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Ancient

Aeschylus

Heliades (Daughters of Helios) fr. 70 Sommerstein [= fr. 70 Radt] [= Clement of Alexandria, Stromata, 5.14.114.4 = Eusebius, Praeparatio evangelica 13.13.41]

Zeus is the aether, Zeus is earth, Zeus is heaven—yes, Zeus is everything,¹ and whatever there may be beyond that.

¹ Or "the universe".

Miesner, p. 109

Prometheus Bound

88–92

O bright Sky [δῖος αἰθὴρ], and you swift-flying winds, and river-springs, and you countless twinkling waves of the sea, and Earth mother of all, behold what I, a god, am suffering at the hands of the gods!

Alcman

fr. 61 Campbell [= Eustathius on Iliad 18.476]

61 Eust. Il. 1154.25

61 Eustathius on Iliad 18. 476 (ἄκμων, ‘anvil’)

The father of Heaven (Uranus), as was said already, is called Acmon because heavenly motion is untiring (ἀκάματος) and the sons of Uranus are Acmonidae: the ancients make these two points clear. Alcman, they say, tells that the heaven belongs to Acmon.¹

¹ Or ‘that Uranus is son of Acmon’. Bergk emended the text to read ‘that Uranus is Acmon’, which squares with Eust. 1150.59, ‘the father of Cronus is Acmon’. See R.E. s.v. Akmon 1.

Callimachus

fr. 498

. . . round which he placed (?) the revolving son of Acmon.^a

^a Ouranos was the son of Acmon; Acmon was the aether, or, according to another version of the myth, Oceanus.

Cicero

De Natura Deorum

3.44

And if so, the parents of Caelus, the Aether and the Day, must be held to be gods, and their brothers and sisters, whom the ancient genealogists name Love, Guile, Fear, Toil, Envy, Fate, Old Age, Death, Darkness, Misery, Lamentation, Favour, Fraud, Obstinacy, the Parcae, the Daughters of Hesperus, the Dreams: all of these are fabled to be the children of Erebus and Night.’

Caeli quoque parentes di habendi sunt, Aether et Dies, eorumque fratres et sorores, qui a genealogis antiquis sic nominantur, Amor Dolus Metus¹ Labor Invidentia Fatum Senectus Mors Tenebrae Miseria Querella Gratia Fraus Pertinacia Parcae Hesperides Somnia, quos omnis Erebo et Nocte natos ferunt.’

3.53

In the first place, the so-called theologians enumerate three Jupiters, of whom the first and second were born, they say, in Arcadia, the father of one being Aether, who is fabled to be the progenitor of Prosperine and Liber, and of the other Caelus, and this one is said to have begotten Minerva, the fabled patroness and originator of warfare; the third is Cretan Jove, son of Saturn; his tomb is shown in that island.

3.56

One Mercury has the Sky for father and the Day for mother;

Damascius

De principiis (On First Principles)

55 [= Orphic fr. 70 Kern] [= fr. 114 Bernebé]

West 1983, p. 70

From (or in) Aither Time made a shining egg (70)

West 1983, p. 198

verse fragments from the Rhapsodies:

68 ...

70 Then great Time fashioned from (or in) divine Aither

a bright white egg.

West 1983, p. 199

According to the verses quoted above, Chronos begot Aither and the Chasm (and presumably Erebos), but Fashionhed (ἔτευξε) the egg from or in Aither.

Miesner, p. 189

Damascius quotes Orpheus narrating that "great Chronos fashioned with the divine Aither / a silver-shining egg" ... ¹²⁵

¹²⁵ Damascius, De Principiis 55 (2.40.14 Westerink) (OF 114 I B = 70 K) ...

123 [= Hieronymus of Rhodes fr. 61A ]

8–30 [= Orphic fr. 60 Kern] [= fr. 90 Bernebé]

White, pp. 228–231
White, p. 231

theology concerning the intelligible goes something like this, as the philosophers interpret it. 1) They treat Time as the single principle of all entities, and Aether and Chaos as the dyad, and they explain the Egg simply as being; this they make the first triad.³ ... Such is the standard Orphic theology.

³ The "single principle" is the One ... The dyad of Aether and Chaos (literally "Brightness and Chasm") together with the Egg form the "henadic triad" of the One-all (or Limit), All-one (or Unlimited), and Unified. ...

West 1983, p. 70

First was Unaging Time (60, cf. 54, 68)

He generated Aither and a huge Chasm, without bottom or boundry (66, 54, 60)

31–80 [= Orphic fr. 54 Kern] [= fr. 78 Bernebé]

White, pp. 228–237
White, p. 231

theology concerning the intelligible goes something like this, as the philosophers interpret it. 1) They treat Time as the single principle of all entities, and Aether and Chaos as the dyad, and they explain the Egg simply as being; this they make the first triad.³ ... Such is the standard Orphic theology.

³ The "single principle" is the One ... The dyad of Aether and Chaos (literally "Brightness and Chasm") together with the Egg form the "henadic triad" of the One-all (or Limit), All-one (or Unlimited), and Unified. ...

West 1983, p. 70

First was Unaging Time (60, cf. 54, 68)

He generated Aither and a huge Chasm, without bottom or boundry (66, 54, 60)

Etymologicum Magnum

p. 787.29] [= Orphic fr. 75 Kern [= 126 Bernebé]

Meisner, p. 195

Phanes, ... The Etymologicum Magnum demonstrates this in its entry for the name Φάνης, where it quotes an Orphic verse in which "they call him Phanes / and Protogonus because he became the first one visible (φαντός) in Aither."¹⁵³

¹⁵³ Etymological Magnum 287.29-32 (OF 126 B = 75 K) ...

Hesiod

Theogony

116–122 [Most]

In truth, first of all Chasm⁷ came to be, and then broad-breasted Earth, the ever immovable seat of all the immortals who possess snowy Olympus’ peak and murky Tartarus in the depths of the broad-pathed earth, and Eros, who is the most beautiful among the immortal gods, the limb-melter—he overpowers the mind and the thoughtful counsel of all the gods and of all human beings in their breasts.

⁷ Usually translated as “Chaos”; but that suggests to us, misleadingly, a jumble of disordered matter, whereas Hesiod’s term indicates instead a gap or opening.

123–125 [Most]

From Chasm, Erebos and black Night came to be; and then Aether and Day came forth from Night, who conceived and bore them after mingling in love with Erebos.

123–125 [Evelyn-White]

From Chaos came forth Erebus and black Night; but of Night were born Aether² and Day, [125] whom she conceived and bore from union in love with Erebus.

²Aether is the bright, untainted upper atmosphere, as distinguished from Aer, the lower atmosphere of the earth.

126–132 [Most]

Earth first of all bore starry Sky, equal to herself, to cover her on every side, so that she would be the ever immovable seat for the blessed gods; and she bore the high mountains, the graceful haunts of the goddesses, Nymphs who dwell on the wooded mountains; and she also bore the barren sea seething with its swell, Pontus—all of them without delightful love;

Homer

Iliad

2.412

Ζεῦ κύδιστε μέγιστε κελαινεφὲς αἰθέρι ναίων

Zeus, most glorious, most great, lord of the dark clouds, that dwellest in the heaven [aether].

