Orpheus

1. Orpheus

Orpheus (Ὀρφεύς), is a legendary musician and prophet in ancient Greek religion.

He was also a renowned poet and, according to the legend, travelled with Jason and the Argonauts in search of the Golden Fleece, and even descended into the Underworld of Hades to recover his lost wife Eurydice.

Ancient Greek authors as Strabo and Plutarch note Orpheus's Thracian origins.

The major stories about him are centred on his ability to charm all living things and even stones with his music (the usual scene in Orpheus mosaics),

his attempt to retrieve his wife Eurydice from the Underworld, and his death at the hands of the maenads of Dionysus, who tired of his mourning for his late wife Eurydice.

As an archetype of the inspired singer, Orpheus is one of the most significant figures in the reception of classical mythology in Western culture, portrayed or alluded to in countless forms of art and popular culture including poetry, film, opera, music, and painting.

For the Greeks, Orpheus was a founder and prophet of the so-called Orphic mysteries. He was credited with the composition of the Orphic Hymns and the Orphic Argonautica.

Shrines containing purported relics of Orpheus were regarded as oracles.

2. Background

It was believed by Aristotle that Orpheus never existed, but to all other ancient writers he was a real person, though living in remote antiquity. Most of them believed that he lived several generations before Homer.

The earliest literary reference to Orpheus is a 2-word fragment of the 6^th century BC lyric poet Ibycus: onomaklyton Orphēn ('Orpheus famous-of-name').

He is not mentioned in Homer or Hesiod. Most ancient sources accept his historical existence; Aristotle is an exception.

Pindar calls Orpheus “the father of songs” and identifies him as a son of the Thracian king Oeagrus and the Muse Calliope.

Greeks of the Classical Age venerated Orpheus as the greatest of all poets and musicians; it was said that while Hermes had invented the lyre, Orpheus had perfected it.

Poets such as Simonides of Ceos said that Orpheus's music and singing could charm the birds, fish and wild beasts, coax the trees and rocks into dance, and divert the course of rivers.

Orpheus was one of the handful of Greek heroes to visit the Underworld and return; his music and song even had power over Hades.

The earliest known reference to this descent to the Underworld is the painting by Polygnotus (5^th century BC) described by Pausanias (2^nd century AD), where no mention is made of Eurydice.

Euripides and Plato both refer to the story of his descent to recover his wife, but do not mention her name; a contemporary relief (about 400 BC) shows Orpheus and his wife with Hermes.

The elegiac poet Hermesianax called her Agriope; and the first mention of her name in literature is in the Lament for Bion (1^st century BC)

Some sources credit Orpheus with further gifts to mankind:

Orpheus was a priest and seer; he practiced magical arts and astrology, founded cults to Apollo and Dionysus and prescribed the mystery rites preserved in Orphic texts.

Pindar and Apollonius of Rhodes place Orpheus as the harpist and companion of Jason and the Argonauts.

Orpheus had a brother named Linus, who went to Thebes and became a Theban.

He is claimed by Aristophanes and Horace to have taught cannibals to subsist on fruit, and to have made lions and tigers obedient to him. Horace believed, however, that Orpheus had only introduced order and civilization to savages.

Strabo (64 BC – c. AD 24) presents Orpheus as a mortal, who lived and died in a village close to Olympus:

Some, of course, received him willingly, but others, since they suspected a plot and violence, combined against him and killed him.

Strabo

He made money as a musician and wizard.

Orpheus is repeatedly referred to by Euripides, in whom we find the first allusion to the connection of Orpheus with Dionysus and the infernal regions:

Euripides speaks of him as related to the Muses (Rhesus); mentions the power of his song over rocks, trees, and wild beasts (Medea, Iphigenia in Aulis, Bacchae, and a jocular allusion in Cyclops);

refers to his charming the infernal powers (Alcestis); connects him with Bacchanalian orgies (Hippolytus); ascribes to him the origin of sacred mysteries (Rhesus), and places the scene of his activity among the forests of Olympus (Bacchae).

Euripides (also) brought Orpheus into his play Hypsipyle, which dealt with the Lemnian episode of the Argonautic voyage; Orpheus there acts as coxswain, and later as guardian in Thrace of Jason's children by Hypsipyle.

He is mentioned once only, but in an important passage, by Aristophanes (Frogs), who enumerates, as the oldest poets, Orpheus, Musaeus, Hesiod, and Homer, and makes Orpheus the teacher of religious initiations and of abstinence from murder.

