chapter 10 the monism of darkness and the dualism of limit and ...

72 CHAPTER 10
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Ophion and Eurynome, the first couple of cosmic domination
according to Apollonius’ Orphic doctrine, correspond to the Orphic
pairing (according to Hieronymus and Hellenicus) of Time-Serpent
with Ananke or Adrasteia (Eurynomes extensive sovereignty indicates
the inescapable inevitability of Necessity). Ophion and Eurynome
represent the mythological formulation of the same reality that Time
and Adrasteia=Necessity express in a more logico-mythical fashion.
Apollonius’ summary divides Orphic theological cosmogony in two
parts, a physical (v. 496-502) and a mythical (v. 503-511) part, instead
of combining and unifying both of them (especially in the first phases
of creation) into a coherent logico-mythical synthesis symbolizing the
divine and physical aspects of the World simultaneously. - A
connecting bridge between the Cosmogony of the Orphic
Argonautica (419 sqq.) and that of Apollonius of Rhodes (A 496
sqq.), is offered by the detailed story in Ovid’s Metamorphoses I, 5
sqq. Chaos comprises all the elements and parts of the World while
they are still formless and merge together in an undifferentiated mass
from which deus et melior natura distinguish and separate all total and
partial beings, thus articulating the system of World-Order, of
KfiÛÌÔ˜, according to the example of Apollonius’ Argonautica. This
deus that is not mentioned in the synopsis of Orphic doctrines in
Apollonius passages (but who should be certainly present in the full
version of the summarized Cosmogony although he is replaced in the
abbreviation through philosophical influence by the Empedoclean
Hate) is the Eros of the Orphic Argonautica 29 .
9. Combining the Homeric geneological succession in the manner
explained above with the Orphic cosmogonies starting with Time and
the Ophion-mentioning theogonies, we reach the following
correspondence:
Homer Orphism Ophionic tradition according to
Hieronymus and Hellanicus
Ocean (Tethys) Time (Necessity) Ophioneus (Eurynome)