ORPHIC CRITICAL TESTIMONY 23

OTTO KERN

HellenicGods.org

HOME GLOSSARY RESOURCE ART LOGOS CONTACT

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

SUMMARY: This testimony consists of various opinions as to who was the father of Orpheus, with the majority saying that his father was Oeagrus.

ORPHIC CRITICAL TESTIMONY 23.

Οἴαγρος (about the name v. Bechtel as found in Kern l. l. 16).

τμῆμα 139 Πινδάρου a. b Schr. (schol. A Res. 895 compare schol. Pind. nr. 22)·

υἱὸν Οἰάγρου <δ’> Ὀρφέα χρυσάορα...

“But the son of Oeagrus, Orpheus of the golden sword*...”

(trans. Sir J. E. Sandys, 1915)

*Sandys’ note concerning this line: “Linus, Hymenaeus, and Iâlemus were sons of Apollo by one or other of the Muses. Linus, the personification of lamentation, was said to be his son by Terpsichorê or Euterpê, and the word αἴλινος, used for ‘a plaintive dirge,’ is supposed to be derived from αἶ Λίνον, ‘ah me for Linus’ (Pausanias, ix 29, 8). Hymenaeus, son of Urania, is the God of marriage, who was invoked in the bridal song. Iâlemus was a son of Calliopê, and his name is a synonym for ‘a dirge’ or ‘lament.’ Orpheus was also described as a son of Calliopê. At the end of the above passage he is called a son of the (Thracian) Oeagrus, but (like Linus, Hymenaeus, and Iâlemus) he is sometimes called a son of Apollo.”

(Sir J. E. Sandys, 1915)

Συμπόσιον Πλάτωνος 179 d nr. 60·

Ὀρφέα δὲ τὸν Οἰάγρου ἀτελῆ ἀπέπεμψαν ἐξ Ἅιδου

“But they sent Orphéfs (Ὀρφεύς), the son of Íagros (Οἴαγρος), back from Aidîs (Ἅιδης), not accomplishing his purpose.”

(trans. by the author)

Ἀργοναυτικὰ Ἀπολλωνίου Ῥοδίου I 23·

πρωτά νυν Ὀρφῆος μνησώμεθα, τον ρά ποτ’ αὐτὴ

Καλλιόπη Θρήϊκι φατίζεται εὐνηθεῖσα

Οἰάγωι σκοπιῆς Πιμπληΐδος ἄγχι τεκέσθαι,

(Ὀρφεύς) Οἰαγρίδης

“First then let us name Orpheus whom once

Calliope bare, it is said, wedded to Thracian

Oeagrus, near the Pimpleian height.”

(trans. R. C. Seaton, 1912)

(Ὀρφεύς) Οἰαγρίδης· “(Orpheus) the son of Íagros (Οἴαγρος).” Nicandr. Ther. 462 nr. 51; Hermesianax nr. 61; Phanocles nr. 77; Pseudo-Aristoteles Peplus 48 nr. 124; Ovid. Ib. 480.

Βιβλιοθήκη Ἀπολλοδώρου 1.9.16 (Frazer) or 1.111 (Aldrich) Ὀρφεύς Οἰάγρου (in the Catalog of Argonauts) nr. 22:

Ὀρφεύς Οἰάγρου

“Orphéfs (Ὀρφεύς) son of Íagros (Οἴαγρος)”

v. Gruppe ap. Rosch. III 1073 and Robert Heldens. I 410 n. 5.

On the Oeagrus River of Thrace: Maurus Servius Honoratus, Commentary on the Aeneid VI 645:

Orpheus Calliopes musae et Oeagri fluminis filius fuit.

“Orpheus was the son of Calliope the Muse and the river Oeagrus.”

