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

SUMMARY: According to this fragment, those who lead pure lives will be rewarded after death, while the unjust are led to Tártaros. The text also states that Orphic wisdom, including the teaching on rebirth, has been transferred altogether to the Platonic teaching.

222. (154) σχόλιον Πρόκλου επὶ Πολιτείας Πλάτωνος II 340, 11 Guilelmus Kroll:

ἐπεὶ καὶ τὰ ἄλλα παρ’ Ὀρφέως (sc. ὁ Πλάτων) ἐμυθολόγησεν λαβών οἷον ὅτι ἐν τῶι Ἀχέροντι καθαίρονται καὶ τυγχάνουσιν εὐμοιρίας τινός·

οἳ μέν κ’ εὐαγέωσιν ὑπ’ αὐγὰς ἠελίοιο,

αὖτις ἀποφθίμενοι μαλακώτερον οἶτον ἔχουσιν

ἐν καλῶι λειμῶνι βαθύρροον ἀμφ' Ἀχέροντα

καὶ ὅτι κολάζονται ἐν τῶι Ταρτάρωι·

οἱ δ’ ἄδικα ῥέξαντες ὑπ’ αὐγὰς ἠελίοιο

ὑβρισταὶ κατάγονται ὑπὸ πλάκα Κωκυτοῖο

Τάρταρον ἐς κρυόεντα.

διὰ γὰρ τούτων σαφώς τὰς Πλατωνικὰς διατάξεις περὶ τῶν ὑπὸ γῆς λήξεων φαίνεται παραλαβών, ὥσπερ καὶ τὰς περὶ τῶν μετεμψυχώσεων. εἰ δὲ ταῦτα ἑπόμενος Ὀρφεῖ διατάττει Πλάτων, ἆρ’ οὐ γελοῖόν ἐστιν --- ἀφίημι γάρ θεμιτὸν λέγειν --- τὸν τῶν τοιούτων ἡγεμόνα δογμάτων, οἷς ἡ Πλάτωνος φιλοσοφία διαφέρει τῶν ἄλλων ἁπασῶν, εἰς ἄλογα ζῶια κατάγειν καὶ κύκνου ψυχὴν ποιεῖν (X 620 a test. nr. 139); οὗ καὶ τὴν περὶ τῶν θείων ὑφήγησιν αὐτὸς ἐν Τιμαίωι (40 e) πιστὴν εἶναί φησιν καίπερ ἄνευ τε εἰκότων λόγων καὶ ἀποδείξεων λεγο|^{341 Kr.}μένην, ὡς δι’ ἐνθεασμὸν εἰδότος μάλιστα τὰ τῶν θεῶν πατέρων ὄντων, εἴ τις ἔστιν τῆς θεογονίας τοῖς Ἕλλησιν πατήρ, ἣν αὐτὸς παραδοῦναι προθέμενος ἐπὶ τοὺς παραδόντας πρώτους ἀνάγει τὴν περὶ αὐτῆς ἀλήθειαν.

“Since, also, he told mythic tales (himself), having taken other things from the Orphéfs (Ὀρφεύς) such as that they who purify themselves in Akhǽrôn (Ἀχέρων) also meet with good fortune:

‘Those who live free of stain beneath the light of the sun,

hereafter, when they die, have a more gentle fate

in a beautiful pasture beside deep-flowing Akhǽrôn.’

“and that the others are punished in Tártaros:

‘But those who are unjust beneath the light of the sun,

the contemptuous, are led down below the expanse of Kôkytós (Κωκυτός)

to frozen Tártaros.’

“For through these clearly Platonic testimonies, he (Πλάτων) brings to light what he acquired concerning the allotments in the underworld, and even of things concerning the transmigration of souls (μετεμψύχωσις). But if Plátôn arranges this following (the teachings of) Orphéfs, is it not consequently ludicrous---for I refrain to say licit---that he makes the founder of opinions such as these---in which the philosophy of Plátôn differs from the others altogether---to descend into irrational animals and the soul of a swan? ^[1] And he says in the Tímaios (Τίμαιος)^[2] that his (Ὀρφεύς) guidance on divine things is trustworthy, although he (Ὀρφεύς) says such without providing either likely reasoning or bringing forward proof. Thus he knew divine things about the Gods very well, from their being his parents, if (we consider that) he is the father of the theogony to the Greeks, setting out to hand this knowledge down, he brought back (to us) the first transmission of the truth.”

(trans. by the author)

Preller Rhein. Mus. IV 1845, 391 = Ausgew. Aufs. aus der class. Altertumswiss. 1864, 363; Kern Aus der Anomia 87; Dieterich Nekyia 134. 194; Norden Herm. XXVIII 1893, 398; P. Vergilius Maro Aeneis Buch VI p. 25.

Ad vs. 6 compare Ἀσπὶς Ἡρακλέους τοῦ Ἡσιόδου 255:

Τάρταρον ἐς κρυόενθ’

“to icy-cold Tártaros.”

NOTES:

[1] Πολιτεία Πλάτωνος 10.620 a (ἆπὸ τοῦ μύθου Ἠρός):

αἱ ψυχαὶ ᾑροῦντο τοὺς βίους: ἐλεινήν τε γὰρ ἰδεῖν εἶναι καὶ γελοίαν καὶ θαυμασίαν. κατὰ συνήθειαν γὰρ τοῦ προτέρου βίου τὰ πολλὰ αἱρεῖσθαι. ἰδεῖν μὲν γὰρ ψυχὴν ἔφη τήν ποτε Ὀρφέως γενομένην κύκνου βίον αἱρουμένην, μίσει τοῦ γυναικείου γένους διὰ τὸν ὑπ᾽ ἐκείνων θάνατον οὐκ ἐθέλουσαν ἐν γυναικὶ γεννηθεῖσαν γενέσθαι

“Most curious, he said, was the spectacle---sad and laughable and strange; for the choice of the souls was in most cases based on their experience of a previous life. There he saw the soul which had once been Orpheus choosing the life of a swan out of enmity to the race of women, hating to be born of a woman because they had been his murderers...”

(trans. Benjamin Jowett, 1892)

[2] Τίμαιος Πλάτωνος 40 e:

παισὶν ἀπιστεῖν, καίπερ ἄνευ τε εἰκότων καὶ ἀναγκαίων ἀποδείξεων λέγουσιν, ἀλλ᾽ ὡς οἰκεῖα φασκόντων ἀπαγγέλλειν ἑπομένους τῷ νόμῳ πιστευτέον. οὕτως οὖν κατ᾽ ἐκείνους ἡμῖν ἡ γένεσις περὶ τούτων τῶν θεῶν ἐχέτω καὶ λεγέσθω. Γῆς τε καὶ Οὐρανοῦ παῖδες Ὠκεανός τε καὶ Τηθὺς ἐγενέσθην, τούτων δὲ Φόρκυς Κρόνος τε καὶ Ῥέα καὶ ὅσοι μετὰ

“To know or tell the origin of the other divinities is beyond us, and we must accept the traditions of the men of old time who affirm themselves to be the offspring of the Gods---that is what they say---and they must surely have known their own ancestors. How can we doubt the word of the children of the Gods? Although they give no probable or certain proofs, still, as they declare that they are speaking of what took place in their own family, we must conform to custom and believe them. In this manner, then, according to them, the genealogy of these Gods is to be received and set forth. Oceanus and Tethys were the children of Earth and Heaven, and from these sprang Phorcys and Cronos and Rhea, and all that generation.”

(trans. Benjamin Jowett, 1892)

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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