ORPHIC CRITICAL TESTIMONY 11
OTTO KERN
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For links to many more fragments: The Orphic Fragments of Otto Kern.
SUMMARY: This testimony consists of three quotations, all which state that there is no poetry which has survived before the epics of Homer, although admitting that there are other opinions on the matter.
ORPHIC CRITICAL TESTIMONY 11.
Φλαΐου Ἰωσήπου περὶ ἀρχαιότητος Ἰουδαίων λόγος α (Against Apion) I 12:
ὅλως δὲ παρὰ τοῖς Ἕλλησιν οὐδὲν ὁμολογούμενον εὑρίσκεται γράμμα τῆς Ὁμήρου ποιήσεως πρεσβύτερον.
“However, there is not any writing which the Greeks agree to he genuine among them ancienter than Homer's Poems.”
(trans. William Whiston, 1737)
Πρὸς μαθηματικούς τοῦ Σέξτου Ἐμπειρικοῦ I 203 p. 645 Bekk.:
δεδοκιμασμένη δὲ καὶ ἀρχαιοτάτη ἐστὶν ἡ Ὁμήρου ποίησις. ποίημα γὰρ οὐδὲν πρεσβύτερον ἧκεν εἰς ἡμᾶς τῆς ἐκείνου ποιήσεως. διαλεξόμεθα ἄρα τῆι Ὁμήρου κατακολουθοῦντες συνηθείαι. ἀλλὰ πρῶτον μὲν οὐχ ὑπὸ πάντων ὁμολογεῖται ποιητὴς ἀρχαιότατος εἶναι Ὅμηρος· ἔνιοι γὰρ Ἡσίοδον προήκειν τοῖς χρόνοις λέγουσιν, Λίνον τε καὶ Ὀρφέα καὶ Μουσαῖον καὶ ἄλλους παμπληθεῖς.
“And tested and most ancient is the poetry of Ómiros (Ὅμηρος, i. e. Homer). For not one poem older than his poetry has come down to us. So then, we shall discourse following the usage of Ómiros. But, in the first place, it is not agreed by all that Ómiros is the most ancient poet; for some say that Îsíodos (Ἡσίοδος, i. e. Hesiod) preceded him in time, and Línos (Λῖνος), and Orphéfs (Ὀρφεύς), and Mousaios (Μουσαῖος) and many others.”
(trans. by the author)
σχολιαστὴς επὶ Διονυσίου τοῦ Θρᾳκός (ὁ γραμματικός) τέχνη γραμματική 490, 7 Hilg. = Bekk. Anecd. II 785, 15:
φασί τινες ὅτι ἕως τῶν Τρωικῶν οὐκ ἐγιγνώσκετο γράμματα· καὶ δῆλον ἐκ τοῦ μὴ σωθῆναι ποίημά τι τῶν κατὰ τοὺς Ὁμηρικοὺς χρόνους, καὶ ταῦτα αὐτοῦ τοῦ Ὁμήρου εἰσάγοντος ποιητάς, τόν τε Φήμιον καὶ Δημόδοκον, ἱστορουμένου δὲ καὶ Ὀρφέως προγεγενῆσθαι καὶ Μουσαίου καὶ Λίνου· ἀλλ’ ὅμως πλὴν ὀνόματος οὐδὲν πλέον εἰς τὰ μετὰ ταῦτα διασωθῆναι συμβέβηκε πρὸ τῆς Ὁμήρου ποιήσεως, μηδὲ πρεσβύτερον τῆς Ἰλιάδος καὶ Ὀδυσσείας σώιζεσθαι ποίημα.
“Some say that the writing of letters was not known until the times of Troy; and no poem has been preserved through Homeric times, and this said even though Ómiros (Ὅμηρος) himself introduces poets (into his epics), both Phímios (Φήμιος, a bard of Ithaca) and Dîmódokos (Δημόδοκος, the blind bard of the Phaeacians), and it is said that Orphéfs (Ὀρφεύς) and Mousaios (Μουσαῖος) and Línos (Λῖνος) lived before him; but, nevertheless, except for their names, not one more poem was preserved which has come before the poetry of Ómiros, not one poem is preserved older than the Iliás (Ἰλιάς) and Odýsseia (Ὀδύσσεια).”
(trans. by the author)
The story of the birth of the Gods: Orphic Theogony.
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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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