ORPHEFS - ὈΡΦΕΎΣ
HellenicGods.org
HOME GLOSSARY RESOURCE AND ESSAYS ART LOGOS CONTACT
"What would not a man give if he might converse with Orpheus and Musaeus and Hesiod and Homer? Nay, if this be true, let me die again and again." (Plato's Apology, 71, translated by Benjamen Jowett, 1893) [34]
THE MYTHOLOGY OF ORPHEFS
Orphefs (Orpheus; Gr. Ὀρφεύς, ὈΡΦΕΎΣ)
Pronounced or-fĕfs', with the accent on the second syllable; the diphthong εύ is pronounced ĕf.
Orphefs is one the most important personages in all of Hellenismos. The great singer, musician, Mystic, and God, Orphefs was the son of the Thracian king (or river or wine God) Iagros (Oeagros; Gr. Οἴαγρος, ΟἼΑΓΡΟΣ) and the Muse Kalliopi (Kalliope; Gr. Καλλιόπη, ΚΑΛΛΙΌΠΗ) [30], born in what is called the Golden Age of the Heroes. He was the brother of Linos (Linus; Gr. Λῖνος, ΛΙΝΟΣ). [26] Orphefs had a son (or pupil or both) whose name is Mousaios (Musaeus; Gr. Μουσαῖος, ΜΟΥΣΑΙΟΣ).
Orphefs married a Thrakian nymph (or Dryad) named Evrythiki (Eurydice; Gr. Εὐρυδίκη, ΕΥΡΥΔΊΚΗ) who he won by the beauty of his music. Some say that her name was Agriope ('wild-eyed' or 'wild-voiced' or 'silver-faced'). She was bit by a poisonous snake while fleeing the unwelcome advances of Aristaios, the pastoral God, and died. Orphefs grieved piteously for her and his sorrowful songs inspired the sympathy of the Gods and the nymphs. They advised Orphefs to go to Plouto and beg the return of his wife.
Orphefs went to the land of the dead, captivating all who he passed with his beautiful singing....Kharohn (Charon; Gr. Χάρων, ΧΆΡΩΝ), Kærværos (Cerberus; Gr. Κέρβερος, ΚΈΡΒΕΡΟΣ), even easing the pain of the eternally tormented. At last, he approached Aithohnefs (Aidoneus; Gr. Ἀϊδωνεύς, ἈΙΔΩΝΕΎΣ) and Pærsæphoni (Persephone; Gr. Περσεφόνη), and delighted them with his singing. Evrythiki was permitted to return. [20]Orphefs was to walk in front of Evrythiki he agreed to not look back upon her until they reached the upper land. But Orphefs forgot himself, looked back at Evrythiki, and lost her forever. [21] This story of Orphefs looking back at Evrythiki is not found in all the sources.
Orphefs then withdrew from most human contact. He persevered in his singing, but they were now sorrowful songs about his beloved Evrythiki. He continued to teach, but only to men. Every morning, Orphefs went out to Mount Pangaion (Gr. Παγγαῖον, ΠΑΥΥΑΙΟΝ) to greet the sun. One morning, he encountered the Thrakian women, Mainathæs (Maenads; Gr. Μαινάδες, ΜΑΙΝΆΔΕΣ), devotees of Dionysos. They disdained the behavior of Orphefs, who enticed their men away from them. They torn him to pieces [22] and threw his head into the river Ævros (Hebrus; Gr. Ἕβρος, ἝΒΡΟΣ) where it continued to sing and call for Evrythiki.
