ORPHIC CRITICAL TESTIMONY 160

OTTO KERN

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

DISCIPULI (Disciples):

MIDAS

SUMMARY: This testimony, consisting of five quotations, shows that the Phrygian King Midas was a disciple of Orpheus. There are also some citations giving evidence that Heracles was also a disciple of Orpheus.

ORPHIC CRITICAL TESTIMONY 160

Μυριόβιβλος Φωτίου Αʹ 186, 130b 28· ἀπόσπασμα 1 Κόνωνος:

Ὧν πρῶτον τὰ περὶ Μίδα καὶ Βριγῶν, ὅπως τε θησαυρῶι περιτυχὼν ἀθρόον τε εἰς πλοῦτον ἤρθη καὶ Ὀρφέως κατὰ Πιέρειαν τὸ ὄρος ἀκροατὴς γενόμενος πολλαῖς τέχναις Βριγῶν βασιλεύει.

“First concerning Mídas (Μίδας) and the Vríyai (Βρίγαι, i.e. the Brigians), and how he, having found a treasure, was furnished with wealth and, having become a disciple of Orphéfs (Ὀρφεύς) on Mount Pieria, rules over the Vríyai with many arts.”

(trans. by the author)

Publii Ovidii Nasonis Metamorphoses XI 92 on Silenos:

ad regem duxere Midan, cui Thracius Orpheus orgia tradiderat cum Cecropio Eumolpo.

“they led him to their king Midas, to whom with the Cecropian Eumolpus, Thracian Orpheus had shown all the Bacchic rites.”

(trans. Brookes More, 1922)

Λόγος Προτρεπτικὸς πρὸς Ἕλληνας Κλήμεντος του Ἀλεξανδρέως II 13, 3 (I 12, 9 Staeh.):

ὄλοιτο οὖν ὁ τῆσδε ἄρξας τῆς ἀπάτης ἀνθρώποις, εἴτε ὁ Δάρδανος, ὁ Μητρὸς θεῶν καταδείξας τὰ μυστήρια, εἴτε Ἠετίων, ὁ τὰ Σαμοθράικων ὄργια καὶ τελετὰς ὑποστησάμενος, εἴτε ὁ Φρὺξ ἐκεῖνος ὁ Μίδας, ὁ παρὰ τοῦ Ὀδρύσου μαθών, ἔπειτα διαδοὺς τοῖς ὑποτεταγμένοις ἔντεχνον ἀπάτην. (Arnobius Adversus Nationes II 73)

“Perish, then, the man who was the author of this imposture among men, be he Dardanus, who taught the mysteries of the mother of the gods, or Eetion, who instituted the orgies and mysteries of the Samothracians, or that Phrygian Midas who, having learned the cunning imposture from Odrysus (ed. Orpheus, the Odrysian), communicated it to his subjects.”

(trans. William Wilson, 1885)

Marcus Junianus Justinus Historiae philippicae epitome XI 7, 14 p. 82 Ruehl:

post hunc (sc. Gordium) filius Mida regnavit, qui ab Orpheo sacrorum sollemnibus initiatus Phrygiam religionibus implevit, quibus tutior omni vita quam armis fuit.

“After him (ed. Gordias) reigned his son Midas, who, having been instructed by Orpheus in sacred rites, filled all Phrygia with ceremonies of religion, by which he was better protected, during his whole life, than by arms.”

(trans. Rev. John Selby Watson, 1853)

U. Hoefer Konon 84; Dieterich Philolog. LII 1893, 6 = Kl. Schr. 129; Kuhnert apud Rosch. II 2959; Otto Kern Hermes LI 1916, 567.

Γεωγραφικὰ Στράβωνος X 470 observes the same (from Apollodoros Schwartz RE² I 2869, v. nr. 31):

τούτοις (sc. τοῖς Φρυγιακοῖς) δ᾽ ἔοικε καὶ τὰ παρὰ τοῖς Θραιξὶ τά τε Κοτύττια καὶ τὰ Βενδίδεια, παρ᾽ οἷς καὶ τὰ Ὀρφικὰ τὴν καταρχὴν ἔσχε.

“Also resembling these rites are the Cotytian and the Bendideian rites practiced among the Thracians, among whom the Orphic rites had their beginning.”

(trans. H. L. Jones, 1924)

HERCULES

160 a. Sepulchral epigram nr. 123 vs. 8 Hercules (v. nrr. 15. 16. 18. 163. 169). Listener or disciple of Orpheus in a fresco from Pompeii Helbig n. 893 Atlas tab. X (nr. 38). Orpheus celebrating the events of Hercules’ life in the preface to book 2 of Claudius Claudianus De raptu Proserpinae; Carl Robert Griechische Heldensage I 411.

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.