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

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114 CHAPTER 10 (±ÏÈÔ˜ Á¤ÚˆÓ): it has been clearly shown that ı·Ï¿ÛÛÈÔ˜ ıÂe˜ ï ºfiÚÎ˘˜. K·Îá˜ ï \AÚÈÛÙÔÊ¿ÓË˜ öÁÚ·ÊÂÓ âÎÂÖ (sc. in ·, 72) “ºfiÚÎ˘ÓÔ˜ ı˘Á¿ÙËÚ, êÏe˜ àÙÚ˘Á¤ÙÔÈÔ Ì¤‰ÔÓÙÔ˜”Ø àÓÙd ÁaÚ ÙÔÜ “Ì¤‰ÔÓÙÈ” (to be thus emended instead of the transmitted Ì¤‰ÔÓÙÔ˜), ÊËÛdÓ ¥Ó’ Fq âappled ÙÔÜ ÔÛÂÈ‰áÓÔ˜, Î·d Û˘Ó¿appleÙÂÙ·È Ùˇá ëÍÉ˜. Aristophanes therefore, more articulately, considered Ì¤‰ÔÓÙÔ˜ to stand in place of Ì¤‰ÔÓÙÈ once two different syntactic constructions merged together: (i) ÌÈÁÂÖÛ· ÔÛÂÈ‰¿ˆÓÈ âÓ Ûapple¤ÛÛÈ ÁÏ·Ê˘- ÚÔÖÛÈ Ì¤‰ÔÓÙÔ˜ êÏe˜ àÙÚ˘Á¤ÙÔÈÔ and (ii) ÌÈÁÂÖÛ· ÔÛÂÈ‰¿ˆÓÈ Ì¤‰ÔÓÙÈ êÏe˜ àÙÚ˘Á¤ÙÔÈÔ âÓ Ûapple¤ÛÛÈ ÁÏ·Ê˘ÚÔÖÛÈ. In the former case the word Ì¤‰Ô- ÓÙÔ˜ refers to the master of the caves, whereas in the later case the word Ì¤‰ÔÓÙÈ refers to Poseidon. A trick as useless as the simplistic preceding one. The scholia ad · 72 provide an alternative escape from this underwater rock: (they interpret Ì¤‰ÔÓÙÔ˜) ‚·ÛÈÏÂ‡ÔÓÙÔ˜, ‰ËÏÔÓfiÙÈ ÙÔÜ ºfiÚÎ˘ÓÔ˜, Û˘Ó‹ıˆ˜ ÁaÚ Î·d ÙÔf˜ ñapple¿Ú¯Ô˘˜ ‚·ÛÈÏÂÖ˜ öÏÂÁÔÓ. But Phorcys is not a subordinate commander, a lieutenant of Poseidon: he is ï apple·Ï·Èe˜ ÎÚ¿ÙˆÚ ÙÔÜ applefiÓÙÔ˘. 50. His authority was great and was even compared with Cronos’ own. Proclus, Commentaria in Timaeum 40e (III 189. 10): âÎÂÖÓÔ ÌcÓ ÁÈÓÒÛÎÂÈÓ ôÍÈÔÓ, ó˜ Ôé appleÚÔÛÉÎÂÓ àÌÊÈ‚ÔÏÔÁÂÖÛı·È appleÂÚd ÙÉ˜ âÓ ·éÙÔÖ˜ Ù¿ÍÂˆ˜, applefiÙÂÚÔÓ ï KÚfiÓÔ˜ âÛÙdÓ ñapple¤ÚÙÂÚÔ˜ j ï ºfiÚÎ˘˜. ≤ÓˆÛÈ˜ ÁaÚ ·éÙáÓ âÛÙÈ Î·d ïÌÔÈfi- ÙË˜ (sc. among all Titans). 51. By contrast, the Night particularly loves and nurtures and cares for Cronos, of all Titans, OF 129: âÎ apple¿ÓÙˆÓ ‰b KÚfiÓÔÓ NfÍ öÙÚÂÊÂÓ ä‰’ àÙ›Ù·ÏÏÂÓ. According to Rhapsodic Orphism, the Night is procreator of Heaven and Earth (OF 109), but is removed away from the very First Principle, Time, since Aether and Chaos, the Egg and the triple hypostasis of Phanes- Ericepaeus-Metis stand in between. Of course, ÛÎÔÙfiÂÛÛ· çÌ›¯ÏË (OF 67) and à˙Ë¯b˜ ÛÎfiÙÔ˜ (OF 66 p. 148) and ÛÎfiÙÔ˜ Ùe àÚ¯·ÈfiÙ·ÙÔÓ (OF 136) are innate in Chaos. The fact that in the Orphic Rhapsodies Night is distinguished from aboriginal Darkness and is regarded as ontologically posterior proves the syncretism of the Rhapsodic Theogony. Archaic Orphism started with the Night which surely functioned like the Hesiodic Chaos. Hesiod’s Night derives from Chaos but is not organically involved in the main axes of ontological progressions. Night on her own, alone, gave birth with no previous copulation to the dark powers of Fate, Diseases, Old-Age, Death, Revenge, Hostility, Pain, Injustice, Oath. In conjugation with Erebos that sprang from Chaos together with her, she gave birth to Aether and Day. Apparently what lies underneath is the model of the two
