The Orphic Mysteries

Encyclopedia of Psychology and Religion, 2nd ed., Vol 2, pp. 1255-1258

The image of Orpheus as a semi-divine mythological being and perhaps an actual person has inspired countless works of art for well over two and half millennia. Within the domains of myth and art, he is primarily associated with his renowned abilities as poet and musician. Many versions of his story describe the captivating power his music exerted over anyone or thing near him while he played his cithara. Equally compelling is the story of the death of his newlywed bride, Eurydice, and his journey to the underworld to attempt her retrieval. He also plays a crucial role aboard the Argos accompanying Jason and fellow Argonauts on the quest for the Golden Fleece. Perhaps most intriguing, from the perspective of religious studies, is his purported role as the founder of a non-Hellenic renunciation cult called Orphism that condemned animal sacrifice and produced a large body of works describing a cosmogony and eschatology that stand in sharp contrast to those described in Homer and Hesiod.

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.

A Handbook to the Reception of Classical Mythology, 2017

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.

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.

The Great Work of Making Real: Salman Rushdie's

Mètis. Anthropologie des mondes grecs anciens, 1991