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For links to many more fragments: The Orphic Fragments of Otto Kern.

SUMMARY: Many fragments concerning the dismemberment of Dionysus by the Titans and the saving of his still-beating heart by Athena.

210. (198. 199) σχόλιον Πρόκλου επὶ Τιμαίου Πλάτωνος 35 a (II 145, 18 Ernst Diehl):

ἀλλὰ τὰ μὲν ἄλλα δημιουργήματα αὐτοῦ πάντα μεμερίσθαι φησὶν (sc. Ὀρφεύς) ὑπὸ τῶν διαιρετικῶν θεῶν, μόνην δὲ τὴν καρδίαν ἀμέριστον εἶναι προνοίαι τῆς Ἀθηνᾶς· ἐπειδὴ γὰρ ὑφίστησι μὲν καὶ νοῦς καὶ ψυχὰς καὶ σώματα, ἀλλὰ ψυχαὶ μὲν καὶ σώματα δέχονται πολλὴν τὴν πρὸς ἑαυτὰ διαίρεσιν καὶ τὸν μερισμόν, νοῦς δὲ ἡνωμένος μένει καὶ ἀδιαίρετος ἐν ἑνὶ τὰ πάντα ὢν καὶ μιᾶι νοήσει τὰ ὅλα τὰ νοητὰ περιέχων, μόνην τὴν νοερὰν οὐσίαν καὶ τὸν νοερὸν ἀριθμὸν ἀπολελεῖφθαί φησιν ὑπὸ τῆς Ἀθηνᾶς σεσωσμένον·

a μούνην γὰρ κραδίην νοερὴν λίπον,

φησίν, ἄντικρυς νοερὰν αὐτὴν προσαγορεύων. εἰ τοίνυν ἡ ^{|146 Diehl} ἀμέριστος καρδία νοερά ἐστι, νοῦς ἂν εἴη δηλαδὴ καὶ νοερὸς ἀριθμός, οὐ μέντοι πᾶς νοῦς, ἀλλ᾽ ὁ ἐγκόσμιος· οὗτος γάρ ἐστιν ἡ καρδία ἡ ἀμέριστος, ἐπειδὴ καὶ τούτου δημιουργὸς ἦν ὁ μεριζόμενος θεός. τὸν μὲν δὴ νοῦν ἀμέριστον οὐσίαν τοῦ Διονύσου καλεῖ, τὸ δὲ γόνιμον αὐτοῦ τὴν μεριστὴν αὐτὴν περὶ τὸ σῶμα ζωὴν φυσικὴν οὖσαν καὶ σπερμάτων οἰστικήν, ἣν καὶ τὴν Ἄρτεμίν (v. fr. 188) φησι τὴν πάσης προεστῶσαν τῆς ἐν τῆι φύσει γεννήσεως καὶ μαιευομένην τοὺς φυσικοὺς λόγους ἄνωθεν διατείνειν ἄχρι τῶν ὑποχθονίων, δυναμοῦσαν αὐτῆς τὴν γόνιμον δύναμιν, τὸ δὲ λοιπὸν τοῦ θεοῦ σῶμα πᾶν τὴν ψυχικὴν σύστασιν, εἰς ἑπτὰ καὶ τοῦτο διηιρημένον·

b ἑπτὰ δὲ πάντα μέλη κούρου διεμοιρήσαντο,

φησὶν ὁ θεολόγος περὶ τῶν Τιτάνων, καθάπερ καὶ ὁ Τίμαιος εἰς ἑπτὰ διαιρεῖ μοίρας αὐτήν. καὶ τάχα ἂν τὸ διὰ παντὸς τοῦ κόσμου τεταμένην εἶναι τὴν ψυχὴν τοῦ Τιτανικοῦ μερισμοῦ τοὺς Ὀρφικοὺς ἀναμιμνήσκοι, δι᾽ ὃν οὐ μόνον ἡ ψυχὴ περικαλύπτει τὸ πᾶν, ἀλλὰ καὶ τέταται δι᾽ αὐτοῦ παντός. εἰκότως δὴ οὖν καὶ ὁ Πλάτων ἀμέριστον οὐσίαν ἀπεκάλεσε τὴν προσεχῶς ὑπὲρ ψυχὴν καὶ ὡς συντόμως εἰπεῖν τὸν μεθεκτὸν ἀπὸ ψυχῆς νοῦν, τοῖς Ὀρφικοῖς ἑπόμενος ἑπτὰ δὲ πάντα μέλη κούρου διεμοιρήσαντο, φησὶν ὁ θεολόγος περὶ τῶν Τιτάνων, καθάπερ καὶ ὁ Τίμαιος μύθοις καὶ οἷον ἐξηγητὴς τῶν ἐν ἀπορρήτοις λεγομένων εἶναι βουλόμενος.