14.286–288

ἔνθ᾽ Ὕπνος μὲν ἔμεινε πάρος Διὸς ὄσσε ἰδέσθαι

εἰς ἐλάτην ἀναβὰς περιμήκετον, ἣ τότ᾽ ἐν Ἴδῃ

μακροτάτη πεφυυῖα δι᾽ ἠέρος αἰθέρ᾽ ἵκανεν:

ἔνθ᾽ ἧστ᾽ ὄζοισιν πεπυκασμένος εἰλατίνοισιν

There Sleep did halt, or ever the eyes of Zeus beheld him, and mounted up on a fir-tree exceeding tall, the highest that then grew in Ida; and it reached up through the mists into heaven.

Hyginus

Fabulae

Theogony 1–3

[1] From Mist came Chaos. From Chaos and Mist came Night, Day, Darkness, and Ether. ...

[2] From Ether and Day came Earth, Sky and Sea.

[3] From Ether and Earth came Pain, Deception, Anger, Mourning, Lying, Oath, Vengeance, Self-indulgence, Quarreling, Forgetfullness, Sloth, Fear, Arrogance, Incest, Fighting, Ocean, Themis, Tartarus, and Pontus; and the Titans, Briareus, Gyges, Steropes, Atlas, Hyperion and Polus, Saturn, Ops, Moneta, Dione, and the three Furies (Alecto, Megara, Tisphone).

Latin:

[1] Ex Caligine Chaos: ex Chao et Caligine Nox Dies Erebus Aether. ...

[2] Ex Aethere et Die Terra Caelum Mare.

[3.1] Ex Aethere et Terra Dolor Dolus Ira Luctus Men

dacium Iusiurandum Vltio Intemperantia Altercatio Obliuio Socor-

dia Timor Superbia In<c>estum Pugna Oceanus Themis Tartarus

Pontus; et Titanes, Briareus Gyges Steropes Atlas Hyperion et

[3.5] <P>olus, Saturnus Ops Moneta Dione; Furiae tres, id est Alecto

Megaera Tisiphone.

John Malalas

Chronographia

4.9 [= Orphic fr. 65 Kern] [= 97, 139? Bernebé]

Elizabeth Jefferys, Michael Jefferys and Roger Scott translation, p. 36

This is what Orpheus stated. He said that at the beginning Aither was revealed to Time, having been created by God, and there was Chaos on this side of Aither, and on that, while dark Night held everything and covered what was under Aither, signifying that Night came first. Orpheus said in his account that there was a certain Being who was incomprehensible, supreme over all, before all, and the creator of all things, including the Aither itself and Night and the whole creation that was concealed and was beneath the Aither. He said that the Earth was invisible beneath the darkness. He declared that Light broke through the Aither and illuminated the Earth and all creation, saying that the Light which broke through the Aither was that being mentioned above, that was supreme over all things, whose name Orpheus heard from the oracle and declared: "Metis, Phanes, Erikepaios". This in the common language means "counsel, Light and Life-giver". Orpheus also said ... invisible.

Meisner, pp. 173–175

Another source from the sixth century AD, the chronographer John Malalas ... Malalas' Chronographia ... He says that "this is what Orpheus expounded": that in the begining there was Chronos, along with Aither, Chaos, and Night; and that "the light broke Aither." This light was called Metis, Phanes, and Erikepaios, and was the god who created the earth.⁵¹

51. John Malalas, Chronograph. 4.9 (52 Thurn) (OF 97 = 65 K).

Meisner, p. 205

John Malalas says that according to Orpheus, "At the beginning Aither was revealed to Chronos ... and there was Chaos on this side of Aither and on that, while dark Night held everything and covered what was under Aither, signifying that Night came first ... there was a certain being who was incomprehensible, supreme over all ... and creator of all things, including Aither itself and Night."¹⁹⁴

194. John Malalas, Chronograph. 4.7 (52 Thurn) (OF 107 I B = 65 K).

Orphic Argonautica

12–16 [ = Orphic test. 224 Kern [= 99 Bernebé]

Nempe antiqui primum chaus superiorem innidia neceffitatem, et Saturnum, qui immenfis tractobus progenerauit Aether, et geminum, conspicuum, nobilem Amorem [15] aeterne Noctis inclitum parentem, quem Phaneta Luciferum iuniores homines vocant: primus etenim in lucem ipse prodiit.

[Google translate:] Of course the ancient chasm was the first to cast off the necessities of life, and Saturn, who begot Aether by immense tracts, and the twins, conspicuous, the noble Love [15] of Eternal Noctis, the famous parent, whom younger men call Lucifer, Phaneta; for he himself first emerged into the light.

Meisner, p. 172

In the first (12-23, 28), he summarizes a theogony that begins with both Chaos and Chronos. Chronos produces Aither and "glorius Eros, / the noble father of everlastig Night, whom younger / mortals call Phanes—for he was first to appear" (14-16).

Proclus

Commentary on Plato's Republic

2.138.8 Kroll [= Orphic fr. 66 Kern] [= fr. 111 Bernebé]

West 1983, p. 198

verse fragments from the Rhapsodies:

66 This Time unaging, of immortal resource, begot

Aither and a great Chasm, vast this way and that,

no limit below it, no base, no place to settle.

West 1983, p. 199

Time's first offspring are moist Aither (Damascius lays some stress on the qualification 'moist'), unbounded Chaos (= Chasm in fr.66.2, a wide opening), and misty Erebos (Darkness). ...

According to the verses quoted above, Chronos begot Aither and the Chasm (and presumably Erebos), but Fashionhed (ἔτευξε) the egg from or in Aither.

Meisner, p. 188

From Proclus and Simplicius we have:

This ageless Chronos, of imperishable counsel, gave birth to Aither

and the great monster Chasm here and there,

and he was not under any limit, nor bottom, and not any seat.¹¹⁹

In this passage, Chasm is another name for Chaos, as the Neoplatonists indicate in other passages where they say that Aither and Chaos are the offspring of Chronos.¹²⁰

¹¹⁹ Proclus, in Plat. Remp. 2.138.8 Kroll (OF 111 I B = 66 K); Simplicius, in Arist. Phys. 528.14 Diehl (OF 111 VII B). Bernebé places lines 1-2 from Proclus with line 3 from Simplicius to form one fragment.

¹²⁰ Syrianus, in Arist. Met. 43.10 Kroll (OF 111 B = 66 K)

Commentary on Plato's Timaeus

30 c, d (I 427, 20 Diehl)] [= Orphic fr. 79 Kern] [= 130 Bernebé]

West 1983, p. 70

the progeny of Aither and Chaos (= Chasm) (79)

West 1983, p. 200

We must be prepared not to attach too literal a sense to Proclus' description of the egg as 'born from Aither and Chaos' (fr. 79)

31 a (I 433, 31 Diehl)] [= Orphic fr. 74 Kern] [= 141 Bernebé]

West 1983, p. 70

He [Phanes] is called son of Aither (73, 74)

West 1983, p. 200

verses in which Protogonos, who came from the egg, is styled 'son of Aither' (frr. 73, 74)

Modern

Athanassakis and Wolkow

p. x

A date of composition cannot be assigned to the Hymns with any certainty.

