Good Works Translation from Ancient Greek

This page translates Kern fragments 150-152 from the Orphic Sacred Discourses in Twenty-Four Rhapsodies. The group follows the Kronos-sleep witnesses with the birth and meaning of the Kouretes: Rhea alone brings them forth, they stand as an undefiled guarding order around Zeus and the demiurgic gods, and Adrasteia's bronze sound turns all the gods toward her.

Translation

Kern Fr. 150 — Rhea Brings Forth the Kouretes

Damascius says:

Fourteenth, let us ask this by itself: why, among the Greeks, the first father, Phanes, and the third, Zeus, do not bring forth a Kourete order, while Rhea alone gives birth to the Kouretes, whom we say are implacable; and, in general, why three are assigned to her, although by god-delivered report one of her powers is implacable.

Kern Fr. 151 — The Kourete Guard

Proclus says:

So great is this god's superiority over every ordering toward lower things, and so undefiled is his union with the intelligible, that Kronos does not even need the guard of the Kouretes, as Rhea, Zeus, and Kore do. All of them, because of their processions into secondary things, needed the unchanging watch of the Kouretes. But Kronos, fixed firmly in himself and having snatched himself away from all secondary things, is established above the guard that comes from the Kouretes. He also holds their cause within himself in a unified way; for this pure and undefiled power gives subsistence to all the processions of the Kouretes.

Proclus also says:

Just as the theologian sets the Kourete order around Zeus, so Plato says that terrible guards are around him. And as the theologian seats him on the summit of Olympus, so Plato assigns him the acropolis, where, established forever, he orders all things through the middle ranks.

And again:

Following Orpheus, Plato plainly calls the triad of implacable and undefiled noeric gods "Kourete," just as the Athenian Stranger in the Laws hymns the armed dances of the Kouretes and their rhythmic choral movement. For Orpheus too places the Kouretes as guards beside Zeus, three in number. The institutions of the Cretans, and all Greek theology, refer pure and undefiled life and activity to this order. For the word "Kouros" indicates nothing other than the pure and unmixed.

Proclus also says:

Who, if he has heard even a little of Greek divine wisdom, does not know that in their ineffable rites and in their other teachings about the gods, the Kourete order is especially hymned among them as presiding over undefiled purity, leading the goddess, and binding the guard of the wholes back to itself? These gods are said to guard queen Rhea and the demiurge of the wholes; and, proceeding as far as the causes of divided life-making and demiurgy, they guard Kore and Dionysus among those causes, keeping them set apart from the secondary things, since there they hold the first-working monads of all life-making and of complete demiurgy.

This Kourete order was not only known and revered by Orpheus and the theologians before Plato; the Athenian Stranger too hymns it in the Laws. He says that the armed dances of the Kouretes in Crete are ruling patterns for all rhythmical movement. Nor was it enough for him to mention this Kourete order; he also adds the one henad of them, singing of queen Athena. The mystagogy of the theologians before him fastens the whole procession of the Kouretes to her. Above, she surrounds them with Athenian symbols, as guardians of fearless life and vigorous thought; below, she clearly sets them under the providence of Athena. The first Kouretes, since they are gods of the intelligible order and hidden attendants, are ruled by the tokens that come from there. Those in the second and third ranks depend on the noeric Athenian monad.

Therefore the Kouretes received their name because they preside over the undefiled purity of the gods.

Olympiodorus says:

The Kouretes are around the demiurgic gods, because they have inclined toward the worse.

Kern Fr. 152 — Adrasteia's Bronze Sound

Proclus says:

All things are subject to the ordinance of Adrasteia. All distributions of gods, all measures, and all watches have their standing through it. In Orpheus, Adrasteia is also said to guard the whole demiurge:

taking bronze clappers

and a goat-hide drum,

she made such a sound that all the gods turned toward her.

Socrates imitates this too: I mean the mythic sound that stretches over all things by proclamation. In the same way, he brings the ordinance of Adrasteia over all souls: "This is the ordinance of Adrasteia: whatever soul has seen something of the truths shall remain unharmed until the next circuit." By this proclamation he stamps the Orphic sound and utters something like a hymn of Adrasteia. First, he calls it an ordinance and not a law, just as he does the Kronian and the Zeusian ordinance.

Colophon

This Good Works translation was made from Otto Kern's Orphicorum fragmenta (Berlin: Weidmann, 1922), frr. 150-152, in the section headed "Hieroi logoi en rhapsodiais ka'." Kern's numbering is retained.

The source witnesses translated here include Damascius, Proclus, and Olympiodorus as printed by Kern.

