Good Works Translation from Ancient Greek

This page translates Kern fragments 114-116 from the Orphic Sacred Discourses in Twenty-Four Rhapsodies. The group continues the ordering after Heaven and Earth: Earth secretly bears the daughters and sons who stand in the Titan line; Proclus corrects the relation between Ocean, Tethys, Kronos, and Rhea; Eustathius preserves the verse of Ocean's tireless circle around Earth; and Proclus reports Ocean as the source of all motion.

Translation

Kern Fr. 114 — Earth Bears the Titans

Proclus says:

Plato would seem to say this without following the Orphic principles. For there Ocean and Tethys are called siblings of Kronos and Rhea, not their parents. Earth bore them, hiding it from Heaven, as the theologian says:

Seven fair-form daughters, holy bright-eyed ones,

and seven lordly sons of great force she bore.

Of daughters she bore Themis and prudent Tethys,

deep-tressed Mnemosyne and blessed Theia,

and Dione, having a conspicuous form,

Phoebe and Rhea, mother of lord Zeus.

And other sons like these:

Koios and Kreios, great Phorkys and mighty Kronos,

Ocean too, and Hyperion and Iapetos.

Since these things have been recorded beforehand by the theologian, how does the Timaeus bring Kronos and Rhea from Ocean and Tethys?

In another place, Proclus says:

Likewise, for the other stronger races arranged under them, the phrase "as many as were with these" seems to indicate the remaining Titans: Koios, Hyperion, Kreios, Iapetos, and Phorkys; and the remaining Titanesses: Phoebe, Theia, Mnemosyne, Themis, and Dione, together with whom Kronos and Rhea came forth.

It also indicates those who came forth together with Phorkys: Nereus, Thaumas, Eurybia, who is most moved toward motion, and those who especially hold together the whole of generation. This much is worth knowing: it is not necessary to be exact about the order among them, whether Kronos or Phorkys is higher. For there is union and likeness among them.

Kern Fr. 115 — Ocean's Tireless Circle

Eustathius says:

Ocean is, in every way, one who flows back: one who rushes into himself, that is, who returns and is carried around into the shape of a circle, enclosing Earth within himself. So Orpheus too says in the poem on Zeus and Hera:

the tireless circle of fair-flowing Ocean,

who in whirling course holds Earth around, coiling about her.

Thus Ocean encloses Earth.

Proclus says:

Everywhere the first orders must be distinguished from the second ones. So too it is not irrational when the poets call Ocean the one who bounds Earth.

Kern Fr. 116 — Ocean and the Ten Channels

Proclus says:

The theologians show that Ocean is the giver of every motion. They say that he sends out ten channels, of which nine go toward the sea.

Colophon

This Good Works translation was made from Otto Kern's Orphicorum fragmenta (Berlin: Weidmann, 1922), frr. 114-116, in the section headed "Hieroi logoi en rhapsodiais ka'." Kern's numbering is retained.

The source witnesses translated here include Proclus and Eustathius as printed by Kern.

Source Text

Kern Fr. 114 — Proclus

Proclus, on Plato's Timaeus:

δόξειε γὰρ ἂν τοῦτο λέγειν οὐχ ἑπομένως ταῖς Ὀρφικαῖς ἀρχαῖς· ἐκεῖ γὰρ ἀδελφοὶ λέγονται τούτων, ἀλλ᾽ οὐ γεννήτορες· τίκτει γὰρ ἡ Γῆ λαθοῦσα τὸν Οὐρανόν, ὡς φησὶν ὁ θεολόγος·

ἑπτὰ μὲν εὐειδεῖς κούρας ἑλικώπιδας ἁγνάς,

ἑπτὰ δὲ παῖδας ἄνακτας ἐγείνατο ζαχνηέντας·

θυγατέρας μὲν τίκτεν Θέμιν καὶ σώφρονα Τηθύν,

Μνημοσύνην τε βαθύπλοκαμον Θείην τε μάκαιραν,

ἠδὲ Διώνην τίκτεν ἀριπρεπὲς εἶδος ἔχουσαν,

Φοίβην τε Ῥείην τε, Διὸς γενέτειραν ἄνακτος·

παῖδας δὲ ἄλλους τοιούτους·

Κοῖόν τε Κριόν τε μέγαν Φόρκυν τε κραταιόν

καὶ Κρόνον Ὠκεανόν θ᾽ Ὑπερίονά τ᾽ Ἰαπετόν τε.

