Orpheus, the Poetics of Silence, and the Humanities

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.

Lozanova-Stancheva, V. Thragic Orpheus. Orpheus On the Stage of the Old Attic Theater. – Bulletin ‘Heritage BG’ – Research Announcements, бр. 2, 14-16, 2022

The article offers an analysis of the information about the figure of Orpheus on the stage of the Old Attic theater in the 5 th century BC. They are systematized in several groups around the mythological motifs characterizing the Thracian musician: The magical power of Orpheus' word-song; Orpheus enchanting wild animals, which is closely associated with the myth of the Argonauts; the myth of the katabasis of Orpheus. In ancient times, magic was almost always negatively associated with the religious practices of someone else, a foreigner, the Other. It is a term that distinguishes these practices from the norm and a means of defining the Otherness embodied in the figure of Orpheus. Along this line, the reserved and even negative attitude towards Orphism and the related religious movement in classical Athens developed. These characteristics transform the figure of the Thracian into inconsistent, conflicting with the canons of good tragedy, defined by Aristotle in his Poetics, and explain why it appears on the stage of the Old Attic theater unsystematically and in associative terms.

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 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.

Building on the classical tradition, which was strongly emulated in the Second Sophistic, Lucian used the katabasis motif (as we know it from, e.g., the Odyssey's book ) and staged various meetings in Hades. These Lucianic encounters were later rewritten by Byzantine authors who adapted them in order to express comical, critical, or subversive approaches towards power structures. In the present article, special focus will be placed on twelfthcentury Byzantium and the anonymous dialogue Timarion. It is argued that the author of the Timarion used the Second Sophistic tradition of Lucian in order to discuss contemporary questions of the Greek literary and rhetorical heritage. He created a fictional space that displayed ancient learning and allowed discussions of contemporary culture in a textual parody with satirical functions.

Hellenistica Groningana, 2018

Tracing Orpheus: Studies of Orphic Fragments, 2011

Poet, essayist and historian Kamau Brathwaite is well known for his articulation of 'nation language', comprising those vernacular forms of speech which, in the islands of the Caribbean, have been influenced by 'submerged' (Brathwaite) African aspects of culture. As a literary form of enunciation, 'nation language' aims to recover and redeploy traces of African heritage in an attempt to forge a mythopoetics of intercultural Caribbean identity out of the fragments of a violent history. This paper will examine how Brathwaite's own poetry since the 1990s extends this project via his development of a visual poetics, which he calls his 'Sycorax video style'. It will primarily focus on a key work of the 1990s, Middle Passages. Returning time and again to 'points of entanglement' (Glissant), this poetry re-imagines and re-articulates the history of slavery and European colonialism, various pre-colonial West African cultural traditions, and literary history. My paper will explore the role of Brathwaite's reinvention of the printed page in his attempt to give form and voice to the 'gods of the Middle Passage' (Brathwaite) engendered by these entanglements. I will suggest that this poetry deploys the visual resources of the poetic page to make these mythic presences materially palpable. In so doing, Brathwaite's experimentation with visual aesthetics revisits and rethinks the 'voice' in which 'nation language' enunciates a mythopoetics of the African Diaspora in the Caribbean.

