ORPHIC FRAGMENT 293
OTTO KERN
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For links to many more fragments: The Orphic Fragments of Otto Kern.
SUMMARY: This fragment is from the historian Diodorus of Sicily, who claims that Orpheus acquired his knowledge of religion in Egypt, including his knowledge of the Underworld, which Diodorus believes is simply the tombs of the Pharaohs.
293. (Abel 153) Βιβλιοθήκη ἱστορικὴ Διοδώρου Σικελιώτου 1.96.2 from Hecataeus of Abdera (Ἑκαταῖος ὁ Ἀβδηρίτης), Schwartz RE2 V 671, compare to Ernst Maaß Orpheus p. 114 n. 151):
1.96.2: οἱ γὰρ ἱερεῖς τῶν Αἰγυπτίων ἱστοροῦσιν ἐκ τῶν ἀναγραφῶν τῶν ἐν ταῖς ἱεραῖς βίβλοις παραβαλεῖν πρὸς ἑαυτοὺς τὸ παλαιὸν Ὀρφέα τε καὶ Μουσαῖον καὶ Μελάμποδα καὶ Δαίδαλον, πρὸς δὲ τούτοις Ὅμηρόν τε τὸν ποιητὴν . . .
“For the priests of Egypt recount from the records of their sacred books that they were visited in early times by Orpheus, Musaeus, Melampus, and Daedalus, also by the poet Homer . . .”
(Charles Henry Oldfather, 1933)
1.96.3: πάντων δὲ τούτων σημεῖα δεικνύουσι τῶν μὲν εἰκόνας, τῶν δὲ τόπων ἢ κατασκευασμάτων ὁμωνύμους προσηγορίας, ἔκ τε τῆς ἑκάστωι ζηλωθείσης παιδείας ἀποδείξεις φέρουσι, συνιστάντες ἐξ Αἰγύπτου μετενηνέχθαι πάντα δι᾽ ὧν παρὰ τοῖς Ἕλλησιν ἐθαυμάσθησαν.
“As evidence for the visits of all these men they point in some cases to their statues and in others to places or buildings which bear their names, and they offer proofs from the branch of learning which each one of these men pursued, arguing that all the things for which they were admired among the Greeks were transferred from Egypt.”
(Charles Henry Oldfather, 1933)
1.96.4: Ὀρφέα μὲν γὰρ τῶν μυστικῶν τελετῶν τὰ πλεῖστα καὶ τὰ περὶ τὴν ἑαυτοῦ πλάνην ὀργιαζόμενα καὶ τὴν τῶν ἐν Ἅιδου μυθοποιίαν ἀπενέγκασθαι.
“Orpheus, for instance, brought from Egypt most of his mystic ceremonies, the orgiastic rites that accompanied his wanderings, and his fabulous account of his experiences in Hades.”
(Charles Henry Oldfather, 1933)
1.96.5: τὴν μὲν γὰρ Ὀσίριδος τελετὴν τῆι Διονύσου τὴν αὐτὴν εἶναι, τὴν δὲ τῆς Ἴσιδος τῆι τῆς Δήμητρος ὁμοιοτάτην ὑπάρχειν, τῶν ὀνομάτων μόνων ἐνηλλαγμένων. τὰς δὲ τῶν ἀσεβῶν ἐν Ἅιδου τιμωρίας καὶ τοὺς τῶν εὐσεβῶν λειμῶνας καὶ τὰς παρὰ τοῖς πολλοῖς εἰδωλοποιίας ἀναπεπλασμένας παρεισαγαγεῖν μιμησάμενον τὰ γινόμενα περὶ τὰς ταφὰς τὰς κατ᾽ Αἴγυπτον.
“For the rite of Osiris is the same as that of Dionysus and that of Isis very similar to that of Demeter, the names alone having been interchanged; and the punishments in Hades of the unrighteous, the Fields of the Righteous, and the fantastic conceptions, current among the many, which are figments of the imagination — all these were introduced by Orpheus in imitation of the Egyptian funeral customs.”
(Charles Henry Oldfather, 1933)
1.96.6: τὸν μὲν γὰρ ψυχοπομπὸν Ἑρμῆν κατὰ τὸ παλαιὸν νόμιμον παρ᾽ Αἰγυπτίοις ἀναγαγόντα τὸ τοῦ Ἄπιδος σῶμα μέχρι τινὸς παραδιδόναι τῶι περικειμένωι τὴν τοῦ Κερβέρου προτομήν. τοῦ δ᾽ Ὀρφέως τοῦτο καταδείξαντος παρὰ τοῖς Ἕλλησι τὸν Ὅμηρον ἀκολούθως τούτωι θεῖναι κατὰ τὴν ποίησιν (Ὀδύσσεια Ὁμήρου 24.1-2)
Ἑρμῆς δὲ ψυχὰς Κυλλήνιος ἐξεκαλεῖτο
ἀνδρῶν μνηστήρων, ἔχε δὲ ῥάβδον μετὰ χερσίν.
