ORPHIC FRAGMENT 248

OTTO KERN

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

SUMMARY: The main quotation in this fragment comes from the Christian, Clement of Alexandria, who tries to compare verses from an Orphic poem to verses from the Jewish Bible, implying that they were stolen therefrom.

248. (238. 239) Λόγος Στρώματα Κλήμεντος του Ἀλεξανδρέως V 14. 125, 1 (II 410, 19 Staeh.) ~ Εὑαγγελικὴ προπαρασκευὴ Εὐσεβίου XIII 401 (II 217, 13 Dind.):

καὶ <τὰ> διὰ Ἡσαΐου (40, 12) ‘τίς ἐμέτρησεν τὸν οὐρανὸν σκιθαμῆι καὶ πᾶσαν τὴν γῆν δρακί’; πάλιν (v. fragment 246) ὅταν εἴπηι (Ὀρφεύς)·

αἰθέρος ἠδ’ Ἀίδου, πόντου γαίης τε τύραννε,

ὃς βρονταῖς σείεις βριαρὸν δόμον Οὐλύμποιο·

δαίμονες ὃν φρίσσουσι[ν], θεῶν δὲ δέδοικεν ὅμιλος·

ᾧ Μοῖραι πείθονται, ἀμείλικτοί περ ἐοῦσαι·

ἄφθιτε, μητροπάτωρ, οὗ θυμῶι πάντα δονεῖται· 5

ὃς κινεῖς ἀνέμους, νεφέληισι δὲ πάντα καλύπτεις,

πρηστῆρσι σχίζων πλατὺν αἰθέρα· σὴ μὲν ἐν ἄστροις

τάξις, ἀναλλάκτοισιν ἐφημοσύναισ‹ι› τρέχουσα·

σῶι δὲ θρόνωι πυρόεντι παρεστᾶσιν πολύμοχθοι

ἄγγελοι, οἷσι μέμηλε βροτοῖς ὡς πάντα τελεῖται· 10

σὸν μὲν ἔαρ λάμπει νέον ἄνθεσι πορφυρέοισιν·

σὸς χειμὼν ψυχραῖσιν ἐπερχόμενος νεφέλαισιν·

σάς ποτε βακχευτὰς Βρόμιος διένειμεν ὀπώρας.

εἶτα ἐπιφέρει, ῥητῶς παντοκράτορα ὀνομάζων τὸν θεόν·

ἄφθιτον, ἀθάνατον, ῥητὸν μόνον ἀθανάτοισιν.

ἐλθέ, μέγιστε θεῶν πάντων, κρατερῆι σὺν ἀνάγκηι,

φρικτός, ἀήττητος, μέγας, ἄφθιτος, ὃν στέφει αἰθήρ.

διὰ μὲν τοῦ 'μητροπάτωῥ οὐ μόνον τὴν ἐκ μὴ ὄντων γένεσιν ἐμήνυσεν, δέδωκεν δὲ ἀφορμὰς τοῖς τὰς προβολὰς εἰσάγουσι τάχα καὶ σύζυγον νοῆσαι τοῦ θεοῦ· παραφράζει δὲ ἐκείνας τὰς προφητικὰς γραφάς, τήν τε διὰ Ὠσηὲ (Eus.; ἡσαΐου) ‘ἐγὼ στερεῶν βροντὴν καὶ κτίζων πνεῦμά (Amos 4, 13), οὗ αἱ χεῖρες τὴν στρατιὰν τοῦ οὐρανοῦ ἐθεμελίωσαν’ (τῶν ἀγγέλων ἐποίησαν Eus. Ο compare Hos. 13, 4 and other places indicated by Staehlin), καὶ τὴν διὰ Μωϋσέως (Deuteron. 32, 39)· 'ἴδετε, ἴδετε, ὅτι ἐγώ εἰμι, καὶ οὐκ ἔστι θεὸς ἕτερος πλὴν ἐμοῦ· ἐγὼ ἀποκτενῶ καὶ ζῆν ποιήσω· πατάξω κἀγὼ ἰάσομαι· καὶ οὐκ ἔστιν ὃς ἐξελεῖται ἐκ τῶν χειρῶν μου.

