Bryn Mawr College Scholarship, Research, and Creative Work at Bryn Mawr College Greek, Latin, and Classical Studies Faculty Research Greek, Latin, and Classical Studies and Scholarship 2010 The hiC ldren of Earth and Starry Heaven: The Meaning and Function of the Formula in the 'Orphic' Gold Tablets Radcliffe .G Edmonds III Bryn Mawr College,
[email protected] Let us know how access to this document benefits ouy . Follow this and additional works at: http://repository.brynmawr.edu/classics_pubs Part of the Classics Commons, and the Religion Commons Custom Citation R. G. Edmonds III, “The hiC ldren of Earth and Starry Heaven: The eM aning and Function of the Formula in the 'Orphic' Gold Tablets,” in Orfeo y el orfismo: nuevas perspectivas, Alberto Bernabé, Francesc Casadesús y Marco Antonio Santamaría (eds.), Alicante : Biblioteca Virtual Miguel de Cervantes (2010), pp. 98-121. This paper is posted at Scholarship, Research, and Creative Work at Bryn Mawr College. http://repository.brynmawr.edu/classics_pubs/98 For more information, please contact
[email protected]. 4 THE CHILDREN OF EARTH AND STARRY HEAVEN: THE MEANING AND FUNCTION OF THE FORMULA IN THE ʹORPHICʹ GOLD TABLETS Radcliffe G. Edmonds III Bryn Mawr University The most striking aspect of the tiny gold tablets often known as the Orphic gold leaves is undoubtedly the enigmatic declaration: ʺI am the child of Earth and starry Heavenʺ. All of the tablets which, following Zuntzʹs classification, have been labelled B tablets, contain this mysterious formula, whether the scenario of the deceasedʹs journey through the underworld is described in greater or lesser detail1. The statement captures the imagination with its imagery and its simplicity, but also with its mysterious nature.