But the ... Those scholars who place the composition of the Orphic Hymns within the first four centuries of our era are probably closer to the truth. The relative purity of the language and the nearly flawless hexameter would argue for the earlier part of this period. So would the absence of anything faintly Christian. ... However the Hymn to Apollon ... This would provide a terminus post quem of about 200 AD. ... Perhaps then a date in the middle of the third century AD is as good a guess as any.

p. xi

The Orphic Hymns constitutes a distinct collection, and they should be seen as one part of a vast ancient literature that modern scholars label "Orphic". ...

Two notable ... known as the Derveni Papyrus and datable to the second half of the fourth century BC.

One important fact that clearly emerges from this "Orphic" literature is that there had developed what we may call an "Orphic" mythology, one that appropriated much from the "official" mythologies in Homer and Hesiod but extended them in idosyncratic ways. Cosmogony/theology was a widely disseminated type, although [cont.]

p. xii

there were numerous variations. Three versions were preserved by the Neoplatonist Damascius, ...

p. 80

The upper atmosphere tended in antiquity to be divided into two levels: the lower, misty air that we breath and the higher, and hence purer, stratum of ether. This conception is already found in Homer; at Iliad 14.286-288, Sleep climbs up the largest fir tree on Mount Ida, which is said to "reach the ether through the air." Ether is usually considered to be composed of fire or to be fire itself. Hesiod tells us (Theogony 124-125) that Ether and Day were born from Erebos and Night (it is interesting to note that two dark entities produce two bright ones, as light follows day in Genesis). Either is one of the primordial beings in the Orphic cosmogony (Orphic fragment 78 and 111). Along with Khaos and Erebos, he was born from serpentine Time. The cosmic egg out of which Protogonos hatched is said to be made out of, or placed in, Ether by Time (see OH 6i+in), and thus Ether was considered his father (Orphic fragment 124-125). This probably explains why the hymn to Protogonos immediately follows, intervening between this hymn and those to other celetial entities: the Stars, Sun, and Moon. However, as with Sky, Ether is presented less as an anthropormorphic deity and more as a cosmic principle in the form of the highest and purest expression of fire. Both deities are connected, with Sky presented as an embodiment of physical space and Ether as physical substance constitutive of that space. This may have facilitated Sky's placement in the collection; see OH 4i.

Bremmer

p. 5

The Roman mythographer Hyginus, who summarized and compiled Greek traditions, started his Fabulae with a strange hodgepodge of Greek and Roman cosmogonies and early genealogies.

Brill's New Pauly

s.v. Aether

Author(s): Graf, Fritz (Columbus, OH)

[German version] (Αἰθήρ; Aithḗr). The ‘radiantly clear’ heaven, since the epic (Hom. Il. 2,412) domicile of the gods; in the cosmology up to late antiquity the highest and purest part of the cosmos (Macrob. Sat. 1,17,70). In cosmogonic poetry aether has various roles. For Hesiod the light aether is the son of the dark power Nyx ‘Night’ (and Erebus, Acusilaus of Argus FGrH 2 F 6b), but brother of Hemera, ‘Day’ (Theog. 124); with Hemera he generates the enigmatic Brotus (Hes. fr. 400), according to l…

Evelyn-White

Epic Cycle, Titanomachy fr. 2 p. 480

Anecdota Oxon. (Cramer) i. 75.

p. 481

According to the writer of the War of the Titans Heaven was the son of Aether

Fowler

2000

Acusilas fr. 6 Fowler

2013

p. 5

[In Hesiod's] Theogony (116-38), Chaos comes first; then Gaia, Tartaros, and Eros. From Chaos emerge Erebos and Night; Night then bore (τέκε) Aither and Day to Erebos, ...

Akousilaos (frr. 6a-d) ... Damaskios, however (fr. 6b), writing in the early sixth century AD, says that Erebos and Night [cont.]

FIG. 1.1

p. 6

followed Chaos, and that from their union resulted Aither, Eros, and Metis (in Hesiod an Okeanid among many: Th. 358).¹⁰ A scholion on Theokritos (fr. 6c) contradicts Damaskios, claiming that in Akousilaos Eros' parents were Night and Aither.

Now Night, Aither or Aer, and Erebos or Tartaros as well as Eros are all prominent in various early theogonies;¹³

Gantz

p. 3

... Akousilaos [calls Eros the offspring] of Erebos and Nyx or Aither and Nyx (2F6) ...

p. 4

Next, and definitely born from Chaos, arise Erebos (Darkness) and black Nyx (Night) (Th 123-25). ... This Erebos does, however, mate with Nyx (the first sexual union) to produce Aither (Brightness) and Hemere (Day), ...

p. 12

The second ... The epic Titanomachia, with its presumed beginning from Gaia and Ouranos (the later sprung from Aither), ....

p. 742

At his [Protogonos's] emegence [from the egg] Chaos and Aither are split (fr. 72).

A Greek-English Lexicon

s.v. αἰθήρ

Grimal

s.v. Aether

(Αἰθήρ) The personification of the upper sky, where the light is clearer than it is in the lower levels nearer earth. According to Hesiod Aether was the son of Erebus and Nyx (Darkness ans Night) and the brother of Hemera or Daylight. According to other traditions, when united with Day he begot not only Earth, Sky and Sea, but a number of abstract qualitites, among them Grief, Anger, and Falsehood, as well as Oceanus, Themis, Tartarus, Briareus, Gyges, Steropes (which Hesiod considered to be Cyclopes), Atlas, Hyperion, Saturn, Ops, Moreta, DIone and the Three Furies. Among this list, recorded by Hyginus, are perceptible traces borrowed from the Uranus legend. According to Cicero Aether was the father of Jupiter and Caelus (another name for Uranus, the sky personified) and grandfather of the Sun.

s.v. Uranus

... Other poems make him [Uranus] the son of AETHER but this tradition (which goes back to the Titanomachia) does not name a mother. She was doubtless Hemera, the female personification of Day.

Hard

p. 21

Hesiod's Theogony ... came to be accepted by the Greeks as the standard mythical account of the earliest history of the world;

p. 22

First of all, so Hesiod tells us, came CHAOS.

p. 23

If Chaos comes first, she is followed by three other entities, broad-bosmed Gaia (Earth), the ever-sure set of the gods, and then gloomy Tartaros in a recess of the broad-pathed earth, and finally Eros, the personification of love or, perhaps more accurately, of desire.

Chaos produce a son and a daughter by such means, EREBOS, and black NIGHT (or NYX in Greek)

p. 24

[Erebus] fathered two children by Night, a daughter, DAY (or HEMERA in Greek), and a corresponding brother, AITHER, who personifies brightness as manifested in the bright upper air. ...

