ORPHIC CRITICAL TESTIMONY 113

OTTO KERN

HellenicGods.org

HOME GLOSSARY RESOURCE ART LOGOS CONTACT

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


MORS (Death. V. see also Βούσιρις τοῦ Ἰσοκράτους XI 39 P. II Orphic fragment 17).

SUMMARY: This testimony consists of a quotation from pseudo-Eratosthenes and a quote from Ovid, both saying that Orpheus was torn apart by the Maenads, his body parts strewn about. Ovid says that the head of Orpheus floated across the sea to Lesbos.

ORPHIC CRITICAL TESTIMONY 113.

Καταστερισμοί ψευδούς Ἐρατοσθένους 24 p. 140 Rob.; 29 Ol.

τὸν μὲν Διόνυσον οὐκ ἐτίμα (ὑφ’ οὗ ἦν δεδοξασμένος add. cod. R), τὸν δὲ Ἥλιον μέγιστον τῶν θεῶν ἐνόμισεν (ἐνόμιζεν εἶναι D), ὃν καὶ Ἀπόλλωνα προσηγόρευσεν· ἐπεγειρόμενός τε τῆς νυκτὸς κατὰ τὴν ἑωθινὴν ἐπὶ τὸ ὄρος τὸ καλούμενον Πάγγαιον <ἀνιὼν add. Wilam., ἰὼν Heyn.> προσέμενε τὰς ἀνατολάς, ἵνα ἴδηι τὸν Ἥλιον (τ. Ἥ om. R), πρῶτον· ὅθεν ὁ Διόνυσος ὀργισθεὶς αὐτῶι ἔπεμψε τὰς Βασσαρίδας, ὥς φησιν Αἰσχύλος ὁ τῶν τραγωιδιῶν ποιητής (nr. 45)· αἵ διέσπασαν αὐτὸν (αἵτινες αὐτὸν διέσπασαν D) καὶ τὰ μέλη ἔρριψαν (διέρριψαν D) χωρὶς ἕκαστον· αἱ δὲ Μοῦσαι συναγαγοῦσαι ἔθαψαν ἐπὶ τοῖς λεγομένοις Λειβήθροις. τὴν δὲ λύραν οὐκ ἔχουσαι ὅτωι δώσειν τὸν Δία ἠξίωσαν καταστερίσαι, ὅπως ἐκείνου τε καὶ αὐτῶν μνημόσυνον τεθῆι ἐν τοῖς ἄστροις (τὴν δὲ λύραν - ἄστροις om. R)· τοῦ δ’ ἐπινεύσαντος οὕτως ἐτέθη· ἐπισημασίαν δ’ ἔχει ἐπὶ τῶι ἐκείνου συμπτώματι δυομένη καθ’ ὥραν (συμπτώματι – καθ’ ὥραν om. R).

“He was not honoring Diónysos (Διόνυσος), but acknowledged Ílios (Ἥλιος) as greatest of the Gods, and he called him Apóllôn (Ἀπόλλων). And waking himself at night near the break of day, he was waiting for the sunrise on the mountain called Pangaion (Παγγαῖον), where he wanted to see Ílios from the start. Wherefore Diónysos, angered, sent the Vassarídæs (βασσαρίδες) against him, as Aiskhýlos (Αἰσχύλος), the composer of tragedies, says (nr. 45): they tore him asunder and cast away his limbs, each one separately; and the Mousai (Μοῦσαι) gathered them together again and interred them at the place called Leivîthra (Λείβηθρα). But having no-one to whom they should offer the lyre, they thought it fitting that Zefs (Ζεύς) should place it among the stars, so that the memory of him, and also of themselves, should be set in the stars. And having nodded his assent, it was set in place. It testifies to his misfortune as it makes its way into each season.”

(trans. by the author)

Schol. Germ. BP 84, G 151; Anonymi II Arati epitom. cum schol. ed. Ernest Maaß 231 s.; for Hygini De Astronomica II 7 see Orphic Critical Testimony 117.

