ORPHIC CRITICAL TESTIMONY 203
OTTO KERN
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For links to many more fragments: The Orphic Fragments of Otto Kern.
ORPHEOTELESTAE (Orphic Priests; v. also nrr. 212-219)
SUMMARY: This testimony, with quotes from Plutarch and Diogenes Laërtius, says that the Orphic priests promised happiness after death.
ORPHIC CRITICAL TESTIMONY 203
Ἠθικὰ Πλουτάρχου· 16. 224 e Ἀποφθέγματα Λακωνικά (alternate numbering 49.3) Læôtyhídas (Λεωτυχίδας) son of Arístôn (Ἀρίστων) (King of Sparta 491-469 BCE) 3:
πρὸς Φίλιππον τὸν Ὀρφεοτελεστὴν παντελῶς πτωχὸν ὄντα, λέγοντα δ᾽ ὅτι οἱ παρ᾽ αὐτῶι μυηθέντες μετὰ τὴν τοῦ βίου τελευτὴν εὐδαιμονοῦσι, ‘τί οὖν, ὦ ἀνόητε,' εἶπεν, ‘οὐ τὴν ταχίστην ἀποθνήισκεις, ἵν᾽ ἅμαπαύσηι (ἅμα παύσηι Bern) κακοδαιμονίαν καὶ πενίαν κλαίων.
“This is his retort to Philip, the priest of the Orphic mysteries, who was in the direst straits of poverty, but used to assert that those who were initiated under his rites were happy after the conclusion of this life; to him Leotychidas said, ‘You idiot! Why then don't you die as speedily as possible so that you may with that cease from bewailing your unhappiness and poverty?’ ”
(trans. Frank Cole Babbitt, 1931 but Public Domain)
Christian Lobeck Aglaophamus I 644;
Carl Otfried Mueller Prolegomena zu einer wissenschaftlichen Mythologie 381;
Erwin Rohde Psyche II6 111 n.
The same thing is told in Βίοι καὶ γνῶμαι τῶν ἐν φιλοσοφίᾳ εὐδοκιμησάντων Διογένους Λαερτίου VI 1, 4 about Andisthǽnîs (Ἀντισθένης):
μυούμενός ποτε τὰ Ὀρφικά, τοῦ ἱερέως εἰπόντος, ὅτι οἱ ταῦτα μυούμενοι πολλῶν ἐν Ἅιδου ἀγαθῶν μετίσχουσι, ‘τί οὖν’, ἔφη, ‘οὐκ ἀποθνήισκεις’
“When he was being initiated into the mysteries of Orpheus, and the priest said that those who were initiated enjoyed many good things in the shades below, ‘Why, then,’ said he ‘do not you die?’ ”
(trans. C. D. Yonge, 1853)
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.
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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.
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