I want to discuss the Orphic hymn to Herakles. I noticed some interesting things in it.

Orphic Hymn 11: To Herakles

Adapted from Thomas Taylor’s translation.

Hear, powerful, Herakles untamed and strong, to whom vast hands, and mighty works belong,
Almighty Titan, prudent and benign, of various forms, eternal and divine,
Father of Time, the theme of general praise, ineffable, adored in various ways.
Magnanimous, in divination skilled and in the athletic labors of the field.
‘Tis yours, strong archer, all things to devour, supreme, all-helping, all-producing power;
To you mankind as their deliverer pray, whose arm can chase the savage tribes away:
Unwearied, earth’s best blossom, offspring fair, to whom calm peace, and peaceful works are dear.
Self-born, with primogenial fires you shine, and various names and strength of heart are yours.
Your mighty head supports the morning light, and bears untamed, the silent gloomy night;
From east to west imbued with strength divine, twelve glorious labors to absolve were yours;
Supremely skilled, you reign in heaven’s abodes, yourself a God amidst the immortal Gods.
With arms unshaken, infinite, divine, come, blessed power, and to our rites incline;
The mitigations of disease convey, and drive disastrous maladies away.
Come, shake the branch with your almighty arm, dismiss your darts and noxious fate disarm.

While it is not onlogical to call Herakles a Titan, but He himself was not a Titan. His grandfather Kronos and grandmother Rhea are Titans. His Divine Father Zeus is also a Titan, next to an Olympian. Zeus is the second generation of Titans. One could give Him the nickname of Titan pure because He stood a Titan among demigods. There was no one stronger than He was.

This line is somewhat weird: “Almighty Titan, prudent and benign, of various forms, eternal and divine,
Father of Time, the theme of general praise, ineffable, adored in various ways”. This seem to imply that Herakles was an incarnation of another God who came to Earth in a human form. To me, its similar to Yawheh who had sent his son to Earth. Being the son of Zeus, He was always divine and destined to become divine. But being called “Father of Time” is weird. If it is implied that He is the father of Khronos who was equated with Kronos, the grandfather of Herakles.

“Self-born, with primogenial fires you shine, and various names and strength of heart are yours.” This is also weird. This seems to imply that He wasn’t born as a son of Zeus and Alkmene but that He gave birth to himself. That is, if i Read that correctly?

The rest of the Orphic hymn seem to deal with His labours and his role as protector of evil and diseases. This Orphic hymn seems to suggest that He was similar to Dionysos, an unique God among the Hellenic Gods.