Good Works Translation from Ancient Greek and Latin

This page translates Kern fragments 60-76 from the opening of the Orphic Sacred Discourses in Twenty-Four Rhapsodies. The group gathers witnesses on the intelligible triads, Chronos, Aether, Chaos, Night, the silver egg, Phanes, Metis, Erikepaios, Protogonos, the cosmic circle, Giants, and four-eyed Phanes.

Translation

Kern Fr. 60 — The Usual Orphic Theology of the Intelligible Order

In the Orphic Rhapsodies that are handed down, the theology concerning the intelligible order, the one that the philosophers also interpret, is this.

In place of the one principle of all things, they set Chronos. In place of the two principles, they set Aether and Chaos. In place of being simply considered, they reckon the egg, making this the first triad.

For the second triad, they count either the god as the egg that conceives and is conceived, or the shining-white robe, or the cloud, because Phanes leaps forth from these. They philosophize in different ways at different times about the middle term. Whatever it is, they take it as mind; but when they add fatherhood and power besides, they are imagining other things that do not belong to Orpheus.

The third triad is Metis as mind, Erikepaios as power, and Phanes himself as father. Yet perhaps the middle triad too should be set down according to the three-formed god while he is still being conceived in the egg. For the middle always presents something of both extremes, just as here the same thing is both egg and three-formed god.

You see, then, that the egg is the united thing, while the three-formed and truly many-formed god is the distinguished part of the intelligible. The middle, according to the egg, is still united; according to the god, it is already distinguished; to say the whole thing, it is in the act of being distinguished.

Such is the usual Orphic theology.

Kern Fr. 61 — Phanes as Only-Begotten

Aristocritus says:

In many places Orpheus fittingly names Phanes the only-begotten, the son of God. He thinks the name belongs to him because he shines everywhere eternally and invisibly, and because he gave all things their appearing out of what was not.

Therefore, when he mentions in many places the mythic Zeus and Dionysus, whom he calls Phanes, he brings in Phanes as the craftsman of all things, as if he were the son of God, through whom all things appeared. For this reason, in the fourth rhapsody, he says this to Musaeus:

Guard these things in your mind, dear child, in your heart,

though you know well the ancient tales, even from Phanes.

Kern Fr. 62 — Orpheus' Prayer to Apollo

Malalas says:

A short time later Gideon led Israel. At that same time lived Orpheus the Thracian, the Odrysian lyrist, the very wise and famous poet. He set out a theogony, the making of the cosmos, and the shaping of humankind. At the beginning of his composition he said that he had not set out anything about God or the cosmic creation from his own thought. Instead, he said that, by his own prayer, he had asked to learn from Phoebus the Titan, the Sun, the theogony, the making of the cosmos, and who made it.

In his own exposition he gives the following poetic lines:

Lord, son of Leto, far-shooter, mighty Phoebus,

master, son of day, shooting all things from far off with your rays,

undefiled and strong,

all-seeing, ruling over mortals and immortals,

Sun, lifted on golden wings,

for the twelfth time I heard this oracle from you,

when you spoke; and I set you yourself, far-shooter, as divine witness.

The same Orpheus spoke many other verses about this. Malalas says that Orpheus explained that his exposition came from the poetic verses just quoted, and that it was not possible to insert the multitude of verses in that writing.

Kern Fr. 63 — The Giants Born from Earth and the Blood of Heaven

The Etymologicum Magnum says:

Gigas, "giant," comes from "going from the earth," as in the verse:

They call them Giants by name among the blessed ones,

because they came to be from Earth and the blood of Heaven.

So Orpheus says in the Sacred Discourse.

Kern Fr. 64 — Many Gods from Chronos to Phanes

Damascius asks:

What then? Does not divine Orpheus establish many gods from Chronos down to first-born Phanes? And does not Plato himself, the philosopher much honored by us, draw three conclusions about the one being? To say the same thing another way, does he not hand down three intelligible divine orders differing from one another?

Therefore we must inquire how the gods and the men who are near of kin to the gods understood these matters when they handed them down. For example, how have the gods delivered the intelligible triads to the theurgists?

Kern Fr. 65 — Aether, Chaos, Night, and the Three Names

Malalas says:

These are the things Orpheus set out. From the beginning Aether appeared in relation to Chronos, having been fashioned by God. On this side and that side of Aether was Chaos; and gloomy Night held and covered all the things beneath Aether. He indicates that Night has first rank.

