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

MONISM OF DARKNESS - DUALISM OF LIMIT AND INDETERMINACY 79
emerge from the Egg: Earth, Heaven and Ocean. Along with this basic
ordering, Tartarus (the terrible Abyss below Hades, which Hades
consists of the inner parts of the Earth) and the outermost Chaos of
the all-encompassing Limitlessness are also given (cf. below, Chapter
12, n. 44 and p. 178 with notes). Therefore, what remains as model
for the Aristophanic Cosmogony coincides with the Orphic doctrines
of the Derveni papyrus: Night gives birth by herself to an Egg from
which Eros=Phanes=Protogonus springs forth and which is
subsequently formed as the World. Heaven (OéÚ·Ófi˜) is the son of
Euphrone (EéÊÚfiÓË = N‡Í). Ioannes Lydus (De mensibus II, 8, p.
26. 1 Wuensch) draws on ancient Orphism although his formulation
is abbreviated and misleading for no evident reason: ηd ÙÚÂÖ˜ appleÚáÙ·
ηْ \OÚʤ· âÍ‚ϿÛÙËÛ·Ó 34 àÚ¯·d Ùɘ ÁÂÓ¤Ûˆ˜, NfÍ Î·d °É ηd
OéÚ·Ófi˜. In World-Formation Aether makes its appearance (or, better,
is manifested) together with the other basic parts and elements as
finely-textured, transparent and translucent air that occupies the upper
part of the World, the Heavenly space, and thus forms the physical
vehicle of the Brightness that Phanes=Eros diffuses.
We are led therefore to the following distribution of three
corresponding formulations:
(i) Orphic:
from Night, âÎ N˘ÎÙfi˜ (egg, cosmic elements and Eros)
(ii) Aristophanes:
from Night in Erebos, âÎ N˘ÎÙe˜ âÓ \EÚ¤‚ÂÈ (egg, elements
of the World and Eros)
(iii) Acousilaus:
From Night and Erebos, âÎ N˘ÎÙe˜ ηd \EÚ¤‚Ô˘˜ (elements
of the World and Eros)
With the postulation of the Cosmic Egg in Acousilaus the
incompatibility between (ii) and (iii) is raised. The Egg is laid in
Erebos by Night and from the Egg, when the World is formed in its
basic elements and parts, Eros emerges born by Night in the Aether.
With no particular difficulty the same narration would be taken as
deriving Eros from Night and Erebos or from Night and Aether. A
combination of an Acousilean formulation of Orphism with the