The head of Orphefs and his lyre floated across to Læsvos (Lesbos; Gr. Λέσβος, ΛΈΣΒΟΣ) off the Asiatic coast where the inhabitants kept them and from where he spoke in oracle. Philostratos (Philostratus; Gr. Φιλόστρατος, ΦΙΛΌΣΤΡΑΤΟΣ) says that the head gained tremendous fame, but that its prophesies were put to an end by Apollo himself. [6]Another story says that after the Thrakian and (in this version of the story) the Makæthonia women killed Orphefs, a plague fell on the area. An oracle required that they retrieve the head of Orphefs and bury it. A fisherman had found it at the mouth of the river Mælis (Meles; Gr. Μελης, ΜΕΛΗΣ), in perfect condition as if not dead at all and still singing. They buried it under a great mound (perhaps at Dion) and built a temple there. [7]
According to Pafsanias (Pausanias; Παυσανίας, ΠΑΥΣΑΝΙΑΣ), Orphefs was buried in Livithra (Libethra; Gr. Λίβηθρα, ΛΊΒΗΘΡΑ) which was located near Olympos (Olympus; Gr. Όλυμπος , ΌΛΥΜΠΟΣ). He relates the story of a Dionysian oracle of Thraki that the sun would see the bones of Orphefs and the town would be ravished by a boar. The local populace paid no attention to this oracle until the area was destroyed by flood. "About midday a shepherd was asleep leaning against the grave of Orpheus, and even as he slept he began to sing poetry of Orpheus in a loud and sweet voice. Those who were pasturing or tilling nearest to him left their several tasks and gathered together to hear the shepherd sing in his sleep. And jostling one another and striving who could get nearest the shepherd they overturned the pillar, the urn fell from it and broke, and the sun saw whatever was left of the bones of Orpheus. Immediately when night came the God sent heavy rain, and the river Sys (Boar), one of the torrents about Olympus, on this occasion threw down the walls of Libethra, overturning sanctuaries of Gods and houses of men, and drowning the inhabitants and all the animals in the city." [28] The city in ruins, the Makæthonians in Dion (Latin: Dium; Gr. Δίον, ΔΊΟΝ) carried off the bones to their own city.
It is also said of Orphefs that he was one of the Argonaftai (Argonauts; Gr. Αργοναύται, ΑΡΓΟΝΑΎΤΑΙ). [24] He officiated as priest and gave them comfort with his music. He kept the time for the rowers of the Argos. [27] Orphefs saved the lives of his comrades by enchanting them and drawing their attention away from the Seirinæs (Sirens; Gr. Σειρῆνες, ΣΕΙΡΗΝΕΣ). [25] He is said to have lulled the Dragon of Kolkhis (Colchis; Gr. Κολχίς, ΚΟΛΧΊΣ; i.e. the Colchian Dragon) to sleep, enabling the Golden Fleece (Gr. Χρυσόμαλλον Δέρας) to be obtained.
The above are the common myths concerning Orphefs. You will find yet more tales which sometimes conflict. For instance, in one version of his story, Orphefs is killed not by the Thrakian women, but by a thunderbolt of Zefs (Zeus; Gr. Ζεύς, ΖΕΎΣ) for having revealed things to mankind unknown before, much as Promithefs (Prometheus; Gr. Προμηθεύς, ΠΡΟΜΗΘΕΎΣ) had been "punished" before him. [33] In another version, Orphefs took his own life in grief over the loss of his wife.
THE SIGNIFICANCE OF THE LIFE AND TEACHING OF ORPHEFS
So, we might ask, what exactly did Orphefs do that had such an impact on the ancient world? "...Orphefs 'by his playing and singing won over the Greeks, changed the hearts of barbarians and tamed wild beasts.' [18] He made men give up cannibalistic feasts, an achievement which in Graeco-Roman times was attributed to many Gods without much discrimination; but for Orpheus it can be traced back to the fifth century. He taught men also the arts of agriculture and in this way inclined their natures towards peace and gentleness." [8] Orphefs was instrumental in putting an end to human sacrifice in great antiquity and discouraging animal sacrifice as well. [17}
Pafsanias (Pausanias) says "In my view Orpheus outdid his predecessors in beautiful verse, and obtained great power because people believed he discovered divine Mysteries, rites to purify wicked actions, cures for diseases, defenses against the curses of heaven. They say that the Thracian women plotted Orpheus' death because he attracted their men to follow him in his wanderings, but because of the men they were frightened to do it; but when they were full of wine they carried the thing through, and, ever since, the men have had the tradition of marching drunk to battle. There are some who say Orpheus died thunderblasted by the God, because of the stories he made public in the Mysteries, which men had never heard before." [9]
Orphefs is the source of the Orphic Mysteries, a complete system of personal evolution leading to the deification of the soul. Orphefs is known as the originator of all the Mysteries: "As founder of Mystery-Religions, Orpheus was the first to reveal to men the meaning of rites of initiation (teletai). We read of this in both Plato and Aristophanes." [10] The teachings of Orphefs and his student (possibly son) Mousaios are also intertwined in the Ælefsinian (Eleusinian, a word derived from the sanctuary of Ἐλευσίς) Mysteries as well. [16] The teachings of Orphefs are deeply entwined with the Mysteries of Dionysos, which he is said to have founded. [32]
