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

SUMMARY: This group of fragments states that the first generation of mothers advance from only a father (Phanes).

98. (73) σχόλιον Πρόκλου επὶ Τιμαίου Πλάτωνος 31a (I 450, 22 Diehl):

ὁ δέ γε Φάνης μόνος τε πρόεισι καὶ ὁ αὐτὸς ἀνυμνεῖται θῆλυς καὶ γενέτωρ (fr. 81), παράγει δὲ τὰς Νύκτας, καὶ τῆι μέσηι σύνεστιν ὡς πατήρ·

αὐτὸς ἑῆς γὰρ παιδὸς ἀφείλετο κούριον ἄνθος.

“Phanes, however, proceeds by himself alone, and is celebrated as female and father. He also produces the [three] Nights, and is present with the middle Night. For he

‘Pluck’d the shorn flower of Night (Νύξ).’”

(trans. Thomas Taylor, 18200

Ἀπορίαι καὶ λύσεις περὶ τῶν πρώτων ἀρχῶν εἰς τὸν Πλάτωνος Παρμενίδην Δαμασκίου 244 (II 115, 24 Rue.):

καὶ μὴν πρὸς τὸ τέταρτον ἀπαντῆσαι ῥάιδιον ὅτι μετὰ τὴν νοητὴν καὶ ἀδιάκριτον ἕνωσιν ἔδει τινὰ προβληθῆναι διωρισμένην διάκρισιν τῶν προϊόντων ἣν εἰσῆγεν ὁ ἀριθμὸς καὶ μετὰ ταύτην φανῆναι τινα διοριζομένων συνέχειαν, οὐκ ἀφανίζουσαν τὴν πρόοδον ὡς ἡ ἕνωσης, ἀλλὰ συνεχίζουσαν καὶ εἰς συναφὴν τὴν πρὸς ἄλληλα συνάγουσαν τὰ διακριθέντα, ἵνα καὶ ἐν τῆι |^{116 Rue.} διακρίσει ἡνωμένα πως φαίνηται· καὶ τοῦτο μὲν ἀρρενωπόν, ὡς ἐν διακρίσει·πρὸ τούτου δέ, τὸ θῆλυ, οὐ τοῦ ἄρρενος τούτου θῆλυ ὄν, ἀλλὰ τοῦ νοητοῦ ἄρρενος καὶ πατρός·

αὐτῆς γὰρ τεῆς παιδὸς ἀφείλετο κούριμον* ἄνθος·

καὶ διὰ τοῦτο εἰς ἄλλην διακόσμησιν προάγει τὰ ἐκείνου γεννήματα, ὡς ἡ Γῆ τὰ τοῦ Οὐρανοῦ καὶ ἡ Ῥέα τὰ <τοῦ add. Rue.> Κρόνου καὶ Ἥρα τὰ τοῦ Διός.

As to the fourth (question), it is easy to respond, that after the intelligible and undifferentiated union, a division was fitting of the advancing parts which have been brought forward, number introducing this division, and after that, there was a continuity of divisions which appeared, which did not suppress the procession as a unity, but are persistent, and joined them to one another, having both separated and joined them together, in order that in their differentiation it appears somehow unified; and indeed, this is a manly (characteristic), as in division; and before it, the female (characteristic), not being the feminine of this masculine, but of the intelligible masculine and the father:

“ ‘For from your own child he⁺ plucked the shorn* flower.’

“And through this means, each different order produces fruits, as Earth (produces fruits) from Ouranós, Rǽa (Ῥέα) from Krónos, and Íra (Ἥρα) from Zefs (Ζεύς).

(trans. by the author)

+ αὐτῆς and τεῆς are feminine; the Italian translation of the fragments edited by Elena Verzura translates this in the feminine “she plucked the shorn flower,” but in other translations we find “he plucked.”

*or possibly κούριον “young,” or in some translations “virgin.”

