Editing Pluto (mythology) (section)

=== ''Orphic Hymn to Pluto'' ===
The ''Orphic Hymn to Pluto'' addresses the god as "strong-spirited" and the "All-Receiver" who commands death and is the master of mortals. His titles are given as ''Zeus Chthonios'' and ''Euboulos'' ("Good Counsel").<ref>''Euboulos'' may be a cult title here and not the name of the god Eubuleus; elsewhere it is an epithet of the sea god [[Nereus]], perfect in his knowledge of truth and justice, and in his own Orphic hymn the guardian of the "roots" of the sea. See [[Pindar]], ''Pythian Ode'' 3.93; Hesiod, ''Theogony'' 233–236; ''Orphic Hymn'' 23; Athanassakis, ''Hesiod'', p. 52; Pierre Bonnechere, "Trophonius of Lebadea: Mystery Aspects of an Oracular Cult in Boeotia," in ''Greek Mysteries: The Archaeology and Ritual of Ancient Greek Secret Cults'' (Routledge, 2003, 2005), p. 188.</ref> In the hymn's [[topography]], Pluto's dwelling is in [[Tartarus]], simultaneously a "meadow" and "thick-shaded and dark," where the [[Acheron]] encircles "the roots of the earth." ''Hades'' is again the name of the place, here described as "windless," and its gates, through which Pluto carried "pure Demeter's daughter" as his bride, are located in an [[Attica|Attic]] cave within the district of [[Eleusis]]. The route from Persephone's meadow to Hades crosses the sea. The hymn concludes:

<blockquote>You alone were born to judge deeds obscure and conspicuous.<br />Holiest and illustrious ruler of all, frenzied god,<br />You delight in the worshiper's respect and reverence.<br />Come with favor and joy to the initiates. I summon you.<ref>The translations of the ''Orphic Hymn to Pluto'' are from Apostolos N. Athanassakis, ''The Orphic Hymns'' (Scholars Press, 1977).</ref>
</blockquote>

The hymn is one of several examples of Greco-Roman prayer that express a desire for the presence of a deity, and has been compared to a similar [[epiclesis]] in the ''[[Acts of Thomas]]''.<ref>''Act of Thomas'' 50, as cited and discussed by Susan E. Myers, ''Spirit Epicleses in the Acts of Thomas'' (Mohr Siebeck, 2010), p. 174.</ref>