Source Text

Kern Fr. 150 — Damascius

Damascius, On First Principles:

τέταρτον καὶ δέκατον, αὐτὸ καθ᾽ αὑτὸ ζητήσωμεν διὰ τί ὁ μὲν πρῶτος πατὴρ καὶ ὁ τρίτος οὐ παράγει Κουρητικὴν τάξιν παρὰ τοῖς Ἕλλησιν, μόνη δὲ ἡ Ῥέα τοὺς Κουρήτας ἀπογεννᾷ, οὓς ἀμειλίκτους εἶναί φαμεν· ὅλως δὲ διὰ τί αὐτῇ συντετάχθαι τρεῖς, ἑνὸς ὄντος αὐτῆς ἀμειλίκτου κατὰ τὴν θεοπαράδοτον φήμην.

Kern Fr. 151 — Proclus and Olympiodorus

Proclus, on Plato's Cratylus:

τοσαύτη γάρ ἐστιν ἡ τοῦ θεοῦ τούτου πάσης πρὸς τὰ καταδεέστερα συντάξεως ὑπεροχὴ καὶ ἡ πρὸς τὸ νοητὸν ἄκραντος ἕνωσις, ὥστε μηδὲ τῆς Κουρητικῆς αὐτὸν δεῖσθαι φρουρᾶς, ὥσπερ τὴν Ῥέαν καὶ τὸν Δία καὶ τὴν Κόρην· πάντες γὰρ οὗτοι διὰ τὰς εἰς τὰ δεύτερα προόδους τῆς ἀτρέπτου φυλακῆς τῶν Κουρήτων ἐδεήθησαν. ὁ δὲ Κρόνος, ἐν ἑαυτῷ μονίμως ἱδρυμένος καὶ ἀφ᾽ ὅλων τῶν δευτέρων ἁρπάσας ἑαυτόν, τῆς παρὰ τῶν Κουρήτων ὑπερίδρυται φρουρᾶς, ἔχει δὲ καὶ τούτων ἑνοειδῶς ἐν ἑαυτῷ τὴν αἰτίαν· τὸ γὰρ καθαρὸν τοῦτο καὶ τὸ ἄκραντον ὑπόστασιν παρέχεται πάσαις ταῖς τῶν Κουρήτων προόδοις.

Proclus, on Plato's Timaeus:

ὥσπερ γὰρ ὁ θεολόγος περὶ αὐτὸν ἵστησι τὴν Κουρητικὴν τάξιν, οὕτω δὴ καὶ ὁ Πλάτων φυλακὰς φοβερὰς εἶναι φησὶ περὶ αὐτόν, καὶ ὡς ἐκεῖνος ἐπὶ τῆς τοῦ Ὀλύμπου κορυφῆς αὐτὸν ἱδρύει, οὕτως καὶ οὗτος τὴν ἀκρόπολιν ἀνῆκεν αὐτῷ, ἐν ᾗ διαιωνίως ἱδρυμένος διὰ τῶν μέσων τάξεων κοσμεῖ τὰ πάντα.

Proclus, Platonic Theology:

ἀλλὰ μὴν καὶ τριάδα τὴν ἀμείλικτον καὶ ἄκραντον τῶν νοερῶν θεῶν διαρρήδην ὁ Πλάτων ἑπόμενος τῷ Ὀρφεῖ Κουρητικὴν ἀποκαλεῖ, καθάπερ ἐν Νόμοις φησὶν ὁ Ἀθηναῖος ξένος τὰ τῶν Κουρήτων ἐνόπλια παίγνια καὶ τὴν εὔρυθμον χορείαν αὐτῶν ἀνυμνῶν. καὶ γὰρ Ὀρφεὺς τοὺς Κουρῆτας φύλακας τῷ Διὶ παρίστησι τρεῖς ὄντας. καὶ οἱ θεσμοὶ τῶν Κρητῶν καὶ ἡ Ἑλληνικὴ πᾶσα θεολογία τὴν καθαρὰν καὶ ἄκραντον ζωὴν καὶ ἐνέργειαν εἰς τὴν τάξιν ταύτην ἀναπέμπουσιν. οὐδὲ γὰρ ἄλλο τι τὸ κόρον ἢ τὸ καθαρὸν καὶ ἀκήρατον ἐνδείκνυται.

Proclus, Platonic Theology:

τίς γὰρ οὐκ οἶδε τῶν καὶ σμικρὰ τῆς Ἑλληνικῆς θεοσοφίας ἀκηκοότων ἔν τε ταῖς ἀρρήτοις αὐτῶν τελεταῖς καὶ ταῖς ἄλλαις περὶ τῶν θεῶν πραγματείαις τὴν τῶν Κουρήτων τάξιν παρ᾽ αὐτοῖς διαφερόντως ὑμνημένην ὡς τῆς ἀκράντου προεστῶσαν ἰδιότητος, τῆς θεᾶς ἡγεμονεύουσαν καὶ τὴν φρουρὰν τῶν ὅλων εἰς αὐτὴν ἀναδησαμένην; οὗτοι γοῦν οἱ θεοὶ καὶ τὴν βασιλίδα Ῥέαν λέγονται φρουρεῖν καὶ τὸν τῶν ὅλων δημιουργόν, καὶ μέχρι τῶν αἰτίων τῆς μεριστῆς ζωογονίας τε καὶ δημιουργίας προϊόντες, τήν τε Κόρην ἐν ἐκείνοις καὶ τὸν Διόνυσον, ἐξῃρημένους τῶν δευτέρων φυλάττειν, ὥσπερ ἐνταῦθα τὰς τῆς ὅλης ζωῆς ζωογονίας καὶ τῆς παντελοῦς δημιουργίας πρωτουργοὺς ἀνέχουσι μονάδας.