“He (Ὀρφεύς) says, however, that all the other fabrications of the God, were distributed into parts by the deities who are of a dividing characteristic; but that the heart alone was undivided through the providence of Minerva (Ἀθηνᾶ). For since he constituted intellects, souls, and bodies, but souls and bodies receive much division and separation into parts in themselves, and intellect remains united and indivisible, being all things in one, and comprehending intelligible wholes in one intellection; ­ hence he says, that the intellectual essence alone, and the intellectual number, were left preserved by Minerva. For he says,

a ‘The intellectual heart alone remain’d.’

Clearly calling it intellectual. If therefore the undivided heart is intellectual, it will evidently be intellect and an intellectual number, yet not every intellect, but that which is mundane. For this is the undivided heart; since of this also the divided God was the Demiurgus. Orpheus, therefore, calls the intellect of Bacchus (Διόνυσος), the impartible essence of the God. But he denominates his genitals, the life which is divisible about body; this being physical and productive of seeds. This also he says Diana (Ἄρτεμις), who presides over all the generation in nature, and obstetricates (i.e. relating to childbirth) physical reasons, extends as far as to the subterranean realms, distributing the prolific power of Bacchus. But all the remaining body of the God, forms the psychical composition, this likewise being divided into seven parts.

b ‘All the seven parts they scatter’d of the boy;’

says the theologist concerning the Titans; just as Timaeus also divides the soul into seven parts. Perhaps too he reminds us of the Orphic Titanic distribution into parts, when he says that the soul is extended through the whole world; through which the soul not only circularly covers the universe as with a veil, but likewise is extended through the whole of it. Hence Plato very properly calls the essence which is proximately above soul, impartible. And, in short, he thus denominates the intellect which is participated by the soul, following the Orphic fables, and wishing to be as it were, the interpreter of arcane and mystical assertions.”

(trans. Thomas Taylor, 1820)

The same in σχόλιον Πρόκλου επὶ Τιμαίου Πλάτωνος 35 b (II 197, 24 Ernst Diehl):

καὶ γὰρ ὁ ἀριθμὸς κοινός ἐστιν ἀμφοτέροις ἡ ἑβδομάς, ἐπεὶ καὶ τὸν Διόνυσον οἱ θεολόγοι μεριζόμενον εἰς ἑπτὰ μερισθῆναι λέγουσιν· ἑπτὰ

ἑπτὰ δὲ πάντα μέλη κούρου διεμοιρήσαντο.

διεμοιρήσαντο καὶ τῶι Ἀπόλλωνι τὴν ἑπτάδα ἀνεῖσαν, ὡς συνέχοντι πάσας τὰς συμφωνίας· ἐν γὰρ μονάδι καὶ δυάδι καὶ τετράδι πρῶτον τὸ δὶς διὰ πασῶν, ἐξ ὧν ἡ ἑβδομάς.

“For the hebdomad (group of seven) is a number common to both these divinities, since theologists also say that Bacchus (Διόνυσος) was divided into seven parts:

‘Into seven parts the Titans cut the boy.’

“And they refer the heptad (group of seven) to Apollo, as containing all symphonies (harmonies, συμφωνίας). For the duple (two beats) diapason (grand burst of harmony) first subsists in the monad (1), duad (2), and tetrad (4), of which numbers the hebdomad consists.”

(trans. Thomas Taylor, 1820)

σχόλιον Πρόκλου επὶ Παρμενίδου Πλάτωνος 130 b p. 808, 25 Victor Cousin:

διὸ καὶ οἱ θεολόγοι τὸν μὲν νοῦν ἐν τοῖς σπαραγμοῖς τοῖς Διονυσιακοῖς ἀμέριστον προνοίαι τῆς Ἀθηνᾶς σώζεσθαι λέγουσι, τὴν δὲ ψυχὴν μερίζεσθαι πρώτως, καὶ ἡ εἰς ἑπτὰ γοῦν τομὴ ταύτης ἐστὶ πρώτης· οἰκεῖον οὖν αὐτῆι* καὶ τὸ εἶδος τῆς διαιρετικῆς καὶ τὸ θεωρεῖν μεταβατικῶς.

