ORPHIC CRITICAL TESTIMONY 52

OTTO KERN

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

SUMMARY: This testimony is from Culex, the poem of Virgil, in which the Latin poet says that throngs of beasts were enticed by the voice of Orpheus and that the oak dislodged itself, root and all, on hearing him.

ORPHIC CRITICAL TESTIMONY 52.

Publius Vergilius Maro: Culex (“The Gnat”) 117:

tantum non Orpheus Hebrum restantem tenuit ripis silvasque canendo.

“And Orpheus by his singing didn't hold

The Hebrus standing still between its banks

And woods”

(trans. Joseph J. Mooney, 1916)

Compare to Vergilius: Culex 278.

iam rapidi steterant amnes et turba ferarum

blanda voce sequax regionem insederat orphei;

iamque imam viridi radicem moverat alte

quercus humo [steterant amnes] silvaeque sonorae sponte sua cantus rapiebant cortice avara.

“Already rapid streams had stood

And throngs of beasts had occupied the place

Enticed by Orpheus's alluring voice,

And now the oak had from the verdant soil

Dislodged on high its lowest root [the streams

Had stood] and of themselves the sounding woods

Were soaking up his songs with greedy bark.”

(trans. Joseph J. Mooney, 1916)

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.