ORPHIC CRITICAL TESTIMONY 151

OTTO KERN

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

SUMMARY: This testimony is from the Christian church-father Clement of Alexandria, who says that Orpheus was a deceiver who taught men idolatry.

ORPHIC CRITICAL TESTIMONY 151

Λόγος Προτρεπτικὸς πρὸς Ἕλληνας Κλήμεντος του Ἀλεξανδρέως I 3 (I 4, 22 Staeh.):

ἐμοὶ μὲν οὖν δοκοῦσιν ὁ Θράικιος ἐκεῖνος Ὀρφεὺς καὶ ὁ Θηβαῖος καὶ ὁ Μηθυμναῖος, ἄνδρες τινὲς οὐκ ἄνδρες, ἀπατηλοὶ γεγονέναι (γεγονότες Reinkens), προσχήματί τε μουσικῆς λυμηνάμενοι τὸν βίον, ἐντέχνωι τινὶ γοητείαι δαιμονῶντες εἰς διαφθοράς, ὕβρεις ὀργιάζοντες, πένθη ἐκθειάζοντες, τοὺς ἀνθρώπους ἐπὶ τὰ εἴδωλα χειραγωγῆσαι πρῶτοι, ναὶ μὴν λίθοις καὶ ξύλοις, τουτέστιν ἀγάλμασι καὶ σκιαγραφίαις, ἀνοικοδομῆσαι τὴν σκαιότητα τοῦ ἔθους, τὴν καλὴν ὄντως ἐκείνην ἐλευθερίαν τῶν ὑπ’ οὐρανὸν πεπολιτευμένων ὠιδαῖς καὶ ἐπωιδαῖς ἐσχάτηι δουλείαι καταζεύξαντες.

“To me, therefore, that Thracian Orpheus, that Theban, and that Methymnæan — men, and yet unworthy of the name — seem to have been deceivers, who, under the pretence of poetry corrupting human life, possessed by a spirit of artful sorcery for purposes of destruction, celebrating crimes in their orgies, and making human woes the materials of religious worship, were the first to entice men to idols; nay, to build up the stupidity of the nations with blocks of wood and stone, — that is, statues and images — subjecting to the yoke of extremest bondage the truly noble freedom of those who lived as free citizens under heaven by their songs and incantations.”

(trans. William Wilson, 1885)

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.