“Wherefore also, the theologians say that the mind, at the tearing apart of Diónysos, was saved undivided by the foresight of Athîná (Ἀθηνᾶ), and that first the soul is divided, and the need for division into seven is certainly foremost; in fact it is fitting to the soul* to express both the pattern of division and to see things discursively.”

(trans. by the author)

*Translator’s note: αὐτῆι is feminine dative, so it could be translated “to her,” as if meaning “to Athîná,” but I think the correct translation is “to the soul” because the soul is seen as feminine and it makes sense in context. The text goes on to talk about how division of unities is the capability of the soul.

σχόλιον Πρόκλου επὶ Κρατύλου Πλάτωνος 406 b. c p. 109, 19 Giorgio Pasquali:

καὶ ἐν τῆι διασπαράξει τῶν Τιτάνων μόνη ἡ καρδία ἀδιαίρετος μεῖναι λέγεται, τουτέστιν ἡ ἀμερὴς (Boiss.] ἀμερις codd., ἀμέρισ<τος> dubitanter Pasqu.) τοῦ νοῦ οὐσία,

“And in the cutting apart (of Diónysos) by the Titans, it is said that the heart alone remained undivided, that is to say, the substance of mind without parts.”

(trans. by the author)

σχόλιον Πρόκλου επὶ Ἀλκιβιάδου αʹ Πλάτωνος 344, 31 Victor Cousin:

ἀνάγκη τοίνυν κατὰ τὴν τῶν ἄκρων ἀναλογίαν καὶ τὸν Ἀλκιβιάδην ἐν ψυχῆι λογικῆι τάττειν, ἧς ἐξήρτηται μὲν ἔτι τὰ πάθη καὶ αἱ ἄλογοι δυνάμεις, οἷον ἐπιβουλεύουσαι τῆι λογικῆι ζωῆι καὶ Τιτανικῶς αὐτὴν ἐπιχειροῦσαι σπαράττειν· ὑπερίδρυται δὲ ὁ νοῦς Ἀθηναϊκῶς ἀνέχων αὐτὴν ἀπὸ τῆς ῥοπῆς καὶ τῆς εἰς τὸ ἔνυλον φορᾶς. Ἀθηναϊκὸν γὰρ τὸ σώιζειν ἀμέριστον τὴν ζωήν, ἐξ οὗπερ Σώτειρα ἐπεκλήθη Παλλὰς Ἀθήνη· Τιτανικὸν |^{345 Cous.} δὲ τὸ μερίζειν αὐτὴν καὶ προκαλεῖσθαι περὶ (πρὸς Lobeck I 560) τὴν γένεσιν.

Necessity dictates, therefore, following the highest analogy, that we place Alkiviádîs (Ἀλκιβιάδης) in the order of the rational soul, dependent upon the emotions and irrational powers, contrived against a life of reason, and the Titánæs (Τιτᾶνες) setting themselves to divide it; but superior to this is mind, which, like Athîná (Ἀθηνᾶ), lifts up (the soul), and keeps it from losing balance and from being carried off into matter. For it is Athîná who preserves life without division, for which Pallás Athîná (Παλλὰς Ἀθήνη) is called the Deliverer; but of the Titánæs, they divide it up and call it forth to generation.”

(trans. by the author)

In σχόλιον Πρόκλου επὶ Τιμαίου Πλάτωνος προοίμιον βιβλίον 5 (III 169, 3 Diehl):

αὐτὸς δὲ ὁ μέγιστος Κρόνος οὐχὶ καὶ πρὸ τοῦ Διὸς τέτακται καὶ μετὰ τὴν Δΐιον βασιλείαν, μετὰ τῶν ἄλλων Τιτάνων τὴν Διονυσιακὴν μερίζων δημιουργίαν, καὶ ἄλλος μὲν ἐν τῶι οὐρανῶι, ἄλλος δὲ ἐν τοῖς ὑπὸ σελήνην, καὶ ἐν μὲν τῆι ἀπλανεῖ ἄλλος, ἐν δὲ ταῖς πλανωμέναις ἄλλος, καὶ Ζεὺς ὁμοίως καὶ Διόνυσος; ταῦτα μὲν οὖν καὶ διαρρήδην εἴρηται τοῖς παλαιοῖς.

