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Orphic Hymns · 11 of 138 · tr. Thomas Taylor

Front Matter, p. 4 (part 5)

And in the same place, Proclus has preserved to us another copy of Orphic verses, which are also found in the writer (de Mundo); previous to which he observes, that the demiurgus, or artificer of the world, being full of ideas, comprehended by these all things within himself, as that theologer (Orpheus) declares. With these verses we have connected others, agreeable to the order of Stephens, Eschenbach, and Gesner, as follows. Jove is the first and last thund'ring king, Middle and head, from Jove all beings spring; p. 31 In Jove the male and female forms combine, For Jove's a man, and yet a maid divine; Jove the strong basis of the earth contains, And the deep splendour of the starry plains; Jove is the breath of all; Jove's wondrous frame Lives in the rage of ever restless flame; Jove is the sea's strong root, the solar light, And Jove's the moon, fair regent of the night; Jove is a king by no restraint confin'd, And all things flow from Jove's prolific mind; One is the pow'r divine in all things known, And one the ruler absolute alone. For in Jove's royal body all things lie, Fire, night and day, earth, water and the sky; The first begetters pleasing love and mind; These in his mighty body, Jove confin'd: See, how his beauteous head and aspect bright Illumine heav'n, and scatter boundless light! Round which his pendant golden tresses shine Form'd from the starry beams, with light divine; On either side two radiant horns behold, Shap'd like a bull's and bright with glittering gold; And East and West in opposition lie, The lucid paths of all the Gods on high; p. 32 His eyes, the sun, and moon with borrow'd ray; Royal, ætherial; and his ear refin'd Hears ev'ry voice, and sounds of ev'ry kind. Thus are his head and mind immortal, bright, His body's boundless, stable, full of light; Strong are his members, with a force endu'd Pow'rful to tame, but ne'er to be subdu'd; Th' extended region of surrounding air Forms his broad shoulders, back, and bosom fair; And thro' the world the ruler of the skies Upborne on natal, rapid pinions flies; His sacred belly earth with fertile plains, And mountains swelling to the clouds, contains; His middle zone's the spreading sea profound, Whose roaring waves the solid globe surround; The distant realms of Tartarus obscure Within earth's roots, his holy feet secure; p. 33 For these earth's utmost bounds to Jove belong, And form his basis permanent and strong. Thus all things Jove within his breast conceal'd, And into beauteous light from thence reveal'd. These verses contain what Dr. Cudworth calls the grand arcanum of the Orphic theology, that God is all things; which is likewise an Egyptian doctrine, from whence it was derived through Orpheus into Greece: and this sublime truth Plotinus l himself proves with his usual sagacity and depth. But here it is necessary to observe, that Orpheus and the Platonists do not conceive the Deity to be all things, as if he were a divisible, corporeal nature; but that he is all things, because present every where, and to every being totally, though more or less intimately present, according to the various gradations and approximations of being. So that he is to be considered as containing p.
Themes
◆Apophatic Theologytheology

Describing the divine only by negation—God transcends all positive categories and concepts; the via negativa.

The commentary clarifies that the Deity is not a 'divisible, corporeal nature' despite the imagery, employing negation to define God's true nature.

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◆Correspondencecosmology

The Hermetic axiom that the structure of the cosmos is reflected at every scale — 'as above, so below; as within, so without' — making each level a legible map of the others.

The text maps specific parts of Jove's body to cosmic regions (head to heaven, belly to earth), reflecting a structural correspondence.

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◆Divine Marriagesoteriology

The reunification of complementary divine principles (male-female, spirit-matter) as a symbol of wholeness and salvation.

The union of 'male and female forms' within Jove symbolizes the reunification of complementary divine principles.

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◆Divine Simplicitytheology

The doctrine that God has no parts, divisions, or composite attributes; pure undivided being.

The text states God is 'One... alone' and explicitly denies that He is 'divisible,' aligning with the doctrine of divine simplicity.

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◆Hidden Sayingssoteriology

Esoteric teachings reserved for those ready to receive them; outer meaning conceals an inner liberating truth.

The text refers to the 'grand arcanum of the Orphic theology' and 'Orphic verses,' indicating esoteric or hidden teachings.

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◆Infinite Cosmoscosmology

The doctrine of the universe as boundless and without center or circumference, populated by innumerable worlds — Bruno's rejection of the closed Aristotelian sphere; the divine and the cosmos as ontologically infinite.

The description of Jove's body as 'boundless' suggests an infinite cosmic scope.

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◆Living Godtheology

The divine conceived as active, present, and dynamic—not an abstract principle but a personal responsive reality.

Jove is described as dynamic and active ('Lives in the rage of ever restless flame', 'prolific mind').

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◆Opposites Transcendedanthropology

The dissolution of binary oppositions (male/female, inner/outer, above/below) as a mark of spiritual completion.

The passage describes Jove as combining 'male and female forms' and containing all opposites within a single unified power.

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◆Paradox As Teachingethics

Using apparent contradiction, reversal, or riddle to destabilise ordinary understanding and induce insight.

The verses present paradoxical imagery such as Jove being 'a man, and yet a maid divine' to convey theological truth.

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◇Aeonscosmology

Divine archetypal beings or eternal attributes dwelling within the Pleroma, often arranged in male-female syzygies.

[auto] The text describes 'intelligible... Gods' and various orders of divine beings proceeding from principles, functioning similarly to aeons.

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◇Anthropomorphismtheology

Attributing human characteristics, emotions, or form to the divine; embodied divine imagery.

[auto] The verses extensively describe Jove with human body parts (head, eyes, belly, feet) corresponding to cosmic elements.

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◇Demiurgecosmology

A secondary creator deity—often ignorant or malevolent—responsible for fashioning the material world, distinct from the supreme transcendent God.

[auto] The text explicitly mentions a 'demiurgus of the whole' and 'three demiurgic principles' distinct from the supreme God.

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◇Divine Lighttheology

The uncreated luminous quality of the divine, sometimes experienced directly in mystical states; illumination as revelation.

[auto] References to 'intellectual light', 'illumination', and 'lucid frames' are central to the description of divine presence and knowledge.

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◇Emanation Hierarchycosmology

A chain of divine beings or principles flowing downward from a single transcendent source (the One or the Father), each level less perfect than the one above.

[auto] The passage explicitly details a chain of divine beings flowing from the One supreme God through divinities, angels, daemons, and heroes.

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◇Monadcosmology

The absolutely simple, undivided first principle from which all multiplicity and existence flows.

[auto] The passage refers to 'One supreme God', 'absolute unities', and the 'first cause' as the source of all multiplicity.

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◇Unity Of Beingtheology

The doctrine that all existence is ultimately one substance or one divine reality; non-duality as a theological claim.

[auto] The text asserts that 'God is all things' and 'One is the power divine in all things known', emphasizing non-dualistic unity.

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