Good Works Translation from Ancient Greek

This page translates Kern fragments 217-219 from the Orphic Sacred Discourses in Twenty-Four Rhapsodies. The group gathers three compact witnesses: Proclus on Orphic and Platonic kraters, Proclus and Damascius on Bacchus completing Zeus' work, and Clement on Orpheus' use of the Phrygian word bedu for water.

Translation

Kern Fr. 217 — The Kraters Around the Solar Table

Proclus says that other kraters, or mixing-bowls, have been handed down by both Orpheus and Plato. Plato, in the Philebus, hands down the Hephaestean krater and the Dionysiac krater. Orpheus too knows the krater of Dionysus, and he establishes many other kraters around the table of the Sun.

Kern Fr. 218 — Zeus Fulfills, Bacchus Completes

Proclus says that what Orpheus said about the monad of the new gods should also be said about the new gods themselves, since they complete the creation-work of the Father, which he established in himself by thinking:

Zeus the Father fulfilled all things; Bacchus completed them.

Damascius says similarly that Dionysus completes the works of Zeus, according to Orpheus, because Dionysus makes Zeus whole. The beginning, middle, and end are already parts; but parts simply, he says, lean especially toward the whole.

Damascius also says that the unifying creative cause is the single-formed one demiurge. Wholeness is the one that already brings the parts forward but is not yet divided, as the barbarian says. Dionysus is the already-divided unlimited multitude. Therefore Dionysus, Zeus, and the Teletarchs correspond to Phanes according to unlimited multitude.

Kern Fr. 219 — Bedu, the Water of the Nymphs

Clement of Alexandria says that even the elementary teaching of children includes an explanation of the four elements. He says that the Phrygians call water bedu, just as Orpheus says:

And bedu, the bright water of the Nymphs, is poured down.

Clement adds that Dion seems to write in the same way when he speaks of someone taking bedu, pouring it down over the hands, and turning in the sacred-watcher's manner.

Colophon

This Good Works translation was made from Otto Kern's Orphicorum fragmenta (Berlin: Weidmann, 1922), frr. 217-219, in the section headed "Hieroi logoi en rhapsodiais ka'." Kern's numbering is retained.

The source witnesses translated here are Proclus, Damascius, and Clement of Alexandria as printed by Kern.

Source Text

Kern Fr. 217 — Proclus

Proclus, Commentary on Plato's Timaeus:

ἐπεὶ καὶ ἄλλοι παραδέδονται κρατῆρες ὑπό τε Ὀρφέως καὶ Πλάτωνος· Πλάτων τε γὰρ ἐν Φιλήβωι τὸν μὲν Ἡφαιστεῖον κρατῆρα παραδίδωσι, τὸν δὲ Διονυσιακόν, καὶ Ὀ. οἶδε μὲν καὶ τὸν τοῦ Διονύσου κρατῆρα, πολλοὺς δὲ καὶ ἄλλους ἱδρύει περὶ τὴν Ἡλιακὴν τράπεζαν.

Kern Fr. 218 — Proclus and Damascius

Proclus, Commentary on Plato's Timaeus:

ὃ γὰρ εἶπε περὶ τῆς μονάδος τῶν νέων θεῶν ὁ Ὀρφεύς·

κραῖνε μὲν οὖν Ζεὺς πάντα πατήρ, Βάκχος δ' ἐπέκραινε,

τοῦτο καὶ περὶ τῶν νέων θεῶν ῥητέον, ὅτι δὴ τὴν δημιουργίαν ἐπιτελοῦσι τοῦ πατρός, ἣν ἐκεῖνος αὐτῶι τῶι νοεῖν ὑπέστησεν.

Damascius, On First Principles:

καὶ δὴ καὶ ὁ Διόνυσος ἐπικραίνει τὰ τοῦ Διὸς ἔργα, φησὶν Ὀ., ὁλοποιῶν τοῦ Διὸς οὗτος· ἀλλὰ καὶ ἡ ἀρχὴ καὶ τὸ μέσον καὶ τὸ τέλος μέρη ἐστίν· ἀλλ' ἤδη ἕστηκε ἀπ' ἀλλήλων, τὰ δὲ ἁπλῶς μέρη συννεύει μάλιστα πρὸς τὸ ὅλον.

Damascius, On First Principles:

ἕνωσις μὲν δημιουργικὴ ὁ μονοειδὴς εἷς δημιουργός· ὁλότης δὲ, ὁ ἤδη μὲν τὰ μέρη προφαίνων, οὔπω δὲ μεριζόμενος, ὡς ὁ βάρβαρος, ὁ δὲ Διόνυσος, τὸ ἄπειρον ἤδη μεριζόμενον πλῆθος. διὰ καὶ ὁ Διόνυσος καὶ ὁ Ζεὺς καὶ οἱ Τελετάρχαι ἀναλογοῦσιν τῶι Φάνητι κατὰ τὸ ἄπειρον πλῆθος.

Kern Fr. 219 — Clement of Alexandria

Clement of Alexandria, Stromata:

ναὶ μὴν ἡ στοιχειωτικὴ τῶν παίδων διδασκαλία τὴν τῶν τεττάρων στοιχείων περιείληφεν ἑρμηνείαν. βέδυ μὲν γὰρ τοὺς Φρύγας τὸ ὕδωρ φησὶ καλεῖν, καθὰ καὶ Ὀρφεύς·

καὶ βέδυ Νυμφᾶν καταλείβεται ἀγλαὸν ὕδωρ.

ἀλλὰ καὶ ὁ θυτὴρ Δίων ὁμοίως φαίνεται γράφων· καὶ βέδυ λαβὼν κατὰ χειρῶν καταχέων καὶ ἐπὶ τὴν ἱεροσκόπον τρόπον.