Editing Nyx (section)

==== Rhapsodies ====
In the longest Orphic poem, the [[Rhapsodies (Orphic literature)|Rhapsodic Theogony]], or Rhapsodies (1st century BC/AD),<ref>Meisner, [https://books.google.com/books?id=wgJfDwAAQBAJ&pg=PA1 p. 1].</ref> though the first deity to exist is [[Chronos]], several fragments appear to assign a primordial role to Night.<ref>Meisner, [https://books.google.com/books?id=wgJfDwAAQBAJ&pg=PA205 p. 205].</ref> Several writers describe the elemental mass from which Chronos emerges as dark and shadowy in nature,<ref>Meisner, [https://books.google.com/books?id=wgJfDwAAQBAJ&pg=PA178 p. 178].</ref> while the Byzantine author [[John Malalas]] reports that in Orpheus it is "gloomy Night" who "[comes] first",<ref>Meisner, [https://books.google.com/books?id=wgJfDwAAQBAJ&pg=PA178 p. 178]; Orphic fr. 107 I Bernabé (I pp. 115&ndash;6). In Orphic fr. 97T Bernabé (I pp. 104&ndash;5), Malalas similarly states that Night exists in the beginning, alongside Chronos, Aether, and Chaos. See also Orphic fr. 107 III Bernabé (I p. 116).</ref> and Damascius similarly refers to Night as the "first being".<ref>Meisner, [https://books.google.com/books?id=wgJfDwAAQBAJ&pg=PA206 p. 206]; Orphic fr. 112 II Bernabé (I p. 121).</ref> When the god Phanes springs from the cosmic egg created by Chronos, there emerges a bright light, at which point Night is the only one who looks upon him.<ref>Orphic fr. 123 I Bernabé (I pp. 128&ndash;9). According to Meisner, [https://books.google.com/books?id=wgJfDwAAQBAJ&pg=PA195 p. 195], Night is "the only one who can handle looking at him", while West, p. 70 states that he is "invisible except to Night".</ref> Phanes then creates the cosmos, doing so from within the cave of Night;<ref>Meisner, [https://books.google.com/books?id=wgJfDwAAQBAJ&pg=PA208 p. 208].</ref> a passage from the Rhapsodies states that "these things are what the father made in the misty cave", and the Neoplatonist philosopher [[Hermias (philosopher)|Hermias]] describes Phanes as being seated in the "shrine of Night".<ref>Meisner, [https://books.google.com/books?id=wgJfDwAAQBAJ&pg=PA208 p. 208]; Orphic frr. 163 (I p. 153) [= [https://archive.org/details/orphicorumfragme00orphuoft/page/162/mode/2up?view=theater fr. 97 Kern]], 164 II (I p. 154) [= [https://archive.org/details/orphicorumfragme00orphuoft/page/168/mode/2up?view=theater fr. 105 Kern]] Bernabé.</ref> Damascius similarly records that the two deities live together, while [[Proclus]] refers to the couple as the "two rulers in the sky ... seated eternally in the innermost shrine".<ref>Meisner, [https://books.google.com/books?id=wgJfDwAAQBAJ&pg=PA208 p. 208]; Orphic frr. 148 IV (I p. 145) [= [https://archive.org/details/orphicorumfragme00orphuoft/page/164/mode/2up?view=theater fr. 98 Kern]], 164 I [= [https://archive.org/details/orphicorumfragme00orphuoft/page/166/mode/2up?view=theater fr. 104 Kern]] Bernabé.</ref> In the poem's narrative, Night is both the consort and his daughter of Phanes,<ref>Meisner, [https://books.google.com/books?id=wgJfDwAAQBAJ&pg=PA168 p. 168]; Betegh, p. 141; Orphic fr. 147 I Bernabé (I p. 144).</ref> and, by him, becomes the mother of Uranus and Gaia.<ref>Meisner, [https://books.google.com/books?id=wgJfDwAAQBAJ&pg=PA169 p. 169]; Orphic fr. 149 I Bernabé (I p. 146); see also Orphic fr. 174 I Bernabé (I p. 158), which calls Uranus the son of Night. The relationship between Uranus and Gaia is described as the first marriage, while that between Phanes and Night is not; see Betegh, p. 119; West, p. 71.