MONISM OF DARKNESS - DUALISM OF LIMIT AND INDETERMINACY 115 hemispheres of the world, the one being bright (full of fire) and the other dark (full of air), as it is articulated by Empedocles A 30 and 56 DK. Night is the airy hemisphere which is periodically illuminated by reflection from the empyreal hemisphere upon the Earth; the reflection is projected as Sun and constitutes Day; periodicity depends on the inclination of the poles and of the axis of cosmic revolution. In Hesiod the pattern is more elementary: Erebos is the Tartarean Darkness below the Earth, from which Night comes and covers the luminous Aether of the upper boundaries of the World. (The Night dwells in Erebos; Euripides, Orestres 174-6. Varro regards her as daughter of Erebos (Festus, de verborum significatione V, s.v. Erebum where a verse is also quoted: Erebo creata fuscis crinibus Nox, te invoco. She is called Nox Erebeis, Culex 202. A standing characteristic expression is NfÍ âÚÂ‚ÂÓÓ‹ Ilias Θ 488, Opera et Dies 17 etc.). The water of Styx springs from the Ocean and flows under the earth passing through Night, that is to say through the lowest Tartarean place, Theogony 785 sqq.: ≈‰ˆÚ „˘¯ÚfiÓ, ¬ Ù’ âÎ apple¤ÙÚË˜ Î·Ù·ÏÂ›‚ÂÙ·È äÏÈ‚¿ÙÔÈÔ ñ„ËÏÉ˜, appleÔÏÏeÓ ‰b ñapplee ¯ıÔÓe˜ ÂéÚ˘Ô‰Â›Ë˜ âÍ îÂÚÔÜ appleÔÙ·ÌÔÖÔ Ú¤ÂÈ ‰Èa Ó‡ÎÙ· Ì¤Ï·ÈÓ·Ó \øÎÂ·ÓÔÖÔ Î¤Ú·˜Ø ‰ÂÎ¿ÙË ‰’ âappled ÌÔÖÚ· ‰¤‰·ÛÙ·È. The Orphic Rhapsodies agree with the relatively subdued position of Night in Hesiod’s ontological pyramid, but they link her organically with the sole chain of succession that Orphism accepts, as one of its main rings. They regard the Hesiodic Chaos as equivalent to primordial Darkness but they also subordinate it to Time and exempt it from the progressional line of reality. The cosmic Egg is engendered by Chronos = Time in Aether OF 70; cf. supra on birth-in. The First-Born=Phaethon=Phanes (who flew upwards after breaking the Egg to the Aether and the aerial Gap, OF 72) is considered to be the son only of Aether, OF 73-74, cf. 75. Chaos encompasses the World but is not essentially involved in the World’s genetic constitution, nor has it any well-defined cosmogonic role, but only a precise cosmological position, cf. Hesiod, Theogony 807 sqq. esp. 814. 52. Housman’s emendation of the manuscript reading astra. The Great Bear does not set (does not sink into the Ocean) in the situation of the present World-Order. Repetent is Rutgers emendation of repetens. 53. After v. 829 there is a lacuna in the text’s tradition. The famous and controversial codex Carrionis (C), now lost, had the following complement in the margin:
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