It seems that Aeschylus is imitated by Vergil in Georgica IV 521:

inter sacra deum nocturnique orgia Bacchi

“between the rites of the Gods and the nocturnal orgies of Bacchus”

(trans. by the author)

And Publii Ovidii Nasonis Metamorphoses XI 1ss.:

Orphei mors.

Carmine dum tali silvas animosque ferarum

Threicius vates et saxa sequentia ducit,

ecce nurus Ciconum, tectae lymphata ferinis

pectora velleribus, tumuli de vertice cernunt

Orphea percussis sociantem carmina nervis. 5

E quibus una, leves iactato crine per auras,

“en,” ait “en hic est nostri contemptor!” et hastam

vatis Apollinei vocalia misit in ora,

quae foliis praesuta notam sine vulnere fecit;

alterius telum lapis est, qui missus in ipso 10

aere concentu victus vocisque lyraeque est

ac veluti supplex pro tam furialibus ausis

ante pedes iacuit. Sed enim temeraria crescunt

bella modusque abiit, insanaque regnat Erinys.

Cunctaque tela forent cantu mollita, sed ingens 15

clamor et infracto Berecyntia tibia cornu

tympanaque et plausus et Bacchei ululatus

obstrepuere sono citharae: tum denique saxa

non exauditi rubuerunt sanguine vatis.

Ac primum attonitas etiamnum voce canentis 20

innumeras volucres anguesque agmenque ferarum

Maenades, Orphei titulum, rapuere, theatri.

Inde cruentatis vertuntur in Orphea dextris

et coeunt ut aves, si quando luce vagantem

noctis avem cernunt. Structoque utrimque theatro 25

ceu matutina cervus periturus harena

praeda canum est, vatemque petunt et fronde virentes

coniciunt thyrsos non haec in munera factos.

Hae glaebas, illae direptos arbore ramos,

pars torquent silices. Neu desint tela furori, 30

forte boves presso subigebant vomere terram,

nec procul hinc multo fructum sudore parantes

dura lacertosi fodiebant arva coloni.

Agmine qui viso fugiunt operisque relinquunt

arma sui, vacuosque iacent dispersa per agros 35

sarculaque rastrique graves longique ligones.

Quae postquam rapuere ferae cornuque minaci

divulsere boves, ad vatis fata recurrunt

Tendentemque manus et in illo tempore primum

inrita dicentem nec quicquam voce moventem 40

sacrilegae perimunt. Perque os, pro Iuppiter! illud

auditum saxis intellectumque ferarum

sensibus in ventos anima exhalata recessit.

Te maestae volucres, Orpheu, te turba ferarum,

te rigidi silices, tua carmina saepe secutae 45

fleverunt silvae, positis te frondibus arbor

tonsa comas luxit. Lacrimis quoque flumina dicunt

increvisse suis, obstrusaque carbasa pullo

naides et dryades passosque habuere capillos.

Membra iacent diversa locis. Caput, Hebre, lyramque 50

excipis, et (mirum!) medio dum labitur amne,

flebile nescio quid queritur lyra, flebile lingua

murmurat exanimis, respondent flebile ripae.

Iamque mare invectae flumen populare relinquunt

et Methymnaeae potiuntur litore Lesbi. 55

Hic ferus expositum peregrinis anguis harenis

os petit et sparsos stillanti rore capillos.

Tandem Phoebus adest morsusque inferre parantem

arcet et in lapidem rictus serpentis apertos

congelat et patulos, ut erant, indurat hiatus. 60

Umbra subit terras et quae loca viderat ante,

cuncta recognoscit quaerensque per arva piorum

invenit Eurydicen cupidisque amplectitur ulnis.

Hic modo coniunctis spatiantur passibus ambo,

nunc praecedentem sequitur, nunc praevius anteit 65

Eurydicenque suam iam tutus respicit Orpheus.