Plato (Apology, Protagoras), frequently refers to Orpheus, his followers, and his works.

He calls him the son of Oeagrus (Symposium), mentions him as a musician and inventor (Ion and Laws bk 3.), refers to the miraculous power of his lyre (Protagoras), and gives a singular version of the story of his descent into Hades:

the Gods, he says, imposed upon the poet, by showing him only a phantasm of his lost wife, because he had not the courage to die, like Alcestis, but contrived to enter Hades alive, and, as a further punishment for his cowardice, he met his death at the hands of women (Symposium).

Earlier than the literary references is a sculptured representation of Orpheus with the ship Argo, found at Delphi, said to be of the 6^th century BC.

3. Writings

In the 5-4^th centuries BC, there existed a collection of hexametric poems known as Orphic, which were the accepted authority of those who followed the Orphic way of life, and were by them attributed to Orpheus himself.

Plato several times quotes lines from this collection; he refers in the Republic to a mass of books of Musaeus and Orpheus, and in the Laws to the hymns of Thamyris and Orpheus,

while in the Ion he groups Orpheus with Musaeus and Homer as the source of inspiration of epic poets and elocutionists.

Euripides in the Hippolytus makes Theseus speak of the turgid outpourings of many treatises, which have led his son to follow Orpheus and adopt the Bacchic religion.

Alexis, the 4^th century comic poet, depicting Linus offering a choice of books to Heracles, mentions Orpheus, Hesiod, tragedies, Choerilus, Homer, Epicharmus.

Aristotle did not believe that the poems were by Orpheus; he speaks of the so-called Orphic epic, and Philoponus (7^th century AD) commenting on this expression, says that in the De Philosophia (now lost) Aristotle directly stated his opinion that the poems were not by Orpheus.

Philoponus adds his own view that the doctrines were put into epic verse by Onomacritus.

Aristotle when quoting the Orphic cosmological doctrines attributes them to theologoi, the ancient poets, those who first theorized about the Gods.

Nothing is known of any ancient Orphic writings except a reference in the Alcestis of Euripides to certain Thracian tablets which the voice of Orpheus had inscribed with pharmaceutical lore.

The Scholiast, commenting on the passage, says that there exist on Mt. Haemus certain writings of Orpheus on tablets.

There is also a reference, not mentioning Orpheus by name, in the pseudo-Platonic Axiochus, where it is said that the fate of the soul in Hades is described on certain bronze tablets which 2 seers had brought to Delos from the land of the Hyperboreans.

This is the only evidence for any ancient Orphic writings.

Aelian (2^nd century AD) gave the chief reason against believing in them: at the time when Orpheus is said to have lived, the Thracians knew nothing about writing.

It came therefore to be believed that Orpheus taught, but left no writings, and that the epic poetry attributed to him was written in the 6^th century BC by Onomacritus.

Onomacritus was banished from Athens by Hipparchus for inserting something of his own into an oracle of Musaeus when entrusted with the editing of his poems.

It may have been Aristotle who first suggested, in the lost De Philosophia, that Onomacritus also wrote the so-called Orphic epic poems.

By the time when the Orphic writings began to be freely quoted by Christian and Neo-Platonist writers, the theory of the authorship of Onomacritus was accepted by many.

It is believed, however, that the Orphic literature current in the time of the Neo-Platonists (3^rd century AD), and quoted by them as the authority for Orphic doctrines, was a collection of writings of different periods and varying outlook, something like that of the Bible.

The earliest of these were composed in the 6^th century by Onomacritus from genuine Orphic tradition;

the latest which have survived, namely the Voyage of the Argonauts, and the Hymns to various deities, cannot have been put together in their present form until the beginning of the Christian era, and are probably to be dated sometime between the 2^nd - 4^th centuries AD.

The Neo-Platonists quote the Orphic poems in their defence against Christianity, because Plato used poems which he believed to be Orphic.

It is believed that in the collection of writings which they used there were several versions, each of which gave a slightly different account of the origin of the universe, of Gods and men, and perhaps of the correct way of life, with the rewards and punishments attached thereto.

Many of the Orphic writings were known since early times as the works of Pythagoreans and other writers.

Herodotus said of the so-called Orphic and Bacchic rites that they were actually Egyptian and Pythagorean; and Ion of Chios said that Pythagoras himself attributed some of his writings to Orpheus.