And with respect to the mighty Saturn (Κρόνος), is he not arranged prior to Jupiter (Ζεύς), and does he not after the Jovian kingdom, divide the Bacchic fabrication in conjunction with the other Titans? And this indeed, he effects in one way in the heavens, and in another in the sublunary region; in one way in the inerratic sphere (the fixed stars), and in another among the planets. And in a similar manner Jupiter and Bacchus. These things are therefore clearly asserted by the ancients.”

(trans. Thomas Taylor, 1820)

Ἀπορίαι καὶ λύσεις περὶ τῶν πρώτων ἀρχῶν Δαμασκίου 94 (I 236, I Car. Aem. Ruelle):

ὁ γὰρ Ζεύς, φέρε εἰπεῖν, τοῦς πολλοὺς ἀφ' ἑαυτοῦ παραγαγὼν κατὰ μέρη θεούς, ἐπὶ τούτωι τῶι ὁλοτελεῖ μερισμῶι τὴν μεριστὴν ὁλότητα παρήγαγεν, καὶ τοὺς ὑπὸ ταύτηι πολλοὺς τεταγμένους θεούς; ἢ οὐχὶ καὶ τοὺς Τίτανας ὁ Ζεὺς ἐγέννησεν ἐν τῶι οἰκείωι διακόσμωι κατὰ τὴν Ὀρφικὴν παράδοσιν; οὕτω δὴ καὶ ὁ Κρόνος ἐπὶ πολλῆι γενεᾶι τῆι πρότερον͵ ἐπ΄ ἐσχάτωι παράγει τὸν ὅλον Δία (διὰ codd.; corr. Kopp) τῆς ἑτέρας ἐξάρχοντα βασιλείας· τὰ δὲ ὅμοια καὶ τὸν Οὐρανὸν ὑφιστῶντα παραδίδωσι μετὰ τοὺς ὅλους Οὐρανίδας τὸν Κρόνον ἔσχατον·

“Zefs (Ζεύς), for example, generated many Gods from himself, arranging them also into parts, upon this quite complete division, he has set in place divisible wholeness, and the many deities arrayed beneath it. Wherefore, did not also Zefs produce the Titans in their familial order in the Orphic tradition? Thus Krónos, as regards his great family from an earlier generation, brought forward at last the complete (or universal, ὅλον) Zefs to commence the other (or “another,” or “second” [one of two], ἑτέρας) kingdom; and in a like manner, (it is said that) Ouranós produces the entire Ouranídai, and the final one (of the Ouranídai), Krónos.”

(trans. by the author)

Compare Lobeck I 614 n. ο (fr. 278 Abel).

Compare also Nonn. Abbas in orat. II contra Iulian. 35 (Migne 36, 1053):

Περὶ θεῶν διεσπασμένων· Περσεφόνη γεννᾶι τὸν Ζαγραῖον Διόνυσον, ἐκ τοῦ Διὸς συλλαβοῦσα αὐτόν. τοῦτον γεννηθέντα οἱ Τιτᾶνες --- δαιμονίων (an δαιμόνων?) τάξεις αὗται --- φθονήσαντες τῶι Διονύσωι ὡς ἐκ Διὸς ἔχοντι τὴν γέννησιν, διασπαράσσουσιν αὐτόν· ἄλλοι δὲ λέγουσιν, ὅτι καθʼ ὑπόθεσιν τῆς Ἥρας διεσπάσθη ὑπὸ τῶν Τετάνων ὁ Διόνυσος.

“About the tearing asunder of the Gods: Pærsæphónî (Περσεφόνη) begets Zagréfs-Diónysos (Ζαγρεὺς Διόνυσος), who was conceived from Zefs (Ζεύς) himself. After his birth, the Titans --- these are orders of demons --- bore malice to Diónysos, who was begotten from Zefs, and tear him to pieces; however others say, the proposed idea being that Diónysos was torn apart by the Titans under the instigation of Íra (Ἥρα).”