If Chaos ... As the first and greatest of her self-generated children, she [Gaia] brings forth 'starry OURANOS (Sky), equal to herself, to cover her over on every side';

p. 25

According to one scheme from the Orphic literature, Chronos, unageing Time, existed first of all and gave birth to Aither, Chaos and Erebos; and Chaos created an egg from Aither, from which Phanes or Protogonos emerged,

p. 26

After bearing two children, Aither and Day, to her brother Erebos (see above),

p. 32

Ouranos was sometimes called Akmonides, i.e. son of Akmon, probably in accordance with a very early usage. The Byzantine scholar Eustathius (who claims that Alcman, a poet of the late seventh century BC, already referred to Ouranos as a son of Akmon) records an ancient etymological speculation on the matter, saying that the father of Ouranos was called Akmon because the movement of the heavens is 'unwearying' (akamatos).^{64 [Eustath. on Il. 18.476 (= Alcman 61).]} It has been suggested in more recent times that the name may be connected with Old Persian and Sanskrit acman, in which case it would mean stone, in reference to the solid vault of heaven. Whatever the true meaning of the word, it may well have originated as a cultic title or epithet of Ouranos; in like manner Hyperion is sometimes a title of the sun-god Helios, and sometimes the father of Helios. But the matter is a mystery.

Kern

30

Orphic fr. 30 Kern [= Chrysippus, apud Philodemus, De Pietate (On Piety) pp. 80–81 Gomperz] [= fr. 28 Bernebé]

Miesner, p. 103

Here Philodemus says that Chrysippus attributed to numerous poets, including Orpheus, the idea that "everywhere is aither, which itself is both father and son, ... daughter."⁷⁷

77. Chrysippus, fr. 1078, 1081 SVF (2.316.16-22, 34-37 von Arnim) (Philodemus, De Pietate (Herculaneum Papyrus 1428 VI 16-17), p. 80-81 Gomperz) (OF 28 B = 30 K); see Bernebé ad loc., who relates this fragment to the Derveni poem.

54

Orphic fr. 54 Kern [= Damascius, De principiis 123.31–80] [= fr. 78 Bernebé]

White, pp. 232–237
White, p. 235

And I believe that the theology in the Rhapsodies, ... for this was the "ageless Time" and father of Aether and Chaos which is honored most in that account.¹⁵

Surely, in this account too [the Hieronyman], 2) this serpent Time generates a triple progeny:"moist Aether," it says, "limitless Chaos," and third after these "misty Erebos."¹⁶ This second triad it treats as analogous to the first: this one is potential as the first is paternal. This is why its third term is "misty" Erebos, its first and paternal term is not simply Aether but "moist"," and its middle term is inherently "limitless" Chaos.¹⁷

¹⁵Damascius interrupts his summary of the Hieronymus account, which he evidently favors, to criticize his predecessors for neglecting the twofold source of Time (viz. water and earth, or their divine counterparts).

¹⁶ Returning to Hieronymus, Damascius specifies its analogues to the second "intelligibe" triad: Aether and Chaos, as in the previous account (cf. n. 3 above), but now also Erebus or "Darkness" (cf. n. 4 above).

¹⁷ Damascius, after claiming that these epithets indicate parallels between the first and second triads, fails to make their significance explicit: Aether is presumably "moist" like water and Chos "limitless" like "unlimiteted" eart; but why Erebus should be "misty" is not clear.

West 1983, p. 70

First was Unaging Time (60, cf. 54, 68)

He generated Aither and a huge Chasm, without bottom or boundry (66, 54, 60)

West 1983, p. 198

Damascius says 'this Time, the serpent, has offspring, three in number: moist Aither (I quote), unbounded Chaos, and as a third misty Erebos ... Among these, he says, Time generated an egg'

West 1983, p. 199

Time's first offspring are moist Aither (Damascius lays some stress on the qualification 'moist'), unbounded Chaos (= Chasm in fr.66.2, a wide opening), and misty Erebos (Darkness).

60

Orphic fr. 60 Kern [= Damascius, De principiis 123.8–30] [= fr. 90 Bernebé]

White, pp. 228–231
White, p. 231

theology concerning the intelligible goes something like this, as the philosophers interpret it. 1) They treat Time as the single principle of all entities, and Aether and Chaos as the dyad, and they explain the Egg simply as being; this they make the first triad.³ ... Such is the standard Orphic theology.

³ The "single principle" is the One ... The dyad of Aether and Chaos (literally "Brightness and Chasm") together with the Egg form the "henadic triad" of the One-all (or Limit), All-one (or Unlimited), and Unified. ...

West 1983, p. 70

First was Unaging Time (60, cf. 54, 68)

He generated Aither and a huge Chasm, without bottom or boundry (66, 54, 60)

65

Orphic fr. 65 Kern [= John Malalas, Chronographia 4.9 p. 74 Dindorf] [= 97, 139? Bernebé]

...Χρόνωι ό Αἰθήρ ... Αἰθέρορ ἦν Χάος χαὶ Νὺξ ... Αἰθέρα ... Νύχτα ... Αἰθέρος ... Νύχτὸς ... Αἰθέρα ... Αἰθέρα ... Αἰθέρα ... Μῆτιμ Φάνητα Ἠριχεπαῖον ...

Malalas, 4.9

This is what Orpheus stated. He said that at the beginning Aither was revealed to Time, having been created by God, and there was Chaos on this side of Aither, and on that, while dark Night held everything and covered what was under Aither, signifying that Night came first. Orpheus said in his account that there was a certain Being who was incomprehensible, supreme over all, before all, and the creator of all things, including the Aither itself and Night and the whole creation that was concealed and was beneath the Aither. He said that the Earth was invisible beneath the darkness. He declared that Light broke through the Aither and illuminated the Earth and all creation, saying that the Light which broke through the Aither was that being mentioned above, that was supreme over all things, whose name Orpheus heard from the oracle and declared: "Metis, Phanes, Erikepaios". This in the common language means "counsel, Light and Life-giver". Orpheus also said ... invisible.

Meisner, p. 173–174

Another source from the sixth century AD, the chronographer John Malalas ... Malalas' Chronographia ... He says that "this is what Orpheus expounded": that in the beginning there was Chronos, along with Aither, Chaos, and Night; and that "the light broke Aither." This light was called Metis, Phanes, and Erikepaios, and was the god who created the earth.⁵¹

51 John Malalas, Chronograph. 4.9 (52 Thurn) (OF 97 = 65 K).

Meisner, p. 205

John Malalas says that according to Orpheus, "At the beginning Aither was revealed to Chronos ... and there was Chaos on this side of Aither and on that, while dark Night held everything and covered what was under Aither, signifying that Night came first ... there was a certain being who was incomprehensible, supreme over all ... and creator of all things, including Aither itself and Night."¹⁹⁴

194. John Malalas, Chronograph. 4.7 (52 Thurn) (OF 107 I B = 65 K).

West 1983, p. 70

when he [Phanes] emerges from the egg, which is broken by being squeezed by the serpent Time (57), the Aither and misty Chasm are split (72, cf. 65).