Others, as has been said, regarded the earliest epics as the work of Onomacritus.

The original Hymns were thought to have been composed by Orpheus, and written down, with emendations, by Musaeus.

Mythology

4. Early life

According to Bibliotheca of Pseudo-Apollodorus and a fragment of Pindar, Orpheus's father was Oeagrus, a Thracian king, or, according to another version of the story, the god Apollo.

His mother was according to different sources:

His birthplace and place of residence was Pimpleia (near Dion, Greece) close to the Olympus. Strabo mentions that he lived in Pimpleia.

According to the epic poem Argonautica, Pimpleia was the location of Oeagrus's and Calliope's wedding.

While living with his mother and her 8 beautiful sisters in Parnassus, he met Apollo, who was courting the laughing muse Thalia.

Apollo, as the god of music, gave Orpheus a golden lyre and taught him to play it. Orpheus's mother taught him to make verses for singing.

He is also said to have studied in Egypt.

Orpheus is said to have established the worship of Hecate in Aegina.

In Laconia Orpheus is said to have brought the worship of Demeter Chthonia and that of the Kores Soteiras; (Saviour Maidens).

Also in Taygetus a wooden image of Orpheus was said to have been kept by Pelasgians in the sanctuary of the Eleusinian Demeter.

According to Diodorus Siculus, Musaeus of Athens was the son of Orpheus.

5. Adventure as an Argonaut

The Argonautica (Ἀργοναυτικά) is a Greek epic poem written by Apollonius Rhodius in the 3^rd century BC.

Orpheus took part in this adventure and used his skills to aid his companions.

Chiron told Jason that without the aid of Orpheus, the Argonauts would never be able to pass the Sirens—the same Sirens encountered by Odysseus in Homer's epic poem the Odyssey.

The Sirens lived on 3 small, rocky islands called Sirenum scopuli and sang beautiful songs that enticed sailors to come to them, which resulted in the crashing of their ships into the islands.

When Orpheus heard their voices, he drew his lyre and played music that was louder and more beautiful, drowning out the Sirens' bewitching songs.

6. Death of Eurydice

The most famous story in which Orpheus figures is that of his wife Eurydice (sometimes referred to as Euridice and also known as Agriope).

While walking among her people, the Cicones, in tall grass at her wedding, Eurydice was set upon by a satyr.

In her efforts to escape the satyr, Eurydice fell into a nest of vipers and suffered a fatal bite on her heel.

Her body was discovered by Orpheus who, overcome with grief, played such sad and mournful songs that all the nymphs and gods wept.

On their advice, Orpheus travelled to the Underworld:

His music softened the hearts of Hades and Persephone, who agreed to allow Eurydice to return with him to earth on one condition: he should walk in front of her and not look back until they both had reached the upper world.

Orpheus set off with Eurydice following;

however, as soon as he had reached the upper world, he immediately turned to look at her, forgetting in his eagerness that both of them needed to be in the upper world for the condition to be met.

As Eurydice had not yet crossed into the upper world, she vanished for the 2^nd time, this time forever.

The story in this form belongs to the time of Virgil, who first introduces the name of Aristaeus (by the time of Virgil's Georgics, the myth has Aristaeus chasing Eurydice when she was bitten by a serpent) and the tragic outcome.

Other ancient writers, however, speak of Orpheus's visit to the Underworld in a more negative light; according to Phaedrus in Plato's Symposium, the infernal gods only presented an apparition of Eurydice to him.

In fact, Plato's representation of Orpheus is that of a coward, as instead of choosing to die in order to be with the one he loved, he instead mocked the Gods by trying to go to Hades to bring her back alive.

Since his love was not true—he did not want to die for love—he was actually punished by the Gods, first by giving him only the apparition of his former wife in the Underworld, and then by being killed by women.

In Ovid's account, however, Eurydice's death by a snake bite is incurred while she was dancing with naiads on her wedding day.

Virgil wrote in his poem that Dryads wept from Epirus and Hebrus up to the land of the Getae (north east Danube valley) and even describes him wandering into Hyperborea and Tanais (ancient Greek city in the Don river delta) due to his grief.

The story of Eurydice may actually be a late addition to the Orpheus myths.

In particular, the name Eurudike (she whose justice extends widely) recalls cult-titles attached to Persephone.

