The Gods of Ancient Greece: The Gods in Later Orphism

MA Dissertation - updated 2021, 2013

Although absent from early Archaic sources by the sixth century BCE Orpheus the poet had become synonymous with poetry and inspiration. This essay will examine the emergence of the myths of Orpheus in Archaic Greece with a view to understanding his place in society. This will entail the exploration of the relationship between poetry and the evolving role of the individual in Archaic society in order to clarify the context in which Orpheus came to prominence. By examining the changing role of the poet within society one can understand ways in which the evolution of Archaic society, including the development of the polis and what has been termed ‘the rise of the individual,’ may have influenced the creation and performance of poetry. These factors, together with the absorption of new cultural influences into Greek society and the development of new attitudes to the afterlife created the social context in which the Orpheus myths took form. This work will clarify the extent to which changing values found expression in the figure of Orpheus and the ways in which the elements of the myths reflected contemporary social concerns. Consideration will be given to claims of exotic influence made by modern scholars and the extent to which Orpheus’ mythology made him a suitable vehicle for the importation of exotic ideas such as reincarnation and metempsychosis and whether these myths expressed the concerns of a society increasingly preoccupied with the fate of the individual soul after death. Orpheus’ perceived otherness made him a liminal figure who crossed boundaries in transcending and uniting the divisions between the animal, human and divine worlds. This work will highlight ways in which the mythical Orpheus was essentially a construct of Archaic Greek society and reflected notions concerned with poetry, heroic identity and immortality inherent in this culture.

The present book is closely related to that famous Pre-Socratic fragment about the bow and the lyre, where their “backstretched” or “retroflex” harmony (palmtonos harmonia) is said to depict the tense inner cohesion of a diverging unity. The same authority, Heraclitus of Ephesus, employs a Greek pun to show how in the bow itself, one of whose names is bios, both the name of life and the act of death coexist. Orpheus, as a mythical hero—indeed, one of the famed Argonauts—stands right at the centre of these junctions. So it is no wonder that this book shares in that harmonious tension: a tension rooted in the nature of the lyre and the bow, whose products may be piercing sounds or slaying arrows. Here, we have first a tension within the author, who is intoxicated with his theme and yet committed to carry out his exposition in a discursive and academic manner. We can almost feel his plight: having in mind the “tremendous contem ­ plation of the divine truth and beauty”, which would merit cither a bakchic outburst or a “supra-noetic metaphysical silence”, he is forcing himself to compose a “scientific” treatise. Having heard the music of O rpheus’ lyre, he is trying to convey as best as he can the unspeakable beauty of those notes in an all too earthly human language.

Open Journal for Anthropological Studies, 8(2), 67-76, 2024

The Thracian institution of the king-priest is attested since at least the middle of the 2nd millennium BC. This study presents Orpheus not just as a talented poet and singer, but also as a Thracian king-priest from before the Trojan War, who had different spiritual understanding (later known as Orphism) and attempted to reform the old religious belief system. The solar circles, some of them oriented towards the sunrise, found on numerous rock sanctuaries in Thrace, show that Sun-related practices were present in Thrace millennia before Orpheus and they were one of the key elements of his philosophy, just as the idea of bodily purification, which ultimately lead to enlightenment and divine inspiration. It is also reasonable to assume that his teaching involved a doctrine, probably only for initiates, related to the cycle of the soul after its final departure from the body.

Azoth Quest, 2024

This paper examines the opening line of the Orphic Hymn to Zeus: "Ζεὺς πρῶτος γένετο, Ζεὺς ὕστατος ἀρχικέραυνος" (Zeus was first, Zeus of the bright thunderbolt is last), as preserved in both later Orphic collections and, crucially, in the treatise De Mundo (Περὶ Κόσμου). The De Mundo attestation provides vital chronological context, as this philosophical work was either written by Aristotle himself (384-322 BCE) or composed in the Peripatetic tradition between the 3rd century BCE and the 2nd century CE. While scholarly consensus now generally favors post-Aristotelian authorship, the text's preservation of the Orphic line demonstrates its circulation in philosophical circles by at least the Hellenistic period, significantly predating later monotheistic formulations. Through careful linguistic, theological, and comparative analysis, this study demonstrates how this single line encapsulates fundamental concepts of Greek theological thought, particularly regarding divine supremacy and cosmic unity. The paper argues that this formulation represents a sophisticated theological development independent of and prior to similar monotheistic expressions in other traditions. The preservation of this line in De Mundo-a text that synthesizes Aristotelian, Platonic, and Stoic elements in its theory of divine cosmic governance-provides crucial evidence for how early Greek philosophical traditions interpreted and incorporated Orphic theological concepts, suggesting a complex interplay between mystical and philosophical approaches to divine unity in pre-Christian Greek thought.

2010

Open Journal for Studies in History, 2022, 5(2), 41-50, 2022

Orpheus is one of the greatest historical contributions of the Thracians in European culture. He is much more than a talented poet and singer. He is a religious reformer, a priest and a Teacher, who transmits valuable knowledge to humanity. This study presents his life and influence on philosophers such as Pythagoras and Plato, the development of this influence during the Middle Ages and the Renaissance, and analyzes some Orphic tablets of eschatological nature. The roots of Orphic teachings are so deep, that some missionaries of the new Christian faith had to use the image of Orpheus in their desire to baptize pagans. Orpheus comes to walk the most difficult path-spreading the doctrine of salvation of the human soul, which remains one of the highest achievements of European culture and a hope for its humane future.

American Journal of Sociological Research, 2012

In this paper, I present Orphism as a written reform of the myth of Dionysus and its ritual manifestations, perhaps initiated and influenced by Onomacritos, who acted as interpreter and editor, in the context of, and under the influence of, Attic synoecism; this last refers not only to a process of administrative unification mythically inspired by the figure and deeds of Theseus, but also to the political will to maintain the loyalty of the rural dēmoi to the urban oikos, with all the challenges and vicissitudes of life and conflict at the margins of society, during the tyranny, the democratic regime and the dissolution of the autonomy of the polis and the conflicts in the relations linking the centre and the periphery during the Hellenistic period. In support of the working hypothesis, a hermeneutic methodology is applied, reading ancient sources and making ad hoc use of Greek etymology in those cases where the reading suggests possible alternative interpretations. The final outcome of this hermeneutic exercise shows possible links between the Orphic ritual and the political and editorial activities of Pisistratus and Onomacritos. The conclusion reached is that, the principal characteristic of the Orphic reform of the Dionysian myth and ritual seems to be its soteriological content.