ORPHIC CRITICAL TESTIMONY 135

OTTO KERN

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


SUMMARY: This testimony, from the orator Aelius Aristides, says that the men of Lesbos allege that their whole island is musical because it harbors the head of Orpheus.

ORPHIC CRITICAL TESTIMONY 135

λόγος 24.55 Αἰλίου Ἀριστείδου p. 70, 7 K. (Perseus has this as λόγος 44.570-571 Αἰλίου Ἀριστείδου Wilhelm Dindorf):

ἄνδρες Λέσβωι, ποῖ προήχθητε; οἳ φατὲ μὲν τὴν νῆσον ἅπασαν ὑμῖν εἶναι μουσικὴν καὶ τούτου τὴν Ὀρφέως κεφαλὴν αἰτιᾶσθε, αὐτοὶ δὲ οὐκ αἰσχύνεσθε οὕτως ἀμούσως διακείμενοι;

“You men in Lǽzvos (Λέσβος), have you been misled? You who declare that your whole island is musical, and allege as the cause the head of Orphéfs (Ὀρφεύς), but are you not ashamed at being so unmusical?”

(trans. by the author)

V. nrr. 118, 119, 133. 134 etc.


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.