Good Works Translation from Ancient Greek and Latin

This page translates Kern fragments 293-296 from Otto Kern's Orphicorum fragmenta. Kern places them under Katabasis into Hades, a title for Orphic underworld material associated with Orpheus' descent, the soul-guide, Night, punishments, blessed meadows, Styx, and Charon.

Translation

Kern Fr. 293 — Egypt, Orpheus, and the Making of Hades Myths

Diodorus of Sicily, drawing on Hecataeus of Abdera, says:

The priests of the Egyptians tell, from the records in their sacred books, that in ancient times Orpheus, Musaeus, Melampus, Daedalus, and besides them the poet Homer, visited them.

They show evidence for all these men: images of some, and names of places or buildings that correspond to others. They also bring proofs from the education pursued by each, maintaining that everything for which those men were admired among the Greeks was carried over from Egypt.

For Orpheus brought away most of the mystic rites, the rites performed around his own wandering, and the mythmaking about things in Hades.

The rite of Osiris, they say, is the same as that of Dionysus, and the rite of Isis is most like that of Demeter, with only the names changed. Orpheus introduced the punishments of the impious in Hades, the meadows of the pious, and the image-making believed among the many, remaking them in imitation of what happens at Egyptian burials.

For according to the ancient custom among the Egyptians, Hermes the soul-guide brings up the body of Apis to a certain point and hands it over to the one wearing the face-piece of Cerberus. Once Orpheus had shown this among the Greeks, Homer followed him in the poetry:

Cyllenian Hermes
called out the souls
of the suitors,

and he held
the wand
in his hands.

Kern Fr. 294 — Orpheus, Eurydice, and Night's Oracle

Plutarch says:

The soul-guide of Thespesius said that Orpheus advanced as far as this point when he was pursuing the soul of his wife. But he did not remember the account correctly, and he brought a counterfeit report out to human beings, saying that there was a common oracle at Delphi belonging to Apollo and Night. In fact, Night shares nothing with Apollo.

Kern Fr. 295 — The Gods Who Swear Falsely by Styx

Servius says:

For it is reported from Orpheus that gods who swear falsely by the Stygian marsh are punished in Tartarus for a span of nine years. From this Statius says:

and Styx
convicts
the perjuries of gods.

Kern Fr. 296 — Charon Receives Heracles

Servius says:

It is also read in Orpheus that, when Hercules descended to the lower world, Charon was terrified and received him at once. Because of this, Charon was in shackles for a whole year.

Colophon

This Good Works translation was made from Otto Kern's Orphicorum fragmenta (Berlin: Weidmann, 1922), frr. 293-296, under the title Katabasis into Hades. Kern's numbering is retained.

The source witnesses translated here are Diodorus of Sicily using Hecataeus of Abdera for fr. 293, Plutarch's On the Delay of Divine Vengeance for fr. 294, and Servius' commentary on Vergil's Aeneid for frr. 295-296. Kern also points to Hesiod's related Styx passage and to other Greek and Roman parallels for underworld geography and punishment.

Source Text

Kern Fr. 293 — Egypt, Orpheus, and the Making of Hades Myths

Diodorus Siculus, Bibliotheca historica I 96, 2-6:

οἱ γὰρ ἱερεῖς τῶν Αἰγυπτίων ἱστοροῦσιν ἐκ τῶν ἀναγραφῶν τῶν ἐν ταῖς ἱεραῖς βίβλοις παραβαλεῖν πρὸς ἑαυτοὺς τὸ παλαιὸν Ὀρφέα τε καὶ Μουσαῖον καὶ Μελάμποδα καὶ Δαίδαλον, πρὸς δὲ τούτοις Ὅμηρόν τε τὸν ποιητὴν . . .

πάντων δὲ τούτων σημεῖα δεικνύουσι τῶν μὲν εἰκόνας, τῶν δὲ τόπων ἢ κατασκευασμάτων ὁμωνύμους προσηγορίας, ἔκ τε τῆς ἑκάστωι ζηλωθείσης παιδείας ἀποδείξεις φέρουσι, συνιστάντες ἐξ Αἰγύπτου μετενηνέχθαι πάντα δι' ὧν παρὰ τοῖς Ἕλλησιν ἐθαυμάσθησαν.

Ὀρφέα μὲν γὰρ τῶν μυστικῶν τελετῶν τὰ πλεῖστα καὶ τὰ περὶ τὴν ἑαυτοῦ πλάνην ὀργιαζόμενα καὶ τὴν τῶν ἐν Ἅιδου μυθοποιίαν ἀπενέγκασθαι.

τὴν μὲν γὰρ Ὀσίριδος τελετὴν τῆι Διονύσου τὴν αὐτὴν εἶναι, τὴν δὲ τῆς Ἴσιδος τῆι τῆς Δήμητρος ὁμοιοτάτην ὑπάρχειν, τῶν ὀνομάτων μόνων ἐνηλλαγμένων. τὰς δὲ τῶν ἀσεβῶν ἐν Ἅιδου τιμωρίας καὶ τοὺς τῶν εὐσεβῶν λειμῶνας καὶ τὰς παρὰ τοῖς πολλοῖς εἰδωλοποιίας ἀναπεπλασμένας παρεισαγαγεῖν μιμησάμενον τὰ γινόμενα περὶ τὰς ταφὰς τὰς κατ' Αἴγυπτον.

τὸν μὲν γὰρ ψυχοπομπὸν Ἑρμῆν κατὰ τὸ παλαιὸν νόμιμον παρ' Αἰγυπτίοις ἀναγαγόντα τὸ τοῦ Ἄπιδος σῶμα μέχρι τινὸς παραδιδόναι τῶι περικειμένωι τὴν τοῦ Κερβέρου προτομήν. τοῦ δ' Ὀρφέως τοῦτο καταδείξαντος παρὰ τοῖς Ἕλλησι τὸν Ὅμηρον ἀκολούθως τούτωι θεῖναι κατὰ τὴν ποίησιν·

Ἑρμῆς δὲ ψυχὰς Κυλλήνιος ἐξεκαλεῖτο

ἀνδρῶν μνηστήρων, ἔχε δὲ ῥάβδον μετὰ χερσίν.

Kern Fr. 294 — Orpheus, Eurydice, and Night's Oracle

Plutarch, De sera numinis vindicta 22:

ἔλεγεν οὖν ὁ τοῦ Θεσπεσίου ψυχοπομπὸς ἄχρι τούτου τὸν Ὀρφέα προελθεῖν, ὅτε τὴν ψυχὴν τῆς γυναικὸς μετήιει, καὶ μὴ καλῶς διαμνημονεύσαντα λόγον εἰς ἀνθρώπους κίβδηλον ἐξενεγκεῖν, ὡς κοινὸν εἴη μαντεῖον ἐν Δελφοῖς Ἀπόλλωνος καὶ Νυκτός· οὐδενὸς γὰρ Ἀπόλλωνι Νύκτα κοινωνεῖν.

Kern Fr. 295 — The Gods Who Swear Falsely by Styx

Servius, on Vergil, Aeneid VI 565:

fertur namque ab Orpheo quod dii peierantes per Stygem paludem novem annorum spatio puniuntur in Tartaro: unde ait Statius (Thebaid VIII 30) "et Styx periuria divum arguit."

Kern Fr. 296 — Charon Receives Heracles

Servius, on Vergil, Aeneid VI 392:

lectum est et in Orpheo quod, quando Hercules ad inferos descendit, Charon territus eum statim suscepit: ob quam rem anno integro in compedibus fuit.