Ode to Joy Lyrics

I am doing research on the "Ode to Joy" lyrics by Beethoven and I'm a little stuck. Can anyone explain what the Daughter of Elysium is in these lyrics? Is this some time of German god or something?

Here's the complete lyrics (in English)...

O friends! Not these sounds!
But let us strike up more pleasant sounds and more joyful!

Joy, o wondrous spark divine,
Daughter of Elysium,
Drunk with fire now we enter,
Heavenly one, your holy shrine.
Your magic powers join again
What fashion strictly did divide;
Brotherhood unites all men
Where your gentle wing's spread wide.

The man who's been so fortunate
To become the friend of a friend,
The man who has won a fair woman -
To the rejoicing let him add his voice.
The man who calls but a single soul
Somewhere in the world his own!
And he who never managed this -
Let him steal forth from our throng!

Joy is drunk by every creature
From Nature's fair and charming breast;
Every being, good or evil,
Follows in her rosy steps.
Kisses she gave to us, and vines,
And one good friend, tried in death;
The serpent she endowed with base desire
And the cherub stands before God.

Gladly as His suns do fly
Through the heavens' splendid plan,
Run now, brothers, your own course,
Joyful like a conquering hero

Embrace each other now, you millions!
The kiss is for the whole wide world!
Brothers - over the starry firmament
A beloved Father must surely dwell.

Do you come crashing down, you millions?
Do you sense the Creators presence, world?
Seek Him above the starry firmament,
For above the stars he surely dwells.

Now what does Daughter of Elysium mean?

 

Since the original lyrics were in German (no?) maybe one of our German-speaking members might be able to help.

//waits for TLJ to read this post

 

then hunt down the German lyrcis for me

 

Ok, sorry so late, here are the German lyrics...

O Freunde, nicht diese Töne,
sondern lasst uns angenehmere
anstimmen, und freundenvollere.

Freude, schöner Götterfunken,
Tochter aus Elysium,
wir betreten feuertrunken,
Himmlische, dein Heiligtum!
Deine Zauber binden wieder,
was die Mode streng geteilt:
alle Menschen werden Brüder,
wo dein snafter Flügel weilt.


Wem der grosse Wurf gelungen,
eines Freundes Freund zu sein,
wer ein holdes Weib errungen,
mische seinen Jubel ein!
Ja, wer auch nur eine Seele
sein nennt auf dem Erdenrund!
Und wer's nie gekonnt, der stehle
weinend sich aus diesem Bund!


Freude trinken alle Wesen
an den Brüsten der Natur,
alle Guten, alle Bösen
folgen ihrer Rosenspur.
Küsse gab sie uns und Reben,
einen Freund, geprüft im Tod;
Wollust ward dem Wurm gegeben,
und der Cherub steht vor Gott.


Froh, wie seine Sonnen fliegen
durch des Himmels prächt'gen Plan,
laufet, Brüder, eure Bahn,
freudig, wie ein Held zum Siegen!


Freude, schöner Götterfunken,
Tochter aus Elysium,
wir betreten feuertrunken,
Himmlische, dein Heiligtum!
Deine Zauber binden wieder,
was die Mode streng geteilt:
alle Menschen werden Brüder,
wo dein snafter Flügel weilt.


Seid umschlungen, Millionen!
Diesen Kuss der ganzen Welt!
Brüder, überm Sternenzelt
muss ein lieber Vater wohnen.


Ahnest du den Schöpfer, Welt?
Such ihn überm Sternenzelt!
Ãœber Sternen muss er wohnen.


Freude, schöner Götterfunken,
Tochter aus Elysium,
wir betreten feuertrunken,
Himmlische, dein Heiligtum!
Seid umschlungen, Millionen!
Diesen Kuss der ganzen Welt!
Ihr stürzt nieder, Millionen?
Ahnest du den Schöpfer, Welt?
Such ihn überm Sternenzelt!
Brüder, überm Sternenzelt
muss ein lieber Vater wohnen!



Freude, Tochter aus Elysium,
deine Zauber binden wieder,
was die Mode streng geteilt!
Alle Menschen werden Brüder,
wo dein sanfter Flügel Weilt.


Seid umschlungen, Millionen!
Diesen Kuss der ganzen Welt!
Brüder, überm Sternenzelt
muss ein lieber Vater wohnen.


Freude, schöner Götterfunken,
Tochter aus Elysium,
Freude, schöner Götterfunken!

 

Elysium seems to be some 'Island of the blessed'
so a daughter of/ from there seems to be .... some very happy and blessed girl. I know, very simply phrased, but I'm still not good with these things.
I thought Elysium would turn out to be something different in German....

 

I believe that's actually a classical Greek reference. Time to check up on The Iliad and The Odessey.

Unless I'm confusing myself again, the Elysiun fields were where honorable warriors rested after their struggles in life. That would make the daughter some kind of Valkerie.
No, that sounds a little too mixed up for Bethoven.

 

ok, here comes my thoery.
as you probably know, german nouns have genders. "tür" (door) for example is feminin whereas "tisch" (table) is masculin - and god knows why.
"freude" (joy) is feminin. therefore all descriptions after "joy" in "ode to joy" relate to "freude". firstly, joy is a "wondrous spark divine", secondly it is a "Daughter of Elysium". and it's a daughter because of german grammar. and when it says "your magic powers" or "your magic wings" the joy is meant.
well, that sounded good to me.

lasse

 

Sadly, I cannot stand that song, not because of anything it did wrong, but because someone put sachriney words to it in the 60s, and I heard that version so many many times.

"Welcome to the Emerald City
Wizards will give us lemonade..."

It got worse from there.

 

By the way Elysium and the fields are Roman not Greek.