ORPHIC CRITICAL TESTIMONY 60

OTTO KERN

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SUMMARY: This testimony shows the belief that Orpheus, while yet himself alive, went to the Underworld to bring back the dead (specifically his love Euridice).

ORPHIC CRITICAL TESTIMONY 60.

Βούσιρις τοῦ Ἰσοκράτους 8:

ἢ τοῖς Ὀρφέως ἔργοις ὁμοιώσωμεν· ἀλλ᾽ ὁ μὲν ἐξ Ἅιδου τοὺς τεθνεῶτας ἀνῆγεν, ὁ δὲ πρὸ μοίρας τοὺς ζῶντας ἀπώλλυεν.

“Or should we compare his (Βούσιρις) acts to Orphéfs (Ὀρφεύς)? But Orphéfs was leading the dead up from Aidîs (Ἅιδης), but Vousiris (Βούσιρις) slew the living sooner than their fair share.”

(trans. by the author)

Συμπόσιον Πλάτωνος 179 d:

Ὀρφέα δὲ τὸν Οἰάγρου ἀτελῆ ἀπέπεμψαν ἐξ Ἅιδου, φάσμα (B] φάντασμα TW) δείξαντες τῆς γυναικὸς ἐφ᾽ ἣν ἧκεν, αὐτὴν δὲ οὐ δόντες, ὅτι μαλθακίζεσθαι ἐδόκει, ἅτε ὢν κιθαρωιδός, καὶ οὐ τολμᾶν ἕνεκα τοῦ ἔρωτος ἀποθνήισκειν ὥσπερ Ἄλκηστις, ἀλλὰ διαμηχανᾶσθαι (BT] διαμηχανήσασθαι W) ζῶν εἰσιέναι εἰς Ἅιδου. τοιγάρτοι διὰ ταῦτα δίκην αὐτῶι ἐπέθεσαν, καὶ ἐποίησαν τὸν θάνατον αὐτοῦ ὑπὸ γυναικῶν γενέσθαι.

“But Orpheus, the son of Oeagrus, the harper, they sent empty away, and presented to him an apparition only of her whom he sought, but herself they would not give up, because he showed no spirit; he was only a harp-player, and did not dare like Alcestis to die for love, but was contriving how he might enter Hades alive; moreover, they afterwards caused him to suffer death at the hands of women, as the punishment of his cowardliness.”

(trans. Benjamin Jowett, 1892)

Compare to Φαίδων Πλάτωνος 68 a:

ἢ ἀνθρωπίνων μὲν παιδικῶν καὶ γυναικῶν καὶ ὑέων ἀποθανόντων πολλοὶ δὴ ἑκόντες ἠθέλησαν εἰς Ἅιδου μετελθεῖν.

“Many a man has been willing to go to the world below animated by the hope of seeing there an earthly love, or wife, or son, and conversing with them. And will he who is a true lover of wisdom, and is strongly persuaded in like manner that only in the world below he can worthily enjoy her, still repine at death?”

(trans. Benjamin Jowett, 1892)

Weber 19 ss. 37; Kern l. l. 13.


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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