ORPHIC CRITICAL TESTIMONY 185
OTTO KERN
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SUMMARY: This testimony, from Plutarch, indicates that the changes made to the oracles by Onomacritus and others were stylistic; they made rhetorical changes that were not only extravagant, but unnecessary.
ORPHIC CRITICAL TESTIMONY 185
Ἠθικὰ Πλουτάρχου· 28. Περὶ τοῦ μὴ χρᾶν ἔμμετρα νῦν τὴν Πυθίαν (De Pythiae oraculis) XXV 407 b:
Ὀνομάκριτοι δ’ ἐκεῖνοι καὶ Ἡρόδοτοι καὶ Κιναίθωνες (Cobet] κινέσωνες add) ὅσην αἰτίαν ἠνέγκαντο τῶν χρησμῶν, ὡς τραγωιδίαν αὐτοῖς καὶ ὄγκον οὐδὲν δεομένοις προσθέντες, ἐῶ λέγειν οὐδὲ προσίεμαι (Wyttenb.] προσεῖναι codd.) τὰς διαβολάς (Wyttenb.] μεταβολάς codd.).
“I forbear to mention how much blame men like Onomacritus, Prodicus (ed. should be Herodotus), and Cinaethon have brought upon themselves from the oracles by foisting upon them a tragic diction and a grandiloquence of which they had no need, nor have I any kindly feeling toward their changes.”
(trans. Frank Cole Babbitt, 1927, copyright not renewed)
Christian Lobeck Aglaophamus I 334.
The story of the birth of the Gods: Orphic Theogony.
We know the various qualities and characteristics of the Gods based on metaphorical stories: Mythology.
Dictionary of terms related to ancient Greek mythology: Glossary of Hellenic Mythology.
Introduction to the Thæí (the Gods): The Nature of the Gods.
How do we know there are Gods? Experiencing Gods.
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We know the various qualities and characteristics of the Gods based on metaphorical stories: Mythology.
Dictionary of terms related to ancient Greek mythology: Glossary of Hellenic Mythology.
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