In his exposition he says that there is something incomprehensible, highest of all, earlier in birth and maker of all things: maker of Aether itself, of Night, and of the whole creation beneath Aether, covered by it. He said that Earth was invisible under the darkness.

He explained that the light, bursting through Aether, illuminated Earth and all creation. He said that this light, which burst through Aether, was the one already mentioned, the highest of all. Orpheus, having heard its name from the oracle, declared it as Metis, Phanes, Erikepaios. In common speech these mean counsel, light, life-giver.

In his exposition he said that the same three divine powers of the names are one power and force of the only God, whom no one sees. No one can know the form or nature of that power. From that power all things came to be: bodiless principles, Sun and Moon, powers and all the stars, Earth and Sea, and all things visible and invisible in them.

Kern Fr. 66 — Chronos Begets Aether and the Vast Chasm

Proclus says:

What, then, are these dyads? First, it seems to me that Plato did not idly name the two dyads "chasms." He knew that the theologian Orpheus used this name for the first-working cause of all motions and processions among the intelligibles, the cause that the Pythagoreans called the intelligible and indefinite dyad:

This ageless Chronos, of imperishable counsel,

begot Aether and a great vast chasm, here and there.

Simplicius gives the related explanation:

It seems that an interpretation of Hesiod's verses was then current, taking Chaos as space. But Orpheus shows that it is not space, but the boundless and multiplied cause of the gods, which he called the "vast chasm." For after the one principle of all, which Orpheus hymns as Chronos, the measure of the mythic birth of the gods, he says that Aether and the "vast chasm" came forth: Aether as cause of the gods' limit-like procession, the chasm as cause of their unlimited procession. Concerning it he says:

No limit lay beneath, no bottom, no seat.

Kern Fr. 67 — The Dark Mist

Proclus says:

All things were undistinguished in the dark mist, says the theologian.

Kern Fr. 68 — Chronos as the First Cause

Proclus says:

Some people identify Kronos, because of his undivided, unitary, paternal, and good-working nature among the intellectual gods, with the one cause of all things. They do not speak correctly. He is only analogous to that cause, just as Orpheus calls the first cause of all things Chronos, almost the same name as Kronos.

The god-given oracles characterize this divinity by "once," saying "once beyond"; for "once" is akin to the one.

In another place Proclus says:

Orpheus enjoyed great freedom in myth. He made known by names all the powers before Heaven, as far up as the very first cause. He even called the ineffable itself, the thing that has gone beyond the intelligible henads, Chronos: either because it preexists as cause of every generation, or because he hands down the things that truly are as coming to be, in order to show their order and the superiority of the more universal over the more particular, so that succession in time is the same as succession by cause, just as generation is the same as ordered procession.

Syrianus gives the brief parallel:

Orpheus too called the first thing Chronos.

Kern Fr. 69 — Plato and the Orphic World-God

Philoponus says:

I pass over these things, since many of our own have already demonstrated them. I mention only this much: even here Plato, carried along by the deception of myths, declared that the cosmos is a god, taking this from Orpheus.

And again:

So, even if Plato says that the cosmos is a god, he took this from Orphic things, and, following the custom of the poets in a more mythic way, called it a god.

Kern Fr. 70 — Chronos Makes the Silver Egg

Damascius says:

Orpheus too says:

Then great Chronos fashioned, in divine Aether,

a silver egg.

The verb "fashioned" shows something made by craft, not an offspring. What is made by craft, and not begotten as another's offspring, is thoroughly mixed from at least two things: matter and form, or things analogous to these.

Achilles Tatius gives the egg-shaped cosmological comparison:

The order that we have given to the sphere, the Orphics say, is very like the order in eggs. The relation that the shell has in the egg is the relation that Heaven has in the whole; and as Aether is attached in a circle to Heaven, so the membrane is attached to the shell.

And again:

Some say the shape of the cosmos is conical, some spherical, and some egg-shaped. Those who perform the Orphic mysteries hold this last opinion; for the sake of plausible clarity, the image of the egg has been taken up.

Kern Fr. 71 — The Boundless Circle

Proclus says:

The spherical form is akin to the craftsman, since he contains all things in himself intellectually. It is also akin to the paradigm, because it proceeds first from it. Therefore this shape is ancestral for the cosmos. It appeared even in the hidden order itself, for the verse

It was borne tirelessly in a boundless circle

is said of that order. It is seen more clearly in the all-perfect living being, for the theologian says of that divinity:

It was stirred through an unspeakable circle.

This belongs rather among the intellectual gods.

