ORPHIC CRITICAL TESTIMONY 91

OTTO KERN

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

SUMMARY: This testimony, from Rhesus by Euripides, says that Orpheus revealed the Mysteries to the people of Troy. The quotation refers to “those dark Mysteries with their torch processions;” by “torches” it would seem that the text is implying the Eleusinian Mysteries.

ORPHIC CRITICAL TESTIMONY 91.

Ῥῆσος Εὐριπίδου 941*:

Μοῦσα·

καίτοι πόλιν σὴν σύγγονοι πρεσβεύομεν

Μοῦσαι μάλιστα κἀπιχρώμεθα χθονί,

μυστηρίων τε τῶν ἀπορρήτων φανὰς

ἔδειξεν Ὀρφεύς, αὐτανέψιος νεκροῦ (sc. Rhesi)

τοῦδ᾽ ὃν κατακτείνεις σύ ^† Μουσαῖόν τε, σὸν

σεμνὸν πολίτην κἀπὶ πλεῖστον ἄνδρ᾽ ἕνα

ἐλθόντα Φοῖβος σύγγονοί τ᾽ ἠσκήσαμεν.

καὶ τῶνδε μισθὸν παῖδ᾽ ἔχουσ᾽ ἐν ἀγκάλαις

θρηνῶ.

“And yet we sister Muses do special honor to your city, your land we chiefly haunt; and those dark mysteries with their torch processions were revealed by Orpheus, cousin of this dead man (that is, Ῥῆσος) whom you have slain. Musaeus, too, your holy citizen, of all men most advanced in lore, was trained by Phoebus and us, the nine sisters. And here is your reward for this; in my arms I hold my child and mourn for him.”

(trans. E. P. Coleridge, 1891)

*Translator’s note: I’ve included a little bit more before and after what Kern cited to put the quotation in context.

^†Both.] τοῦδ’ οὖν κατακτείνασα take your choice τοῦδ’ οὕνεκα κτείνασα codd., τοῦδ’ οὗ γελᾶις κτείνασα Reisk.

Herman Diels II³ 166 n. 10.

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.