εἶτα πάλιν ὑποβάντα λέγειν
πὰρ δ᾽ ἴσαν Ὠκεανοῦ τε ῥοὰς καὶ Λευκάδα πέτρην,
ἠδὲ παρ᾽ Ἠελίοιο πύλας καὶ δῆμον Ὀνείρων
ἤισαν· αἶψα δ᾽ ἵκοντο κατ᾽ ἀσφοδελὸν λειμῶνα,
ἔνθα τε ναίουσι ψυχαί, εἴδωλα καμόντων.
“Hermes, for instance, the Conductor of Souls, according to the ancient Egyptian custom, brings up the body of the Apis to a certain point and then gives it over to one who wears the mask of Cerberus. And after Orpheus had introduced this notion among the Greeks, Homer followed it when he wrote:
‘Cyllenian Hermes then did summon forth
The suitors's souls, holding his wand in hand.”
“And again a little further on he says:
‘They passed Oceanus' streams, the Gleaming Rock,
The Portals of the Sun, the Land of Dreams;
And now they reached the Meadow of Asphodel,
Where dwell the Souls, the shades of men outworn.”
(Charles Henry Oldfather, 1933)
1.96.7: ὠκεανὸν μὲν οὖν καλεῖν τὸν ποταμὸν διὰ τὸ τοὺς Αἰγυπτίους κατὰ τὴν ἰδίαν διάλεκτον Ὠκεανὸν λέγειν τὸν Νεῖλον, Ἡλίου δὲ πύλας τὴν πόλιν τὴν τῶν Ἡλιοπολιτῶν, λειμῶνα δ᾽ ὀνομάζειν, τὴν μυθολογουμένην οἴκησιν τῶν μετηλλαχότων, τὸν παρὰ τὴν λίμνην τόπον τὴν καλουμένην μὲν Ἀχερουσίαν, πλησίον δὲ οὖσαν τῆς Μέμφεως, ὄντων περὶ αὐτὴν λειμώνων καλλίστων, ἕλους καὶ λωτοῦ καὶ καλάμου. ἀκολούθως δ᾽ εἰρῆσθαι καὶ τὸ κατοικεῖν τοὺς τελευτήσαντας ἐν τούτοις τοῖς τόποις διὰ τὸ τὰς τῶν Αἰγυπτίων ταφὰς τὰς πλείστας καὶ μεγίστας ἐνταῦθα γίνεσθαι, διαπορθμευομένων μὲν τῶν νεκρῶν διά τε τοῦ ποταμοῦ καὶ τῆς Ἀχερουσίας λίμνης, τιθεμένων δὲ τῶν σωμάτων εἰς τὰς ἐνταῦθα κειμένας θήκας.
“Now he calls the river ‘Oceanus’ because in their language the Egyptians speak of the Nile as Oceanus; the ‘Portals of the Sun’ (Heliopulai) is his name for the city of Heliopolis; and ‘Meadows,’ the mythical dwelling of the dead, is his term for the place near the lake which is called Acherousia, which is near Memphis, and around it are fairest meadows, of a marsh-land and lotus and reeds. The same explanation also serves for the statement that the dwelling of the dead is in these regions, since the most and the largest tombs of the Egyptians are situated there, the dead being ferried across both the river and Lake Acherousia and their bodies laid in the vaults situated there.”
(Charles Henry Oldfather, 1933)
1.96.8: συμφωνεῖν δὲ καὶ τἄλλα τὰ παρὰ τοῖς Ἕλλησι καθ᾽ Ἄιδου μυθολογούμενα τοῖς ἔτι νῦν γινομένοις κατ᾽ Αἴγυπτον.
“The other myths about Hades, current among the Greeks, also agree with the customs which are practised even now in Egypt.”
(Charles Henry Oldfather, 1933)
Compare to Φιλοσοφούμενα ή κατὰ πασὼν τῶν αἱρέσεων ἔλεγχος τοῦ Ἱππολύτου τῆς Ῥώμης V 7, 30, Refutatio omnium haeresium p. 86, 1 Paul Wendland editor, reporting the same verse of Homer:
οὐδὲ τοὺς ποιητὰς τῶν ἐθνῶν λανθάνει λέγοντας οὕτως.
“It does not escape the poets of the peoples saying so.”
(trans. by the author)
Christian Lobeck Aglaophamus I 240; II 811; Ulrich Wilcken Jahrbuch des Kaiserlich Deutschen Archäologischen Instituts XXXII 1917, 196.
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.