Kern Fr. 72 — The Chasm and Aether Torn Open

Proclus gives the verse:

The airy chasm below, and windless Aether,

were torn open as Phanes arose.

Kern Fr. 73 — Protogonos and Phanes

Lactantius says:

Orpheus, who is the most ancient of poets and a contemporary of the gods themselves, if indeed he is handed down as having sailed among the Argonauts with the Tyndarids and Hercules, calls the true and great God Protogonos, first-born, because nothing was born before him, but all things were generated from him.

He also names him Phanes, because, when nothing yet existed, he first appeared and came forth from the infinite. Since Orpheus could not grasp his origin and nature in his mind, he said that he was born from immeasurable air:

First-born Phaethon, son of far-stretching Aether.

He had nothing more that he could say.

Kern Fr. 74 — Phanes, Beautiful Son of Aether and Tender Love

Proclus says:

For this reason, in Orpheus, according to this order, Phanes appears intellectually. Since beauty already preexists among the first intelligibles, unitedly and continuously, Phanes is named

son of very beautiful Aether,

and

tender Love,

because this god is the first to be filled with the hidden and ineffable beauty. Therefore he is called most beautiful, being the first of those who participate, even though all the intelligibles are united with one another. They should not be divided from one another in the same way as the intellectual orders; rather, one must contemplate one indivisible union of them.

Kern Fr. 75 — Phanes as the First to Appear

The Etymologicum Magnum says:

Phanes, Phanetes: they call him Phanetes because he was the first to become visible in Aether. Orpheus defines him in this way.

The Argonautica attributed to Orpheus gives the parallel:

The glorious father of ever-born Night, whom later mortals

call Phanes; for he was the first to appear.

Kern Fr. 76 — Four-Eyed Phanes

Hermias says:

Since the number twelve was born by mixture from the perfect number, three, and the generation-making number, four, and since it contains the whole divine order of the gods, while the principles of the third and fourth numbers are monad and dyad, Aether would be the monad, Chaos the dyad, the egg the triad, for it is perfect, and Phanes the tetrad. As Orpheus too says:

seen with four eyes, here and there.

In the same commentary, Hermias says:

Theology calls the number ten all things, and altogether four-eyed and four-faced.

Colophon

This Good Works translation was made from Otto Kern's Orphicorum fragmenta (Berlin: Weidmann, 1922), frr. 60-76, at the opening of the section headed "Hieroi logoi en rhapsodiais ka'." Kern's numbering is retained.

The source witnesses translated here include Damascius, Aristocritus, John Malalas, the Etymologicum Magnum, Proclus, Simplicius, Syrianus, John Philoponus, Achilles Tatius, Lactantius, and Hermias as printed by Kern.

Source Text

Kern Fr. 60 — Damascius, On First Principles 123

ἐν μὲν τοίνυν ταῖς φερομέναις ταύταις Ῥαψωιδίαις Ὀρφικαῖς ἡ θεολογία ἥδε τίς ἐστιν ἡ περὶ τὸ νοητόν, ἣν καὶ οἱ φιλόσοφοι διερμηνεύουσιν, ἀντὶ μὲν τῆς μιᾶς τῶν ὅλων ἀρχῆς τὸν Χρόνον τιθέντες, ἀντὶ δὲ τοῖν δυεῖν Αἰθέρα καὶ Χάος, ἀντὶ δὲ τοῦ ὄντος ἁπλῶς τὸ ὠιὸν ἀπολογιζόμενοι, καὶ τριάδα ταύτην πρώτην ποιοῦντες· εἰς δὲ τὴν δευτέραν τελεῖν ἤτοι τὸ κυούμενον καὶ τὸ κύον ὠιὸν τὸν θεὸν ἢ τὸν ἀργῆτα χιτῶνα, ἢ τὴν νεφέλην, ὅτι ἐκ τούτων ἐκθρώσκει ὁ Φάνης· ἄλλοτε γὰρ ἄλλα περὶ τοῦ μέσου φιλοσοφοῦσιν. τοῦτο μὲν ὁποῖον ἂν ἦι, ὡς τὸν νοῦν, ὡς δὲ πατέρα καὶ δύναμιν, ἄλλα τινὰ προσεπινοοῦντες οὐδὲν τῶι Ὀρφεῖ προσήκοντα, τὴν δὲ τρίτην τὸν Μῆτιν ὡς νοῦν, τὸν Ἠρικεπαῖον ὡς δύναμιν, τὸν Φάνητα αὐτὸν ὡς πατέρα. μήποτε δὲ καὶ τὴν μέσην τριάδα θετέον κατὰ τὸν τρίμορφον θεὸν ἔτι κυόμενον ἐν τῷ ὠῷ· καὶ γὰρ καὶ τὸ μέσον ἀεὶ φαντάζει συναμφότερον τῶν ἄκρων, ὥσπερ καὶ τοῦτο ἅμα καὶ ὠὸν καὶ τρίμορφος ὁ θεός. καὶ ὁρᾷς ὅτι τὸ μὲν ὠόν ἐστιν τὸ ἡνωμένον, ὁ δὲ τρίμορφος καὶ πολύμορφος τῷ ὄντι θεὸς τὸ διακεκριμένον τοῦ νοητοῦ, τὸ δὲ μέσον κατὰ μὲν τὸ ὠὸν ἔτι ἡνωμένον, κατὰ δὲ τὸν θεὸν ἤδη διακεκριμένον, τὸ δὲ ὅλον εἰπεῖν, διακρινόμενον. τοιαύτη μὲν ἡ συνήθης Ὀρφικὴ θεολογία.