Orphefs is regarded as the founder of a religion [11] and the great reformer of all Hellenic religion. He is called "the Theologist" [31] because he explained the Theogony, i.e., how the Gods function within the natural world. As such, Orphefs is again the great reformer who destroyed superstition because, when correctly understood, the Kosmogony of Orphefs is a natural and logical explanation of the formation of the universe, despite its fantastic language. Therefore, as can be demonstrated in the lineage which followed him, Orphefs is the founder of philosophy."ORPHEUS. The son, according to fable, either of Œager, king of Thrace ; of Thamyras ; or of Apollo and Calliope or Polyhymnia. Aristotle and Cicero attribute the poems which bear his name to a Pythagorean philosopher, named Cecrops ; and others, to Onomacritus, a poet who lived in the age of Pisistratus : Pausanias and Diodorus Siculus speak of Orpheus as a person equally remarkable for his universal knowledge and for his talents as a poet and musician : some consider him to have introduced and established the rites of the Gods and all Mysterious worship in Greece, to have travelled over many regions of the earth as a priest and a prophet, to have been confounded with Linus, Melampus, and Camus, and his wife Eurydice with the most ancient divinities of paganism ; others maintain that the religious system of Greece did not originate with him, but that he very much contributed to its formation, by the communication of the knowledge which he had acquired in his travels of the Mysteries of Egyptian superstition. He is said to have delivered his doctrines in verse, and to have added to their recital the accompaniment of the lyre. From his excellence in playing that instrument, and the melody of his voice, the poets have ascribed to him the power of taming lions and tigers ; of arresting the course of the most rapid rivers ; and of rendering the trees and rocks susceptible of the charm of his tones. His affection for his wife Eurydice or Agriope (who was one of the Dryads), is a favourite theme among the poets. While flying from Aristæus, the son of Apollo and the nymph Cyrene, she was mortally stung by a serpent. Orpheus, disconsolate at her loss, ventured to descend in quest of her into the regions of Pluto. His harp was there attended with its usual efficacy : influenced by its magic sounds, the wheel of Ixion ceased to turn, the stone of Sisyphus to roll, the vultures to tear the heart of Tityus, the Danaides to perform their thankless labour, and Tantalus to be afflicted by his perpetual thirst ; the Furies themselves were appeased, and Pluto and Proserpine were so overcome by the melody of his strains, that they agreed to restore Eurydice, provided he forbore turning his head to look at her until he should have reached the extreme confines of Tartarus. Orpheus, in his impatience to behold his restored Eurydice, forgot the imposed injunction ; and she was snatched for ever form his embrace. He endeavoured in vain to re-enter the infernal regions ; and his sorrows during the remainder of his life admitted of no alleviation but from the sound of his lyre, amid the deepest solitude. His death is by some ascribed to the Ciconian women, who, irritated at his resisting their solicitations to relinquish his secluded life, availed themselves of the celebration of the orgies of Bacchus, to execute their vengeance upon him. It is stated that his lyre and head were thrown into the Hebrus, and that, while the torrent impelled them towards the sea, his lyre still emitted sweet chords, and his tongue never ceased to murmur the name Eurydice." [29]
(For a list of abbreviations: GLOSSARY HOME PAGE)
Founder of All Mystery Religions - Orphefs is regarded as the first to reveal the rites of initiation (teletai). (Orpheus and Greek Religion by W.K.C. Guthrie, 1952 and 1993, p.17)
- "some consider him to have introduced and established the rites of the Gods and all Mysterious worship in Greece, to have travelled over many regions of the earth as a priest and a prophet, to have been confounded with Linus, Melampus, and Camus, and his wife Eurydice with the most ancient divinities of paganism ; others maintain that the religious system of Greece did not originate with him, but that he very much contributed to its formation, by the communication of the knowledge which he had acquired in his travels of the Mysteries of Egyptian superstition." (A Classical Manual, Being a Mythological, Historical, and Geographical Commentary on Pope's Homer, and Dryden's Æneid of Virgil, 1833; p.442)
Great Reformer, The - Orphefs is regarded as the great reformer of Hellenic worship (source: oral) and the reformer of the rites of Dionysos (Orpheus and Greek Religion by W.K.C. Guthrie, 1952 and 1993, p. 41-42).
