ORPHIC CRITICAL TESTIMONY 70
OTTO KERN
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For links to many more fragments: The Orphic Fragments of Otto Kern.
SUMMARY: This testimony begins with a gloomy description of the Underworld as Orpheus enters, and continues with the effect of his music on the inhabitants as he began to sing.
ORPHIC CRITICAL TESTIMONY 70.
Publii Vergilii Maronis Georgica IV 469:
ingressus manesque adiit regemque tremendum
nesciaque humanis precibus mansuescere corda.
At cantu commotae Erebi de sedibus imis
umbrae ibant tenues simulacraque luce carentum,
quam multa in foliis avium se milia condunt
vesper ubi aut hibernus agit de montibus imber,
matres atque viri defunctaque corpora vita
magnanimum heroum, pueri innuptaeque puellae
impositique rogis iuvenes ante ora parentum.
“Entered, and faced the Manes and the King
Of terrors, the stone heart no prayer can tame.
Then from the deepest deeps of Erebus,
Wrung by his minstrelsy, the hollow shades
Came trooping, ghostly semblances of forms
Lost to the light, as birds by myriads hie (ed. “go quickly”)
To greenwood boughs for cover, when twilight-hour
Or storms of winter chase them from the hills;
Matrons and men, and great heroic frames
Done with life's service, boys, unwedded girls,
Youths placed on pyre before their fathers’ eyes.”
(trans. J. B. Greenough, 1900)
Publii Vergilii Maronis Georgica IV 481:
Quin ipsae stupuere domus atque intima Leti
tartara caeruleosque implexae crinibus angues
Eumenides, tenuitque inhians tria Cerberus ora
atque Ixionii vento rota constitit orbis.
“Nay, even the deep Tartarean Halls of death
Stood lost in wonderment, and the Eumenides,
Their brows with livid locks of serpents twined;
Even Cerberus held his triple jaws agape,
And, the wind hushed, Ixion's wheel stood still.”
(trans. J. B. Greenough, 1900)
He is imitated by others (including) Orpheus Lucani fr. 3 Hos.:
nunc plenas posuere colos et stamina Parcae, multaque delatis (dilatis Baehrens) haeserunt saecula filis.
“Now the Fates put down their full spindles and threads; and because the threads had fallen down, many generations were left suspended.”
(trans by the author)
G. Ettig Acheruntica Leips. Stud. XIII 1891, 317 n. 6.
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.
