ORPHIC FRAGMENT 11 - OTTO KERN
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For links to many more fragments: The Orphic Fragments of Otto Kern.
SUMMARY: This fragment consists of a tiny phrase referring to a state in which some men are ripe for true pleasure, or who have attained this joy.
11. (254) Νόμοι Πλάτωνος II 669 d:
ποιηταὶ δὲ ἀνθρώπινοι σφόδρα τὰ τοιαῦτα ἐμπλέκοντες καὶ συγκυκῶντες ἀλόγως, γέλωτ᾽ ἂν παρασκευάζοιεν τῶν ἀνθρώπων ὅσους φησὶν Ὀρφεὺς
λαχεῖν ὥραν τῆς τέρψιος.
“But human poets are fond of introducing this sort of inconsistent mixture, and so make themselves ridiculous in the eyes of those who, as Orpheus says,
‘are ripe for true pleasure.’ ”
(trans. Benjamin Jowett, 1892)
Orphei sententia huiusmodi fuisse videtur: ὅσσοι <ἥβης μέτρον ἵκοντο> λάχον δέ τε τέρψιος ὣρην id est quicunque ad pubertatis annos et ad eam aetatem adoleverunt, quae Veneri matura habetur. hinc Plato transfert ad iudicii maturitatem, illudque musicae genus, de quo loquitur, omnibus, qui in his rebus aliquem sensum habeant veraeque voluptatis capaces sint, taedio fore dicit Lobeck II 948.
“The opinion of Orpheus is perceived to be like: ‘As many as <had come to the measure of their youthful prime> and attained the season of one’s share of pleasure’ (that is,) whosoever is in years of the age of maturity and at the time of life seasonable for Venus. Hence, Plato transfers this over to the maturity of judgement, that the genre of music of which he speaks, for all, they who have sensibility in these things have genuine pleasure, which, he says, is an approach to weariness.” Lobeck II 948.
(trans. by the author)Lobeck 1.1.; Diels II3 169 n. 2; Tannery Rev. de philol. XXV 1901, 313.
The story of the birth of the Gods: Orphic Rhapsodic 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.
This logo is the principal symbol of this website. It is called the CESS logo, i.e. the Children of the Earth and the Starry Sky. The Pætilía (Petelia, Πετηλία) and other golden tablets having this phrase are the inspiration for the symbol. The image represents this idea: Earth (divisible substance) and the Sky (continuous substance) are the two kozmogonic substances. The twelve stars represent the Natural Laws, the dominions of the Olympian Gods. In front of these symbols is the seven-stringed kithára (cithara, κιθάρα), the the lyre of Apóllôn (Apollo, Ἀπόλλων). It (here) represents the bond between Gods and mortals and is representative that we are the children of Orphéfs (Orpheus, Ὀρφεύς).
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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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