ORPHIC CRITICAL TESTIMONY 208

OTTO KERN

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SUMMARY: This testimony, from Andromenides as quoted in Philodemus, mentions an Orphic priest having a drum.

ORPHIC CRITICAL TESTIMONY 208

(From a letter sent to me by Christian Jensen) Andromænídîs (Ἀνδρομενίδης) as quoted in Περὶ ποιημάτων Φιλοδήμου fr. 41 Hausr. (N. Jahrb. Suppl. XVII 1889, 257):

>λίγον λόγον οὗτος Ὀρφεοτελεστοῦ τυμπάνωι καὶ παιδαγωγοῦ καλαμίδι προσθείς, ὅτι [1]δεῖ τὰ ψευδορήμονα[2] μὴ ξενόσ<τ>ομα μόνον εγλέγειν[3] αλλὰ κάλλιστα· κάλλιστα δ’ είναι τὰ τὰς συλλαβὰς <>χοντα πολλοῖς γράμμασιν ἐ<σ>παθημέν<ας, ὧν σχο>λῆι δράξασθαι <τ>ὸ σ<τ>ό<μα> καὶ ῥίπτ<ει>ν . . .

For the sake of clarity:

ὀλίγον λόγον οὗτος Ὀρφεοτελεστοῦ τυμπάνωι καὶ παιδαγωγοῦ καλαμίδι προσθείς, ὅτι [1]δεῖ τὰ ψευδορήμονα[2] μὴ ξενόστομα μόνον εγλέγειν[3] αλλὰ κάλλιστα· κάλλιστα δ’ είναι τὰ τὰς συλλαβὰς ἔχοντα πολλοῖς γράμμασιν ἐσπαθημένας, ὧν σχολῆι δράξασθαι τὸ στόμα καὶ ῥίπτειν . . .

“This (person has) little reason to have added, with the drum of the Orphic priest and the pen of the pedagogue, that ‘*it is necessary to choose not only invented, strange sounding words, but rather to choose those which are most beautiful; and the most beautiful are those having syllables of many letters, and of those, the mouth lays hold of them with leisure and winnows them out.’ ”

(trans. by the author)

TRANSLATOR’S NOTES:

[1] Richard Janko’s text (Philodemus: On Poems Book 1, Oxford, 2000, pp. 400-401) has a quotation mark at this point; it does not appear in Kern, but I adapted it because it seems to make sense in the passage.

[2] I assume from ψευδορρήμων but our word has only one ρ.

[3] ἐκλέγειν? ... “to choose.”


The story of the birth of the Gods: Orphic Theogony.

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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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