</ref> She is described as the second ruler of the gods, being preceded in this role by Phanes, and followed by her son Uranus.<ref>Meisner, [https://books.google.com/books?id=wgJfDwAAQBAJ&pg=PA168 pp. 168&ndash;9]; Orphic frr. 98T I (I p. 105), II (I pp. 105–6), V (I p. 106), 174 (I p. 158) Bernabé. West, pp. 234&ndash;5 characterises the reign of Nyx as "entirely eventless".</ref> Proclus relates that Phanes passes on his rule to Nyx by giving her a sceptre which he created himself, handing it on to her willingly, and that after her own time as ruler, she too passes on the sceptre voluntarily, giving it to her son Uranus.<ref>West, p. 71; Chrysanthou, p. 360; Orphic frr. 98T III (I p. 106), IV (I p. 106), 168 I (I p. 156) Bernabé.</ref> When Phanes gives her the sceptre, he seemingly also confers upon her the gift of prophecy.<ref>Chrysanthou, p. 311; West, p. 71.</ref>

Proclus reports that Night is called the "immortal nurse of the gods" in the Rhapsodies, as she is the Derveni Theogony,<ref>Meisner, [https://books.google.com/books?id=wgJfDwAAQBAJ&pg=PA205 p. 205]; Orphic fr. 112 I Bernabé (I p. 121).</ref> and Damascius similarly refers to her as the "nurse of all things".<ref>Meisner, [https://books.google.com/books?id=wgJfDwAAQBAJ&pg=PA206 p. 206]; Orphic fr. 112 II Bernabé (I . 121).</ref> In the poem's narrative, she is described as raising her grandson [[Cronus]],<ref>Meisner, [https://books.google.com/books?id=wgJfDwAAQBAJ&pg=PA206 p. 206]; Orphic frr. 182 I (I p. 166), II (I p. 166) Bernabé.</ref> though West suggests that she may have nurtured all of the Titans.<ref>West, p. 87.</ref> According to Hermias, the young Zeus is reared in the cave of Night by the nymphs [[Amalthea (mythology)|Amalthea]] and [[Adrasteia]], the latter of which protects the child by standing at the door of the cave, clanging cymbals.<ref>Meisner, pp. [https://books.google.com/books?id=wgJfDwAAQBAJ&pg=PA208 208], [https://books.google.com/books?id=wgJfDwAAQBAJ&pg=PA216 216]; Orphic fr. 209 I (I pp. 181–2), fr. 211 (I p. 183) Bernabé.</ref> Once Zeus reaches adulthood, Night delivers several prophecies to him, presumably from this same cave.<ref>Meisner, [https://books.google.com/books?id=wgJfDwAAQBAJ&pg=PA208 p. 208].</ref> During the reign of Cronus, she prophesies to Zeus that he will become the fifth king of the gods,<ref>Brisson, V p. 61; West, p. 72; Orphic fr. 219 Bernabé (I p. 188).</ref> and advises him on how he can overthrow his father. She directs him to use a "trick through honey", and then wait until Cronus is standing "under trees with high foliage, drunk with the works of loud-buzzing bees", before binding him.<ref>Meisner, pp. [https://books.google.com/books?id=wgJfDwAAQBAJ&pg=PA207 207], [https://books.google.com/books?id=wgJfDwAAQBAJ&pg=PA216 216&ndash;7]; Edmonds, p. 234; Orphic fr. 220 Bernabé (I p. 189).</ref> After becoming king, Zeus returns to Night, and asks her how he can solidify his rule, to which she responds:<ref>Meisner, pp. [https://books.google.com/books?id=wgJfDwAAQBAJ&pg=PA206 206], [https://books.google.com/books?id=wgJfDwAAQBAJ&pg=PA221 221]; Brisson 1995, V p. 62; cf. West, p. 72, who places this during the same consultation in which Night advises him to bind Cronus.</ref>
{{poem quote|Surround all things with unspeakable aither, and in the middle
place the sky, and therein the boundless earth, and the sea,
and therein all the constellations, which the sky has surrounded.
