DOI Seite / Zitierlink:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.14697#0213
Orphic Theogonies and Cosmogonic Eros i o 5 i
Miiller) aft. Damask, quaest. de primis principiis 124 (i. 320, 10 ff. Ruelle)—
though schol. Theokr. 13. if. says 'AKovalXXas (Kallierges corr. 'A/co^crtXao?)
Nvktos nai Aldipos (sc. vlov etrrev rbv "Epcura), Antagoras aft. Diog. Laert. 4. 26,
Cic. de nat. deor. 3. 44, Hyg./ad. praef. p. 9, 3 ff. Schmidt). But the later Orphic
theogonies (supra pp. 1022, 1024, 1034) appear to have regarded Chronos as the
maker of the cosmic egg. In any case—and this is the main point—it was not
Zeus. In the early Orphic theogony Zeus does not figure at all till the fourth
generation (supra pp. 1020, 1034). In the theogony of Hellanikos he is a name
for Protogonos in the second generation (suftra pp. 1023,1034). In the Rhapsodies
he is one of the children of Phanes in the third generation (supra pp. 1026 ff.,
1034). We may reasonably infer that the original form of the Orphic cosmogony
was independent of, and perhaps anterior to, the recognition of Zeus.
The later Orphists, however, made much of Zeus and viewed him as a pan-
theistic power (supra p. 1027 ff.). The primitive notion of Chaos as a gaping or
yawning mouth (supra p. 1039) was transferred to Zeus who, according to the
Rhapsodies, opened his jaws wide and swallowed Phanes whole (supra p. 1027).
Phanes himself was conceived as in some sort a Zeus (supra i. 7 n. 6); for Phanes
was Protogonos (supra p. 1026), and Protogonos was 'Zeus the arranger of all'
(supra p. 1023). This equation is presupposed by a relief (fig. 909), which seems
to have come more than a century since from Rome and is now exhibited in
the Royal Museum (no. 2676) at Modena (C. Cavedoni ' Dichiarazione di un
bassorilievo Mitriaco della R. Galleria Palatina di Modena' in the Atti e
Memorie delle RR. deputazioni di storia patria per le provincie Modenesi
e Parmensi Modena 1863 i. 1—4 with lithographic pi., A. Venturi La R. Galleria
Estense i7t Modena Modena 1883 p. 360 fig. 94, F. Cumont in the Rev. Arch.
1902 i. 1—10 with photographic pi. 1, R. Eisler Weltenmantel und Himmelszelt
Miinchen 1910 ii. 399 ff. fig. 47, Reinach Rep. Reliefs iii. 61 no. 1). On a thick
slab of white marble (0.711" high, 0.49™ wide) is an oval band enclosing an egg-
shaped recess. The band is decorated with the twelve signs of the zodiac, and
grouped about it are winged heads representing the four winds of heaven.
Within the recess stands a nude youth encumbered with a plethora of attributes.
Above his head and beneath his feet are the two halves of an egg, from each of
which flames are bursting. A snake coiled round him rears its head on to the
upper egg-shell. He has two large wings and a crescent on his back, the head
of a lion growing from his front, and the heads of a goat and a ram projecting
from his right and left sides. Instead of feet he has cloven hoofs. In his right
hand he grasps a thunderbolt, in his left a sceptre. Cavedoni, followed by
Cumont, regarded this singular figure as primarily Mithraic, though both ad-
mitted the presence of features susceptible of an Orphic interpretation. R. Eisler
has done good service by insisting on its Orphic character. The egg-like recess
in which the god is placed, the upper and lower shells from which he has
emerged, the strange animal-heads on his flanks (supra p. 1022 f.), the snake's
head appearing above his face (suftra p. 1023), all mark him as Phanes. He
bears thunderbolt and sceptre, because Phanes was one with Zeus. His face is
that of the sun-god in Rhodian art, for Phanes was not only called Antauges
and Phaethon (supra p. 1026) but also identified with Helios (supra i. 7 n. 6, 311).
Cavedoni took the cloven hoofs to be those of a goat: if so, they hint that
Phanes was Pan (supra p. 1023). Cumont and Eisler think them bovine : if so,
they denote him as Dionysos (supra p. 1026). The relief bears two inscriptions.
