Good Works Translation from Ancient Greek

This page translates Kern fragments 301-303 from Otto Kern's Orphicorum fragmenta. Kern places them under Teletai, the Rites. The fragments come from Diodorus Siculus and preserve testimony on Orphic ritual accounts of Dionysus, vine symbolism, Mother Earth as Demeter, and the dismemberment of Dionysus by the Titans.

Translation

Kern Fr. 301 — Dionysus, the Vine, and the Hidden Rites

Diodorus Siculus says:

The old mythographers and poets wrote about Dionysus in ways that do not agree with each other, and they set down many strange and monstrous stories. For this reason it is hard to speak clearly about this god's birth and deeds.

Some have handed down that there was one Dionysus; others, that there were three.

The mythographers also handed down a third birth. According to this birth, they say that the god was born from Zeus and Demeter, was torn apart by the earth-born ones, and was boiled. Then, when Demeter fitted his limbs together again, he was born anew from the beginning.

They turn these stories toward certain natural causes. He is said to be from Zeus and Demeter because the vine takes its growth from earth and rain, and bears the wine pressed out from the grape cluster.

The story that he was torn apart while still young by the earth-born ones points to the gathering of the fruits by farmers. The boiling of the limbs has been made into myth because most people boil the wine and mix it, making its nature more fragrant and better.

The story that the limbs damaged by the earth-born ones are fitted together again and restored to their former nature shows this: the earth again restores the harvested and pruned vine, through the seasons of each year, to its earlier ripeness in fruit-bearing.

In general, among the ancient poets and mythographers, Demeter is called Mother Earth.

The things made known through the Orphic poems agree with these matters, as do the things introduced in the rites. About these it is not lawful for the uninitiated to tell the details.

Kern Fr. 302 — Mother Earth and Demeter

Diodorus Siculus says:

They supposed that earth, like a vessel for growing things, should be called mother. The Greeks similarly call her Demeter, with the word slightly changed through time. For in ancient days she was named Earth Mother, as Orpheus also bears witness, saying:

Earth,
mother of all things,

Demeter,
giver of wealth.

Kern Fr. 303 — Dionysus from Zeus and Persephone

Diodorus Siculus says:

Dionysus is said to have become the inventor of the vine and its cultivation, and also of winemaking, and of storing up many fruits from the late summer season so that they supply needs and food for human beings over a long time.

They say that this god was born from Zeus and Persephone in Crete. Orpheus, in the rites, handed him down as being torn apart by the Titans. For it turns out that there have been several Dionysus figures; concerning them we have written the details more clearly at the proper occasions.

Colophon

This Good Works translation was made from Otto Kern's Orphicorum fragmenta (Berlin: Weidmann, 1922), frr. 301-303, under the title Teletai, the Rites. Kern's numbering is retained.

The source witness translated here is Diodorus Siculus, Bibliotheca historica 3.62.2-8, 1.12.4, and 5.75.4.

Source Text

Kern Fr. 301 — Dionysus, the Vine, and the Hidden Rites

Diodorus Siculus, Bibliotheca historica 3.62.2-8:

τῶν δὲ παλαιῶν μυθογράφων καὶ ποιητῶν περὶ Διονύσου γεγραφότων ἀλλήλοις ἀσύμφωνα καὶ πολλοὺς καὶ τερατώδεις λόγους καταβεβλημένων, δυσχερές ἐστιν ὑπὲρ τῆς γενέσεως τοῦ θεοῦ τούτου καὶ τῶν πράξεων καθαρῶς εἰπεῖν. οἱ μὲν γὰρ ἕνα Διόνυσον, οἱ δὲ τρεῖς γεγονέναι παραδεδώκασιν.

παραδεδωκότων δὲ τῶν μυθογράφων καὶ τρίτην γένεσιν, καθ' ἣν φασι τὸν θεὸν ἐκ Διὸς καὶ Δήμητρος τεκνωθέντα διασπασθῆναι μὲν ὑπὸ τῶν γηγενῶν καὶ καθεψηθῆναι, πάλιν δ' ὑπὸ τῆς Δήμητρος τῶν μελῶν συναρμοσθέντων ἐξ ἀρχῆς νέον γεννηθῆναι, εἰς φυσικάς τινας αἰτίας μετάγουσι τοὺς τοιούτους λόγους.