Orphefs (Orpheus) - There is a strange story concerning the name of Orphefs: "The ancients represent Orpheus as living during the time, and sharing in the Argonautic expedition. If we search for the origin of this fable, we must again have recourse to Egypt, the mother-country of fiction. In July, when the sun entered Leo, the Nile overflowed all the plains. To denote the public joy at seeing the inundation rise to its due height, the Egyptians exhibited a youth playing on the lyre, or the sistrum, and sitting by a tame lion. When the waters did not increase as they should, the Horus was represented stretched on the back of a lion, as dead. This symbol they called Oreph, or Orpheus, (from oreph, the back part of the head) to signify that agriculture was then quite unseasonable and dormant. The songs the people amused themselves with during this period of inactivity, for want of exercise, were called the Hymns of Orpheus ; and as husbandry revived immediately after, it gave rise to the fable of Orpheus's returning from hell. The Isis placed near this Horus, they called Eurydice, (from eri, a lion, and daca, tamed, is formed Eridaca, Eurydice, or the lion tamed, i.e. the violence or rage of the inundation overcome), and as the Greeks took all these figures in the literal, not in the emblematical sense, they made Eurydice the wife of Orpheus." (Bell's New Pantheon; or, Historical Dictionary of the Gods, Demi-Gods, Heroes, and Fabulous Personages of Antiquity, 1790; Vol. II, p.145)
Rhodopeius - a name of Orphefs, from Mount Rhodope, in Thrace. (source: CM*p.443)
Theologos - (Gr. Θεόλογὁς) surname of Orphefs meaning theologian.
- Θεόλογὁς, one who discourses of the Gods, of poets such as Hesiod and Orpheus; of cosmologists (like the Orphics); of diviners and prophets. 2. theologian (L&S p.790, right column, sub-heading under θεολογ-εῖον)
- Theologus, (Lat.), one who treats of the deity and of divine things, a theologian. (LD p.1867, center column)
Thraicius Sacerdos - surname of Orphefs, from his Thracian origin. (source: CM*p.443)
NOTES TO THE TEXT:
[1] Diod. 3. 65
[2] Source: Orpheus and Greek Religion by W.K.C. Guthrie, 1952 and 1993, p. 63.
"Calliope and Oiagros (though really Apollo) had Linos, whom Heracles killed, and Orpheus..." (Apollodoros' Library, Book I, Offspring of the Muses 14, translated by R. Scott Smith and Steven M. Trzaskoma, 2007, p.3)
[3] Guthrie, p. 62.
[4] Guthrie, p. 1
[5] Guthrie, p.23
[6] Philostratus The Life of Apollonius of Tyana, Book IV, Chapter XIV, in the translation by F.C. Conybeare in 1912, found in the 1948 edition on pp.373-375: "He also visited in passing the shrine of Orpheus when he had put in at Lesbos. And they tell that it was here that Orpheus once on a time loved to prophesy, before Apollo had turned his attention to him. For when the latter found that men no longer flocked to Gryneium for the sake of oracles nor to Clarus nor (to Delphi) where is the tripod of Apollo, and that Orpheus was the only oracle, his head having lately come from Thrace, he presented himself before the giver of oracles and said: "Cease to meddle with my affairs, for I have already put up long enough with your vaticinations."
[7] Konon, fab. 45 = Kern, testt. 39 and 115.
[8] Guthrie, p.40
[9] Pausanias' Guide to Greece 1: Central Greece, Book IX, Boiotia, 30.3, in the translation by Peter Levi in 1971, found in the 1979 edition on pp.371-372. The quotation follows the description of statuary beginning: "Mystery is carved standing beside Orpheus the Thracian..."
[10] Guthrie, p.17.
Also, in Pausanias' Guide to Greece 1: Central Greece, 9.30.4, Peter Levi in the 1979 edition, p.371-2: "In my view Orpheus outdid his predecessors in beautiful verse, and obtained great power because people believed he discovered divine mysteries, rites to purify wicked actions, cures for diseases, defenses against the curses of heaven." Pausanias implies a connection between the teachings of Orpheus and the Eleusinian Mysteries in 1.37.3-4 from the same translation by Levi, p.104-5: "Across the Kephisos .... A small shrine built along the road is called the shrine of the Bean man. I am not sure whether he was first to grow beans, or they simply named a hero like that because the discovery of beans cannot be traced to Demeter. Those who know the mystery of Eleusis and those who have read Orpheus will know what I am talking about." In a note to this section concerning the 'Bean Man', Levi points out that "There is a mysterious ancient Pythagorean, Orphic, and Eleusinian prohibition of bean-eating..."
