Good Works Translation from Ancient Greek

This page translates Kern fragments 199-201 from the Orphic Sacred Discourses in Twenty-Four Rhapsodies. The group gathers a set of divine-name witnesses: Hipta as soul of the whole and receiver of Dionysus, Bendis among the names of the Moon, and Attis and Adonis as gods whose higher station reaches into a lower cosmic order.

Translation

Kern Fr. 199 — Hipta Receives Dionysus

Proclus says that his own guide, Iamblichus, interpreted Plato's words more closely. The soul of the whole has something hypercosmic and set apart from the whole, insofar as it is joined to intellect; Plato calls this its head in the Phaedrus, and Orpheus gives it this name in the discourses about Hipta.

In another passage Proclus says that Orpheus shows the same teaching in a different way. Hipta is the soul of the whole, and is called this by the theologian perhaps because her acts of understanding have their being in the most vigorous motions, or perhaps because of the sharpest movement of the whole, of which she is the cause. She sets a winnowing basket on her head, wraps it around with a serpent, and receives Dionysus Kardiatios.

In the highest part of herself she becomes the receptacle of the intellectual essence and receives the encosmic intellect. Dionysus comes forth from the thigh of Zeus into her, for he had been conceived there; then, having come forth and become participable through her, he leads her up toward the intelligible and toward his own source. He hastens toward the Mother of the Gods and toward Ida, from whom the whole series of souls proceeds.

Therefore Hipta is said to help Zeus as he gives birth. As Proclus has already said, intellect cannot arrive without soul. This is like the Orphic line:

She called forth the sweet child of Zeus.

This child, Proclus says, was the cosmic intellect belonging to Zeus, coming forth according to the one that remained in Zeus.

Kern also prints related Orphic hymn witnesses. The hymn to Sabazios says:

Hear me, father, son of Kronos, Sabazios, glorious daimon,
you who sewed Bacchic Dionysus, loud-roaring Eiraphiotes,
into your thigh, so that, completed, he might come
to holy Tmolos and to fair-cheeked Hipta.
But blessed one, ruler of Phrygia, most kingly of all,
come propitiously as a helper to the initiates.

The hymn to Hipta says:

I call Hipta, nurse of Bacchus, sacred maiden,
mystic celebrant, rejoicing in the rites of holy Sabo
and in the night dances of loud-roaring Iacchos.
Hear my prayer, chthonic mother, queen,
whether you hold holy Ida's mountain in Phrygia
or Tmolos delights you, lovely sight for Lydians;
come to the rites with a holy and glad face.

Kern Fr. 200 — Bendis Among the Names of the Moon

Proclus says that the Thracian theologian, after giving the Moon many names, also referred Bendis to the goddess:

Ploutone, Euphrosyne, and mighty Bendis.

Kern Fr. 201 — Attis and Adonis

Damascius says that, on this first point, we also have evidence among the theologians: there are gods established in a higher order who, according to their own individuality, preside over the next ordering. For example, Attis, seated in the lunar allotment, fashions the generated realm. We find Adonis in the same condition in the secret writings, and many gods like this in Orpheus and among the theurgists.

The Prayer to Musaeus says:

I call the Mother of the immortals, Attis and Men,
and the heavenly goddess, with immortal, holy Adonis.

Kern also compares a hymn quoted by Hippolytus:

Hail, Attis, dark utterance of Rhea.
The Assyrians call you thrice-longed-for Adonis,
all Egypt calls you Osiris,
Greek wisdom calls you the heavenly horn of the Moon.

Colophon

This Good Works translation was made from Otto Kern's Orphicorum fragmenta (Berlin: Weidmann, 1922), frr. 199-201, in the section headed "Hieroi logoi en rhapsodiais ka'." Kern's numbering is retained.

The source witnesses translated here are Proclus, Damascius, the Prayer to Musaeus, and related Orphic hymn witnesses as printed by Kern.

Source Text

Kern Fr. 199 — Proclus and Orphic Hymn Witnesses

Proclus, Commentary on Plato's Timaeus:

ὁ δὲ γε ἡμέτερος καθηγεμὼν προσφυέστερον τοῖς τοῦ Πλάτωνος ῥήμασιν ἐποιεῖτο τὴν ἐξήγησιν· τῆς γὰρ τοῦ παντὸς ψυχῆς ἐχούσης μέν τι καὶ ὑπερκόσμιον καὶ ἐξηιρημένον τοῦ παντός, καθὸ συνήπται πρὸς τὸν νοῦν, ὃ δὴ κεφαλὴν αὐτῆς ὅ τε Πλάτων ἐν τῶι Φαίδρωι καὶ Ὀρφεὺς ἐν τοῖς περὶ τῆς Ἵπτας λόγοις προσωνόμασεν.