Kern Fr. 61 — Aristocritus, Theosophia Tubingensis 61

ὅτι ἐν πολλοῖς Φάνητα φερωνύμως ὁ Ὀρφεὺς προσαγορεύει τὸν μονογενῆ, τὸν υἱὸν τοῦ θεοῦ. οἴεται γὰρ αὐτῶι πρέπειν τὸ ὄνομα ὡς ἀϊδίως καὶ ἀοράτως πανταχοῦ φαίνοντι καὶ ὡς πᾶσι τὸ ἐκ μὴ ὄντων φανῆναι παρασχομένωι. μεμνημένος οὖν πολλαχῆι τοῦ μυθευομένου Διὸς καὶ τοῦ Διονύσου, ὃν Φάνητα προσαγορεύει, δημιουργὸν πάντων αὐτὸν εἰσάγει τὸν Φάνητα ὡσανεὶ τὸν τοῦ θεοῦ υἱόν, δι' οὗ τὰ πάντα ἐφάνη, διὸ καὶ ἐν τῆι τετάρτηι ῥαψωιδίαι πρὸς Μουσαῖον οὕτω λέγει·

ταῦτα νόωι πεφύλαξο, φίλον τέκος, ἐν πραπίδεσσιν,

εἰδός περ μάλα παλαίφατα κἀπὸ Φάνητος.

Kern Fr. 62 — John Malalas, Chronography 4

μετὰ δὲ βραχὺ ἡγήσατο τοῦ Ἰσραὴλ Γεδεών. ἐν αὐτῷ δὲ τῷ χρόνῳ ἦν Ὀρφεὺς ὁ Θρᾴξ, ὁ λυρικὸς Ὀδρυσαῖος, ὁ σοφώτατος καὶ περιβόητος ποιητής· ὅστις ἐξέθετο θεογονίαν καὶ κόσμου κτίσιν καὶ ἀνθρώπων πλαστουργίαν, εἰρηκὼς ἐν τῇ ἀρχῇ τοῦ συντάγματος αὐτοῦ, ὅτι ἐκ τῆς ἰδίας αὐτοῦ ἐνθυμήσεως οὐκ ἐξέθετό τί ποτε περὶ θεοῦ ἢ τῆς κοσμικῆς κτίσεως, ἀλλ' εἶπεν, ὅτι αἰτησαμένου διὰ ἰδίας αὐτοῦ εὐχῆς μαθεῖν παρὰ τοῦ Φοίβου Τιτᾶνος Ἡλίου τὴν θεογονίαν καὶ τὴν τοῦ κόσμου κτίσιν καὶ τίς ἐποίησεν αὐτήν. ἐμφέρεται γὰρ ἐν τῇ αὐτοῦ ἐκθέσει διὰ ποιητικῶν στίχων οὕτως·

Ὦναξ, Λητοῦς υἱέ, ἑκατηβόλε, Φοῖβε κραταιέ,

ὦ δέσποτα, ἡμέρας υἱέ, ὁ τὰ πάντα πόρρωθεν ταῖς ἀκτῖσί σου τοξεύων, ἀμίαντε καὶ δυνατέ,

πανδερκές, θνητοῖσι καὶ ἀθανάτοισιν ἀνάσσων,

Ἥλιε χρυσέαισιν ἀειρόμενε πτερύγεσσιν,

δωδεκάτην δὴ τήνδε παραί σεο ἔκλυον ὀμφήν,

σεῦ φαμένου· σὲ δέ γ' αὐτόν, ἑκηβόλε, μάρτυρα θείην.

