εὑδέτω νόσον (”may illness sleep”) or εὑδέτω ἔριν (”may quarrel sleep”) could be a nice image to include.
When it comes to thanksgiving, a common phrase is ἐμοῦ ἔκλυες/ἐκλύετε εὐξαμένου, “you listened to me when I prayed”. You can follow it with (καὶ) νῦν χάριν φέρω σοι/ὑμῖν, “(and) now I bring you thanks”. Εὐχαριστῶ σοι/ὑμῖν, “I am thankful to you”, is an alternative which is still widespread in modern Greece, though in ancient times, it was mostly used within Christianity.
Once you have spoken your prayers, it is time to take your leave of the deity. This is most commonly done using χαῖρε/χαίρετε, as mentioned above. If you wish, you can name the deity again along with a couple of epithets. Telling them you will remember them in future prayers is a nice touch; the Homeric Hymns use αὐτὰρ ἐγὼ καὶ σεῖο καὶ ἄλλης μνήσομ᾽ ἀοιδῆς: but I will remember you, and another song. A simpler, adapted version would be σοῦ/ὑμῶν μνήσομαι καὶ ἄλλης εὐχῆς, “I will remember you, and another prayer”. Another possibility could be σοῦ/ὑμῶν μνήσομαι ἔπει καὶ ἔργῳ, “I will remember you in words and in actions”.
κλυθί μοι/κλῦτε μοι: listen to me
καλέω or κικλῄσκω: I call, I summon
εἰ ποτε σε/ὑμᾶς ὄνησα ἢ ἔπει ἢ ἔργῳ: if ever I pleased you in words or in actions
μοι κρῆνον/κρῆνατε ἐέλδωρ: fulfill my wish
λιτὰς ἐμῶν δέξο/δέξασθε: receive my prayers
ἐμοῦ ἔκλυες/ἐκλύετε εὐξαμένου: you listened to me when I prayed
νῦν χάριν φέρω σοι/ὑμῖν: now I bring you thanks
εὐχαριστῶ σοι/ὑμῖν: I am thankful to you
σοῦ/ὑμῶν μνήσομαι καὶ ἄλλης εὐχῆς: I will remember you, and another prayer
σοῦ/ὑμῶν μνήσομαι ἔπει καὶ ἔργῳ: I will remember you in words and in actions
With all this, you can now create your own short prayers in Ancient Greek! Below I have written out a few templates you can work with. If you have any questions, or if you need help figuring out a certain phrase, I’m happy to help!
A thanksgiving prayer to Zeus:
Ὦ Ζεῦ, ὕπατε, πάτερ ἀνδρῶν τε θεῶν τε, ἐμοῦ ἔκλυες εὐξαμένου καὶ νῦν χάριν φέρω σοι. Χαῖρε, Ζεῦ ἄνα, καὶ σοῦ μνήσομαι ἔπει καὶ ἔργῳ.
O Zeus, most high, father of men and Gods, you listened to me as I prayed and now I bring you thanks. Hail, lord Zeus, and I will remember you in words and in actions.
A prayer to Artemis for anxiety relief:
Κλυθί μοι, Ἄρτεμι σώτειρα, ἡμερασία, λυσιμέριμνε, καὶ εἰ ποτε σ’ ὄνησα ἢ ἔπει ἢ ἔργῳ, μοι κρῆνον ἐέλδωρ˙ δεῖμα μου πέμποις εἰς ὀρέων κεφάλας, καὶ φέροις εἰρήνην. Χαῖρε, φίλη θεά.
Listen to me, Artemis saviour, of a gentle nature, deliverer of troubles, and if ever I pleased you in words or actions, fulfill my wish: may you send my fear away to the summits of the mountains, and bring down peace. Hail, dear Goddess.
A prayer to Apollon and Asclepios for a sick friend:
Καλέω Ἀπόλλωνα ἰατρόν καὶ Ἀσκληπιόν ἤπιον, φιλολάους˙ ἰατρεύετε φίλον ἐμου καὶ δίδοτε αὐτῷ ὑγίειαν, τε καὶ εὑδέτω νόσον.
I call upon Apollon the healer and kind Asclepios, lovers of the people: heal my friend and give him good health, and may illness sleep.