Non impune tamen scelus hoc sinit esse Lyaeus,

amissoque dolens sacrorum vate suorum

protinus in silvis matres Edonidas omnes,

quae videre nefas, torta radice ligavit. 70

Quippe pedum digitos, in quantum est quaeque secuta,

traxit et in solidam detrusit acumina terram,

utque suum laqueis, quos callidus abdidit auceps,

crus ubi commisit volucris sensitque teneri,

plangitur ac trepidans adstringit vincula motu: 75

sic, ut quaeque solo defixa cohaeserat harum,

exsternata fugam frustra temptabat; at illam

lenta tenet radix exsultantemque coercet,

dumque ubi sint digiti, dum pes ubi, quaerit, et ungues,

adspicit in teretes lignum succedere suras, 80

et conata femur maerenti plangere dextra,

robora percussit: pectus quoque robora fiunt,

robora sunt umeri, porrectaque bracchia veros

esse putes ramos, et non fallere putando.

“DEATH OF ORPHEUS

“While with his songs, Orpheus, the bard of Thrace,

allured the trees, the savage animals,

and even the insensate rocks, to follow him;

Ciconian matrons, with their raving breasts

concealed in skins of forest animals,

from the summit of a hill observed him there,

attuning love songs to a sounding harp.

One of those women, as her tangled hair

was tossed upon the light breeze shouted, “See!

Here is the poet who has scorned our love!”

Then hurled her spear at the melodious mouth

of great Apollo’s bard: but the spear’s point,

trailing in flight a garland of fresh leaves,

made but a harmless bruise and wounded not.


“The weapon of another was a stone,

which in the very air was overpowered

by the true harmony of his voice and lyre,

and so disabled lay before his feet,

as asking pardon for that vain attempt.

“The madness of such warfare then increased.

All moderation is entirely lost,

and a wild Fury overcomes the right.—

although their weapons would have lost all force,

subjected to the power of Orpheus’ harp,

the clamorous discord of their boxwood pipes,

the blaring of their horns, their tambourines

and clapping hands and Bacchanalian yells,

with hideous discords drowned his voice and harp.—

at last the stones that heard his song no more

fell crimson with the Thracian poet’s blood.

“Before his life was taken, the maenads turned

their threatening hands upon the many birds,

which still were charmed by Orpheus as he sang,

the serpents, and the company of beasts—

fabulous audience of that worshipped bard.

And then they turned on him their blood-stained hands:

and flocked together swiftly, as wild birds,

which, by some chance, may see the bird of night

beneath the sun. And as the savage dogs

rush on the doomed stag, loosed some bright fore-noon,

on blood-sand of the amphitheatre;

they rushed against the bard, with swift

hurled thyrsi which, adorned with emerald leaves

had not till then been used for cruelty.

“And some threw clods, and others branches torn

from trees; and others threw flint stones at him,

and, that no lack of weapons might restrain

their savage fury then, not far from there

by chance they found some oxen which turned up

the soil with ploughshares, and in fields nearby

were strong-armed peasants, who with eager sweat

worked for the harvest as they dug hard fields;

and all those peasants, when they saw the troop

of frantic women, ran away and left

their implements of labor strown upon

deserted fields—harrows and heavy rakes

and their long spades.

“After the savage mob

had seized upon those implements, and torn

to pieces oxen armed with threatening horns,

they hastened to destroy the harmless bard,

devoted Orpheus; and with impious hate,

murdered him, while his out-stretched hands implored

their mercy—the first and only time his voice

had no persuasion. O great Jupiter!

Through those same lips which had controlled the rocks

and which had overcome ferocious beasts,

his life breathed forth, departed in the air.

“The mournful birds, the stricken animals,

the hard stones and the weeping woods, all these

that often had followed your inspiring voice,

bewailed your death; while trees dropped their green leaves,

mourning for you, as if they tore their hair.

They say sad rivers swelled with their own tears—

naiads and dryads with dishevelled hair

wore garments of dark color.

“His torn limbs

were scattered in strange places. Hebrus then

received his head and harp—and, wonderful!

While his loved harp was floating down the stream,

it mourned for him beyond my power to tell.

His tongue though lifeless, uttered a mournful sound

and mournfully the river’s banks replied:

onward borne by the river to the sea

they left their native stream and reached the shore

of Lesbos at Methymna. Instantly,

a furious serpent rose to attack the head

of Orpheus, cast up on that foreign sand—

the hair still wet with spray. Phoebus at last

appeared and saved the head from that attack:

before the serpent could inflict a sting,

he drove it off, and hardened its wide jaws

to rigid stone.