καὶ ἄλλους δὲ πολλοὺς περὶ τούτου εἶπε στίχους ὁ αὐτὸς Ὀρφεύς· ἔφρασε δὲ ὡς ἐκ τῶν προειρημένων στίχων ποιητικῶν ἐξέθετο· καὶ οὐκ ἐνεδέχετο ἐντάξαι τὸ πλῆθος τῶν στίχων ἐν τῇ συγγραφῇ ταύτῃ.

Kern Fr. 63 — Etymologicum Magnum, s.v. Gigas

Γίγας παρὰ τὸ ἐκ τῆς γῆς ἰέναι· οἷον·

οὓς καλέουσι Γίγαντας ἐπώνυμον ἐν μακάρεσσιν,

οὕνεκα Γῆς ἐγένοντο, καὶ αἵματος Οὐρανίοιο.

οὕτως Ὀρφεὺς ἐν τῷ Νʹ Ἱεροῦ λόγου.

Kern Fr. 64 — Damascius, On First Principles 111

τί δέ; ὁ θεῖος Ὀρφεύς οὐ πολλοὺς θεοῦς ὑφίστησιν ἀπὸ τοῦ Χρόνου μέχρι τοῦ πρωτογόνου Φάνητος; αὐτὸς δὲ ὁ πολυτίμητος ἡμῖν φιλόσοφος ὁ Πλάτων οὐχὶ τρία συμπεράσματα συμπεραίνεται ἐπὶ τοῦ ἑνὸς ὄντος; ταὐτὸν δὲ εἰπεῖν, οὐ τρεῖς νοητὰς παραδίδωσι θείας τάξεις ἀλλήλων διαφερούσας; ὥστε ζητητέον, ὅπως ταῦτα νοοῦντες οἵ τε θεοὶ καὶ οἱ θεῶν ἀγχίσποροι ἄνδρες παραδεδώκασιν· αὐτίκα τοῖς θεουργοῖς οἱ θεοὶ πῶς τὰς νοητὰς ἐκδεδώκασιν τριάδας;

Kern Fr. 65 — John Malalas, Chronography 4

Ὀρφεύς. ἔστι δὲ ἅπερ ἐξέθετο Ὀρφεὺς ταῦτα. ὅτι ἐξ ἀρχῆς ἀνεδείχθη τῷ Χρόνῳ ὁ Αἰθὴρ ἀπὸ τοῦ θεοῦ δημιουργηθείς καὶ ἐντεῦθεν κἀκεῖθεν τοῦ Αἰθέρος ἦν Χάος, καὶ Νὺξ ζοφερὰ πάντα κατεῖχε καὶ ἐκάλυπτε τὰ ὑπὸ τὸν Αἰθέρα, σημαίνων τὴν Νύκτα πρωτεύειν, εἰρηκὼς ἐν τῇ αὐτοῦ ἐκθέσει ἀκατάληπτόν τινα καὶ πάντων ὑπέρτατον εἶναι, καὶ προγενέστερον δὲ καὶ δημιουργὸν ἁπάντων καὶ τοῦ Αἰθέρος αυτοῦ καὶ τῆς Νυκτὸς καὶ πάσης τῆς ὑπὸ τὸν Αἰθέρα οὔσης καὶ καλυπτομένης κτίσεως· τὴν δὲ Γῆν εἶπεν ὑπὸ τοῦ σκότους ἀόρατον οὖσαν· ἔφρασε δὲ ὅτι τὸ φῶς ῥῆξαν τὸν Αἰθέρα ἐφώτισε τὴν Γῆν καὶ πᾶσαν τὴν κτίσιν, εἰπὼν ἐκεῖνο εἶναι τὸ φῶς τὸ ῥῆξαν τὸν Αἰθέρα τὸ προειρημένον, τὸ ὑπέρτατον πάντων, οὗ ὄνομα ὁ αὐτὸς Ὀρφεὺς ἀκούσας ἐκ τῆς μαντείας ἐξεῖπε, Μῆτιν, Φάνητα, Ἠρικεπαῖον· ὅπερ ἑρμηνεύεται τῇ κοινῇ γλώσσῃ βουλή, φῶς, ζῳοδοτήρ· εἰπὼν ἐν τῇ αὐτοῦ ἐκθέσει τὰς αὐτὰς τρεῖς θείας τῶν ὀνομάτων δυνάμεις μίαν εἶναι δύναμιν καὶ κράτος τοῦ μόνου θεοῦ, ὃν οὐδεὶς ὁρᾷ, ἧστινος δυνάμεως οὐδεὶς δύναται γνῶναι ἰδέαν ἢ φύσιν, ἐξ αὐτῆς δὲ τῆς δυνάμεως τὰ πάντα γεγενῆσθαι, καὶ ἀρχὰς ἀσωμάτους καὶ ἥλιον καὶ σελήνην, ἐξουσίας καὶ ἄστρα πάντα καὶ γῆν καὶ θάλασσαν, τὰ ὁρώμενα ἐν αὐτοῖς πάντα καὶ τὰ ἀόρατα.

