ORPHIC CRITICAL TESTIMONY 16

OTTO KERN

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

SUMMARY: This testimony consists of yet more Christian quotations trying to prove that Moses is from an earlier time than Orpheus.

ORPHIC CRITICAL TESTIMONY 16.

Ὁ Λόγος πρὸς Ἕλληνας Τατιανοῦ Ἀσσυρίου 39 p. 40, 23 Schw. ~ Λόγος Στρώματα Κλήμεντος του Ἀλεξανδρέως I 21, 103, 4 (II 67, 2 Staeh.) ~ Εὑαγγελικὴ προπαρασκευὴ Εὐσεβίου X 11, 23 (I 574 Dind. ) who omitted Bacchus along with, also, Orpheus and Musaios:

κατὰ δὲ Ἀκρίσιον ἡ Πέλοπος ἀπὸ Φρυγίας διάβασις καὶ <ἣ add. Schw.> Ἴωνος εἰς τὰς Ἀθήνας ἄφιξις καὶ ὁ δεύτερος Κέκροψ αἵ τε Περσέως καὶ Διονύσου πράξεις καὶ Ὀρφέως μαθητὴς Μουσαῖος· κατὰ δὲ τὴν Ἀγαμέμνονος βασιλείαν ἑάλω τὸ Ἴλιον.

“In the time of Acrisius was the coming over of Pelops from Phrygia, and the coming of Ion to Athens, and the second Cecrops, and the deeds of Perseus and Dionysus, and Musæus, the disciple of Orpheus; and in the reign of Agamemnon Troy was taken.”

(trans. J. E. Ryland, 1885)

Λόγος Στρώματα Κλήμεντος του Ἀλεξανδρέως I 21, 107, 4 (II 69, 6 Staeh.) ~ Εὑαγγελικὴ προπαρασκευὴ Εὐσεβίου X 12 p. 500 A (I 580, 27 Dind.):

κἄν τις ἡμῖν λέγηι Φημονόην πρώτην χρησμωιδῆσαι Ἀκρισίωι, ἀλλ' ἴστω γε ὅτι μετὰ Φημονόην ἔτεσιν ὕστερον εἴκοσι ἑπτὰ οἱ περὶ Ὀρφέα καὶ Μουσαῖον καὶ Λίνον τὸν Ἡρακλέους διδάσκαλον.

“And should one assert that Phemonoe was the first who sang oracles in verse to Acrisius, let him know that twenty-seven years after Phemonoe, lived Orpheus, and Musæus, and Linus the teacher of Hercules.”

(trans. William Wilson, 1885)

And Λόγος Στρώματα Κλήμεντος του Ἀλεξανδρέως I 21, 108, 1 (II 69, 16 Staeh.; Maaß De Sibyll. ind. 1. 58):

(καὶ θεῶν ἄρα τῶν πλείστων παρ Ἕλλησιν, οὐ μόνον τῶν λεγομένων σοφῶν τε καὶ ποιητῶν, ὁ Μωυσῆς ἡμῖν ἀποδέδεικται πρεσβύτερος.) καὶ οὔτι γε μόνος οὗτος (Μωυσῆς), ἀλλὰ καὶ ἡ Σίβυλλα Ὀρφέως παλαιοτέρα. V. nr. 15.

“(We have also demonstrated Moses to be more ancient, not only than those called poets and wise men among the Greeks, but than the most of their deities.) Nor he alone, but the Sibyl also is more ancient than Orpheus.”

(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.