In the Library of History by Diodoros Siculus, 4.25.1, in the translation of C.H. Oldfather: "But when Heracles had made the circuit of the Adriatic, and had journeyed around the gulf on foot, he came to Epirus, whence he made his way to Peloponnesus. And now that he had performed the tenth Labour he received a Command from Eurystheus to bring Cerberus up from Hades to the light of day. And assuming that it would be to his advantage for the accomplishment of this Labour, he went to Athens and took part in the Eleusinian Mysteries, Musaeus, the son of Orpheus, being at that time in charge of the initiatory rites."
[11] Guthrie, p. 8. One must be careful in using the term "religion." The Greek word for religion is threskia (Gr.θρησκεία). Threskia refers to the outward forms of what we call religion, i.e., the rituals, the costumes of the priests and priestesses, and so forth. But Orpheus is the great reformer of the Greek devotional tradition: he taught the inner meaning of any ritual and belief. So, Orpheus was not the creator of empty rituals, but he was the great theologian who explained the Kosmos and how the Gods function in it. Orpheus explained the natural world.
[12] Guthrie, p.11
[13] Excerpt from Thomas Taylor's introduction to The Theology of Plato by Proclus: "I rejoice in the opportunity which is afforded me of presenting the truly philosophic reader, in the present work, with a treasure of Grecian theology; of a theology, which was first mystically and symbolically promulgated by Orpheus, afterwards disseminated enigmatically through images by Pythagoras, and in the last place scientifically unfolded by Plato and his genuine disciples."
Proclus, The Theology of Plato, translated by Thomas Taylor, Book I, Chapter 5: "For all the Grecian theology is the progeny of the mystic tradition of Orpheus; Pythagoras first of all learning from Aglaophemus the orgies of the Gods, but Plato in the second place receiving an all-perfect science of the divinities from the Pythagoric and Orphic writings."
Proclus, The Theology of Plato, translated by Thomas Taylor, Book VII, Chapter 27: "...that Timæus being a Pythagorean, follows the Pythagorean principles. But these are the Orphic traditions. For what Orpheus delivered mystically through arcane narrations, these Pythagoras learned, being initiated by Aglaophemus in the Mystic wisdom which Orpheus derived from his mother Calliope. For these things Pythagoras says in the Sacred Discourse."
"Though the strong Neoplatonic conviction that the philosophy of Plato was a prolongation of the Orphic theology is disregarded by some modern scholars, Olympiodorus may be partly correct in asserting that 'Plato paraphrases Orpheus everywhere' ('pantachou gar ho Platon paroidei ta Orpheos,' [Olympiodorus, In Phaed. 10.3.13])." ( quoted from The Golden Chain, edited by Algis Uždavinys, 2004, World Wisdom, Inc.; from the introduction p. xviii)
“In the subjects belonging to theology the six great theologians join together: the first is Zoroaster, chief of Magi, the second Mercurius Trismegistos, the prince of Egyptian priests. Orpheus was successor to Mercurius; Aglaophamus was introduced into the sanctuaries by Orpheus. Pythagoras followed Aglaophamus in theology; Aglaophamus’ successor was Plato, who, in his works, summarized, improved and illustrated the wisdom of these men. They all veiled divine Mysteries with poetical shadows, so that they should not be communicated to the profane people. But it happened that their successors communicated the mysteries and everybody interpreted them in his own way.” [Marcilio Facino: Opp p.386. (=Theologia Platonica 17.1). Aglaophamos is transmitted as having been the Orphic teacher of Pythagoras; he was initiated into the sanctuaries by Agalophamus. S. Iamblichus: Vita Pythagora, and Procluss, in Timaion, p.289] {All this found on p.33 of PHILOSOPHIA PERENIS: Historical Outlines of Western Spirituality in Ancient, Medieval and Early Modern Thought by Wilhelm Schmidt-Biggemann, published by Springer, 2004}
[14] Guthrie, p. 18
[15] (Kern, testt. 7-9) Guthrie, p. 26
[16] From the Parian Chronicle, also called the Parian Marble, translated by Gillian Newing, Fragments 12-15: "From when Demeter, coming to Athens, [invented] the seed corn, and the [first festival of ploughing time was celebrated, under the instruction of T]riptolemus, son of Celeus and Neaira, 1146 years, when Erechtheus was king in Athens. From when Tripto[lemus reaped the corn which] he sowed in the Rarian plain called Eleusis, 1[1]45 years, when [Erechtheus] was king of Athens. [From when Orpheus ____] made known his own poetry, the rape of Kore and the search of Demeter and [the seed created by her and the mult]itude of those receiving the corn, 1135 years when Erechtheus was king of Athens. [From when Eumolpus _____] instituted the mysteries in Eleusis and made known the works of the [father of M]ousaios, [11______, when Erechthe]us son of Pandion [was king of Athens]." (These translations can be found on the Ashmolean website: http://www.ashmolean.org/ash/faqs/q004/q004009.html)
From Pausanias' Guide to Greece I, 9.30.5-6 (Peter Levi translation, 1979, pp.373-4): "Anyone who has already made a serious study of poetry knows the hymns of Orpheus are all extremely short, and even if you take them together not numerous. The Lykomidai know them and sing them at their mysteries. These beautiful verses are second only to the hymns of Homer, and even more honoured by the Gods." The Lykomidai were the hereditary family of torch-bearers at Eleusis.