Kern Fr. 66 — Proclus, Simplicius, and related witnesses

τίνες δὴ οὖν αἱ δυάδες αὗται; πρῶτον μὲν οὖν ἐκεῖνό μοι δοκεῖ μὴ πάρεργως ὁ Πλάτων ὀνομάσαι χάσματα τὰς δύο δυάδας, ἀλλ' εἰδὼς καὶ τὸν θεολόγον Ὀρφέα τούτῳ τῷ ὀνόματι καλοῦντα τὴν πασῶν κινήσεων καὶ προόδων πρωτουργὸν ἐν τοῖς νοητοῖς αἰτίαν, ἣν οἱ Πυθαγόρειοι δυάδα νοητὴν καὶ ἀόριστον προσηγόρευον·

Αἰθέρα μὲν Χρόνος οὗτος ἀγήραος, ἀφθιτόμητις

γείνατο καὶ μέγα χάσμα πελώριον ἔνθα καὶ ἔνθα.

Simplicius:

ἔοικε δὲ τοιαύτη τις τότε τῶν Ἡσιόδου ἐπῶν ἐπιπολάζειν ἐξήγησις τὸ Χάος εἰς χώραν μεταλαμβάνουσα. δηλοῖ δὲ οὐ χώραν ἀλλὰ τὴν ἀπειροειδῆ καὶ πεπληθυσμένην τῶν θεῶν αἰτίαν, ἣν Ὀρφεὺς "χάσμα πελώριον" ἐκάλεσε. μετὰ γὰρ τὴν μίαν τῶν πάντων ἀρχήν, ἣν Ὀρφεὺς Χρόνον ἀνυμνεῖ ὡς μέτρον οὖσαν τῆς μυθικῆς τῶν θεῶν γενέσεως, Αἰθέρα καὶ τὸ "πελώριον χάσμα" προελθεῖν φησι, τὸν μὲν τῆς περατοειδοῦς προόδου τῶν θεῶν αἴτιον, τὸ δὲ τῆς ἀπειροειδοῦς. καὶ λέγει περὶ αὐτοῦ·

οὐδέ τι πεῖραρ ὑπῆν, οὐ πυθμήν, οὐδέ τις ἕδρα.

Kern Fr. 67 — Proclus, on Plato's Parmenides 139b

ἀδιακρίτων πάντων ὄντων κατὰ σκοτόεσσαν ὁμίχλην, φησὶν ὁ θεολόγος.

Kern Fr. 68 — Proclus and Syrianus

ὅτι τὸν Κρόνον διὰ τὸ ἀμέριστον αὐτοῦ καὶ ἑνιαῖον καὶ πατρικὸν καὶ ἀγαθουργὸν ἐν τοῖς νοεροῖς εἰς ταὐτόν τινες ἄγουσι τῇ μιᾷ τῶν πάντων αἰτίᾳ, οὐ καλῶς λέγοντες· ἀναλογεῖ γὰρ αὐτῇ μόνον, ὡς καὶ Ὀρφεὺς τὴν πρώτην πάντων αἰτίαν Χρόνον καλεῖ ὁμωνύμως σχεδὸν τῷ Κρόνῳ, αἱ δὲ θεοπαράδοτοι φῆμαι τὴν θεότητα ταύτην τῷ ἅπαξ χαρακτηρίζουσιν λέγουσαι ἅπαξ ἐπέκεινα· τὸ γὰρ ἅπαξ τῷ ἑνὶ συγγενές.

