Good Works Translation from Ancient Greek
This page translates Kern fragment 168 from the Orphic Sacred Discourses in Twenty-Four Rhapsodies. The fragment is the great Rhapsodic hymn in which Zeus, after swallowing Phanes, contains the whole cosmos as his body: Heaven as head, sun and moon as eyes, aether as mind, earth as belly, sea as belt, Tartarus as lowest root, and all things hidden in him before he brings them forth again.
Translation
Kern Fr. 168 — The Hymn to Zeus
Porphyry, Eusebius, Stobaeus, and Proclus preserve the hymn:
Zeus was first; Zeus, lord of the thunderbolt, was last.
Zeus is the head; Zeus is the middle; from Zeus all things are made.
Zeus became male; Zeus, deathless, became bride.
Zeus is the foundation of Earth and starry Heaven.
Zeus is king; Zeus himself is first-begetter of all.
One power, one daimon came to be, great ruler of all;
one royal body, in which all these things turn:
fire and water and earth and aether, Night and Day,
and Metis, first begetter, and Eros rich in delight.
For all these things lie in the great body of Zeus.
His head and beautiful faces to behold are shining Heaven,
around which golden hair is lifted,
the lovely glittering hair of the stars.
On both sides are two golden bull-horns:
east and west, the roads of the heavenly gods.
His eyes are the Sun and the answering Moon.
His mind is the true, royal, imperishable Aether,
by which he hears all things and understands all things.
There is no voice, no sound, no crash, no report
that escapes the ears of Zeus, the over-mighty son of Kronos.
So he has his immortal head and his thought.
His body, all-radiant, boundless, unbending,
unshaken, strong-limbed, over-mighty, is made thus:
the god's shoulders, chest, and broad back
are wide Air; wings have grown around him,
with which he flies over all things.
His sacred belly is all-mother Earth
and the steep peaks of the mountains.
Around his middle is the roaring surge of the sea
and of the deep; his lowest base, within the earth,
is the roots, misty Tartarus, and Earth's furthest bounds.
After hiding all things, he was going to bring them forth again
from his heart into much-gladdening light,
working wonders.
Colophon
This Good Works translation was made from Otto Kern's Orphicorum fragmenta (Berlin: Weidmann, 1922), fr. 168, in the section headed "Hieroi logoi en rhapsodiais ka'." Kern's numbering is retained.
The source witnesses translated here include Porphyry as quoted by Eusebius, Stobaeus, and Proclus as printed by Kern.
Source Text
Kern Fr. 168 — Porphyry, Eusebius, Stobaeus, and Proclus
Porphyry, quoted by Eusebius, with parallel witnesses in Stobaeus and Proclus:
Ζεὺς πρῶτος γένετο, Ζεὺς ὕστατος ἀρχικέραυνος·
Ζεὺς κεφαλή, Ζεὺς μέσσα, Διὸς δ᾽ ἐκ πάντα τέτυκται·
Ζεὺς ἄρσην γένετο, Ζεὺς ἄμβροτος ἔπλετο νύμφη·
Ζεὺς πυθμὴν γαίης τε καὶ οὐρανοῦ ἀστερόεντος·
Ζεὺς βασιλεύς, Ζεὺς αὐτὸς ἁπάντων ἀρχιγένεθλος·
ἓν κράτος, εἷς δαίμων γένετο, μέγας ἀρχὸς ἁπάντων,
ἓν δὲ δέμας βασίλειον, ἐν ὧι τάδε πάντα κυκλεῖται,
πῦρ καὶ ὕδωρ καὶ γαῖα καὶ αἰθήρ, νύξ τε καὶ ἦμαρ,
καὶ Μῆτις, πρῶτος γενέτωρ καὶ Ἔρως πολυτερπής·
πάντα γὰρ ἐν Ζηνὸς μεγάλωι τάδε σώματι κεῖται·
τοῦ δή τοι κεφαλὴν μὲν ἰδεῖν καὶ καλὰ πρόσωπα
οὐρανὸς αἰγλήεις, οὗ χρύσεαι ἀμφὶς ἔθειραι
ἄστρων μαρμαρέων περικαλλέες ἠερέθονται,
ταύρεα δ᾽ ἀμφοτέρωθε δύο χρύσεια κέρατα,
ἀντολίη τε δύσις τε, θεῶν ὁδοὶ οὐρανιώνων,
ὄμματα δ᾽ ἠέλιός τε καὶ ἀντίθοος σελήνη·
νοῦς δέ οἱ ἀψευδὴς βασιλήιος ἄφθιτος αἰθήρ,
ὧι δὴ πάντα κλύει καὶ φράζεται· οὐδέ τις ἐστὶν
αὐδὴ οὐδ᾽ ἐνοπὴ οὐδὲ κτύπος οὐδέ μὲν ὄσσα,
ἣ λήθει Διὸς οὖας ὑπερμενέος Κρονίωνος.
ὧδε μὲν ἀθανάτην κεφαλὴν ἔχει ἠδὲ νόημα·
σῶμα δέ οἱ περιφεγγές, ἀπείριτον, ἀσκύφελικτον,
ἄτρομον, ὀβριμόγυιον, ὑπερμενὲς ὧδε τέτυκται·
ὦμοι μὲν καὶ στέρνα καὶ εὐρέα νῶτα θεοῖο
ἀὴρ εὐρύς· πτέρυγες δέ οἱ ἀμφεφύοντο,
τῆις ἐπὶ πάντα ποτᾶται· ἱερὴ δέ οἱ ἔπλετο νηδύς
γαῖά τε παμμήτωρ ὀρέων τ᾽ αἰπεινὰ κάρηνα·
μέσση δὲ ζώνη βαρύηχεος οἶδμα θαλάσσης
καὶ πόντου· πυμάτη δὲ βάσις, χθονὸς ἔνδοθι ῥίζαι,
Τάρταρά τ᾽ εὐρώεντα καὶ ἔσχατα πείρατα γαίης.
πάντα δ᾽ ἀποκρύψας αὖθις φάος ἐς πολυγηθὲς
μέλλεν ἀπὸ κραδίης προφέρειν πάλι, θέσκελα ῥέζων.