Proclus, Commentary on Plato's Timaeus:

ὁ δὲ Ὀρφεὺς τρόπον ἕτερον· ἀλλ' εἴ με δεῖ τοὐμὸν εἰπεῖν, διὰ τούτων καὶ ἡ τοῦ θεολόγου διάνοια γίνεται καταφανής. ἡ μὲν γὰρ Ἵπτα τοῦ παντὸς οὖσα ψυχὴ καὶ οὕτω κεκλημένη παρὰ τῶι θεολόγωι τάχα μὲν ὅτι καὶ ἐν ἀκμαιοτάταις κινήσεσιν αἱ νοήσεις αὐτῆς οὐσίωνται, τάχα δὲ καὶ διὰ τὴν ὀξυτάτην τοῦ παντὸς φοράν, ἧς ἐστιν αἰτία, λίκνον ἐπὶ τῆς κεφαλῆς θεμένη καὶ δράκοντι αὐτὸ περιστέψασα τὸν κραδιαῖον ὑποδέχεται Διόνυσον· τῶι γὰρ ἑαυτῆς τῆς θειοτάτης γίνεται τῆς νοερᾶς οὐσίας ὑποδοχὴ καὶ δέχεται τὸν ἐγκόσμιον νοῦν. ὁ δὲ ἀπὸ τοῦ μηροῦ τοῦ Διὸς πρόεισιν εἰς αὐτήν — ἦν γὰρ ἐκεῖ συνηναμμένος — καὶ προελθὼν καὶ μεθεκτὸς αὐτῆς γεγονὼς ἐπὶ τὸ νοητὸν αὐτὴν ἀνάγει καὶ τὴν ἑαυτοῦ πηγήν· ἐπείγεται γὰρ πρὸς τὴν μητέρα τῶν θεῶν καὶ τὴν Ἴδην, ἀφ' ἧς πᾶσα τῶν ψυχῶν ἡ σειρά. διὸ καὶ συλλαμβάνειν ἡ Ἵπτα λέγεται τίκτοντι τῶι Διί· ὡς γὰρ εἴρηται πρότερον, νοῦν ἄνευ ψυχῆς ἀδύνατον παραγενέσθαι τωι, τοῦτο δὲ ὅμοιον τῶι παρ' Ὀρφεῖ·

γλυκερὸν δὲ τέκος Διὸς ἐξεκαλεῖτο,

τοῦτο δὲ ἦν ὁ κοσμικὸς νοῦς Διὸς ὤν, κατὰ τὸν ἐν τῶι Διὶ μείναντα προελθών.

Orphic Hymn to Sabazios:

κλῦθι, πάτερ, Κρόνου υἱέ, Σαβάζιε, κύδιμε δαῖμον,
ὃς Βάκχον Διόνυσον, ἐρίβρομον, εἰραφιώτην
μηρῶι ἐγκατέραψας, ὅπως τετελεσμένος ἔλθηι
Τμῶλον ἐς ἠγάθεον παρὰ θ' Ἵπταν καλλιπάρῃον.
ἀλλά, μάκαρ, Φρυγίης μεδέων, βασιλεύτατε πάντων,
εὐμενέων ἐπαρωγὸς ἐπέλθοις μυστιπόλοισιν.

Orphic Hymn to Hipta:

Ἵπταν κικλήσκω, Βάκχου τροφόν, εὐάδα κούρην,
μυστιπόλον, τελεταῖσιν ἀγαλλομένην Σάβου ἁγνοῦ
νυκτερίοις τε χοροῖσιν ἐριβρεμέταο Ἰάκχου.
κλῦθί μου εὐχομένου, χθονία μήτηρ, βασίλεια,
εἴτε σύ γ' ἐν Φρυγίηι κατέχεις Ἴδης ὄρος ἁγνόν
ἢ Τμῶλος τέρπει σε, καλὸν Λυδοῖσι θόασμα·
ἔρχεο πρὸς τελετὰς ἱερῶι γηθοῦσα προσώπωι.

Kern Fr. 200 — Proclus

Proclus, Commentary on Plato's Republic:

οὕτω καὶ τοῦ Θραικὸς θεολόγου μετὰ τῶν πολλῶν τῆς Σελήνης ὀνομάτων καὶ τὴν Βενδῖν εἰς τὴν θεὸν ἀναπέμψαντος·

Πλουτώνη τε καὶ Εὐφροσύνη Βενδὶς τε κραταιά.

Kern Fr. 201 — Damascius, Prayer to Musaeus, and Hippolytus

Damascius, On First Principles:

αὐτίκα πρὸς τὸ πρῶτον ἔχομεν καὶ παρὰ τοῖς θεολόγοις, ὅτι εἰσίν θεοὶ ἐν ὑπερτέραι μὲν τάξει τὴν λῆξιν ἱδρυσάμενοι, τοῦ δὲ ἑξῆς διακόσμου προϊστάμενοι κατ' ἰδιότητα· οἷον ὁ Ἄττις ἐν τῆι σεληναίαι καθημένος λήξει δημιουργεῖ τὸ γενητόν. οὕτως ἔχοντα καὶ τὸν Ἄδωνιν εὑρίσκομεν ἐν ἀπορρήτοις, οὕτω πολλοὺς θεοὺς παρ' Ὀρφεῖ τε καὶ τοῖς θεουργοῖς.

Prayer to Musaeus:

Μητέρα τ' ἀθανάτων, Ἄττιν καὶ Μῆνα κικλήσκω
Οὐρανίαν τε θεάν, σὺν δ' ἄμβροτον ἁγνὸν Ἄδωνιν.

Hymn quoted by Hippolytus:

χαῖρε ὦ τὸ κατηφὲς ἄκουσμα Ῥέας Ἄττι· σὲ καλοῦσι μὲν Ἀσσύριοι τριπόθητον Ἄδωνιν, ὅλη δ' Αἴγυπτος Ὄσιριν, ἐπουράνιον μηνὸς κέρας Ἑλληνὶς σοφία.