VI. Περὶ ἐπεμβάσεων ^[1]

On foundations ^[1]

OTTO KERN

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

This poem, which Josef Heeg in Die Angeblichen Orphischen Ἔργα καὶ Ἡμέραι p. 60 ascribes to the Alexandrian or Imperial age ^[2], as the copied paraphrase testifies fr. 286. Wilhelm Kroll, in Catalogus codicum astrologorum graecorum VI 91 n. IV, wrongly attributed the heroic verses, which are found in the paraphrase, to the poem Περὶ ἐπεμβάσεων τοῦ Δωροθέου Σιδωνίου. Compare the same, looking back at Philol. LVII 1898, 132, who supposed that the passage of Julius Firmicus Maternus on p. 268 refers to this Orphic poem.

Translator’s notes:

[1] Liddell & Scott defines ἐπέμβασις, when in plural (ἐπεμβάσεων is genitive plural), as “steps, ‘τῶν κρηπίδων;’ ” which, if this is the definition which applies to our context, would likely mean something like “foundations.” Alternately, ἐπεμβάσεις is also an astrological term which refers to the “commencement of χρονοκρατορίαι,” which are the “heavenly bodies dominant for a specified period.”

[2] Thus the poem was composed later than even the Classical period, and, therefore, impossible to have been written by Orpheus, as is almost certainly the case with all the astrological texts.

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.