ODI OF SOLOMON. – This is the title of 42 hymns written in Greek in the 2nd century and inspired by a rather vague mysticism.
The very lack of clear outlines in this religious poetry, which is otherwise beautiful, makes the classification of the O. of S. difficult; to some they seem rather of Gnostic origin, while to others they are compatible with orthodoxy. The Word is praised (Ode 12a), the descensus ad inferos is sung (Ode 17a), and there is mention (Ode 19a) of the virginal conception of a woman by the Father and the Holy Spirit, in which some recognize an allusion to the Madonna.
The author of the O. of S. is unknown; they are known in full (except for Ode 2a) through an ancient Syriac version edited by J. R. Harris and A. Mingana (2 vols., Cambridge 1916–20). The Gnostic book Pistis Sophia contains 5 odes.