66

Orphic fr. 66 Kern [= Proclus, Commentary on Plato's Republic 2.138.8 Kroll] [= fr. 111 Bernebé]

West 1983, p. 70

He generated Aither and a huge Chasm, without bottom or boundry (66, 54, 60)

West 1983, p. 198

verse fragments from the Rhapsodies:

66 This Time unaging, of immortal resource, begot

Aither and a great Chasm, vast this way and that,

no limit below it, no base, no place to settle.

West 1983, p. 199

According to the verses quoted above, Chronos begot Aither and the Chasm (and presumably Erebos), but Fashionhed (ἔτευξε) the egg from or in Aither.

Meisner, p. 188

From Proclus and Simplicius we have:

This ageless Chronos, of imperishable counsel, gave birth to Aither

and the great monster Chasm here and there,

and he was not under any limit, nor bottom, and not any seat.¹¹⁹

In this passage, Chasm is another name for Chaos, as the Neoplatonists indicate in other passages where they say that Aither and Chaos are the offspring of Chronos.¹²⁰

¹¹⁹ Proclus, in Plat. Remp. 2.138.8 Kroll (OF 111 I B = 66 K); Simplicius, in Arist. Phys. 528.14 Diehl (OF 111 VII B). Bernebé places lines 1-2 from Proclus with line 3 from Simplicius to form one fragment.

¹²⁰ Syrianus, in Arist. Met. 43.10 Kroll (OF 111 B = 66 K)

70

Orphic fr. 70 Kern [= Damascius, De principiis 55] [= fr. 114 Bernebé]

West 1983, p. 70

From (or in) Aither Time made a shining egg (70)

West 1983, p. 198

verse fragments from the Rhapsodies:

68 ...

70 Then great Time fashioned from (or in) divine Aither

a bright white egg.

West 1983, p. 199

According to the verses quoted above, Chronos begot Aither and the Chasm (and presumably Erebos), but Fashionhed (ἔτευξε) the egg from or in Aither.

Miesner, p. 189

Damascius quotes Orpheus narrating that "great Chronos fashioned with the divine Aither / a silver-shining egg" ... ¹²⁵

¹²⁵ Damascius, De Principiis 55 (2.40.14 Westerink) (OF 114 I B = 70 K) ...

72

Orphic fr. 72 Kern [= Proclus, Commentary on Plato's Republic 2.138.18 Kroll]

χάσμα δ᾽ ὑπ᾽ ἠέριον χαὶ νήνεμος ἐρράγη αἰθήρ

ὀρνυμένοιο φάνητος

Chaos but [prep] misty [his her, the following] calm break

[incite, make to arise] Phanes

chasm

West 1983, p. 70

when he [Phanes] emerges from the egg, which is broken by being squeezed by the serpent Time (57), the Aither and misty Chasm are split (72, cf. 65).

West 1983, pp. 203–204

When he [Phanes] came forth Aither and the Chasm were split open, ... [cont.] thee Phanes'.⁸⁸

⁸⁸ Frr. 72, 86 ...

73

Orphic fr. 73 Kern [= Lactantius, Divine Institutes I, 5, 4–6 p. 13, 13 Brandt.]

West 1983, p. 70

He [Phanes] is called son of Aither (73,74)

West 1983, p. 200

verses in which Protogonos, who came from the egg, is styled 'son of Aither' (frr. 73, 74)

74

Orphic fr. 74 Kern [= Proclus, Commentary on Plato's Timaeus 31 a (I 433, 31 Diehl)] [= 141 Bernebé]

West 1983, p. 70

He [Phanes] is called son of Aither (73,74)

West 1983, p. 200

verses in which Protogonos, who came from the egg, is styled 'son of Aither' (frr. 73, 74)

75

Orphic fr. 75 Kern [= Etymologicum Magnum p. 787.29] [= 126 Bernebé]

Meisner, p. 195

Phanes, ... The Etymologicum Magnum demonstrates this in its entry for the name Φάνης, where it quotes an Orphic verse in which "they call him Phanes / and Protogonus because he became the first one visible (φαντός) in Aither."¹⁵³

¹⁵³ Etymological Magnum 287.29-32 (OF 126 B = 75 K) ...

76

Orphic fr. 76 Kern [= Hermias, Commentary on Plato's Phaedrus 246e, p. 138 Couvreur] [= fr. 111 Bernebé]

79

Orphic fr. 79 Kern [= Proclus, Commentary on Plato's Timaeus 30 c, d (I 427, 20 Diehl)] [= 130 Bernebé]

West 1983, p. 70

the progeny of Aither and Chaos (= Chasm) (79)

West 1983, p. 200

We must be prepared not to attach too literal a sense to Proclus' description of the egg as 'born from Aither and Chaos' (fr. 79)

Meisner, p. 147 n. 89

89. See also Proclus, in Tim. 1.427.20 Diehl (OF 130 B = 79 K), who quotes a Rhapsodic line that speaks of Phanes "sending forth the might of a bull and a fierce lion"

Meisner, p. 195

Another ... He [Proclus] quotes a line of the Rhapsodies in which Phanes is described as "sending forth the might of a bull and a fierce lion." ... ¹⁵⁰

150. Proclus, in Plat. Tim. 1.427.20, 429.26 Diehl (OF 129 I, 130 B = 79, 81 K); ...

168

Orphic fr. 168 Kern [= 243 Bernebé]

Ζεὺς ...

[5] Ζεὺς ...

...

[8] πῦρ χαὶ υδωρ χαὶ γαῖα χαὶ αἰθήρ, νύξ τε χαὶ ἦμαρ

...

[17] ... ἄφθιτος αἰθήρ

West 1983, p. 89

The longer version [of the hymn-like passage about Zeus] (fr. 168) stood in the Rhapsodies;

West 1983, p. 239

... The 'hymn to Zeus' ... was greatly expanded in the Rhapsodies. After the recital of Zeus' predicates was inserted a passage of 25 lines (fr. 168.6–30) in which the physical world is described and anatomized as the body of Zeus ... His mind is the aither, with which he hears and takes cognizance of everything ...

West 1983, p. 241

To a line (168.8) which listed the things contained in Zeus' body,

fire and water and earth and air, night and day,

Meisner, p. 112

However ... line 17 of the Rhapsodic version, which says that "his [Zeus'] truthful, royal mind is imperishable aither".

T 224

Orphic test. 224 Kern [= Orphic Argonautica 7–46] [= 99 Bernebé]

Meisner, p. 172

At OF 99-100 B, Bernabé includes as argumenta of the Rhapsodies two passages of the Orphic Argonautica a hexameter poem in which Orpheus tells Musaeus about his adventure with the Argonauts. Written in the fourth or fifth century AD. this poem seems to demonstrate its author's familiarity with the Rhapsodies in two passages where Orpheus summarizes the subject matter of his of his poems.⁴⁴ In the first (12-23, 28), he summarizes a theogony that begins with both Chaos and Chronos. Chronos produces Aither and "glorius Eros, / the noble father of everlastig Night, whom younger / mortals call Phanes—for he was first to appear" (14-16).

