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

SUMMARY: This fragment states that the souls of the animals fly about in the air after death, awaiting rebirth, while the souls of man are taken to Hades by Hermes.

223. (224) σχόλιον Πρόκλου επὶ Πολιτείας Πλάτωνος II 339, 17 Guilelmus Kroll:

ὅτι δὲ καὶ ἰδία τῶν ἀλόγων τίς ἐστιν ψύχωσις, ἀλλ’ οὐκ ἀπὸ μόνων τῶν ανθρωπίνων ψυχῶν, δηλοῖ λέγων ὁ Ὀρφεύς·

αἱ µὲν δὴ θηρῶν τε καὶ οἰωνῶν πτεροέντων 1

ψυχαὶ ὅτ’ ἀίξωσι, λίπηι δέ µιν ἱερὸς αἰών,

τῶν οὔ τις ψυχὴν παράγει δόµον εἰς Ἀίδαο,

ἀλλ’ αὐτοῦ πεπότηται ἐτώσιον [1], εἰς ὅ κεν αὐτὴν

ἄλλο ἀφαρπάζηι µίγδην ἀνέµοιο πνοῆισιν· 5

ὁππότε δ' ἄνθρωπος προλίπηι φάος ἠελίοιο,

ψυχὰς ἀθανάτας κατάγει Κυλλήνιος Ἑρµῆς

γαίης ἐς κευθµῶνα πελώριον·

|^{340 Kr.} δι’ ὧν τὰς μὲν ἀνθρωπίνας ψυχὰς βούλεται χωρεῖν εἰς τὸν ὑποχθόνιον τόπον καθάρσεως ἕνεκα καὶ κολάσεως καὶ εἰς τὰ δεσμωτήρια τῆς τείσεως, τὰς δὲ τῶν ἀλόγων αὐτοῦ περί τὸν ἀέρα πωτᾶσθαι, μέχρις ἂν εἰς ἄλλα σώματα πάλιν ἐνδεθῶσιν. εἰ δ’ ἦσαν καὶ αἱ τῶν ἀλόγων ψυχώσεις ἀπὸ ψυχῶν ἀνθρωπίνων μόνων, πάσας ἔδει φάναι τὸν Ἑρμῆν εἰς Ἅιδου κατάγειν ἢ καθαρθησομένας ἢ κολασθησομένας· ὥσπερ καὶ Πλάτων (Γοργίας Πλάτωνος 523 b [2]) ποιεῖ καὶ τὰς ἐκ τῶν ἀλόγων, ἀνθρωπίνας δὲ οὔσας ψυχὰς εἰς τὸν ὑπὸ γῆς τόπον ἀπάγων καὶ πάλιν εκείθεν στέλλων εἰς ἄλλας βίων αἱρέσεις, ἃ δὴ πρότερον ἐπεδείξαμεν

“And that also there is an animating principle peculiar to irrational creatures (animals), but not exactly like the souls of men, as Orphéfs (Ὀρφεύς) made clear, saying:

‘Surely when the souls of beasts and winged birds 1

darted forth, and sacred life quit them,

no-one leads this soul to the house of Aidîs (Ἅιδης),

but it has flown there, hither and thither, in vain [1], toward herself,

until another body snatches her away confusedly in the blasts of the wind. 5

But when man abandons the light of the sun,

Ærmís Kyllínios (Ἑρµῆς Κυλλήνιος) leads immortal souls down

into the enormous hollow of the earth.’ ”

“Through these (words), accordingly, (Plátôn is saying) that the human soul is willing to advance into the subterranean region for purification and punishment and to imprisonments for retribution, but the animals themselves fly about in the air, until they are entangled in other bodies. But even if the vital forces of animals were the same as the human souls, he (Πλάτων) would need to say that Ærmís leads them all down into Aidîs, either to purify or to punish. Even as Plátôn (Πλάτων) [2] writes also, that the souls of animals are as those of the humans, being souls heading into a place under earth and back from that place, making them ready for different choices of lives, things which we pointed out before.”

(trans. by the author)

NOTES:

[1] ἐτώσιος is usually translated “to no purpose,” “in vain,” “fruitless” etc., but it can also have the connotation of being incomplete or unfinished. The souls of animals are not yet “finished,” and that the human soul is the eventual result of the progress of the soul.

[2] Γοργίας Πλάτωνος 523 a-b:

ἦν οὖν νόμος ὅδε περὶ ἀνθρώπων ἐπὶ Κρόνου, καὶ ἀεὶ καὶ νῦν ἔτι ἔστιν ἐν θεοῖς, τῶν ἀνθρώπων τὸν μὲν δικαίως τὸν βίον διελθόντα καὶ ὁσίως, ἐπειδὰν τελευτήσῃ, εἰς μακάρων νήσους ἀπιόντα οἰκεῖν ἐν πάσῃ εὐδαιμονίᾳ ἐκτὸς κακῶν, τὸν δὲ ἀδίκως καὶ ἀθέως εἰς τὸ τῆς τίσεώς τε καὶ δίκης δεσμωτήριον, ὃ δὴ Τάρταρον καλοῦσιν, ἰέναι. τούτων δὲ δικασταὶ ἐπὶ Κρόνου καὶ ἔτι νεωστὶ τοῦ Διὸς τὴν ἀρχὴν ἔχοντος ζῶντες ἦσαν ζώντων, ἐκείνῃ τῇ ἡμέρᾳ δικάζοντες ᾗ μέλλοιεν τελευτᾶν: κακῶς οὖν αἱ δίκαι ἐκρίνοντο.

“Now in the days of Cronos (Κρόνος) there existed a law respecting the destiny of man, which has always been, and still continues to be in Heaven,---that he who has lived all his life in justice and holiness shall go, when he is dead, to the Islands of the Blessed, and dwell there in perfect happiness out of the reach of evil; but that he who has lived unjustly and impiously shall go to the house of vengeance and punishment, which is called Tartarus.”

(trans. Benjamin Jowett, 1892)

Preller Rhein. Mus. IV 1845, 390 = Ausgew. Aufs. aus der class. Altertumsw. 362; Kern Aus der Anomia 87; Dieterich Abraxas 65, Nekyia 135; Zeller Zeitschr. wiss. Theol. XLII 1899, 237. 255 = Kl. Schr. II 156. 172.

For verse 6 compare fragment 32 f (Golden tablet from Thuriis cum c-e reperta) verse 1.

For verse 8 compare Θεογονία Ἡσιόδου 158:

Γαίης ἐν κευθμῶνι

“In the hollow of Earth.”

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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