‹‹‹ Parm. Frag. 11 | Table of Contents | Parm. Frag. 13 ›››
12The narrower rings are filled with unmixed fire, and those next them with night, and in the midst of these rushes their portion of fire. In the midst of these circles is the divinity that directs the course of all things; for she is the beginner of all painful birth and all begetting, driving the female to the embrace of the male, and the male to that of the female.
12αἱ γὰρ στεινότεραι πλῆντο πυρὸς ἀκρήτοιο,
αἱ δ᾽ ἐπὶ ταῖς νυκτός, μετὰ δὲ φλογὸς ἵεται αἶσα·
ἐν δὲ μέσῳ τούτων δαίμων ἣ πάντα κυβερνᾷ·
πάντα γὰρ <ἣ> στυγεροῖο τόκου καὶ μίξιος ἄρχει
πέμπουσ᾽ ἄρσενι θῆλυ μιγῆν τό τ᾽ ἐναντίον αὖτις
ἄρσεν θηλυτέρῳ.