Cosmogony and Theogony in the Derveni Papyrus
Abstract
This article concerns the Derveni Papyrus – precisely, the cosmogony and theogony which the Papyrus includes. It is mainly based on the foreign-language literature (especially English) gathered and listed in the Bibliography. The main aim of the article is to present and approximate the status quaestionis of the Derveni text in the way which the article title expresses.
The Derveni Papyrus is dated – approximately – to the fourth century BC. Today it is being examined against the background of the ancient exegesis history. This dual text which reveals some connections with the Orphic religious orientation – at least by the fact of speaking about Orpheus as an authority, or describing in its first part (col. I-VI) probably an Orphic religious rite – still causes many difficulties to the scholars. The problem of the authorship which determining would definitely be helpful in the proper interpretation of its purpose and meaning remains unsolved so far. Not only is the Derveni text dual in its structure, but also double-plane. The first plane is one of the Orphic theogonies. It is comprised in the poem ascribed to Orpheus which is quoted in the Derveni text. The second plane concerns the cosmogonic exegesis. The sum of the planes gives the reader a picture of the universe in the shape the Derveni author – who probably stayed also under the influence of the presocratic philosophy – must have ‘seen’ it. The cosmogony which we can read from the exegesis sees the prime mover that plays an active part in the universe in the divine Mind/air. In this cosmogony the beginning of all of the processes in the world is dependent on the moment when the airy Νοῦς creates the Sun.
This article is definitely not exhaustive, since it is only a brief sketch of all of the information that we can find in the foreign language literature on the Derveni Papyrus. Nevertheless, it is supposed to be synthetic, as far as it is possible, and fairly objective.
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