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The Golden Verses of Pythagoras · 49 of 122 · tr. Florence M. Firth

Section 13 (part 16)

160 Αἶψα δὲ ποιήσασα γένος πολιοῦ ἀδάμαντος τεῦξε μέγα δρέπανον καὶ ἐπέφραδε παισὶ φίλοισιν· εἶπε δὲ θαρσύνουσα, φίλον τετιημένη ἦτορ· «Παῖδες ἐμοὶ καὶ πατρὸς ἀτασθάλου, αἴ κ᾽ ἐθέλητε πείθεσθαι, πατρός κε κακὴν τισαίμεθα λώβην 165 ὑμετέρου· πρότερος γὰρ ἀεικέα μήσατο ἔργα.» Ὥς φάτο· τοὺς δ᾽ ἄρα πάντας ἕλεν δέος, οὐδέ τις αὐτῶν φθέγξατο. Θαρσήσας δὲ μέγας Κρόνος ἀγκυλομήτης ἂψ αὖτις μύθοισι προσηύδα μητέρα κεδνήν· «Μῆτερ, ἐγώ κεν τοῦτό γ᾽ ὑποσχόμενος τελέσαιμι 170 ἔργον, ἐπεὶ πατρός γε δυσωνύμου οὐκ ἀλεγίζω ἡμετέρου· πρότερος γὰρ ἀεικέα μήσατο ἔργα».
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Themes
Anthropomorphismtheology

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

[auto] The passage attributes human family characteristics to the divine, describing Zeus as a father with daughters (the Muses) and referencing physical features like knees.

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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.

A divine genealogy is presented where the Muses flow from the union of Zeus and Mnemosyne, establishing a hierarchical order.

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Living Godtheology

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

[auto] Zeus is depicted as an active, dynamic deity who judges, rules, and fathers divine offspring rather than an abstract principle.

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Separation From Sourcesoteriology

The felt condition of exile from one's divine origin — Rumi's reed flute torn from its bed, Plotinus's 'we have forgotten,' the Gnostic forgetfulness; the affective wound that complements return_to_source and gives the return its motive.

The divine offspring are hidden in the depths and denied access to light, representing a state of separation from the luminous source.

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Related passages · 7 parallels
neoplatonism|Select Works of Plotinus|Select Works, Section 419
“Section 3 3. The Soul once seen to be thus precious, thus divine, you may hold the faith that by its possession you are already nearing God: in the strength of this power make upwards towards Him: at no great distance you must attain: there…”
Shared concept: Emanation Hierarchy — 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. (derived)
neoplatonism|Select Works of Plotinus|Select Works, Section 299
“Section 12 12. The souls of men, seeing their images in the mirror of Dionysus as it were, have entered into that realm in a leap downward from the Supreme: yet even they are not cut off from their origin, from the divine Intellect; it is n…”
Shared concept: Emanation Hierarchy — 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. (derived)
neoplatonism|Iamblichus: On the Mysteries|Chapter XIX
“But neither does the cause [of the energies] of more excellent natures subsist as a certain middle instrument, nor does he who invokes operate through him who prophesies; for to assert these things is impious. And it is much more true to sa…”
Shared concept: Living God — The divine conceived as active, present, and dynamic—not an abstract principle but a personal responsive reality. (derived)
christian_mysticism|Pseudo-Dionysius: The Divine Names|Chapter 9, Section 1c
“For just as, supposing we were in thought to represent the soul itself in bodily shape, and represent this indivisible substance as surrounded by bodily parts, we should, in such a case, give the surrounding parts a different meaning suited…”
Shared concept: Anthropomorphism — Attributing human characteristics, emotions, or form to the divine; embodied divine imagery. (derived)
western_esoteric|The Tarot of the Bohemians (Papus)|Chapter XIV (part 6)
“The second, symbolized by Eye, is the origin of feminine Grace, of Authority. We have seen that Power and Authority find their equilibrium in Love. Each man, a reflected molecule of humanity made in its image, contains in himself an Adam,…”
Shared concept: Anthropomorphism — Attributing human characteristics, emotions, or form to the divine; embodied divine imagery. (derived)
western_esoteric|Tertium Organum (P.D. Ouspensky)|Chapter XIX (part 7)
“In the reduction of your soul to its simplest self, its divine essence, you realize this union—this identity. But this sublime condition is not of permanent duration. It is only now and then that we can enjoy this elevation above the limi…”
Shared concept: Separation From Source — The felt condition of exile from one's divine origin — Rumi's reed flute torn from its bed, Plotinus's 'we have forgotten,' the Gnostic forgetfulness; the affective wound that complements return_to_source and gives the return its motive. (derived)
sufism|The Masnavi, Book I (Rumi)|PROLOGUE-a
“HEARKEN to the reed-flute, how it complains, Lamenting its banishment from its home: "Ever since they tore me from my osier bed, My plaintive notes have moved men and women to tears. I burst my breast, striving to give vent to sighs, And t…”
Shared concept: Separation From Source — The felt condition of exile from one's divine origin — Rumi's reed flute torn from its bed, Plotinus's 'we have forgotten,' the Gnostic forgetfulness; the affective wound that complements return_to_source and gives the return its motive. (derived)