According to some theories, the myth of Eurydice may have been derived from another Orpheus legend, in which he travels to Tartarus and charms the goddess Hecate.

The myth theme of not looking back is reflected in the Biblical story of Lot's wife when escaping from Sodom.

More directly, the story of Orpheus is similar to the ancient Greek tales of Persephone captured by Hades and similar stories of Adonis captive in the Underworld.

However, the developed form of the Orpheus myth was entwined with the Orphic mystery cults and, later in Rome, with the development of Mithraism and the cult of Sol Invictus.

7. Death

According to a Late Antique summary of Aeschylus' lost play Bassarids, Orpheus, towards the end of his life, disdained the worship of all Gods except the Sun, whom he called Apollo.

One early morning he went to the oracle of Dionysus at Mount Pangaion to salute his God at dawn, but was ripped to shreds by Thracian Maenads for not honouring his previous patron (Dionysus) and was buried in Pieria.

Here his death is analogous with that of Pentheus, who was also torn to pieces by Maenads;

and it has been speculated that the Orphic mystery cult regarded Orpheus as a parallel figure to or even an incarnation of Dionysus.

Both made similar journeys into Hades, and Dionysus-Zagreus suffered an identical death.

Pausanias writes that Orpheus was buried in Dion and that he met his death there.

He writes that the river Helicon sank underground when the women that killed Orpheus tried to wash off their blood-stained hands in its waters.

Other legends claim that Orpheus became a follower of Dionysus and spread his cult across the land. In this version of the legend, it is said that Orpheus was torn to shreds by the women of Thrace for his inattention.

His head and lyre, still singing mournful songs, floated down the River Hebrus into the sea, after which the winds and waves carried them to the island of Lesbos, at the city of Methymna;

there, the inhabitants buried his head and a shrine was built in his honour near Antissa; there his oracle prophesied, until it was silenced by Apollo.

In addition to the people of Lesbos, Greeks from Ionia and Aetolia consulted the oracle, and his reputation spread as far as Babylon.

Orpheus's lyre was carried to heaven by the Muses, and was placed among the stars.

The Muses also gathered up the fragments of his body and buried them at Leibethra (Leivithra) below Mount Olympus, where the nightingales sang over his grave.

After the river Sys flooded Leibethra, the Macedonians took his bones to Dion.

Orpheus's soul returned to the Underworld, to the fields of the Blessed, where he was reunited at last with his beloved Eurydice.

Another legend places his tomb at Dion, near Pydna in Macedon.

In another version of the myth, Orpheus travels to Aornum in Thesprotia, Epirus to an old oracle for the dead.

In the end Orpheus commits suicide from his grief unable to find Eurydice.

Others said that he was the victim of a thunderbolt.

8. Orphic poems & rites

A number of Greek religious poems in hexameters were attributed to Orpheus, as they were to similar miracle-working figures, like Bakis, Musaeus, Abaris, Aristeas, Epimenides, and the Sibyl.

Of this vast literature, only 2 works survived whole:

Earlier Orphic literature, which may date back as far as the 6^th century BC, survives only in papyrus fragments or in quotations.

Some of the earliest fragments may have been composed by Onomacritus.

In addition to serving as a storehouse of mythological data along the lines of Hesiod's Theogony, Orphic poetry was recited in mystery-rites and purification rituals.

Plato in particular tells of a class of vagrant beggar-priests who would go about offering purifications to the rich, a clatter of books by Orpheus and Musaeus in tow.

Those who were especially devoted to these rituals and poems often practiced vegetarianism and abstention from sex, and refrained from eating eggs and beans—which came to be known as the Orphikos bios, or Orphic way of life.

The Derveni papyrus, found in Derveni, Macedonia (Greece) in 1962, contains a philosophical treatise that is an allegorical commentary on an Orphic poem in hexameters, a Theogony concerning the birth of the gods, produced in the circle of the philosopher Anaxagoras, written in the 2^nd half of the 5^th century BC.

Fragments of the poem are quoted making it the most important new piece of evidence about Greek philosophy and religion to come to light since the Renaissance.

The papyrus dates to around 340 BC, during the reign of Philip II of Macedon, making it Europe's oldest surviving manuscript.

The very earliest form of a higher and more cohesive ancient Greek religion was manifest in the Orphic poems. Orpheus was the founder of mystery religions and the first to reveal to men the meanings of the initiation rites.