ORPHIC CRITICAL TESTIMONY 75

OTTO KERN

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

SUMMARY: This testimony, from the Georgics of Vergil, says that for seven months Orpheus wept after he failed to retrieve Eurydice from the dead.

ORPHIC CRITICAL TESTIMONY 75.

Publii Vergilii Maronis Georgica IV 507 of Orpheus having returned from the Underworld:

Septem illum totos perhibent ex ordine menses

rupe sub aeria deserti ad Strymonis undam

flesse sibi et gelidis haec evolvisse sub antris

mulcentem tigres et agentem carmine quercus.

“For seven whole months unceasingly, men say,

Beneath a skyey crag, by thy lone wave,

Strymon, he wept, and in the caverns chill

Unrolled his story, melting tigers’ hearts,

And leading with his lay the oaks along.”

(trans. J. B. Greenough, 1900)

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.