ORPHIC FRAGMENT 276

OTTO KERN

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


SUMMARY: The main fragment here is from De Mensibus by John Lydus and it discusses “the seventh day.”

276. (148) Περὶ τῶν μηνῶν Ἰωάννου Λαυρεντίου τοῦ Λυδού II 12 p. 33, 8 W. compare to Fr. Boertzier Philolog. LXXVII (N. F. XXXI) 1921, 370:

οἵ γε μὴν Πυθαγόρειοι τῶι ἡγεμόνι τοῦ παντὸς τὴν ἑβδόμην ἀνατίθενται, τουτέστι τῶι ἑνί, καὶ μάρτυς Ὀρφεὺς λέγων οὕτως·

ἑβδόμη, ἣν ἐφίλησεν ἄναξ ἑκάεργος Ἀπόλλων.

“Nevertheless, the Pythagoreans dedicate the seventh day to the sovereign of all, that is to say, to the One, and the witness is Orphéfs (Ὀρφεὺς), speaking in this way:

‘The seventh day, which the far-shooting lord Apóllôn (Ἀπόλλων) loved’ ”

(trans. by the author)

Compare to σχόλιον Πρόκλου επὶ Τιμαίου Πλάτωνος 34 a (II 95, 4 Ernst Diehl Procli Diadochi in Platonis Timaeum Commentaria):

διὰ τοῦτο καὶ ὁ περικόσμιος νοῦς μοναδικός τε καὶ ἑβδομαδικός ἐστιν, ὥς φησιν Ὀρφεύς.

“And on this account also the mundane intellect is, as Orpheus says, both monadic (ed. one), and hebdomadic (ed. seven).”

(trans. Thomas Taylor, 1820)

Italian: For this reason also the universal intellect is based on the one and on the seven, as Orpheus says.

Christian Lobeck Aglaophamus I 428; Hermann Diels Festschr. Gomperz 12; Josef Heeg 43; Wilhelm Heinrich Roscher Die hippokratische Schrift von der Siebenzahl und ihr Verhältnis zum Altpythagoreismus Ber. Saechs. Akad. 1919 n. 5 p. 57.

Γυναικῶν Κατάλογος Ἡσιόδου τμῆμα 116 Rz.3 (1913):

Ἰλέα, τόν ῥ’ ἐφίλησε ἄναξ Διὸς υἱὸς Ἀπόλλων.

“Ileus whom the lord Apollo, son of Zeus, loved”

(trans. Hugh G. Evelyn-White, 1914)


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.