Note 1417 — Chapter XI · ORPHIC ESCHATOLOGY.
Reading edition
Brit. Mus. Gold Ornament Room, Table-Case H. Kaibel, CIGIS, No. 641. The tablet had been rolled up and placed in a hexagonal cylinder hanging from a delicate gold chain and doubtless worn by the dead person as an amulet. The facsimile reproduced here and first published J.H.S. III. p. 112 was verified for Prof. Comparetti by Mr Cecil Smith and supersedes Kaibel’s publication. As the letters in the original are small and in places not easily legible, Mr Smith’s reading is given below:
Εὑρήσσεις δ’ Ἀίδαο δόμων ἐπ’ ἀριστερὰ κρήνην πὰρ δ’ αὐτῆι λευκὴν ἑστηκυῖαν κυπάρισσον· ταύτης τῆς κρήνης μηδὲ σχεδὸν ἐμπελάσειας. Εὑρήσεις δ’ ἑτέραν τῆς Μνημοσύνης ἀπὸ λίμνης ψυχρὸν ὕδωρ προρέον· φύλακες δ’ ἐπίπροσθεν ἔασιν. Εἰπεῖν· γῆς παῖς εἰμὶ καὶ οὐρανοῦ ἀστερόεντος, αὐτὰρ ἐμοὶ γένος οὐράνιον· τόδε δ’ ἴστε καὶ αὐτοί· δίψῃι δ’ εἰμὶ αὔη καὶ ἀπόλλυμαι· ἀλλὰ δότ’ αἶψα ψυχρὸν ὕδωρ προρέον τῆς Μνημοσύνης ἀπὸ λίμνης· καὐ[τοί σο]ι δώσουσι πιεῖν θείης ἀπ[ὸ κρήν]ης καὶ τότ’ ἔπειτ’ ἄ[λλοισι μεθ’] ἡρώεσσιν ἀνάξει[ς] ............ιης τόδε.................................θανεῖ[σ]θαι .....................τοδ’ ἔγραψ[εν?]... .......................................σκότος ἀμφικαλύψας.