But when you have stretched a firm bond over everything,
suspend a golden chain from the aither.<ref>Orphic fr. 237 Bernabé (I pp. 197&ndash;9). The translation used here is that given by Meisner, [https://books.google.com/books?id=wgJfDwAAQBAJ&pg=PA221 p. 221].</ref>}}
After hearing this advice, Zeus consumes his ancestor Phanes, and, in doing so, takes in the entire creation, which he contains in his stomach.<ref>Meisner, [https://books.google.com/books?id=wgJfDwAAQBAJ&pg=PA222 p. 222].</ref> Following this, Zeus keeps Night as his advisor, and it is on her recommendation that he takes [[Nomos (mythology)|Nomos]] (Law) to sit beside him.<ref>Brisson 1995, V p. 64; West, p. 73; Orphic fr. 247 II Bernabé (I p. 216) [= [https://archive.org/details/orphicorumfragme00orphuoft/page/196/mode/2up?view=theater fr. 160 Kern]].</ref> Night also prophesies that [[Themis]], who becomes Zeus's consort, will continue to be a virgin until a son of Cronus and Rhea is born.<ref>Brisson, V p. 64; West, p. 73; Orphic fr. 251 Bernabé (I p. 218).</ref>

Several fragments from the Rhapsodies seem to refer to three separate deities named Night. Hermias reports that "three Nights have been transmitted in Orpheus", and gives them the following descriptions:
{{blockquote|He says the first [Night] prophesies, which is connected with understanding, and he calls the middle [Night] revered, which is connected with moderation, and he says the third [Night] gave birth to justice.<ref>Orphic fr. 113 Bernabé (I p. 201). The translation used here is that given by Meisner, [https://books.google.com/books?id=wgJfDwAAQBAJ&pg=PA201 p. 201].</ref>}}
Clémence Ramnoux interprets these three Nights as forming a "feminine trinity" around Phanes, the first being his mother, the second his consort, and the third his daughter.<ref>Ramnoux, pp. 231&ndash;3.</ref> Bernabé, in his collection of Orphic fragments, arranges passages relating to Night into three groups, interpreting the Nights as three separate deities who appear in different parts of the poem's narrative.<ref>Meisner, [https://books.google.com/books?id=wgJfDwAAQBAJ&pg=PA202 pp. 202&ndash;4]; Bernabé 2004, pp. 115&ndash;21, 142&ndash;54, 156&ndash;7.</ref> He sees the first Night as a primordial deity, eternal in nature, and the offspring of Chronos, and interprets this as the Night who observes Phanes at his emergence from the egg; he views her as the same figure described as the nurse of the gods, as well as the Night who prophesies, claiming that she receives the gift of prophecy from Chronos.<ref>Bernabé 2004, p. 121 on fr. 112, p. 121 on fr. 113, p. 129 on fr. 123.</ref> A passage from Proclus relates that Phanes "brings forth the Nights and, as a father, has intercourse with the middle one",<ref>Meisner, [https://books.google.com/books?id=wgJfDwAAQBAJ&pg=PA203 p. 203]; Orphic fr. 148 I Bernabé (I p. 145) [= [https://archive.org/details/orphicorumfragme00orphuoft/page/164/mode/2up?view=theater fr. 99 Kern]].</ref> which Bernabé sees as referring to the second Night giving birth to the third.<ref>Meisner, [https://books.google.com/books?id=wgJfDwAAQBAJ&pg=PA206 p. 206]; Bernabé 2004, p. 144 on fr. 147.</ref> Brisson interprets Night as the feminine aspect of the bisexual deity Phanes, who is simultaneously his mother, sister, and daughter, and argues that when he mates with Night he is copulating with this feminine half.<ref>Brisson 1997, pp. 85, 87. He claims that this explains why the relationship between Uranus and Gaia is called the first marriage; as Phanes and Night are two aspects of the same being, intercourse between them cannot be considered "marriage".</ref> Dwayne Meisner, however, rejects the idea that there were three separate Nights in the poem, and interprets Hermias's passage in terms of Neoplatonic allegory.<ref>Meisner, pp. [https://books.google.com/books?id=wgJfDwAAQBAJ&pg=PA202 202], [https://books.google.com/books?id=wgJfDwAAQBAJ&pg=PA204 204].</ref> One passage from Proclus apparently describes there as being five Nights, as opposed to three.<ref>Meisner, [https://books.google.com/books?id=wgJfDwAAQBAJ&pg=PA202 p. 202]; Orphic fr. 113 V Bernabé (I p. 122) [= [https://archive.org/details/orphicorumfragme00orphuoft/page/164/mode/2up?view=theater fr. 99 Kern]].</ref>