τούτων οὖν παρὰ τῷ θεολόγῳ προαναγεγραμμένων πῶς ὁ Τίμαιος ἐξ Ὠκεανοῦ καὶ Τηθύος παράγει Κρόνον τε καὶ Ῥέαν;

The same Proclus, on Plato's Timaeus:

ὁμοίως δὲ καὶ ἐπὶ τῶν ἄλλων τῶν κρειττόνων γενῶν τῶν ὑπ᾽ αὐτοὺς τεταγμένων ἔοικε τὸ "ὅσοι μετὰ τούτων" δηλοῦν τούς τε λοιποὺς Τιτᾶνας, Κοῖον καὶ Ὑπερίονα, Κρεῖον, Ἰαπετόν, Φόρκυν, καὶ τὰς λοιπὰς Τιτανίδας, τὴν Φοίβην, τὴν Θείαν, τὴν Μνημοσύνην, τὴν Θέμιν, τὴν Διώνην, μεθ᾽ ὧν ὁ Κρόνος καὶ ἡ Ῥέα προῆλθον, καὶ τοὺς ἅμα τῷ Φόρκυϊ προελθόντας, τὸν Νηρέα, τὸν Θαύμαντα, τὴν κινητικωτάτην Εὐρυβίαν, καὶ τοὺς μάλιστα τὴν γένεσιν ὅλην συνέχοντας. ἐκεῖνο μὲν γινώσκειν ἄξιον, ὡς οὐ προσῆκεν ἀκριβολογεῖσθαι περὶ τῆς ἐν αὐτοῖς τάξεως, πότερον ὁ Κρόνος ἐστὶν ὑπέρτερος ἢ ὁ Φόρκυς· ἕνωσις γὰρ αὐτῶν ἐστι καὶ ὁμοιότης.

Kern Fr. 115 — Eustathius and Proclus

Eustathius, on Dionysius Periegetes:

πάντως γὰρ Ὠκεανὸς ἀψόρροος ὁ εἰς ἑαυτὸν ὁρμῶν, ἤγουν ἐπανιὼν καὶ εἰς κύκλου σχῆμα περιαγόμενος, καὶ οὕτως ἐναποκλείων ἑαυτῷ τὴν γῆν, καθὰ καὶ Ὀρφεὺς ἐν τῷ περὶ Διὸς καὶ Ἥρας φησὶ λέγων·

κύκλον δ᾽ ἀκάματον καλλίρροον Ὠκεανοῖο,

ὃς γαῖαν δίνησι πέριξ ἔχει ἀμφιέλιξας,

ὡς τοῦ Ὠκεανοῦ περιειληφότος τὴν γῆν.

Proclus, on Plato's Timaeus:

πανταχοῦ γὰρ διορίζειν δεῖν τὰς πρώτας τάξεις ἀπὸ τῶν δευτέρων, οὐκ ἀλόγως καὶ τῶν ποιητῶν Ὠκεανὸν καλούντων τὸν ὁρίζοντα τῆς γῆς.

Kern Fr. 116 — Proclus

Proclus, on Plato's Timaeus:

δηλοῦσι δὲ οἱ θεολόγοι τὸν Ὠκεανὸν ἁπάσης εἶναι κινήσεως χορηγόν, δέκα λέγοντες αὐτὸν ἐκπέμπειν ὀχετούς, ὧν ἐπὶ θάλατταν τοὺς ἐννέα χωρεῖν.