Διὸς μὲν γὰρ καὶ Δήμητρος αὐτὸν λέγεσθαι διὰ τὸ τὴν ἄμπελον ἔκ τε γῆς καὶ ὄμβρων λαμβάνουσαν τὴν αὔξησιν καρποφορεῖν τὸν ἐκ τοῦ βότρυος ἀποθλιβόμενον οἶνον· τὸ δ' ὑπὸ τῶν γηγενῶν νέον ὄντα διασπασθῆναι δηλοῦν τὴν ὑπὸ τῶν γεωργῶν συγκομιδὴν τῶν καρπῶν, τὴν δὲ καθέψησιν τῶν μελῶν μεμυθοποιῆσθαι διὰ τὸ τοὺς πλείστους ἕψειν τὸν οἶνον καὶ μίσγοντας εὐωδεστέραν αὐτοῦ καὶ βελτίονα τὴν φύσιν κατασκευάζειν· τὸ δὲ τὰ ὑπὸ τῶν γηγενῶν λυμανθέντα τῶν μελῶν ἁρμοσθέντα πάλιν ἐπὶ τὴν προγεγενημένην φύσιν ἀποκαθίστασθαι παρεμφαίνειν, ὅτι πάλιν ἡ γῆ τὴν τρυγηθεῖσαν ἄμπελον καὶ τμηθεῖσαν ταῖς κατ' ἔτος ὥραις εἰς τὴν προϋπάρξασαν ἐν τῷ καρποφορεῖν ἀκμὴν ἀποκαθίστησι.

καθόλου γὰρ ὑπὸ τῶν ἀρχαίων ποιητῶν καὶ μυθογράφων τὴν Δήμητραν γῆν μητέρα προσαγορεύεσθαι. σύμφωνα δὲ τούτοις εἶναι τά τε δηλούμενα διὰ τῶν Ὀρφικῶν ποιημάτων καὶ τὰ παρεισαγόμενα κατὰ τὰς τελετάς, περὶ ὧν οὐ θέμις τοῖς ἀμυήτοις ἱστορεῖν τὰ κατὰ μέρος.

Kern Fr. 302 — Mother Earth and Demeter

Diodorus Siculus, Bibliotheca historica 1.12.4:

τὴν δὲ γῆν ὥσπερ ἀγγεῖόν τι τῶν φυομένων ὑπολαμβάνοντας μητέρα προσαγορεῦσαι· καὶ τοὺς Ἕλληνας δὲ ταύτην παραπλησίως Δήμητραν καλεῖν, βραχὺ μετατεθείσης διὰ τὸν χρόνον τῆς λέξεως· τὸ γὰρ παλαιὸν ὀνομάζεσθαι γῆν μητέρα, καθάπερ καὶ τὸν Ὀρφέα προσμαρτυρεῖν λέγοντα·

Γῆ μήτηρ πάντων, Δημήτηρ πλουτοδότειρα.

Kern Fr. 303 — Dionysus from Zeus and Persephone

Diodorus Siculus, Bibliotheca historica 5.75.4:

Διόνυσον δὲ μυθολογοῦσιν εὑρετὴν γενέσθαι τῆς τ' ἀμπέλου καὶ τῆς περὶ ταύτην ἐργασίας, ἔτι δ' οἰνοποιίας καὶ τοῦ πολλοὺς τῶν ἐκ τῆς ὀπώρας καρπῶν ἀποθησαυρίζεσθαι καὶ τὰς χρείας καὶ τὰς τροφὰς παρέχεσθαι τοῖς ἀνθρώποις ἐπὶ πολὺν χρόνον.

τοῦτον δὲ τὸν θεὸν γεγονέναι φασὶν ἐκ Διὸς καὶ Φερσεφόνης κατὰ τὴν Κρήτην, ὃν Ὀρφεὺς κατὰ τὰς τελετὰς παρέδωκε διασπώμενον ὑπὸ τῶν Τιτάνων· πλείονας γὰρ Διονύσους συμβαίνει γεγονέναι, περὶ ὧν ἡμεῖς σαφέστερον τὰ κατὰ μέρος ἐν οἰκειοτέροις καιροῖς ἀναγεγράφαμεν.