Prayers of Apuleius

[Horatius Piscinus]

Salvete

I think I may have posted Apuleius' prayers to Isis before, but here are some more of my recent efforts at translation.


Lucius Apuleius of Madaura (b. 130 CE)

Metamorphoseon (De Asino Aureo)

Psyche's prayer to Ceres

VI.2: Then Psyches fell down upon Ceres' feet, sweeping the hard earth with her hair and greatly weeping at Her footsteps, mingled her prayers for forgiveness with claims of her innocence, "O merciful Mother, I pray You avert my sorrow, by Your generous and temperate right hand, by the joyful harvest festival, by Your mysteries kept in silent secrecy, by Your winged servants, the dragons who serve Your chariot as You go about, and by the furrows in Sicilian clods of earth, and the plow-wheels that churn them from firm soil, by the marriage of Proserpina that You discovered through diligently seeking after Your daughter, and by the mysteries held in silent secrecy within the Attic temple of Eleusis, halt the misery of Your servant Psyche. Among this piled wheat let me be concealed, if only for a few days, until the ire of so great a Goddess passes, or at least give me a quiet interval that I might rest from my great labour and travail."


Psyche's prayer to Juno

VI.4: Then kneeling, Psyche embraced the altar of Juno and, wiping at her tears, once more prayed. "O spouse and sister of Mighty Jupiter, whether You are worshipped and adored in the public rites of the temples of Samos, or whether You are called upon singularly by women in their tearful moment of giving birth, Your glory is nourished. You dwell in ancient temples, whether at haughty Carthage, whose temples You frequently bless when they celebrate Your journey from heaven on the back of a lion, or whether in Your temple beside the riverbank of Inachus where You are celebrated as the wife of thundering Jupiter Tonans and as Queen of the Gods. Famous among the Argives whose walls You defend, You who all the east venerates as Zygia, who all the west names Lucina, may You be an advocate for me against my utter downfall, Juno Sospita, and endure until the end in all my weary labors, exhausted as I am, deliver me from imminent peril and free me from my fears, for I know You are accustomed to come of Your own accord to the assistance of such women who are pregnant and in danger."


A Girl's Prayer for Rescue from Kidnap

VI.28: O Gods above, if it pleases You, deliver me from the greatest of dangers. And You, harsh Fortune, desist now from Your rage. Let this sorrow which I have already suffered be enough to satisfy You.


Lucius' Prayer for the Assistance of Isis

XI.2: O blessed Queen of Heaven, whether you are the Lady Ceres who is the original and motherly source of all fruitful things in earth, who after the finding of thy daughter Proserpina, through the great joy which you did presently conceive, made barren and unfruitful ground to be plowed and sown, and now you inhabit in the land of Eleusie; or whether you are the celestial Venus, who in the beginning of the world did couple together all kind of things with an engendered love, by an eternal propagation of human kind, are now worshipped within the Temples of the Isle Paphos, you who are the sister of the God Phoebus, who nourishes so many people by the generation of beasts, and are now adored at the sacred places of Ephesus, you who is Proserpina, by reason of the deadly howling to which you yield, that has power to stop and put away the invasion of the hags and Ghosts which appear unto men, and to keep them down in the closures of the earth; you who is worshipped in divers manners, and does illuminate all the borders of the earth by your feminine shape, you which nourishes all the fruits of the world by your vigor and force; with whatsoever name or fashion it is lawful to call upon you, I pray you, to end my great travail and misery, and deliver me from the wretched fortune, which has for so long a time pursued me. Grant peace and rest if it please you to my entreaties, for I have endured too much labor and peril. Remove from me my shape of mine Asse, and render to me my pristine estate, and if I have offended in any point of divine Majesty, let me rather die then live, for I am full weary of my life.


The Aretalogy of Isis

XI.5: Behold Lucius, moved by your weeping and prayers, I am come to succor you. I am She that is the natural mother of all life, mistress of all the Elements, the first child of time, supreme deity, chief among powers divine, the Queen of Heaven! I am the principal of the celestial Gods, the light of Goddesses, and the uniform manifestation of all gods and goddesses: I am who governs by my nod the crests of light in the sky. At my will are the planets of the air, the wholesome wafts upon the Seas, and the lamentable silences below disposed. My name, my divinity is venerated throughout all the world in divers manners, in variable rites and in many names. Thus the Phrygians call me Pessinuntia, Mother of the Gods. The Athenians call me Cecropian Minerva. The Cyprians, in their isle home call me Paphian Venus. The Cretan archers call me Diana Dictynna. The three-tongue Sicilians call me Stygian Proserpina. The Eleusians call me the ancient goddess Ceres. Some call me Juno, by others, Bellona, still others Hecate, while some call me Rhamnusia. But those who are enlightened by the earliest rays of that divine sun, principally the Ethiopians which dwell in the Orient, and the Egyptians which are excellent in all kind of ancient lore, and by proper ceremonies are they accustomed to worship me, do call me Queen Isis. I am present; I am with pity; I have come propitiously to favor you during your misery. Shed your tears; indeed, let go your sorrows and put away your mourning. And in a moment, by my foresight, I will enclose your days with wholesome health and beneficial wealth. Therefore from this day on, direct your troubled thoughts to my commands alone. This day, and whichever days shall be born from this night hence, forever, when you call upon my name with reverence, to calm the tempests of winter and smooth stormy seas of choppy waves, opening them to navigation, indeed to the passages across rough open seas, my priest shall henceforth dedicate songs and pour libations. That sacred rite you must never delay nor wait upon knowing it may profane.


Lucius' Prayer of Thanks

XI.25: Most holy and everlasting, blessed Lady, Redeemer and perpetual comfort of human kind, who by your bounty and grace nourish all the world, cherish our lives, and bestow the consoling smiles of a Mother with great affection upon our trials and tribulations. As a loving Mother you take no rest. There is no day or night, not so much as a moment, that is not filled by your mercy succoring all men and women. On land as well as at sea, you are She who chases away all storms and dangers from our lives by your right hand. Likewise you restrain the fatal dispositions, appease the great tempests of fortune and keep back the course of the stars. The gods supernal do honour you. The gods of the earth hold you in reverence. You rotate the globe. You give light to the Sun. You govern the world in time and space. You tread down the powers of Hades. By you the seasons return, the Planets rejoice, the Elements serve. At your command the winds do blow, the clouds do gather, the seeds prosper, and the fruits prevail. The birds of the air, the beasts of the hill, the serpents of the den, and the fish of the sea, do tremble at your majesty. O but my spirit is not able to give you sufficient praise, nor have I the means to offer you acceptable sacrifice. My voice has no power to utter what I think of you. Not if I had a thousand mouths and so many tongues, not in an eternal flow of unwearied declaration could I affirm it. Howbeit, poor as I am, I shall do as a good religious person, and according to my estate, I shall always keep a remembrance of your countenance deep within my breast, and there in the secret depths of my souls shall I keep divinity forever guarded.