“Meanwhile the fleeting shade

of Orpheus had descended under earth:

remembering now those regions that he saw

when there before, he sought Eurydice

through fields frequented by the blest; and when

he found her, folded her in eager arms.

Then lovingly they wandered side by side,

or he would follow when she chose to lead,

or at another time he walked in front,

looking back, safely,—at Eurydice.

“Bacchus would not permit the wickedness

of those who slaughtered Orpheus to remain

unpunished. Grieving for the loss of his

loved bard of sacred rites, at once he bound

with twisted roots the feet of everyone

of those Edonian women who had caused

the crime of Orpheus’ death.

“Their toes grew long.

He thrust the sharp points in the solid earth.

As when a bird entangled in a snare,

hid by the cunning fowler, knows too late

that it is held, then vainly beats its wings,

and fluttering only makes more tight the noose

with every struggle; so each woman-fiend

whose feet were sinking in the soil, when she

attempted flight, was held by deepening roots.

And while she looks down where her toes and nails

and feet should be, she sees wood growing up

from them and covering all her graceful legs.

Full of delirious grief, endeavoring

to smite with right hand on her changing thigh,

she strikes on solid oak. Her tender breast

and shoulders are transformed to rigid oak.

You would declare that her extended arms

are real branches of a forest tree,

and such a thought would be the very truth.”

(trans. Brookes More, 1922)

Carl Robert Griechische Heldensage I 402. 404 n. 3. Of the vases showing the death of Orpheus v. see the same l. l. in the version by Phanocles nr. 77.


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.

This logo is the principal symbol of this website. It is called the CESS logo, i.e. the Children of the Earth and the Starry Sky. The Pætilía (Petelia, Πετηλία) and other golden tablets having this phrase are the inspiration for the symbol. The image represents this idea: Earth (divisible substance) and the Sky (continuous substance) are the two kozmogonic substances. The twelve stars represent the Natural Laws, the dominions of the Olympian Gods. In front of these symbols is the seven-stringed kithára (cithara, κιθάρα), the the lyre of Apóllôn (Apollo, Ἀπόλλων). It (here) represents the bond between Gods and mortals and is representative that we are the children of Orphéfs (Orpheus, Ὀρφεύς).

PLEASE NOTE: Throughout the pages of this website, you will find fascinating stories about our Gods. These narratives are known as mythology, the traditional stories of the Gods and Heroes. While these tales are great mystical vehicles containing transcendent truth, they are symbolic and should not be taken literally. A literal reading will frequently yield an erroneous result. The meaning of the myths is concealed in code. To understand them requires a key. For instance, when a God kills someone, this usually means a transformation of the soul to a higher level. Similarly, sexual union with a God is a transformation.

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.

SPELLING: HellenicGods.org uses the Reuchlinian method of pronouncing ancient Greek, the system preferred by scholars from Greece itself. An approach was developed to enable the student to easily approximate the Greek words. Consequently, the way we spell words is unique, as this method of transliteration is exclusive to this website. For more information, visit these three pages:

Pronunciation of Ancient Greek

Transliteration of Ancient Greek

Pronouncing the Names of the Gods in Hellenismos

PHOTO COPYRIGHT INFORMATION: The many pages of this website incorporate images, some created by the author, but many obtained from outside sources. To find out more information about these images and why this website can use them, visit this link: Photo Copyright Information

DISCLAIMER: The inclusion of images, quotations, and links from outside sources does not in any way imply agreement (or disagreement), approval (or disapproval) with the views of HellenicGods.org by the external sources from which they were obtained.

Further, the inclusion of images, quotations, and links from outside sources does not in any way imply agreement (or disagreement), approval (or disapproval) by HellenicGods.org of the contents or views of any external sources from which they were obtained.

For more information: Inquire.hellenicgods@gmail.com

For answers to many questions: Hellenismos FAQ

© 2010 by HellenicGods.org. All Rights Reserved.

HOME GLOSSARY RESOURCE ART LOGOS CONTACT