(trans. by the author)

Herm. VIII vs. 46 p. 469; Lobeck I 557. 710 ss.; C. O. Mueller Prolegomena 390; Mayer Gigant. u. Titan. 236; Gruppe Griech. Culte u. Mythen I 638. 651. 660; Rohde Psyche II⁶ 116; Holwerda 365; Gruppe Griech. Mythol. II 970; Maaβ Orpheus 92; S. Reinach Rev. Archéol. 1899 II 210-217 (= Cultes, Mythes et Religions II 58-65); in the same place 1902 II 242-279 (=II 85-122); Diels Festschr. Th. Gompers 12; Weniger Arch. Religionsw. X 1907, 61.

The most ancient testimonia about Zagréfs sunt in these different sources:

Ἀλκμαιωνίς fragment 3 p. 77 Ki.:

πότνια Γῆ Ζαγρεῦ τε θεῶν πανυπέρτατε πάντων (Wilamowitz Hom. Unters. 214 n. 13).

“Oh Lady Earth and Zagréfs (Ζαγρεύς), highest of all the Gods!”

Σίσυφος τοῦ Αἰσχύλου TGF fragment 228, p. 74 Nauck:

Ζαγρεῖ τε νῦν με καὶ πολυξένωι . . . χαίρειν.

“And now I also make offerings to* hospitable Zagréfs. . . to rejoice.”

*translator’s note: “make offerings to” is purely a guess as there is no verb; I assume that χαίρειν is not the verb of this sentence.

Κρηταιεῖς τοῦ Εὐριπίδου TGF fr. 472 p. 505 Nauck vs. 9:

ἁγνὸν δὲ βίον τείνων ἐξ οὗ Διὸς Ἰδαίου μύστης γενόμην, καὶ νυκτιπόλου Ζαγρέως βούτης (βούτας Diels Deutsche Litt.-Ztg. 1889, 1081; βούτης Wilamowitz Berl. Klassikertexte V 2, 77 n. 1; βροντὰς Porph.) τάς τ’ ὠμοφάγους δαῖτας τελέσας μητρί τ’ ὀρείαι δᾶιδας ἀνασχὼν καὶ (μετὰ Wilamowitz 1.1.) Κουρήτων βάκχος ἐκλήθην ὁσιωθείς.

“And aiming towards a pure life, I became an initiate of Idaion Zefs, and a herdsman (or priest, βούτης) of night-wandering Zagréfs, and conducting raw-meat-feasts and lifting up torches for the Mountain Mother, and of the Kourítæs (Κουρήτες) I was called Vákkhos (βάκχος), having been purified.”

(trans. by the author)

Compare Wilamowitz, who estimates that Euripides made use of Epimenides, Hippolytos p. 224 n. 1; Kern Herm. LI 1916, 563; Latte De saltationibus Graecor. = RVV XIII 1913, 53.

Καλλίμαχος τμῆμα 171 περί Περσεφόνης:

υἷα Διώνυσον Ζαγρέα γειναμένη.

“Having brought forth her son Diónysos-Zagréfs.”

There is no account existing of the myth connected to Vákkhos being destroyed by the Titans before fragment IV (test. Nr. 194) of Onomákritos, to which we add (the testimonies) I ascribe to the most ancient Orphic (fragments) (v. fragments 34-36). I quote here Schol. ad Lycophr. 208 p. 98, 5 Scheer:

ἐτιμᾶτο δὲ καὶ Διόνυσος ἐν Δελφοῖς σὺν Ἀπόλλωvι οὑτωσί· οἱ Τιτᾶνες τὰ Διονύσου μέλη σπαράξαντες Ἀπόλλωνι (Et. Gen.) άδελφῶι ὄντι αὐτοῦ παρέθεντο ἐμβαλόντες λέβητι, ὁ δὲ παρὰ τῶι τρίποδι ἀπέθετο (Ἐτυμολογικὸν Μέγα 255, 14) ὥς φησι Καλλίμαχος (fr. 374) καὶ Εὐφορίων (fr. 12 Scheidw.) λέγων·

‘ἂν πυρὶ Βάκχον δῖον ὑπερφίαλοι ἐβάλοντο’.