44. Most scholars think these passages were influenced by the Rhrapsodies; see West 1983: 37; ...

11–16

Nempe antiqui primum chaus superiorem innidia neceffitatem, et Saturnum, qui immenfis tractobus progenerauit Aether, et geminum, conspicuum, nobilem Amorem [15] aeterne Noctis inclitum parentem, quem Phaneta Luciferum iuniores homines vocant: primus etenim in lucem ipse prodiit.

Meisner

p. 1

According to most modern reconstructions of Orphic literature by such scholars as Otto Kern, Martin West, and Alberto Bernebé, there were at least four major Orphic theogonies: (1) the "Derveni Theogony," which is the poem underlying the commentary in the Derveni Papyrus (fourth century BC),¹ and three other Orphic theogonies known to the Neoplatonist Damascius (sixth century AD): ... (3) the "Hieronyman Theogony" (second century BC), ... (4) the Rhapsodies, or "Rhapsodic Theogony" (first century BC/AD), ...

p. 4

Some of the [Orphic] texts are extant, such as the eighty-seven Orphic Hymns addressed to a wide variety of deities (possibly from the second century AD)¹² and the Orphic Argonautica ...

p. 5

the ... the Derveni Papyrus (fourth century BC) to the Orphic Rhapsodies (first century BC/AD);¹⁴

p. 31

Yet another link with Egyption myth can perhaps be detected in the Derveni Papyrus, if we read OF 8 B (= DP 13.4) the way Burkert translates it, that Zeus "swallowed the phallus [of Ouranos], who first had ejaculated aither." The Derveni author interprets this phallus as the sun, and if Burkert's reading is correct, then Ouranos, by ejaculating aither, "created the brilliance of sky by first ejaculation, before castration."¹²⁰ ... Burkert argues that the myth of Ouranis ejaculating aither ... [see pp. 69, 81]

120. Burkert 2004: 90-92 = 2009: 98-99.

p. 32

...Shu is Air, brilliant Air, ...

According to Burkert, Ouranos corresponds to Atum, who initiates creation by ejaculating; and Shu, being brilliant Air," corresponds to the aither that Ouranos ejaculates.¹²² ... However, this is not the only way to read OF 8 B; as we will see in chapter 2, other scholars translate the fragment, "first jumped into the aither."

122. Burkert 2004: 93 = 2009:100-101.

p. 36

In the Rhapsodies, as West and Bernabé have reconstructed them, there are six generations of divine kings. The first primordial deity is not Night (as in the Derveni poem) or Chaos (as in Hesiod, Theogony 116) but Chronos.¹³⁶ Chronos mates with Ananke to produce Aither and Chasm (also called Chaos), and then creates the cosmic egg (OF 109-110 B).

p. 69

The next line, quoted at the begining of column 13, leads Bernabé to believe that Zeus receives another prophecy, this time from his father. If there are no missing lines between this and the second line quoted on column 13, then the first thing Zeus does after hearing these prophecies is to engage in the act of swallowing. The problem is that it is unclear what or whom he swallows (DP 13.1, 4 = OF 7-8 B);

When Zeus had heard the prophecies from his father,
he swallowed the revered one [or phallus], who [or which] sprang forth⁸¹
first into the aither [or who first ejaculated aither].⁸²

p. 80

After hearing these prophecies (OF 7 B), he [Zeus] "swallowed the revered one (or phallus [of someone]) who sprung forth first into (or ejaculated) the aither" (αἰδοῖον ... αἰθέρα ἔκθορε ... , OF 8 B). ... Typically ἔκθορε is read in the more common sense of ... as "leave" or "spring" ...

p. 81

But Burkert suggests, ... "first ejaculated aither" ...

p. 103

After Plato ... Here Philodemus says that Chrysippus attributed to many poets, including Orpheus, the idea that "everything is aither, which itself is bother father and son, so even at the start it does not conflict that Rhea is both the mother of Zeus and his daughter."⁷⁷

77. Chrysippus, fr. 1078, 1081 SVF (2.316.16-22, 34-37 von Arnim) (Philodemus, De Pietate (Herculaneum Papyrus 1428 VI 16-17), p. 80-81 Gomperz) (OF 28 B = 30 K); see Bernebé ad loc., who relates this fragment to the Derveni poem.

p. 105

In addition to the Derveni and Classical versions [of the Orphic Hymn to Zeus], there is a third version, expanded to thirty-two lines, which appears in thirty-nine different passages in Christian apologists and Neoplatonic philosophers of late antiquity. This version appears to have been part of the Rhapsodic collection, so lets call this the Rhapsodic version.⁸²

82. OF 243 B = 168 K. ...

p. 109

Another passage of Aeschylus,

p. 112

However ... line 17 of the Rhapsodic version, which says that "his [Zeus'] truthful, royal mind is imperishable aither".

p. 126

[Damascius on the Hieronyman theogony says that] Chronos produces Aither, Chaos, and Erebus, the second triad. Then he produces the cosmic egg from which Phanes is born; ...²⁶ This is a departure from the scheme that the Neoplatonists typically applied to the Rhapsodies. where Chronos corresponds to the One, from which the egg, Aither, and Chaos are produced as the first triad.²⁷

26. Damascius, De Principiis 123 bis (3.161-162 Westerink) (OF 78, 79 I, 80 I B = 54 K); Brisson 1995 195-201.

27. Brisson 1995: 70-71, 168-171.

p. 129

In this way, Damascius says that Chronos is a deity "who was much honoured in [the Rhapsodies],"... :

Ageless Chronos the father of both Aither and Chaos: actually, according to this theology [in Hieronymus' account], too, this Chronos as a serpent produced a triple offspring: Aither, which he calls Intelligible [??? Moist? See White, p. 235 with note 17; West 1983, pp. 198, 199], and boundless Chaos, and the third after these is misty Erebus.

The first triad, ... the second triad, consisting of Aither, Chaos, and Erebus ...

p. 130

This is different ... in the Rhapsodies ... the first triad that emanates from him [Chronos] consists of the egg, Aither, and Chaos, ... the first triad (Intelligible Being) includes Aither, Chaos, and the egg; ... But in the Hieronyman ... the second triad Intelligible Life) with Aither, Chaos, and Erubus, ...

p. 137

Damascius mentions Necessity and Nemesis existing with Chronos, and adds that Chronos gives birth to Aither, Chaos, and Erebus (OF 77-78 B).

p. 138

The next two fragments simply continue the passage of Damascius, splitting into OF 77 with co-existence of Necessity and Nemesis with Chronos and OF 78 with the birth of Aither, Chaos, and Erebus from Chronos.

p. 144

In the Hieronyman theogony as Damascius transmits it, in addition to the production of the egg by parthenogenesis, Chronos mates with Necessity, who gives birth to Aither, Chaos, and Erebus—upper air, gap, and darkness—and it is "in these" that he creates the egg.

p. 147 n. 89

89. See also Proclus, in Tim. 1.427.20 Diehl (OF 130 B = 79 K), who quotes a Rhapsodic line that speaks of Phanes "sending forth the might of a bull and a fierce lion"

p. 168

The poem [the Rhapsodic theogony] seems to have begun ... Out of this primordial mass [of undifferentiated elements that existed before all dieties] Chronos emerges as the first of the gods in the same way he does in the Hieronyman theogony, and by himself he gives birth to Aither and Chasm, also called Chaos (OF 109-113 B)

p. 172

At OF 99-100 B, Bernabé includes as argumenta of the Rhapsodies two passages of the Orphic Argonautica a hexameter poem in which Orpheus tells Musaeus about his adventure with the Argonauts. Written in the fourth or fifth century AD. this poem seems to demonstrate its author's familiarity with the Rhapsodies in two passages where Orpheus summarizes the subject matter of his of his poems.⁴⁴ In the first (12-23, 28), he summarizes a theogony that begins with both Chaos and Chronos. Chronos produces Aither and "glorius Eros, / the noble father of everlastig Night, whom younger / mortals call Phanes—for he was first to appear" (14-16).