Toepffer Att. Genealog. 34 n. 1 Oeagrus (Σοῦδα λεξικόν nr. 223:

ὁ δὲ Οἴαγρος πέμπτος ἀπὸ Ἄτλαντος κατὰ Ἀλκυόνην

“Íagros [Οἴαγρος] was the fifth [in line] from Átlas [Ἄτλας] through the [lineage of] Alkyónî [Ἁλκυόνη])

(trans. by the author)

According to Ællánikos (Ἑλλάνικος), Íagros (Οἴαγρος) was the son of Píæros (Πίερος) A. de Blumenthal l. l. 18 (nrr. 8. 9), Robert Heldens. l. l. and (according to) Khárax (Χάραξ ed. the historian) fr. 20 (FHG III 641 nr. 9).

But according to Βιβλιοθήκη ἱστορικὴ Διοδώρου Σικελιώτου III 65, 6 (Lobeck I 238) he was the son of Khárops (Χάροψ) (Maaß Orph. 153 n. 46):

Χάροπος (Θάροπος codd. cl. II) δ᾽ υἱὸν γενόμενον Οἴαγρον παραλαβεῖν τήν τε βασιλείαν καὶ τὰς ἐν τοῖς μυστηρίοις παραδεδομένας τελετάς, ἃς ὕστερον Ὀρφέα τὸν Οἰάγρου μαθόντα παρὰ τοῦ πατρός, καὶ φύσει καὶ παιδείαι τῶν ἁπάντων διενεγκόντα, πολλὰ μεταθεῖναι τῶν ἐν τοῖς ὀργίοις· διὸ καὶ τὰς ὑπὸ τοῦ Διονύσου γενομένας τελετὰς Ὀρφικὰς προσαγορευθῆναι.

“And Íagros (Οἴαγρος), the son of Khárops (Χάροψ), inherited the kingdom and the rites of initiation which were handed down in the Mysteries, which later Orphéfs (Ὀρφεύς), the son of Íagros (Οἴαγρος), learned from his father, and who, by nature and education, surpassed all; he changed many practices in the secret rites; and, therefore, the rites which (first) came about from Diónysos (Διόνυσος) were called Orphic.”

(trans. by the author)

(Οἴαγρος) the son of Árîs (Ἄρης) in Διονυσιακὰ Νόννου XIII 428:

καὶ θρασὺς υἱὸς Ἄρηος ἑὴν Πίμπλειαν ἐάσας

Βιστονίης Οἴαγρος ἐκώμασεν ἀστὸς ἀρούρης,

Ὀρφέα καλλείψας ἐπὶ γούνασι Καλλιοπείης

νήπιον ἀρτιχύτωι μεμελημένον εἰσέτι μαζῶι.

“Íagros (Οἴαγρος), the bold son of Árîs (Ἄρης), put aside his city Pímpleia (Πίμπλεια)

of the Vistonian (Βιστονίς, i. e. Thracian) land, and this citizen joined the revel (of Diónysos),

laying Orphéfs (Ὀρφεύς) on the knees of Kalliópî (Καλλιόπη),

an infant still enamored by the breast of mother’s milk.”

(trans. by the author)

Sithonius l. l. XXII 179; v. nr. 34

Ailianós (Αἰλιανός) thinks that Íagros (Οἴαγρος) is younger than Orphéfs (Ὀρφεύς) - Ποικίλη ἱστορία Κλαυδίου Αἰλιανοῦ XIV 21:

ὅτι Οἴαγρός τις ἐγένετο ποιητὴς μετ᾽ Ὀρφέα καὶ Μουσαῖον, ὃς λέγεται τὸν Τρωϊκὸν πόλεμον πρῶτος ἆισαι, μεγίστης οὗτος ὑποθέσεως λαβόμενος καὶ ἐπιτολμήσας ταύτηι.

“(They say) that Íagros (Οἴαγρος) became a poet after Orphéfs (Ὀρφεύς) and Mousaios (Μουσαῖος); he is said to have sang of the Trojan War, grasping this subject with great purpose and daring.”

(trans. by the author)

Οἴαγρος the name of a man - Σφῆκες Ἀριστοφάνους (The Wasps) 579 (of a tragic actor, which is absent in Kirchner); IG XII 5, 978, 1 (Teni).

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.