But also Diónysos is honored at Dælphí (Δελφοί) along with Apóllôn (Ἀπόλλων) (Et. Gen.) for this reason: the Titánæs (Τιτᾶνες) having torn apart the limbs of Diónysos, they offered them to Apóllôn, being his brother, who cast them in a cinerary urn, and then stowed it away beside the tripod (Ἐτυμολογικὸν Μέγα 255, 14), thus says Kallímakhos (fragment 374) and Efphoríôn (Εὐφορίων) (fragment 12 Scheidw.), saying:

‘The arrogant ones cast divine Vákkhos (Βάκχος) on the fire.’ ”

(trans. by the author)

Compare also Βιβλιοθήκη ἱστορικὴ Διοδώρου Σικελιώτου V 75, 4:

τοῦτον δὲ τὸν θεὸν (sc. Διόνυσον) γεγονέναι φασὶν ἐκ Διὸς καὶ Φερσεφόνης κατὰ τὴν Κρήτην (compare Eurip. 1.1.), ὃν Ὀρφεὺς κατὰ τὰς τελετὰς παρέδωκε διασπώμενον ὑπὸ τῶν Τιτάνων·

“They say that this God (Διόνυσος) was born of Zefs (Ζεύς) and Pæsæphónî (Περσεφόνη) in Krítî (compare Eurip. 1.1.) (Κρήτη); Orphéfs (Ὀρφεὺς) has handed this down, in accordance with the Mystery rites, that he was torn apart by the Titans.”

(trans. by the author)

Ἠθικὰ Πλουτάρχου· Περὶ σαρκοφαγίας I 996 c:

τὰ γὰρ δὴ περὶ τὸν Διόνυσον μεμυθευμένα πάθη τοῦ διαμελισμοῦ καὶ τὰ Τιτάνων ἐπ᾽ αὐτὸν τολμήματα, κολάσεις τε τούτων καὶ κεραυνώσεις γευσαμένων τοῦ φόνου, ἠινιγμένος ἐστὶ μῦθος εἰς τὴν παλιγγενεσίαν. τὸ γὰρ ἐν ἡμῖν ἄλογον καὶ ἄτακτον καὶ βίαιον οὐ θεῖον ἀλλὰ δαιμονικὸν οἱ παλαιοὶ Τιτᾶνας ὠνόμασαν, καὶ τοῦτ᾽ ἔστι κολαζομένου καὶ δίκην διδόντος.

“... for the stories told about the sufferings and dismemberment of Dionysus and the outrageous assaults of the Titans upon him, and their punishment and blasting by thunderbolt after they had tasted his blood — all this is a myth which in its inner meaning has to do with rebirth. For to that faculty in us which is unreasonable and disordered and violent, and does not come from the Gods, but from evil spirits, the ancients gave the name Titans, that is to say, those that are punished and subjected to correction. . .” (trans. William C. Helmbold, 1957, but in the Public Domain)

Περὶ ὀρχήσεως Λουκιανοὺ 39 on the themes of mimic dances:

Δευκαλίωνα . . ., εἷτα Ἰάκχου σπαραγμὸν (cf. Ὀρφέως σπαραγμόν test. nr. 256) καὶ Ἥρας δόλον καὶ Σεμέλης κατάφλεξιν καὶ Διονύσου ἀμφοτέρας τὰς γονάς, καὶ ὅσα περὶ Ἀθηνᾶς καὶ ὅσα περὶ Ἡφαίστου κτλ.

“He must know of Deucalion, (in whose days the whole world suffered shipwreck, of that single chest wherein were preserved the remnants of the human race, of the new generation born of stones;) of the rending of Iacchus, the guile of Hera, the fiery death of Semele, the double birth of Dionysus; of Athene and Hephaestus (and Erichthonius, of the strife for the possession of Athens, of Halirrhothius and that first trial on the Areopagus, and all the legendary lore of Attica).”

(trans. H. W. and F. G. Fowler, 1905)

Everything transmitted by the Etymologica etc. about Zagréfs, seem to come from Apollódoros; compare Wilamowitz Hom. Unters. 1.1.

Argon. 24 Ζαγρῆος περίφημον ἄμυξιν “the very famous rending of Zagréfs” such can be read from a conjecture of Lobeck, v. test. nr. 224 p. 67; but the myth of Zagréfs is touched on in vs. 429 (fr. 29 p. 100).

Even in the Hymns the name Zagréfs appears nowhere; but it looks to his birth* at ὕμνος Ὀρφέως

29.7 Ὕμνος Περσεφόνης:

ἣν Ζεὺς ἀρρήτοισι γοναῖς τεκνώσατο κούρην.

“Zefs (Ζεὺς) begot this maiden with unutterable seeds**.”

