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For links to many more fragments: The Orphic Fragments of Otto Kern.

SUMMARY: This fragment includes a discussion of certain sea-Gods, and it also establishes that Cronus is higher in rank than Oceanus, as, similarly, Rhea is above Tethys.

117. (104) σχόλιον Πρόκλου επὶ Τιμαίου Πλάτωνος 40 e (III 186, 7 Diehl):

οἱ δὲ ἄλλοι Τιτᾶνες εἰς διάκρισιν ἐπείγονται καὶ πρόοδον, ἡγεῖται δὲ αὐτῶν ὁ μέγιστος Κρόνος, ὥς φησιν ὁ θεολόγος (compare fragment 135) καίτοι γε ὅτι ὁ Κρόνος ὑπέρτερός ἐστι τοῦ Ὠκεανοῦ, δεδήλωκεν ὁ θεολόγος πάλιν λέγων τὸν μὲν Κρόνον αὐτὸν καταλαμβάνειν τὸν οὐράνιον Ὄλυμπον κἀκεῖ θρονισθέντα βασιλεύειν των Τιτάνων, τὸν δὲ Ὠκεανὸν τὴν λῆξιν ἅπασαν τὴν μέσην· ναίειν γὰρ αὐτὸν ἐν τοῖς θεσπεσίοις ῥείθροις τοῖς μετὰ τὸν Ὄλυμπον καὶ τὸν ἐκεῖ περιέπειν Οὐρανόν, ἀλλ' οὐ τὸν ἀκρότατον, ὡς δέ φησιν ὁ μῦθος, τὸν ἐκπεσόντα τοῦ Ὀλύμπου καὶ ἐκεῖ τεταγμένον.

τούτων δ' οὖν οὕτως ἐχόντων ὁ Ὠκεανὸς καὶ ἡ Τηθὺς καθ' ὅσον μένουσι καὶ ἥνωνται πρὸς τὸν Οὐρανὸν συμπαράγουσιν αὐτῶι τὴν τῶν προϊόντων βασιλείαν, Κρόνου τε καὶ Ῥέας, καὶ καθ' ὅσον <ἐν>ίδρυνται τῆι μονίμωι δυνάμει τῆς μητρός, κατὰ τοσοῦτον τὸν Φόρκυν μετ' αὐτῆς· αὕτη (sc. Tethys) γὰρ αὐτὸν παράγει Πόντου φιλότητι μιγεῖσα μετὰ Νηρέως καὶ Θαύμαντος· οὐ γάρ ἐστιν ὁ Φόρκυς <ὁ> Οὐρανίδης, ἀλλὰ ὁ Φόρκυς <ὁ Πόντιος>, ὡς ἔστι δῆλον ἐκ τῆς Θεογονίας (Hesiod. 233. 237). <καὶ> καθ' ὅσον ἡ Τηθὺς τῆς Γῆς ἐστι πλήρης, κατὰ τοσοῦτον οἷον Γῆ τις οὖσα λέγοιτ' ἂν τὸν Φόρκυν τοῦτον παράγειν μετὰ τοῦ Ὠκεανοῦ, καθ' ὅσον καὶ οὗτος ἐν ἑαυτῶι τὸν νοητὸν περιείληφεν· ὥσθ' ἣ μὲν καθ' ὅσον ἐστὶ Γῆ κατὰ μέθεξιν, ὃ δὲ καθ' ὅσον ἐστὶ Πόντος κατ' αἰτίαν ὑφιστᾶσι μετὰ Κρόνου καὶ Ῥέας τόνδε τὸν θεόν.

“But the other Titans are induced to separation and progression. And the leader of these is the mighty Saturn (Κρόνος), as the theologist says (compare fragment 135); though he evinces that Saturn is superior to Ocean (Ὠκεανός) by saying, that Saturn himself received the celestial Olympus, and that there being throned he reigns over the Titans; but that Ocean obtained all the middle allotment. For he says, that he dwells in the divine streams which are posterior to Olympus, and that he environs the Heaven which is there, and not the highest Heaven, but as the fable says, that which fell from Olympus, and was there arranged.

“Ocean and Tethys (Τηθύς) therefore, so far as they abide, and are united to Heaven (Οὐρανός), produce in conjunction with him the kingdom of Saturn and Rhea (Ῥέα); and so far as they are established in the first power of their mother, so far they produce Phorkys (Φόρκυς) in conjunction with her. For she produces him together with Nereus (Νηρεύς) and Thaumas (Θαύμας), from being mingled through love with the sea. For Phorkys is not celestial but Ocean, as is evident from the Theogony. And so far as Tethys is full of Earth, so far being as it were a certain Earth, she may be said to produce this Phorkys in conjunction with Ocean; so far as Ocean also comprehends the intelligible in himself. Hence Tethys, so far as she is Earth according to participation, and Ocean so far as he is causally the sea, give subsistence in conjunction with Saturn and Rhea to this God. If however, any arguments should demonstrate that in the intellectual order Saturn is above Ocean, or Rhea above Tethys, it must be said that this arrangement is indeed there; for in that order the causes of intellection are superior to those of motion; but that here on the contrary, all things are in mutation and a flowing condition; so that here Ocean is very properly prior to Saturn, since it is the fountain of motion, and Tethys is prior to Rhea.”

(trans. Thomas Taylor, 1816)

Lobeck I 509; Schuster 7; Holwerda 317.

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.

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