Good Works Translation from Ancient Greek

This page translates Kern fragments 135-138 from the Orphic Sacred Discourses in Twenty-Four Rhapsodies. The group follows the Kronos-Rhea succession with the crisis of the Titans: Ocean hesitates instead of joining the attack on Heaven; a scholion connects the Titans with spreading and with ancient darkness; Proclus reads Kronos' cutting and being cut as mythic language to be led back into theology; and Zeus' swallowing of his children is interpreted as the containing power of kingship.

Translation

Kern Fr. 135 — Ocean Hesitates

Proclus says:

When the other Titans were rushing into the plot against their father, Ocean resisted his mother's commands and hesitated about the deed:

There Ocean himself remained in his halls,

pondering to which side he should turn his mind:

whether, with Kronos and the other brothers who obeyed

their dear mother, he should strip his father by force

and do reckless outrage,

or, leaving them, remain inside at peace.

Much troubled, he stayed there, sitting in his halls,

angry at his mother, but more at his brothers.

Therefore Ocean both remains and proceeds together with Tethys, for she is yoked with him according to the first generation. The other Titans press on toward distinction and procession, and the greatest of them, Kronos, leads them, as the theologian says.

Kern Fr. 136 — The Titans' Name and Ancient Darkness

A scholion on Hesiod says:

"Titans" comes from being stretched and spread out. Or else, as Hesiod says, taking this from the opinion of Orpheus, it is because Kronos is going to punish the gods again and take back his kingship; that is, that most ancient darkness is going to overpower again the life-giving circles that hold the stars.

Kern Fr. 137 — Kronos Cuts and Is Cut

Proclus says:

Kronos alone both strips Heaven of the kingship completely and yields the leadership to Zeus, cutting and being cut, as the myth says.

Since Plato saw this kind of succession described among the theologians as insolent in the case of Kronos, he thought the appearance of insolence in the name was worth remembering. In this way he could show the name as fitting to the god and as bearing an image of the insolence told in myth about him. He also teaches us to lead the mythic constructions back to the truth, as is proper concerning gods, and to refer the apparent wonder-tale upward into a knowing concept.

Kern Fr. 138 — Zeus Contains What He Begets

Proclus says:

The theologians knew this too, and they mythologized Zeus receiving the kingship and eating his own children. They did not mean that the god hated his father and behaved that way toward his children. Rather, this means that, because of the superiority of his power, he was judged worthy of kingship and held within himself all the things he begets.

Colophon

This Good Works translation was made from Otto Kern's Orphicorum fragmenta (Berlin: Weidmann, 1922), frr. 135-138, in the section headed "Hieroi logoi en rhapsodiais ka'." Kern's numbering is retained.

The source witnesses translated here include Proclus and a scholion on Hesiod as printed by Kern.

Source Text

Kern Fr. 135 — Proclus

Proclus, on Plato's Timaeus:

τῶν γὰρ ἄλλων Τιτάνων εἰς τὴν κατὰ τοῦ πατρὸς ἐπιβουλὴν ἱεμένων ὁ Ὠκεανὸς ἀπαγορεύει τε πρὸς τὰς τῆς μητρὸς ἐπιτάξεις καὶ ἐνδοιάζει περὶ τῆς πράξεως·

ἔνθ᾽ αὐτὸς Ὠκεανὸς μὲν ἐνὶ μεγάροισιν ἔμιμνεν

ὁρμαίνων, ποτέρωσε νόον τράποι, ἦ πατέρα οὖ

γυμνώσαι τε βίης καὶ ἀτάσθαλα λωβήσαιτο

σὺν Κρόνῳ ἠδ᾽ ἄλλοισιν ἀδελφοῖς, οἳ πεπίθοντο

μητρὶ φίλῃ, ἢ τοὺς γε λιπὼν μένοι ἔνδον ἕκηλος.

πολλὰ δὲ πορφύρων μένεν ἥμενος ἐν μεγάροισι,

σκυζόμενος ᾗ μητρί, κασιγνήτοισι δὲ μᾶλλον.

μένει οὖν οὗτος ἅμα καὶ πρόεισι μετὰ τῆς Τηθύος· συνέζευκται γὰρ αὐτῷ κατὰ τὴν πρώτην ἀπογέννησιν. οἱ δὲ ἄλλοι Τιτᾶνες εἰς διάκρισιν ἐπείγονται καὶ πρόοδον, ἡγεῖται δὲ αὐτῶν ὁ μέγιστος Κρόνος, ὡς φησὶν ὁ θεολόγος.

Kern Fr. 136 — Scholion on Hesiod

Scholion on Hesiod's Theogony:

Τιτᾶνες παρὰ τὸ τετάσθαι καὶ ἐξηπλῶσθαι. ἢ ὅτι, ὡς λέγει οὗτος, ἀπὸ τῆς δόξης τοῦ Ὀρφέως λαβὼν τοῦτο, ὅτι πάλιν τιμωρῆσαι μέλλει ὁ Κρόνος τοὺς θεοὺς καὶ λαβεῖν τὴν βασιλείαν αὐτοῦ, ἤγουν πάλιν ἐπικρατῆσαι μέλλει τὸ σκότος ἐκεῖνο τὸ ἀρχαιότατον τοὺς ζωοδόχους κύκλους, τοὺς ἔχοντας τοὺς ἀστέρας.

Kern Fr. 137 — Proclus

Proclus, on Plato's Cratylus:

μόνος δὲ ὁ Κρόνος καὶ ἀφαιρεῖται τοῦ Οὐρανοῦ τὴν βασιλείαν τελέως, καὶ τῷ Διὶ παραχωρεῖ τῆς ἡγεμονίας, τέμνων καὶ τεμνόμενος, ὡς φησὶν ὁ μῦθος. ἐπεὶ τοίνυν τὴν τοιαύτην διαδοχὴν ὑβριστικὴν οὖσαν ἐπὶ Κρόνου λεγομένην ἑώρα ὁ Πλάτων παρὰ τοῖς θεολόγοις, μνήμης ἠξίωσεν καὶ τὴν ἐν τῷ ὀνόματι φαντασίαν τῆς ὕβρεως, ἵνα καὶ ταύτῃ προσήκον ἀποφήνῃ τὸ ὄνομα τῷ θεῷ, καὶ εἰκόνα φέρον τῆς περὶ ἐκεῖνον μυθευομένης ὕβρεως, ἡμᾶς δὲ ἀναδιδάξῃ καὶ τὰ μυθικὰ πλάσματα πρὸς τὴν ἀλήθειαν ἐπανάγειν, ὡς προσήκει περὶ θεῶν, καὶ τὴν φαινομένην τερατολογίαν εἰς ἐπιστημονικὴν ἔννοιαν ἀναπέμπειν.

Kern Fr. 138 — Proclus

Proclus, on Plato's Republic:

καὶ ταῦτα καὶ οἱ θεολόγοι γιγνώσκοντες τὸν Δία λαβόντα τὴν βασιλείαν καὶ τοὺς ἑαυτοῦ παῖδας ἐσθίειν ἐμυθολόγησαν, ὡς θεὸν οὐ τὸν μισάμενον τὸν πατέρα καὶ περὶ τοὺς παῖδας εἶναι τοιοῦτον· τοῦτο δέ ἐστιν τὸν δι᾽ ὑπεροχὴν δυνάμεως ἄξιον ἡγησάμενον βασιλείας καὶ ὅσα γεννᾷ παρ᾽ ἑαυτῷ κατέχειν.