"Νύκτα θεῶν γενέτειραν ἀείσομαι ἠδὲ καὶ ἀνδρῶν. Νὺξ γένεσις πάντων, ἣν καὶ Κύπριν καλέσωμεν κλῦθι,..."

“Νύκτα θεῶν γενέτειραν ἀείσομαι ἠδὲ καὶ ἀνδρῶν.

Νὺξ γένεσις πάντων, ἣν καὶ Κύπριν καλέσωμεν

κλῦθι, μάκαιρα θεά, κυαναυγής, ἀστεροφεγγής,

ἡσυχίῃι χαίρουσα καὶ ἠρεμίῃι πολυύπνωι,

εὐφροσύνη, τερπνή, φιλοπάννυχε, μῆτερ ὀνείρων,

ληθομέριμν’ ἀγαθή τε πόνων ἀνάπαυσιν ἔχουσα,

ὑπνοδότειρα, φίλη πάντων, ἐλάσιππε, νυχαυγής,

ἡμιτελής, χθονία ἠδ’ οὐρανία πάλιν αὐτή,

ἐγκυκλία, παίκτειρα διώγμασιν ἠεροφοίτοις,

ἣ φάος ἐκπέμπεις ὑπὸ νέρτερα καὶ πάλι φεύγεις

εἰς Ἀίδην δεινὴ γὰρ ἀνάγκη πάντα κρατύνει.

νῦν δε, μάκαιρα, (καλ)ῶ, πολυόλβιε, πᾶσι ποθεινή,

εὐάντητε, κλύουσα ἱκετηρίδα φωνὴν

ἔλθοις εὐμενέουσα, φόβους δ’ ἀπόπεμπε νυχαυγεῖς.

-

Of Night, mother of gods and men, I sing;

o Night, originator of all, whom we also call Cypris,*

hear me, blessed goddess, dark-gleaming, blazing with stars,

rejoicing in stillness and slumberous repose,

merry and delightful, friend of night-long fests, mother of dreams,

gentle bringer of forgetfulness from cares and surcease from suffering,

o sleep-giver, friend of all, driver of horses, glittering in darkness,

half complete, chthonic and sublime in turn,

circling, playful in sky-wandering chases,

you who send the light beneath infernal realms and flee back

to Hades, for mighty Necessity rules over all;

but now, o blessed one, I call you; greatly fortunate, longed for by all,

gracious, hearing the suppliant’s voice,

may you come, kindly, and banish fears which gleam in the dark.”

-

Orphic Hymn to Nyx (3)

*Philopannyx (she who loves the whole night) was a cult title of Aphrodite.