ὅτι ὁ μὲν Ὀρφεὺς πολὺ τῆς τῶν μύθων ἐξουσίας ἀπολέλαυκεν, καὶ πάντα τὰ πρὸ τοῦ Οὐρανοῦ μέχρι τῆς πρωτίστης αἰτίας ὀνόμασιν ἐδήλωσεν, καὶ αὐτὸ τὸ ἄρρητον καὶ τῶν νοητῶν ἑνάδων ἐκβεβηκὸς Χρόνον προσείρηκεν, εἴθ' ὅτι πάσης γενέσεως αἴτιον προϋπάρχον, εἴτε τὰ ὄντως ὄντα γινόμενα παραδίδωσι, ἵνα τὴν τάξιν ἐνδείξηται αὐτῶν καὶ τὴν τῶν ὁλικωτέρων πρὸς τὰ μερικώτερα ὑπεροχήν, ἵνα ᾖ ταὐτὸν τὸ κατὰ χρόνον τῷ κατ' αἰτίαν, ὥσπερ ἡ γένεσις τῇ τεταγμένῃ προόδῳ.

Χρόνον δὲ καὶ Ὀρφεὺς τὸ πρῶτον ἐκάλει.

Kern Fr. 69 — John Philoponus, On the Eternity of the World

ἀλλὰ ταῦτα μὲν ὡς πολλοῖς ἤδη τῶν ἡμετέρων ἀποδεδειγμένα παρίημι τοσοῦτον αὐτων ἐπιμνησθείς, ὡς δεῖξαι, ὅτι κἀνταῦθα τῇ τῶν μύθων ἀπάτῃ συνενεχθεὶς ὁ Πλάτων θεὸν εἶναι τὸν κόσμον ἐκ τῶν Ὀρφέως λαβὼν ἀπεφήνατο.

ὥστε, κἂν λέγῃ θεὸν εἶναι τὸν κόσμον, ἐκ τῶν Ὀρφικῶν λαβὼν ὁ Πλάτων τῇ των ποιητῶν συνηθείαι μυθικώτερον ἀκολουθήσας θεὸν αὐτὸν εἴρηκεν.

Kern Fr. 70 — Damascius and Achilles Tatius

καὶ γὰρ Ὀρφεύς·

ἔπειτα δ' ἔτευξε μέγας Χρόνος Αἰθέρι δίωι

ὠεὸν ἀργύφεον.

τὸ γὰρ ἔτευξε δηλοῖ τι τεχνητόν, ἀλλ' οὐ γέννημα· τὸ δὲ τεχνητόν, ἀλλ' οὐ γέννημα, πάμμικτόν ἐστιν ἐκ δυεῖν τοὐλάχιστον, ὕλης καὶ εἴδους. ἢ τῶν τούτοις ἀναλογούντων.

Achilles Tatius:

τὴν δὲ τάξιν, ἣν δεδώκαμεν τῷ σφαιρώματι, οἱ Ὀρφικοὶ λέγουσι παραπλησίαν εἶναι τῇ ἐν τοῖς ὠιοῖς· ὃν γὰρ ἔχει λόγον τὸ λέπυρον ἐν τῷ ὠιῶι, τοῦτον ἐν τῷ παντὶ ὁ οὐρανός, καὶ ὡς ἐξήρτηται τοῦ οὐρανοῦ κυκλοτερῶς ὁ αἰθήρ, οὕτω τοῦ λεπύρου ὁ ὑμήν.

σχῆμα δὲ κόσμου οἳ μὲν κωνοειδές, οἳ δὲ σφαιροειδές, οἳ δὲ ᾠοειδές, ἧς δόξης ἔχονται οἱ τὰ Ὀρφικὰ μυστήρια τελοῦντες. σαφηνείας δὲ ἕνεκα πιθανῆς παρελήφθη τοῦ ᾠοῦ ἡ εἰκών.

Kern Fr. 71 — Proclus, on Plato's Timaeus 33b

τῶι δὲ δημιουργῶι συγγενὲς τὸ σφαιρικόν, ὡς καὶ αὐτῶι νοερῶς ἐν αὐτῶι τὰ πάντα περιέχοντι. τῶι δὲ παραδείγματι, διότι πρώτως ἀπ' εκείνου πρόεισι. προγονικὸν οὖν τὸ σχῆμα τοῦτό ἐστι τῶι κόσμωι φανὲν μὲν καὶ ἐν αὐτῶι τῶι κρυφίωι διακόσμωι· τὸ γὰρ

ἀτειρέσιον κατὰ κύκλον ἀτρύτως ἐφορεῖτο

κατ' ἐκείνην εἴρηται τὴν τάξιν· ἐναργέστερον δὲ ὀφθὲν καὶ ἐν τῶι παντελεῖ ζώιωι· τὸ γὰρ

ὡρμήθη δ' ἀνὰ κύκλον ἀθέσφατον

περὶ ταύτης εἴρηται τῶι θεολόγωι τῆς θεότητος· ἔστι δὲ μᾶλλον ἐν τοῖς νοεροῖς θεοῖς.

