03.04.2013 Views

The Mystical Hymns of Orpheus - Platonic Philosophy

The Mystical Hymns of Orpheus - Platonic Philosophy

The Mystical Hymns of Orpheus - Platonic Philosophy

SHOW MORE
SHOW LESS

Create successful ePaper yourself

Turn your PDF publications into a flip-book with our unique Google optimized e-Paper software.

INTRODUCTION. xxvii<br />

venerable excellencies we can conceive, and<br />

the most holy and primary names and things,<br />

we ascribe nothing to him which is suitable<br />

to his dignity. It is sufficient, however, to<br />

procure our pardon [for the attempt] that we<br />

can attribute to him nothing superior."^^ If it<br />

is not possible, therefore, to form any ideas<br />

equal to the dignity <strong>of</strong> the immediate progeny<br />

<strong>of</strong> the ineffable, i.e. <strong>of</strong> the first principles <strong>of</strong><br />

things, how much less can our conceptions<br />

reach the principle <strong>of</strong> these principles, who<br />

is concealed in the superluminous darkness<br />

<strong>of</strong> occultly initiating silence ? Had the Hea-<br />

thens therefore considered as they ought this<br />

transcendency <strong>of</strong> the supreme God and his<br />

immediate <strong>of</strong>fspring, they never would have<br />

presumed to equalize the human with the<br />

divine nature, and consequently would never<br />

have worshiped men as Gods. <strong>The</strong>ir theo-<br />

logy, however, is not to be accused as the<br />

cause <strong>of</strong> this impiety, but their forgetfulness<br />

<strong>of</strong> the sublimest <strong>of</strong> its dogmas, and the con-<br />

fusion with which this oblivion was neces-<br />

sarily attended.<br />

<strong>The</strong> following additional information also<br />

respecting the Orphic theology will greatly<br />

contribute to an elucidation <strong>of</strong> these Mystic<br />

<strong>Hymns</strong> : According to this theology, each <strong>of</strong>

Hooray! Your file is uploaded and ready to be published.

Saved successfully!

Ooh no, something went wrong!