Orpheus - Myth Complex, Philosophy and Psychoanalysis

english - german - espanol The Orphic mythology encompasses the tragedy of humanity from its alienation from nature to the present day and the so far futile attempt to return to the lost homeland.... The 'alienation from nature' is the consequence of the introduction of family life among the rebellious teams in the original tribe, which led to narcissistic fixation among the descendants of these monogamous couples.... In contrast to the figures of the other paradise myths, Orpheus, who had become the victim of this disorientation, not only recognises the way back to his original home, but also succeeds in restoring the original state of being close to nature, admittedly only for a short time! Just as long as it took Orpheus' successors and their enemies to establish the authenticity of his recovery - otherwise the latter would not have destroyed his work... I only became aware of this fact when I tried to shed light on the Orpheus complex. In the process, I also gradually realised the importance of its historical aspects, both mythical and political, which led Aeschylus to dramatise Orpheus' death. The mythical death of Orpheus by dismemberment represents the dissolution of the rebellious crews by the council of the original tribe, namely the measure by which the isolated men were prevented from reversing the balance of power in the tribe. Since such 'uprisings' were triggered by the rut of the tribal women, the mainads, they themselves seem to have been the ones who would have dismembered and incorporated the crew of Orpheus, although both had been carried out by the tribal council, which was itself militant through the women. (Incorporation in the sense of integration into the tribe, its transformation into a genea.) Aeschylus transferred this mythical version to the conditions in Athens of his time, not without reason, for the 'Orphics' -(a secret organisation)- actually desired the reversal of the balance of power, thus the Areopagus was striving to break up its opponents. This court, dominated by the Athenian family masses, took every opportunity to banish the aristocrats - who secretly belonged to the Orphics - from the polis or even - like Socrates, for example - to eliminate them... ............................................................................................. Die orphische Mythologie umfasst die Tragik der Menschheit von ihrer Naturentfremdung bis heute und den bisher vergeblichen Versuch, in die verlorene Heimat zurück zu gelangen... Die ‚Naturentfremdung‘ ist die Folge der Einführung des Familienlebens unter den rebellischen Mannschaften im Urstamm, was unter den Nachkommen dieser monogamen Paare zur narzisstischen Fixierung führte... Im Unterschied zu den Gestalten der sonstigen Paradiesmythen erkennt Orpheus, der zum Opfer dieser Wesensentstellung geworden war, nicht nur den Weg zurück zur Urheimat, sondern gelingt ihm auch die Wiederherstellung des naturverbundenen Urzustandes, freilich nur für kurze! Zeit — genau so lange, wie nötig war für Orpheus‘ Nachfolger und deren Feinde, die Echtheit der Genesung festzustellen – sonst hätten letztere sein Werk nicht zerstört... Dieser Sachverhalt wurde mir erst durch den Versuch bewusst, den Orpheus-Komplex zu durchleuchten. Dabei ist mir außerdem nach und nach die Wichtigkeit seiner historischen Aspekte klar geworden, und zwar sowohl des mythischen als auch des politischen, die Aischylos veranlassten, den Tod Orpheus dramatisch zu verarbeiten. Der mythische Tod Orpheus durch Zerstückelung stellt die Auflösung der rebellischen Mannschaften durch den Rat des Urstammes dar, nämlich jene Maßnahme, anhand derer die vereinzelten Männer gehindert wurden, die Machtverhältnisse im Stamm umzukehren. Da solche ‚Aufstände‘ von der Brunst der Stammesfrauen ausgelöst wurden, den Mainaden, scheinen sie selbst diejenigen gewesen zu sein, die die Mannschaft Orpheus zerstückelt und sich einverleibt hätten, obwohl beides von dem durch die Frauen seinerseits kämpferisch gestimmten Stammesrat durchgeführt worden war. (Einverleibung im Sinne von Integration in den Stamm, dessen Umwandlung zur Genea.) Diese mythische Fassung übertrug Aischylos auf die Verhältnisse im Athen seiner Gegenwart, nicht zu Unrecht, denn die ‚Orphiker‘ -(eine Geheimorganisation)- wünschten sich tatsächlich die Umkehrung der Machtverhältnisse, so war der Areopag um die Zersprengung seiner Gegner bemüht. Dieser von der Familienmasse Athens beherrschte Gerichtshof nutzten jede Gelegenheit, die Aristokraten – die heimlich zu den Orphikern zählten – aus der Polis zu verbannen oder gar – wie z.B. Sokrates – zu beseitigen... ............................................................................................. La mitología órfica abarca la tragedia de la humanidad desde su alejamiento de la naturaleza hasta la actualidad y el intento, hasta ahora inútil, de volver a la patria perdida.... La "alienación de la naturaleza" es el resultado de la introducción de la vida familiar entre los equipos rebeldes de la tribu primordial, lo que llevó a la fijación narcisista entre los descendientes de estas parejas monógamas.... A diferencia de las figuras de los otros mitos del paraíso, Orfeo, que se había convertido en víctima de esta desorientación, no sólo reconoce el camino de vuelta a su hogar original, sino que consigue restablecer el estado original de estar cerca de la naturaleza, ¡aunque sea por poco tiempo! Tanto como los sucesores de Orfeo y sus enemigos tardaron en establecer la autenticidad de su recuperación - de lo contrario, estos últimos no habrían destruido su obra... Sólo me di cuenta de este hecho cuando intenté arrojar luz sobre el complejo de Orfeo. En el proceso, también me fui dando cuenta de la importancia de sus aspectos históricos, tanto míticos como políticos, que llevaron a Esquilo a dramatizar la mu¬erte de Orfeo. La mítica muerte de Orfeo por desmembramiento representa la dis¬olu¬ción de las cuadrillas rebeldes por el consejo de la tribu original, es decir, la medida por la que se impidió a los hombres aislados invertir el equilibrio de poder en la tribu. Dado que tales "levantamientos" fueron desencadenados por el celo de las mujeres de la tribu, las mainads, ellas mismas parecen haber sido las que habrían desmembrado e incorporado a la tripulación de Orfeo, aunque ambas hayan sido llevadas a cabo por el consejo tribal, que a su vez militaba a través de las mujeres. (Incorporación en el sentido de integración en la tribu, su transformación en una genea). Esquilo trasladó esta versión mítica a las condiciones de la Atenas de su tiempo, no sin razón, ya que los "órficos" -(una organización secreta)- deseaban en realidad la inversión del equilibrio de poder, por lo que el Areópago se esforzaba por acabar con sus oponentes. Esta corte, dominada por la masa familiar ateniense, aprovechaba cualquier oportunidad para desterrar a los aristócratas -que secretamente pertene¬cían a los órficos- de la polis o incluso -como Sócrates- para eliminarlos... .............................................................................................