“and in Isaiah (40, 12), ‘Who has measured the heaven with a span, and the whole earth with His fist?’ Again (v. fragment 246), when it is said (by Ὀρφεύς):

‘Ruler of Ether, Hades, Sea, and Land,

Who with Your bolts Olympus’ strong-built home

Dost shake. Whom demons dread, and whom the throng

Of Gods do fear. Whom, too, the Fates obey,

Relentless though they be. O deathless One, 5

Our mother's Sire! Whose wrath makes all things reel;

Who mov’st the winds, and shroud’st in clouds the world,

Broad Ether cleaving with Your lightning gleams —

Yours is the order ‘mongst the stars, which run

As Your unchangeable behests direct. 10

Before Your burning throne the angels wait,

Much-working, charged to do all things, for men.

Your young Spring shines, all prank’d with purple flowers;

Your Winter with its chilling clouds assails;

Your Autumn noisy Bacchus distributes.’

“Then he adds, naming expressly the Almighty God:

‘Deathless Immortal, capable of being

To the immortals only uttered! Come,

Greatest of Gods, with strong Necessity.

Dread, invincible, great, deathless One,

Whom Ether crowns.’

“By the expression Sire of our Mother (μητροπάτωρ) he not only intimates creation out of nothing, but gives occasion to those who introduce emissions of imagining a consort of the Deity. And he paraphrases those prophetic Scripture — that in Isaiah, (Eus.; ἡσαΐου) ‘I am He that fixes the thunder, and creates the wind (Amos 4, 13); whose hands have founded the host of heaven’ (τῶν ἀγγέλων ἐποίησαν “they made that from the angels” Eus. Ο compare Hos. 13, 4 and other places indicated by Staehlin); and that in Moses (Deuteron. 32, 39), ‘Behold, behold that I am He, and there is no God beside me: I will kill, and I will make to live; I will smite, and I will heal: and there is none that shall deliver out of my hands.’ ”

(trans. William Wilson, 1885)

Follows fragment 245 verse 11. 12 v. in the same place n. 12.

Herm. III; Lobeck I 455.

Ad a 3 compare Pradel Griech. und sueditalien. Gebete etc. 1907 RVV III 3, 292 s.; to verse 5 μητροπάτωρ Usener Strena Helbigiana 316 = Kl. Schr. IV 335; to verse 10 ἄγγελοι Lobeck I 456 n. c; R. Heinz Xenokrates 113 n. 1; Achelis Zeitschr. neutestamentl. Wissensch. I 1900, 87 and Dieterich ibidem 336 = Kl. Schr. 193.

Compare moreover Oracula Sibyllina VIII 429-436 p. 169 Geffck.:

αὐτογένητος, ἄχραντος, ἀένναος ἀΐδιός τε,

οὐρανοῦχος ἰσχύι μετρῶν πυρόεσσαν αὐτμήν 430

καὶ πατάγου σκῆπτρον κατέχει σὺν ἀπηνέι πυρσῶι,

πρηΰνει τε βαρυκτυπέων δουπήματα βροντῶν,

γῆν κλονέων κατέχει ῥοιζήματα . . . . .

κἀστεροπῶν μάστιγας ἀπαμβλύνει πυροφεγγεῖς

ὄμβρων δ’ ἄσπετα χεύματ’ ἔχει ῥιπάς τε χαλάζης 435

κρυμαλέης νεφελῶν τε βολὰς καὶ χείματος ὁρμάς.

“Self-generated, undefiled, everlasting and eternal,

sky-holder traversing the fiery gale with vigor 430

and holding the sceptre of thunder with ferocious fire,

while softening the resounding clatter of the thunderings,

a raging whirring pours down upon the earth . . . . .

the star-faced one blunts the whips shining with fire

while pouring unceasing streams of rain and blasts of hail 435

from the icy cold and the blowing clouds and the surges of frost.

(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.

PLEASE NOTE: Throughout the pages of this website, you will find fascinating stories about our Gods. These narratives are known as mythology, the traditional stories of the Gods and Heroes. While these tales are great mystical vehicles containing transcendent truth, they are symbolic and should not be taken literally. A literal reading will frequently yield an erroneous result. The meaning of the myths is concealed in code. To understand them requires a key. For instance, when a God kills someone, this usually means a transformation of the soul to a higher level. Similarly, sexual union with a God is a transformation.

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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