ORPHIC FRAGMENT 237

OTTO KERN

HellenicGods.org

HOME GLOSSARY RESOURCE ART LOGOS CONTACT

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

SUMMARY: In this fragment, Dionysus is called Phanes, Eubouleus, Antauges, and by many other names. In a second fragment, Dionysus is identified with the Sun.

237. (167) Macrobii Ambrosii Theodosii Saturnaliorum Libri Septem (Cornelius Labeo?) I 18, 12:

Orpheus quoque, solem volens intellegi, ait inter cetera

τήκων αἰθέρα δῖον, άκίνητον πρὶν ἐοντα,

ἐξανέφηνε θεοῖσιν ὥραν κάλλιστον ίδέσθαι,

ὃν δὴ νῦν καλέουσι Φάνητά τε καὶ Διόνυσον

Εὐβουλῆά τ’ ἄνακτα καὶ Ἀνταύγην ἀρίδηλον·

ἄλλοι δ’ ἄλλο καλοῦσιν ἐπιχθονίων ἀνθρώπων.

πρῶτος δ’ ἐς φάος ἤλθε, Διώνυσος δ’ ἐπεκλήθη,

οὗνεκα δινεῖται κατ' ἀπείρονα μακρὸν Ὄλυμπον·

ἀλλαχθεὶς δ' ὄνομ' ἔσχε, προσωνυμίας πρὸς ἕκαστον

παντοδαπὰς κατὰ καιρὸν ἀμειβομένοιο χρόνοιο.

Φάνητα dixit solem ἀπὸ τοῦ φῶτὸς καὶ φανεροῦ id est a lumine atque inluminatione, quia cunctis visitur cuncta conspiciens. Διόνυσος, ut ipse vates ait, ἀπὸ τοῦ δινεῖσθαι καὶ περιφέρεσθαι, id est quod circumferatur in ambitum.

“Orphéfs (Ὀρφεύς), wishing the sun to be understood, among other things, also says:

‘Dissolving the divine aithír (αἰθήρ), which had been until now unmoved,

he revealed season (ὥραν) to the Gods, the most beautiful to be seen,

the very one they now call Phánîs (Φάνης) and Diónysos,

and lord Evvouléfs (Εὐβουλεύς) and bright Antavyís (Ἀνταυγής);

some of the men upon earth call him one name, and others by another.

First he came into light, and was called Diónysos,

wherefore he whirls down from boundless high Ólymbos (Ὄλυμπος).

But then he was to change his name, epithets from everywhere,

of every kind, through the due course of changing time.’

“He (Ὀρφεύς) called the Sun Phánîs from φάος (“light”) and φανερός (“shining”), that is, by light and illumination, because he is seen by all, seeing everything. Diónysos, just as the poet himself says, ‘from spinning and rotating,’ is he who is moving around in a circle.”

(trans. by the author)

Θεοσοφία Αριστόκριτου 8 p. 96, 15 Bur. (v. etiam Bur. p. 54):

ὅτι τινὲς ἐδόξασαν, τὸν Ἀπόλλωνα εἶναι καὶ Ἥλιον. Αιγύπτιοι δὲ τὸν Ὄσιριν Ἥλιον ὠνόμασαν. μεθερμηνεύεται δὲ Ἑλληνικῆι διαλέκτωι Ὄσιρις ὁ πολυ<ό>φθαλμος ἀπὸ τοῦ πάντηι ἐπιβάλλοντα τὸν ἥλιον τὰς ἀκτῖνας ὥσπερ ὀφθαλμοῖς πολλοῖς πάσαν βλέπειν τὴν γῆν. τινὲς δὲ τῶν Ἑλλήνων καὶ Σίριον αὐτὸν παρωνύμως ὠνόμασαν, ἕτεροι δὲ Διόνυσον, ὡς καὶ Ὀρφεύς· τοὔνεκα . . . Διόνυσον. Vide infra s. ΙΕΡΟΣ ΛΟΓΟΣ [ΑΙΓΥΠΤΙΟΣ].

“Some conjectured that Apóllôn (Ἀπόλλων) also is the Sun. But the Egyptians called Ósiris (Ὄσιρις) the Sun. Translated into the Greek dialect ‘many-eyed Ósiris,’ (one can) see altogether the sun rays as his many eyes all looking upon the earth. But some of the Greeks also called him Sírios (?) by derivation from another name, and another Diónysos; and thus, as also Orphéfs (Ὀρφεύς) says: therefore (his name is) . . . Diónysos.”

(trans. by the author)

See further on s. SACRED LOGOS [EGYPTIAN].

Herm. VII vs. 1; Lobeck I 379. 497; Bentley Epist. ad Millium Opusc. philol. Lips. 1781, 456; Zoëga Abhdlgn. 217. 219; Schoemann Opusc. academ. II 14; Schuster 28; Zeller I⁶ 134 n. 2, Zeitschr. wiss. Theol. XLII 1899, 258 = Kl. Schr. II 174; Diels Festschr. Th. Gompers 1902, 13; Beth Wien. Stud. XXXIV 1912, 290.

See fragment 85 ss. and especially ὕμνος Ὀρφέως 6. Πρωτογόνου which can be found in fragment 87.

For verse 4 compare with Περὶ φύσεως τοῦ Ἐμπεδοκλέους τμῆμα 44 (Diels I3 243, 8):

ἀνταυγεῖ πρὸς Ὄλυμπον ἀταρβήτοισι προσώποις.

“It (Ἥλιος) reflects light towards Ólymbos (Ὄλυμπος) with a fearless face.”

(trans. by the author)

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.