44. Most scholars think these passages were influenced by the Rhrapsodies; see West 1983: 37; ...

p. 173

Another source from the sixth century AD, the chronographer John Malalas ... Malalas' Chronographia ... He says that "this is what Orpheus expounded": that in the begining there was Chronos, along with Aither, Chaos, and Night; and that "the light broke Aither." This light [cont.]

p. 174

was called Metis, Phanes, and Erikepaios, and was the god who created the earth.⁵¹

51. John Malalas, Chronograph. 4.9 (52 Thurn) (OF 97 = 65 K).

p. 187

According to Damascius and most modern reconstructions of the Rhapsodies, the narrative begins when Chronos emerges as the first god out of an undifferentiated mass of priomordial elements.¹¹⁴ Chronos gives birth to Aither and Chaos, and then creates the cosmic egg out of pre-existing materials. From this eggs springs Phanes, who creates the world and becomes the first king of the gods.

p. 188

What Proclus says next ... The fragments of the Rhapsodies correlate with this reading, since Chronos gives birth to Aither and Chaos. From Proclus and Simplicius we have:

This ageless Chronos, of imperishable counsel, gave birth to Aither

and the great monster Chasm here and there,

and he was not under any limit, nor bottom, and not any seat.¹¹⁹

In this passage, Chasm is another name for Chaos, as the Neoplatonists indicate in other passages where they say that Aither and Chaos are the offspring of Chronos.¹²⁰ Thes associate Aither and Chaos with the concepts of Limit and Unlimited, as when Damascius says that "[the theologians] put Chronos in the place of the one first principle of the universe, and Aither and Chaos in [cont.]

119. Proclus, in Plat. Remp. 2.138.8 Kroll (OF 111 I B = 66 K); Simplicius, in Arist. Phys. 528.14 Diehl (OF 111 VII B). Bernebé places lines 1-2 from Proclus with line 3 from Simplicius to form one fragment.

120. Syrianus, in Arist. Met. 43.10 Kroll (OF 111 B = 66 K)

p. 189

the place of the two."¹²¹ Proclus explains in his commentary on Plato's Timaeus that "just as Plato derived two causes, Limit and Unlimited, from the One, so also did the theologian bring Aither and Chaos into existence from Chronos, Aither as the cause of limit everywhere, and Chaos [as the cause] of the unlimitedness; and from these two principles; he generates both the divine and visible orders."¹²² In his commentary on the Parmenides, Proclus further explains that "the infinite is Chaos, insofar as it is receptive of every power and every type of unlimitedness, and in sofar as it encircles everything else ... Aither is limit because this [visible] aither too limits and measures all things."¹²³ The begining of the Rhapsodic narrative, therefore, described Chronos generating Aither and Chaos.

In its initial creation, the cosmic egg ... Damascius quotes Orpheus narrating that "great Chronos fashioned with the divine Aither / a silver-shining egg" ... ¹²⁵

122. Proclus, in Plat. Tim. 1.385.17 Diehl (OF 111 VIII B); cf. ... Hermias, in Phaedr 138.14 Couvr. (OF 111 XV, 114 IX B = 76 K); ...

123. Proclus, in Plat. Parmen. 1121.27 Cousin (after OF 111 XI B); cf. in PLat. Tim 1.148.4 Diehl (OF 116 B = 79 K).

...

125. Damascius, De Principiis 55 (2.40.14 Westerink) (OF 114 I B = 70 K) ...

p. 195

Another ... He [Proclus] quotes a line of the Rhapsodies in which Phanes is described as "sending forth the might of a bull and a fierce lion." ... ¹⁵⁰

Phanes, ... The Etymological Magnum demonstrates this in its entry for the name Φάνης, where it quotes an Orphic verse in which "they call him Phanes / and Protogonus because he became the first one visible (φαντός) in Aither."¹⁵³

150. Proclus, in Plat. Tim. 1.427.20, 429.26 Diehl (OF 129 I, 130 B = 79, 81 K); ...

...

153. Etymological Magnum 287.29-32 (OF 126 B = 75 K) ...

p. 205

John Malalas says that according to Orpheus, "At the beginning Aither was revealed to Chronos ... and there was Chaos on this side of Aither and on that, while dark Night held everything and covered what was under Aither, signifying that Night came first ... there was a certain being who was incomprehensible, supreme over all ... and creator of all things, including Aither itself and Night."¹⁹⁴

194. John Malalas, Chronograph. 4.7 (52 Thurn) (OF 107 I B = 65 K).

p. 221

Night replies,

Surround all things with unspeakable aither

Oxford Classical Dictionary

s.v. Aither

(Αἰθήρ), personification of the purer upper stratum of air (approximately the stratosphere), next to, or identical with the sky; son of Erebus and Night (Hesiod, Theog. 124-5); of Chaos and Darkness (Hyginus, Fab. praef. 1); husband of Day and of Earth (ibid. 2-3).

Parada

s.v. Aether

Αἰθήρ.

The upper sky.

•a)Erebus ∞ Nyx.

•b)Chaos.-

••Hemera.

•••Gaia, Uranus, Pontus.

NATURAL PHENOMENA

•a)Hes.The.125. •••TiT.2. •b)-••-•••Hyg.Pre.

s.v. Uranus

•a)Gaia.-

•b)Aether ∞ Hemera

...

...•a)-••1)-•••1)Hes.The.127-153. •a)Nonn.2.335. •b)TIT2. [= Anecdota. Oxon. (Cramer) 1.75. = Evelyn-White, Epic Cycle, Titanomachy fr. 2] Hyg.Pre....

Tripp

s.v. Aether

The upper air or sky. Aether, apparently a personification of the upper sky as distinguished from the air (aer) that immediately surrounds the earth, was said by Hesiod to be, with his sister Hemera (Day), the offspring of Erebus (Darkness) and Nyx (Night). He was called by some the father of Uranus, another, somewhat less vaguely personified, god of the sky. [Hesiod, Theogony, 124-125; Titanomachia 2.]

West

1983

p. 1

The magic ... the label 'Orphic' ... the extant Orphic Hymns ... The so-called Rhapsodic Theogony much the longest and most influential of all Orphic poems, ...

