ORPHIC CRITICAL TESTIMONY 153

OTTO KERN

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

SUMMARY: This testimony, from the Christian Church-father Eusebius, is a comparison between the power of Orpheus’ lyre and the power of the Christian god; Eusebius commences his argument with the assumption that the power which charmed wild beasts was not in Orpheus, but in the unconscious lyre itself.

ORPHIC CRITICAL TESTIMONY 153

Εὐσεβίου τοῦ Παμφίλου εἰς Κωνσταντῖνον τὸν βασιλέα τριακονταετηρικός 14 p. 242, 17 Heik.:

Ὀρφέα μὲν δὴ μῦθος Ἑλληνικὸς παντοῖα γένη θηρίων θέλγειν τῆι ὠιδῆι ἐξημεροῦν τε τῶν ἀγρίων τοὺς θυμούς, έν ὀργάνωι πλήκτρωι κρουρμένων χορδῶν, παραδίδωσιν, καὶ τοῦθ' Ἑλλήνων ἄιδεται χορῶι, καὶ πιστεύεται ἄψυχος λύρα τιθασεύειν τοὺς θῆρας καὶ δὴ [καὶ τὰ δένδρα secl. Heik.] τὰς φηγοὺς μεταβάλλειν μουσικῆι εἴκοντα. τοιγαροῦν ὁ πάνσοφος καὶ παναρμόνιος τοῦ θεοῦ λόγος ψυχαῖς ἀνθρώπων πολυτρόποις κακίαις ὑποβεβλημέναις παντοίας θεραπείας προβαλλόμενος, μουσικὸν ὄργανον χερσὶ λαβών, αὐτοῦ ποίημα σοφίας, τὸν ἄνθρωπον, ὠιδὰς καὶ ἐπωιδὰς διὰ τούτου λογικοῖς ἀλλ' οὐκ ἀλόγοις θηρσὶν ἀνεκρούετο, πάντα τρόπον ἀνήμερον Ἑλλήνων τε καὶ βαρβάρων πάθη τε ἄγρια καὶ θηριώδη ψυχῶν τοῖς τῆς ἐνθέου διδασκαλίας φαρμάκοις ἐξιώμενος, καὶ νοσούσαις γε ψυχαῖς ταῖς τὸ θεῖον ἐν γενέσει καὶ σώμασιν ἀναζητούσαις οἷά τις ἰατρῶν ἄριστος συγγενεῖ καὶ καταλλήλωι βοηθήματι θεὸν έν ἀνθρώπωι παρίοτη.

“The Grecian myth tells us that Orpheus had power to charm ferocious beasts, and tame their savage spirit, by striking the chords of his instrument with a master hand: and this story is celebrated by the Greeks, and generally believed, that an unconscious instrument could subdue the untamed brute, and draw the trees from their places, in obedience to its melodious power. But he who is the author of perfect harmony, the all-wise Word of God, desiring to apply every remedy to the manifold diseases of the souls of men, employed that human nature which is the workmanship of his own wisdom, as an instrument by the melodious strains of which he soothed, not indeed the brute creation, but savages endued with reason; healing each furious temper, each fierce and angry passion of the soul, both in civilized and barbarous nations, by the remedial power of his Divine doctrine. Like a physician of perfect skill, he met the diseases of their souls who sought for God in nature and in bodies, by a fitting and kindred remedy, and showed them God in human form.”

(trans. Ernest Cushing Richardson, 1890)

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.