ταύτην δὴ οὖν τὴν Κουρητικὴν τάξιν οὐ μόνον Ὀρφεὺς καὶ οἱ πρὸ τοῦ Πλάτωνος ἔγνωσαν θεολόγοι καὶ γνόντες ἐθρήσκευσαν, ἀλλὰ καὶ ὁ Ἀθηναῖος ξένος ἐν Νόμοις ἀνύμνησε. τὰ γὰρ ἐν Κρήτῃ τῶν Κουρήτων ἐνόπλια παίγνια, πάσης τῆς εὐρύθμου κινήσεως εἶναί φησιν ἀρχηγικὰ παραδείγματα. καὶ νῦν οὐδὲ τοῦτο ἀπέχρησεν αὐτῷ, τὸ τῆς Κουρητικῆς μνησθῆναι ταύτης τάξεως, ἀλλὰ καὶ προστίθησι καὶ τὴν μίαν αὐτῶν ἑνάδα, τὴν δέσποιναν ὑμνῶν Ἀθηνᾶν, ἐξ ἧς καὶ ἡ παρὰ τοῖς πρὸ αὐτοῦ θεολόγοις μυσταγωγία τὴν ὅλην ἐξάπτει τῶν Κουρήτων πρόοδον, ἄνω μὲν αὐτοὺς περιστρέφουσα τοῖς Ἀθηναϊκοῖς συμβόλοις, ὡς τῆς δεισθάλους ζωῆς καὶ τῆς ἀκμαίας νοήσεως προστάτας, κάτω δὲ περιφανῶς ὑποτάττουσα τῇ τῆς Ἀθηνᾶς προνοίᾳ. οἱ μὲν γὰρ πρώτιστοι Κουρῆτες, ἅτε τῆς νοητῆς ὄντες θεοὶ καὶ κρυφίας ὀπαδοί, τοῖς ἐκεῖθεν προϊοῦσιν ἄρχονται συνθήμασιν. οἱ δὲ ἐν ταῖς δευτέραις καὶ τρίταις τάξεσι τῆς νοερᾶς Ἀθηναϊκῆς ἐξήρτηνται μονάδος. ὅθεν δὴ καὶ οἱ Κουρῆτες τὴν ἐπωνυμίαν ἔλαχον τῆς ἀκράντου προεστῶτες καθαρότητος τῶν θεῶν.

Olympiodorus, on Plato's Phaedo:

καὶ οἱ Κουρῆτες περὶ τοὺς δημιουργικοὺς θεούς, ὅτι νενεύκασι πρὸς τὸ χεῖρον.

Kern Fr. 152 — Proclus

Proclus, Platonic Theology:

τοῦ δὲ τῆς Ἀδραστείας θεσμῷ πάντα ὑπήκοα, καὶ πᾶσαι διανομαὶ θεῶν, καὶ μέτρα πάντα καὶ φρουραὶ διὰ τούτου ὑφεστήκασι. παρ᾽ Ὀρφεῖ δὲ καὶ φρουρεῖν λέγεται τὸν ὅλον δημιουργόν, καὶ

χάλκεα ῥόπτρα λαβοῦσα

καὶ τύπανον αἰγῆκες

οὕτως ἠχεῖν, ὥστε πάντας ἐπιστρέφειν εἰς αὐτὴν τοὺς θεούς. ὃ καὶ Σωκράτης ἀπομιμούμενος, τὸν ἦχον λέγω τὸν μυθικὸν τὸν ἐπὶ πάντα διατείνοντα κηρύγματι, παραπλησίως τὸν θεσμὸν τῆς Ἀδραστείας ἐπὶ πάσας προάγει τὰς ψυχάς· θεσμὸς δὲ Ἀδραστείας ὅδε· ἥτις ἂν ψυχὴ κατίδοι τί τῶν ἀληθῶν μέχρι τῆς ἑτέρας περιόδου, εἶναι ἀπήμονα μόνον, οὐχὶ τὸν Ὀρφικὸν ἦχον ἀποτυπωσάμενος διὰ τοῦδε τοῦ κηρύγματος καὶ οἷον ὕμνον τινὰ τοῦτον τῆς Ἀδραστείας ἀναφθεγξάμενος. πρῶτον μὲν γὰρ θεσμὸν αὐτὸν ἀλλ᾽ οὐ νόμον προσειρήκεν, ὥσπερ τὸν Κρόνιον καὶ τὸν Δίιον.