The first, [E]YPHROSYi[NE ET] FELIX on the background of the recess,
has been intentionally effaced. The second, P P | FELIX PATER on
Miiller) aft. Damask, quaest. de primis principiis 124 (i. 320, 10 ff. Ruelle)—
though schol. Theokr. 13. if. says 'AKovalXXas (Kallierges corr. 'A/co^crtXao?)
Nvktos nai Aldipos (sc. vlov etrrev rbv "Epcura), Antagoras aft. Diog. Laert. 4. 26,
Cic. de nat. deor. 3. 44, Hyg./ad. praef. p. 9, 3 ff. Schmidt). But the later Orphic
theogonies (supra pp. 1022, 1024, 1034) appear to have regarded Chronos as the
maker of the cosmic egg. In any case—and this is the main point—it was not
Zeus. In the early Orphic theogony Zeus does not figure at all till the fourth
generation (supra pp. 1020, 1034). In the theogony of Hellanikos he is a name
for Protogonos in the second generation (suftra pp. 1023,1034). In the Rhapsodies
he is one of the children of Phanes in the third generation (supra pp. 1026 ff.,
1034). We may reasonably infer that the original form of the Orphic cosmogony
was independent of, and perhaps anterior to, the recognition of Zeus.
The later Orphists, however, made much of Zeus and viewed him as a pan-
theistic power (supra p. 1027 ff.). The primitive notion of Chaos as a gaping or
yawning mouth (supra p. 1039) was transferred to Zeus who, according to the
Rhapsodies, opened his jaws wide and swallowed Phanes whole (supra p. 1027).
Phanes himself was conceived as in some sort a Zeus (supra i. 7 n. 6); for Phanes
was Protogonos (supra p. 1026), and Protogonos was 'Zeus the arranger of all'
(supra p. 1023). This equation is presupposed by a relief (fig. 909), which seems
to have come more than a century since from Rome and is now exhibited in
the Royal Museum (no. 2676) at Modena (C. Cavedoni ' Dichiarazione di un
bassorilievo Mitriaco della R. Galleria Palatina di Modena' in the Atti e
Memorie delle RR. deputazioni di storia patria per le provincie Modenesi
e Parmensi Modena 1863 i. 1—4 with lithographic pi., A. Venturi La R. Galleria
Estense i7t Modena Modena 1883 p. 360 fig. 94, F. Cumont in the Rev. Arch.
1902 i. 1—10 with photographic pi. 1, R. Eisler Weltenmantel und Himmelszelt
Miinchen 1910 ii. 399 ff. fig. 47, Reinach Rep. Reliefs iii. 61 no. 1). On a thick
slab of white marble (0.711" high, 0.49™ wide) is an oval band enclosing an egg-
shaped recess. The band is decorated with the twelve signs of the zodiac, and
grouped about it are winged heads representing the four winds of heaven.
Within the recess stands a nude youth encumbered with a plethora of attributes.
Above his head and beneath his feet are the two halves of an egg, from each of
which flames are bursting. A snake coiled round him rears its head on to the
upper egg-shell. He has two large wings and a crescent on his back, the head
of a lion growing from his front, and the heads of a goat and a ram projecting
from his right and left sides. Instead of feet he has cloven hoofs. In his right
hand he grasps a thunderbolt, in his left a sceptre. Cavedoni, followed by
Cumont, regarded this singular figure as primarily Mithraic, though both ad-
mitted the presence of features susceptible of an Orphic interpretation. R. Eisler
has done good service by insisting on its Orphic character. The egg-like recess
in which the god is placed, the upper and lower shells from which he has
emerged, the strange animal-heads on his flanks (supra p. 1022 f.), the snake's
head appearing above his face (suftra p. 1023), all mark him as Phanes. He
bears thunderbolt and sceptre, because Phanes was one with Zeus. His face is
that of the sun-god in Rhodian art, for Phanes was not only called Antauges
and Phaethon (supra p. 1026) but also identified with Helios (supra i. 7 n. 6, 311).
Cavedoni took the cloven hoofs to be those of a goat: if so, they hint that
Phanes was Pan (supra p. 1023). Cumont and Eisler think them bovine : if so,
they denote him as Dionysos (supra p. 1026). The relief bears two inscriptions.
The first, [E]YPHROSYi[NE ET] FELIX on the background of the recess,
has been intentionally effaced. The second, P P | FELIX PATER on