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

SUMMARY: This consists of a fragmentary hymn to various deities...Zeus, the Sun, and the Mother...reconstructed from a golden tablet.

I. Carmen Siculum

servatum in lamella aurea

47. Lamella aurea Thuriis in agro Sybaritico a. 1879 inventa, nunc in museo Neapolitano s. III-IV a. Chr. n. (cf. fr. 32 c-f) Edd. Murray ap. Harrison Prolegomena to the Study of Greek Religion 1903, 665 IV; Comparetti 10; Diels Festschr. Th. Gomperz 1902, 1; Vorsodrat. II³ 177 n. 21; Olivieri 22 d cum imagine 28.

Titulum difficillimum ex Dielesii (Vorsokr.) restitutione aliorum tentaminibus, quae Olivieri congessit, examinatis denuo edere e re esse mihi visum est Quae Comparetti de hoc exemplo τῶν λεγομένων ἀπορρήτων sectae Orphicae conicere sibi visus est, silentio praeterire malo (v. etiam O. Gruppe Berl. philol. Wochenschrift 1912, 103); sed et ea, quae nuper Ol. suo Marte protulit, hic fusius exponere non licet, cum ipse restitutionem suam commendare vix videatur. Attamen bibliopolarum Bonnensium permissu liberali reddidi exemplar quod Ol. confecit; sequitur p. 118 Dielesii ingeniosa restitutio, quam omnibus numeris absolutam esse vir summus ipse cautissime negavit.

πρατογόνωι [1] Γῆι ματρὶ ἔφη Κυβελήϊα [2] Κόρρα·

. . . . Δήμητρος . . . πανόπτα Ζεῦ . . . . . . . .

῞Ηλιε Πῦρ διὰ πάντ᾿ ἄστη [3] νίσεαι, ὅτε Νίκαις

ἠδὲ Τύχαις ἐφάνης [4] <καὶ ὁμοῦ> [5] παμμήστορι Μοίραι,

τῆι τοι γάννυα [6] πιαίνεις τῆι σῆι, κλυτὲ δαῖμον, [7]

δεσποτείαι· τὶν πάντα [8] δαμαστά, <τὰ> πάντα κρατυντά,

ἐμβρόντητα δὲ πάντα· <τὰ> Μοίρης τλητέα πάντη. [9]

μητέρι Πῦρ μέν μ᾿ ἆγ[ε], εἰ νῆστις οἶδ᾿ [10] <ὑπομεῖναι>,

ἑπτά τε νῆστιν νυξὶν ἢ μεθ᾿ ἡμέραν (?) ἐλινύεν. [11]

ἑπτῆμαρ τὶν νῆστις ἔην, [12] Ζεῦ Ὀλύμπιε [13] καὶ πανόπτα

῞Αλιε [14] . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

“To first-born Mother Earth, said the Kyvǽlian Daughter!

. . . . and of Demetra . . .Oh all-seeing Zefs (Ζεύς)! . . . . . . .

Oh Sun! Oh Fire! You will come through all the cities! when you were making Victory (Νίκη)

and Fortune (Τύχη) appear, together with the overseeing Fates (Μοίραι)!

Here you increase your brightness, oh glorious daimon,

with the power of a master! By means of you, all may be subdued, all things upheld,

and all struck by thunder! All that which must be endured of Fate.

Oh Fire, lead me to the Mother! If we know how to persist in our fasting:

seven days at night along with the days to rest.

For you I was fasting for seven days, Oh Olýmbios (Ὀλύμπιος) Zefs and all-seeing

Ílios (the Sun)! . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .” (trans. by the author)

[1] πρατογόνωι Diels] πρατόγονε vel πρωτόγονο<ς> ceteri.

[2] Κυβελήϊα Diels ] ΚΥΒΕΛΕΙΑ Iam.

[3] ἄστη Diels coll. Parmenide 1, 3 (I³ 148).

[4] ἐφάνης Diels] Orphicorum Phaneta ceteri intellexerunt cf. Diels Festschr. 13.

[5] <καὶ ὁμοῦ> Diels.

[6] γάννυα = γάνεα Buecheler.

[7] ΤΗΣΥΚΛΗΤΕΔΑΡΜΟΝ leg. Diels, unde elicuit τῆι σῆι, κλυτὲ δαῖμον.

[8] ΤΙΣΠΑΝΗ idem, unde τὶν πάντα.

[9] πάντη e ΤΕΑΠΗ idem.

[10] οἶδ' ex ΟΙΛ’ idem.

[11] ΗΜΕΡΑΛΕΓΙΝΥΕΤ idem, cuius commentarium quaeso inspicias.

[12] ΤΙΝΗΣΤΙΑΣΤΑΝ idem, unde τὶν νῆστις ἔην.

[13] Ζεῦ ΕΝΟΡΥΠΙΕ Iam., unde Diels Ὀλύμπιε, Olivieri ἐριούνιε.

[14] Post Ἅλιε sequuntur 19 litterae quae legi nequeunt; tum investigavit Diels δυσσεβέ<ων> ἄστακτα πυρὸς . . . πεδίου . . . Ῥαδαμ<α>νθυ . . . συμμήστορυ Μοίρην.

Orphicam de raptu Proserpinae traditionem in Sicilia notam fuisse e Timaeo (Diodor. V 2-5, cf. Cicero in Verr. IV 106; Geffcken Timaios’ Geographie des Westens 62; Malten Herm. XLV 1910, 521) coniecit Malten Arch. Religionsw. XII 1909, 426 cf. etiam O. Rossbach Castrogiovanni das alte Henna in Sicilien 1912, 15. Ceres voce raptae audita ex Sicilia advolans in tractatu papyraceo Berolinensi fr. 49 vs. 47. Ad vs. 1, unde hunc poetam Cererem Cybelen Terram Matrem Orphicorum modo commiscuisse patet, cf. quae Dielesius Festschr. 5 congessit (Malten Arch. Religionsw. XII 1909, 419 n. 2. 421) et infra s. ΙΕΡΟΙ ΛΟΓΟΙ.

The story of the birth of the Gods: Orphic Rhapsodic 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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