ORPHIC CRITICAL TESTIMONY 131
OTTO KERN
HellenicGods.org
HOME GLOSSARY RESOURCE ART LOGOS CONTACT
For links to many more fragments: The Orphic Fragments of Otto Kern.
SUMMARY: This testimony, from Vergil Georgics, says that Orpheus’ head rolled down the Hebrus while still singing of his Eurydice.
ORPHIC CRITICAL TESTIMONY 131
Phanocles nr. 77. Publii Vergilii Maronis Georgica IV 523:
tum quoque, marmorea caput a cervice revulsum
gurgite cum medio portans Oeagrius Hebrus
volveret, Eurydicen vox ipsa et frigida lingua,
o miseram Eurydicen!” anima fugiente vocabat,
Eurydicen toto referebant flumine ripae.
“Then too, even then, what time the Hebrus stream,
Oeagrian Hebrus, down mid-current rolled,
Rent from the marble neck, his drifting head,
The death-chilled tongue found yet a voice to cry
‘Eurydice! ah! poor Eurydice!’
With parting breath he called her, and the banks
From the broad stream caught up ‘Eurydice!’ ”
(J. B. Greenough, 1900)
Publii Ovidii Nasonis Metamorphoses XI nr. 132 with Ehwald’s comment on verse 50. In respect to the floating heads see S. Titus and S. Mauritius v. Luebeck Adoniskult und Christentum auf Malta 46 n. 1 and Carl Robert Griechische Heldensage I 407 n. 2.
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.
