ORPHIC CRITICAL TESTIMONY 20

OTTO KERN

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

SUMMARY: This testimony consists of three quotations from The City of God by Augustine, the Bishop of Hippo, who says that Orpheus lived during the time of the Hebrew Judges; later he says that Orpheus lived before the time of Romulus; and in the final quote, he says that Orpheus lived before the time of the Hebrew Prophets.

ORPHIC CRITICAL TESTIMONY 20.

Aurelius Augustinus Hipponensis: De civitate Dei contra paganos XVIII 14; II 285, 18 Hoffm. (~ Otto Frising. Chron. I 24 p. 56, 7 Hofmeist.):

per idem temporis interuallum (i. e. Hebraeorum iudicum) extiterunt poetae, qui etiam theologi dicerentur, quoniam de dis carmina faciebant, sed talibus dis, qui licet magni homines, tamen homines fuerunt aut mundi huius, quem uerus deus fecit, elementa sunt aut in principatibus et potestatibus pro voluntate creatoris et suis meritis ordinati, et si quid de uno vero deo inter multa vana et falsa cecinerunt, colendo cum illo alios, qui di non sunt, eisque exhibendo famulatum, qui uni tantum debetur deo, non ei utique rite servierunt nec a fabuloso deorum suorum dedecore etiam ipsi se abstinere potuerunt — Orpheus, Musaeus, Linus. Verum isti theologi deos coluerunt, non pro dis culti sunt; quamuis Orpheum nescio quo modo infernis sacris vel potius sacrilegiis praeficere soleat civitas impiorum.

“During the same period of time (i. e. of the Hebrew judges) arose the poets, who were also called theologues, because they made hymns about the Gods; yet about such Gods as, although great men, were yet but men, or the elements of this world which the true god made, or creatures who were ordained as principalities and powers according to the will of the creator and their own merit. And if, among much that was vain and false, they sang anything of the one true god, yet, by worshipping him along with others who are not Gods, and showing them the service that is due to him alone, they did not serve him at all rightly; and even such poets as Orpheus, Musæus, and Linus, were unable to abstain from dishonoring their Gods by fables. But yet these theologues worshipped the Gods, and were not worshipped as Gods, although the city of the ungodly is wont, I know not how, to set Orpheus over the sacred, or rather sacrilegious, rites of hell.”

(trans. Marcus Dods, 1887)

Aurelius Augustinus Hipponensis: De civitate Dei contra paganos XVIII 24 (II 300, 19):

eodem Romulo regnante Thales Milesius fuisse perhibetur, unus e septem sapientibus, qui post theologos poetas, in quibus Orpheus maxime omnium nobilitatus est, σοφοί appellati sunt, quod est Latine sapientes.

“While Romulus reigned, Thales the Milesian is said to have lived, being one of the seven sages, who succeeded the theological poets, of whom Orpheus was the most renowned, and were called Σοφοί, that is, sages.”

(trans. Marcus Dods, 1887)

Aurelius Augustinus Hipponensis: De civitate Dei contra paganos XVIII 37 (II 327, 2):

soli igitur illi theologi poetae, Orpheus, Linus, Musaeus et si quis alius apud Graecos fuit, his prophetis Hebraeis, quorum scripta in auctoritate habemus, annis reperiuntur priores.

“So that only those theological poets, Orpheus, Linus, and Musæus, and, it may be, some others among the Greeks, are found earlier in date than the Hebrew prophets whose writings we hold as authoritative.”

(trans. Marcus Dods, 1887)

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.