And in the same text: Ἀπορίαι καὶ λύσεις περὶ τῶν πρώτων ἀρχῶν εἰς τὸν Πλάτωνος Παρμενίδην Δαμασκίου 202 (II 84, 28 Rue. cf. Add. 385):

διὸ καὶ παρ’ Ὀρφεῖ τὰ μὲν ἄλλα γένη ἐκ μητρὸς καὶ πατρός, ἡ δὲ πρώτη τῶν μητέρων ἀπὸ μόνου τοῦ πατρὸς πρόεισιν ὡς ἀπὸ μονάδος μονάς

“Wherefore, in (the writings of) Orphéfs (Ὀρφεύς), the other generations have (both a) mother and a father, but the first (generation) of mothers advance from only the father, as a monad from a monad.” (trans. by the author)

In the same text: Ἀπορίαι καὶ λύσεις περὶ τῶν πρώτων ἀρχῶν εἰς τὸν Πλάτωνος Παρμενίδην Δαμασκίου 209 (II 92, 22 Rue. cf. 95, 12):

ἔτι δὲ Ὀρφεὺς ὡς ἄρρενι τῶι Φάνητι συνοικίζει τὴν Νύκτα· ἔτι δὲ καὶ τὰ λόγια ‘πατρικὰς δυνάμεις’ ἀποκαλεῖ τὰς ἴυγγας (Kroll De orac. Chald. 40) ἀλλὰ μὴν ἔχειν καὶ πατρικὸν αὐτὰς οἱ θεοὶ διδάσκουσιν, ὥσπερ καὶ Ὀρφεὺς, εἴπερ βασιλεύει μόνη θηλείων ἡ Νύξ· καὶ βασιλεύει πάντων γενῶν οὐκ ἄν εἰ μή τι καὶ ἀρρενωπὸν εἶχεν καθ᾿ ἑαυτὴν καὶ ταύτηι συνετάττετο τοῖς ἄρρεσι βασιλεῦσιν· οὐδαμοῦ γὰρ ἡγεῖται τὸ θῆλυ, ἧι θῆλυ.

“Yet then Orphéfs (Ὀρφεύς) couples Phánîs (Φάνης) as a male with Nyx. And then the Oracles call the Iungæs (Ἴυγγες *) the ‘paternal powers’ (Kroll De orac. Chald. 40*), but truly they possess (such powers, for) even the Gods instruct (us in) their paternal disposition, even as (we read in the writings of) Orphéfs, that indeed Nyx is the only female (deity) who rules; and she rules all the generations, something not possible if she did not possess something masculine herself, and (is therefore,) in this way grouped along with the male kings; for nowhere does female rule, as female.” (trans. by the author)

* Ἴυγγες (plural; singular is Ἴυγξ), a term used in the Chaldean Oracles. The word can mean “magic wheels,” a type of ritual device meant to employ symbátheia (sympathy, συμπάθεια) to draw down divine power in thæouryía (theurgy, θεουργία). They can also be thought of as divine ideas, or even as the ideas of the Platonists, as thought by God. Kroll De orac. Chald. 40:

αἵ γε νοούμεναι <ἐκ> πατρόθεν νοέουσι καὶ αὐταί, βουλαῖς ἀφθέγκτοις κινούμεναι ὥστε νοῆσαι.

“The (Iungæs, Ἴυγγες or “the thoughts”) which are conceived from the Father also conceive themselves, for by his unutterable designs, they are roused so as to conceive.” (trans. by the author)

Herm. VIII vs. 16; Lobeck I 493; Kern De Theogon. 16, 43.

Compare this verse in Schol. V et Eustath. ad Iliad. N 433:

ὄφελλε δὲ κούριον ἄνθος

“And he made the budding flower prosper.” (trans. by the author)

And Ὀρφέως Ἀργοναυτικά 1339 (1347 in another text):

καῖ τότε παρθενίης νοσφίζετο κούριον ἄνθος

αἰνόγαμος Μήδεια δυσαινήτοις ὑμεναίοις.

“And then, deprived of the budding flower of her virginity,

badly-married Mídeia (Μήδεια) (was left with) bridal songs (ὑμεναίοις) of bad repute.” (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.

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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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