The Rhapsodic Theogony was only one of three Orphic theogonies distinguished by a late Neoplatonic writer; ...

p. 68

We are now ready to begin the investigation of Orphic Theogonies. ... What we call the Rhapsodic Theogony is referred to as the Hieros Logos, or Hieroi Logoi in twenty-four rhapsodies, or the Rhapsodies. ...

Evidence for three distinct Orphic theogonies is given by Damascius, the last head of the Neoplatonic school in Athens before its closure by Justinian in the year 529. Discussing the Orphic account of the beginnings of the world he summarizes what was said in "these current Orphic Rhapsodis', that is in a poem which was still read in his own time. then he says 'Such is the familiar Orphic theology; ...

p. 69

I shall call these three the ... Hieronyman Theogony, and the Rhapsodic Theogony. We may call this the Derveni Theogony.

p. 70

First was Unaging Time (60, cf. 54, 68), represented as a winged serpent coupled with Ananke (Arg. 12 f., cf. fr. 126, Hymn 12.10). He generated Aither and a huge Chasm, without bottom or boundry (66, 54, 60), overlaid with gloomy darkness and Night (65-7). From (or in) Aither Time made a shining egg (70), the progeny of Aither and Chaos (= Chasm) (79). In it, enclosed in a bright cloak (of cloud?), Phanes developed (60). He is called son of Aither (73,74), and when he emerges from the egg, which is broken by being squeezed by the serpent Time (57), the Aither and misty Chasm are split (72, cf. 65).

p. 75

The Derveni find

... papyrus roll probably dating from the late fourth century BC

p. 89

In the next three ... The longer version [of the hymn-like passage about Zeus] (fr. 168) stood in the Rhapsodies;

p. 198

Although Chronos and Ananke make a well-matched male and female pair, the sources agree in speaking of Chronos alone as parent. Damascius says 'this Time, the serpent, has offspring, three in number: moist Aither (I quote), unbounded Chaos, and as a third misty Erebos ... Among these, he says, Time generated an egg'. ... verse fragments from the Rhapsodies:

66 This Time unaging, of immortal resource, begot

Aither and a great Chasm, vast this way and that,

no limit below it, no base, no place to settle.

70 Then great Time fashioned from (or in) divine Aither

a bright white egg.

p. 199

Time's first offspring are moist Aither (Damascius lays some stress on the qualification 'moist'), unbounded Chaos (= Chasm in fr.66.2, a wide opening), and misty Erebos (Darkness). ...

According to the verses quoted above, Chronos begot Aither and the Chasm (and presumably Erebos), but Fashionhed (ἔτευξε) the egg from or in Aither.

p. 200

We must similarly be prepared not to attach too literal a sense to Proclus' description of the egg as 'born from Aither and Chaos' (fr. 79), or to verses in which Protogonos, who came from the egg, is styled 'son of Aither' (frr. 73, 74). It seems clear that Aither was not represented as a person, only as a material element. ...

For Damascius this was the 'current' Orphic theogony, as opposed to the ones recorded by Eudemus and Hieronymus, and after dealing with it he says, 'This then, is the usual Orphic theology'.

p. 227

VII. THE RHAPSODIC THEOGONY

What Damascius refers to as 'these current Orphic Rhapsodies' may safely be identified with the Hieroi Logoi in 24 Rhapsodies, listed in the Suda among Orpheus' works.

p. 230

It is immediately obvious that the first part of the cosmogony [in the Rhapsodic Theogony] is closely similar to that of the Hieronyman Theogony. It starts with Unaging Time, and proceeds to Aither, Chaos, and Darkness, from which an egg is made, and from the egg comes the very individual figure of Phanes.

Other differences between the Hieronyman and Phapsodic cosmogonies may only be apparent. There is a simple explanation of the fact that in describing the Hieronyman Theogony Damascius says that Time had three offspring, Aither, Chaos, and Erebos, whereas in describing the Rhapsodies he ignores Erebos, of which, however, there is some trace in other authorities.

p. 239

The swallowing of Phanes, Zeus as the world

... The 'hymn to Zeus' ... was greatly expanded in the Rhapsodies. After the recital of Zeus' predicates was inserted a passage of 25 lines (fr. 168.6–30) in which the physical world is described and anatomized as the body of Zeus ... His mind is the aither, with which he hears and takes cognizance of everything ...

p. 261

At the beginning of the first century BC one Theognetus, ... into one comprehensive narrative divided into 24 'rhapsodies'

2003

Eumelus fr. 1

1 Philod. De pietate B 4677 Obbink

1 Philodemus, On Piety

Whereas the author of the Titanomachy says that everything came from Aither.

Epimerismi Homerici α 313 Dyck (from Methodius)

Homeric Parsings (from Methodius)

Others understand Akmon as the air (aithēr), Ouranos being Aither’s son according to the author of the Titanomachy; the air is tireless (akamatos), because fire is.²

² The author is reporting explanations of why some poets called Ouranos (Heaven) the son of Akmon.

White

p. 229

61A Damascius, On First Priciples 123

...

First, then, in these Orphic Rhapsodies currently circulating, the [cont.]

p. 231

theology concerning the intelligible goes something like this, as the philosophers interpret it. 1) They treat Time as the single principle of all entities, and Aether and Chaos as the dyad, and they explain the Egg simply as being; this they make the first triad.³

³ The "single principle" is the One ... The dyad of Aether and Chaos (literally "Brightnes and Chasm") together with the Egg form the "henadic triad" of the One-all (or Limit), All-one (or Unlimited), and Unified. ... ... Such is the standard Orphic theology.

p. 233

The theology circulating under the names of Hieronymous and Hellanicus, ...

p. 234

[56] ... γονήν, Αἰθήρα φησὶ νοτερὸν [LSJ s.v. νοτερός = "damp, moist"] ...

[62] τε χαὶ ἄκρον Αἰθήρ οὐχ ἁπλῶς ἀλλὰ νοτερός

p. 235

And I believe that the theology in the Rhapsodies, ... for this was the "ageless Time" and father of Aether and Chaos which is honored most in that account.¹⁵

Surely, in this account too [the Hieronyman], 2) this serpent Time generates a triple progeny: "moist Aether," it says, "limitless Chaos," and third after these "misty Erebos."¹⁶ This second triad it treats as analogous to the first: this one is potential as the first is paternal. This is why its third term is "misty" Erebos, its first and paternal term is not simply Aether but "moist"," and its middle term is inherently "limitless" Chaos.¹⁷

¹⁵ Damascius interrupts his summary of the Hieronymus account, which he evidently favors, to criticize his predecessors for neglecting the twofold source of Time (viz. water and earth, or their divine counterparts).

¹⁶ Returning to Hieronymus, Damascius specifies its analogues to the second "intelligibe" triad: Aether and Chaos, as in the previous account (cf. n. 3 above), but now also Erebus or "Darkness" (cf. n. 4 above).

¹⁷ Damascius, after claiming that these epithets indicate parallels between the first and second triads, fails to make their significance explicit: Aether is presumably "moist" like water and Chaos "limitless" like "unlimited" earth; but why Erebus should be "misty" is not clear.