*Translator’s note: If I have understood his Latin correctly, Kern seems to think this verse refers to the conception of Zagréfs, but I do not read it that way; the following verse, however, does refer to her being the mother of Zagréfs, but using the epithet Εὐβουλεύς:

μῆτερ ἐριβρεμέτου πολυμόρφου Εὐβουλῆος

“Oh mother of loud-thundering many-formed Evouléfs!”

**Translator’s note: The two words ἀρρήτοισι γοναῖς could be translated as “secret generations” or “unspeakable generations;” existing translations in English translate this in the singular, but it is clearly in the plural, although there could be some convention about this I am unaware of, such as γάμοι, which is plural, but often properly translated in context in the singular (“marriage”). Athanassakis translates γοναῖς as “union,” I assume because γονή is the Pythagorean word for unity.

ὕμνος Ὀρφέως 37 Τιτάνων v. fragment 220.

Compare verse 12 of Ὕμνος Ἀθηνᾶς 7 Πρόκλου (see below) to ὕμνος Ὀρφέως 19.15 Κεραυνίου Διός:

σμαραγεῖ δὲ κεραυνὸς αἰθέρος ἐν γυάλοισι.

“And the thunderbolt crashes in the hollows of the aithír.”

Nonnos is unquestionably using the Orphic Sacred Logos in these passages from Διονυσιακὰ Νόννου (summaries made by the translator):

VI 155-228: This passage describes the seduction of Pærsæphónî by Zefs, Zagréfs taking the throne, the Titans tricking him with the mirror, the dismemberment of Zagréfs, and the thunder-blasting by Zefs in retribution for the crimes of the Titans.

X 293-297: In this passage, Diónysos is praying to his father to help make Ámbælos (Ἂμπελος) fall in love with him, and Diónysos recalls that Rǽa (Ῥέα) had told him that Zefs had given Zagréfs his fiery lance, lightning, thunder, and showers.

XXIV 44-48: In his entreaty to Diónysos, the river God Ydráspîs (Ὑδάσπης) recalls how he had washed little Zagréfs in his waters and that Diónysos has the entire shape of Zagréfs, and then declares at line 49:

ἀρχεγόνου γὰρ ἐκ κραδίης ἀνέτελλες ἀειδομένου Διονύσου

“For, you arose from the original heart of celebrated Dionysos”

Compare to fragment 21 a verse 9 and 168 verse 32.

XLVIII 25-30: Mother Earth gathers her sons, the tribes of Giants, and tells them to capture Diónysos, that she might wound him with steel and kill him as was done to Zagréfs.

Lobeck I 552.

Ὕμνος Ἀθηνᾶς 7 Πρόκλου verses 11-15 p. 151 Ludw. (Lobeck I 561 cf. Wilamowitz Sitzungsber. Akad. Berlin 1907, 273):

ἣ κραδίην ἐσάωσας ἀμιστύλλευτον ἄνακτος 11

αἰθέρος ἐν γυάλοισι μεριζομένου ποτὲ Βάκχου

Τιτήνων ὑπὸ χερσί --- πόρες δέ ἑ πατρὶ φέρουσα,

ὄφρα νέος βουλῆισιν ὑπ’ ἀρρήτοισι τοκῆος

ἐκ Σεμέλης περὶ κόσμον ἀνηβήσηι Διόνυσος. 15

“You (Ἀθηνᾶ) rescued the undefiled heart of the lord 11

in the hollows of the aithír, at the rending of Vákkhos (Βάκχος),

from the hands of the Titans --- you suffered to offer it to his father,

in order that, by means of the unutterable determination of his sire,

from Sæmǽlî (Σεμέλη) Diónysos would grow up again upon the world!” 15

(trans. by the author)

On the Orphic story born from the myth of Zagréfs, compare test. nrr. 113 ss.

The story of the birth of the Gods: Orphic Theogony.

We know the various qualities and characteristics of the Gods based on metaphorical stories: Mythology.

Dictionary of terms related to ancient Greek mythology: Glossary of Hellenic Mythology.

Introduction to the Thæí (the Gods): The Nature of the Gods.

How do we know there are Gods? Experiencing Gods.

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We know the various qualities and characteristics of the Gods based on metaphorical stories: Mythology.

Dictionary of terms related to ancient Greek mythology: Glossary of Hellenic Mythology.

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