Kern Fr. 72 — Proclus, on Plato's Republic

χάσμα δ' ὑπ' ἠέριον καὶ νήνεμος ἐρράγη αἰθὴρ ὀρνυμένοιο Φάνητος.

Kern Fr. 73 — Lactantius, Divine Institutes 1.5

Orpheus, qui est vetustissimus poetarum, et aequalis ipsorum deorum, siquidem traditur inter Argonautas cum Tyndaridis et Hercule navigasse, deum verum et magnum, πρωτόγονον, appellat, quod ante ipsum nihil sit genitum, sed ab ipso sint cuncta generata. eundem etiam Φάνητα nominat, quod cum adhuc nihil esset, primus ex infinito apparuerit et extiterit. cuius originem atque naturam quia concipere animo non poterat, ex aere immenso natum esse dixit:

Πρωτόγονος Φαέθων περιμήκεος Αἰθέρος υἱός.

aliut enim amplius quod diceret non habebat.

Kern Fr. 74 — Proclus, on Plato's Timaeus 31a

διὸ καὶ παρ' Ὀρφεῖ κατὰ ταύτην τὴν τάξιν νοερῶς ἐκφαίνεται, ὡς τοῦ κάλλους ἤδη προόντος ἐν τοῖς νοητοῖς τοῖς πρώτοις ἡνωμένως καὶ συνεχῶς ὁ Φάνης

περικαλλέος Αἰθέρος υἱὸς

ὀνομάζεται καὶ

ἁβρὸς Ἔρως,

ὅτι δὴ τῆς κρυφίου καὶ ἀρρήτου καλλονῆς πρῶτος οὗτος ὁ θεὸς πεπλήρωται. διὸ κάλλιστος ὀνομάζεται, τῶν μετεχόντων τὸ πρώτιστον ὄν, καὶ εἰ πάντα τὰ νοητὰ ἥνωται ἀλλήλοις· οὐ γὰρ δεῖ διαιρεῖν αὐτὰ τοῦτον τὸν τρόπον ἀπ' ἀλλήλων, ὃν τὰς νοερὰς τάξεις, ἀλλὰ μίαν αὐτῶν καὶ ἀδιαίρετον τὴν ἕνωσιν θεωρεῖν.

Kern Fr. 75 — Etymologicum Magnum, s.v. Phanes

Φάνης· Φάνης Φάνητος· τὸν δὴ καλέουσι Φάνητα, ὅτι πρῶτος ἐν αἰθέρι φαντὸς ἐγένετο· Ὀρφεύς οὕτως ὅρος.

Argonautica attributed to Orpheus:

Νυκτὸς ἀειγνήτης πατέρα κλυτόν, ὅν ῥα Φάνητα

ὁπλότεροι καλέουσι βροτοί· πρῶτος γὰρ ἐφάνθη.

Kern Fr. 76 — Hermias, on Plato's Phaedrus 246e

ἐπειδὴ δὲ ὁ δωδέκατος ἀριθμὸς ἐκ τοῦ τελείου ἀριθμοῦ τοῦ τρίτου καὶ τοῦ γενεσιουργοῦ τοῦ τετάρτου κατὰ σύγκρασιν ἀπεγεννήθη, ὅλον τὸν τῶν θεῶν περιέχων θεῖον διάκοσμον, τοῦ δὲ τρίτου καὶ τετάρτου ἀρχαὶ μονὰς καὶ δυάς, εἴη ἂν μονὰς μὲν ὁ Αἰθήρ, δυὰς δὲ τὸ Χάος, τριὰς δὲ τὸ ᾠόν, τέλειον γάρ ἐστι, τετρὰς δὲ ὁ Φάνης, ὡς καὶ Ὀρφεύς φησι·

τετράσιν ὀφθαλμοῖσιν ὁρώμενος ἔνθα καὶ ἔνθα.

τὸν δὲ δέκα πάντα εἶναι τὸν ἀριθμὸν καὶ ὅλως τετρόμματον καὶ τετραπρόσωπον αὐτὸν ἡ θεολογία καλεῖ.