The Derveni Papyrus: Cosmology, Theology and Interpretation

by Gábor Betegh

Gábor Betegh presents the first systematic reconstruction and examination of the Derveni papyrus and analyzes its role in the intellectual milieu of its age. Found in 1962 near Thessaloniki among the remains of a funeral pyre, it is one of the earliest surviving Greek papyri and is a document of primary importance for understanding religious and philosophical developments of the time of Socrates. The book will appeal strongly to classicists, philosophers and historians of religion.

Genres: Philosophy, Esoterica, Classics, Religion, Spirituality, History

441 pages, Paperback

First published September 6, 2004

Reviews

[Neil · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book is difficult but rewarding. There is much that could be said about it, and I am not versed enough in this area of study to give a thorough review, but I did find it thoroughly enjoyable. What I found most compelling is Betegh's ability to restore a portrait of the world of the Presocratic philosophers, which to me, seems much more authentic than the overly rationalistic takes often presented in introductory texts. Betegh makes a compelling case for the inseparability of eschatological, ritual, and cosmological concerns for at least some of the Presocratics (e.g. probably Heraclitus, probably Parmenides and definitely Empedocles). The Derveni author was clearly an initiate and initiator of Orphic mysteries (orpheotelestai). The authors role as initiator would likely have entailed detailed knowledge of underworld topography, knowledge that would have enabled the author to invoke and control the dead. Such ritual specialization is indicated in the first seven columns of the papyrus which deals with ritual purifications, sacrifices to the Erinyes and Eumenides, and the care and control of disembodied souls. This entitles us to call the author both an initiate and a magician. But, as Betegh makes clear, correct performance of rituals was a necessary but insufficient condition for the efficacy of the rites for the Derveni author. The efficacy of the rite also demanded understanding and knowledge of "cosmic Mind" and the physical construction and elemental constitution of the world .

Betegh writes, "Assuming that the primary concern of the ritual was eschatological, the ritual action had to effectuate some kind of the modification in the individual soul in preparation for its future existence. Given the physicalist assumptions of the Derveni author, one can venture the hypothesis that he also shared Heraclitus' view that the individual soul may be most effectively transformed, made better and more similar to its divine cosmic counterpart, but attaining a deeper understanding of the world and itself" (p. 363-4).

Eschatological concerns are treated right along side cosmological ones, within a "unified framework" (p. 371). Betegh writes, "...the true challenge for the author, and the ultimate aim of the Derveni text as a whole, as I take it, is to come up with an account in which both the souls, daimones etc., and the elements and heavenly bodies find their place in a unified, consistent explanatory theory" (p. 84).

While magic and ritual may have been seen, and still seen today, as a somewhat dubious, if not also mysterious, pursuits of those operating at the margins of society - as opposed to the the more general prestige we give today to cosmological and philosophical pursuits - it should be noted that philosophical pursuits were also treated in much the same way in the ancient world. Philosophers were often lumped into the same marginal categories as magicians, sophists and diviners. This book presents an excellent case for the inseparability of these concerns in the ancient world, and in doing so provides a much welcome restoration of what at least some of the Presocratics really may have been up to.

I also found this book to be an excellent companion to Peter Struck's "Birth of the Symbol".

[Kristin]

I have a lot of interest in the Derveni Papyrus, but I'm not a scholar on the subject. I can transliterate Greek, and have a very cursory vocabulary of ancient Greek religious terminology; however, the large swaths of the text and exegesis left untranslated made this book less informative for me. It's a specialist topic and this book was clearly intended to be read by specialists with a better knowledge of Greek than I have.