In the play Rhesus by Euripides, 941-948: "And yet we sister Muses do special honour to thy city, thy land we chiefly haunt; yea, and Orpheus, own cousin of the dead whom thou hast slain, did for thee unfold those dark mysteries with their torch processions. Musaeus, too, thy holy citizen, of all men most advanced in lore, him did Phoebus with us sisters train."
[17] "Again, the practice of men sacrificing one another still exists among many nations; while, on the other hand, we hear of other human beings who did not even venture to taste the flesh of a cow and had no animal sacrifices, but only cakes and fruits dipped in honey, and similar pure offerings, but no flesh of animals; from these they abstained under the idea that they ought not to eat them, and might not stain the altars of the Gods with blood. For in those days men are said to have lived a sort of Orphic life, having the use of all lifeless things, but abstaining from all living things." Plato Laws VI, 782, from the translation of B. Jowett, 1892, found in the 1920 edition, Oxford University Press, p.541.
"First, Orpheus taught you religious rites, and from bloody murder to stay your hands" AristophanesThe Frogs, Line 1039, translated by B.B. Rogers, 1909, The Harvard Classics.
[18] Ps.-Kallisth.I. 42, 6.7 = Kern, test. 144
[19] "...Orpheus, who was trained to sing to the cithara and moved stones and trees by his singing." (Apollodoros' Library, Book I, Offspring of the Muses 14, translated by R. Scott Smith and Steven M. Trzaskoma, 2007, p.3)
"Next, with the rising of the Lyre, there floats forth from Ocean the shape of the tortoise-shell, which under the fingers of its heir gave forth sound only after death; once with it did Orpheus, Oeagrus' son, impart sleep to waves, feeling to rocks, hearing to trees, tears to Pluto, and finally a limit to death." (Manilius' Astronomica, 5.324, describing the constellations, translated by G. P. Goold, 1977, p.327)
"The tongue of Orpheus is quite the opposite of yours. He led all things by the rapture of his voice" (Aeschylus Agamemnon 1629, trans. Herbert Weir Smyth, 1926, Loeb)[20] "When his wife, Eurydice, died after being bitten by a snake, he went down to the house of Hades, wishing to bring her back, and persuaded Plouton to send her up." (Apollodoros' Library, Book I, Offspring of the Muses 14, translated by R. Scott Smith and Steven M. Trzaskoma, 2007, p.3)
"...and one may see among the stars the Lyre, its arms spread apart in heaven, with which in time gone by Orpheus charmed all that his music reached, making way even to the ghosts of the dead and causing the decrees of hell to yield to his song." (Manilius' Astronomica, 1.325, describing the constellations, translated by G. P. Goold, 1977, p.31)
[21] "Plouton promised to do this if Orpheus would not turn around as he made his way until he arrived at his own house. But Orpheus, in doubt, turned around and looked at his wife, and she returned to the underworld." (Apollodoros' Library, Book I, Offspring of the Muses 15, translated by R. Scott Smith and Steven M. Trzaskoma, 2007, p.3)
[22] "...he was torn apart by Mainads" (Apollodoros' Library, Book I, Offspring of the Muses 15, translated by R. Scott Smith and Stephen M. Trzaskoma, 2007, p.3)
[23] "Orpheus discovered the Mysteries of Dionysos, ..." (Apollodoros' Library, Book I, Offspring of the Muses 15, translated by R. Scott Smith and Steven M. Trzaskoma, 2007, p.3)
[24] "The ones he (ed. Jason) gathered were: Tiphys son of Hagneias, who was the ship's helmsman; Orpheus son of Oiagros..." (Apollodoros' Library, Book I, The Catalog of Argonauts 111, translated by R. Scott Smith and Steven M. Trzaskoma, 2007, p.15)
From the list of Argonauts: "Orpheus, the son of Oeagrus and the Muse Calliope, a Thracian from the city of Flevia, which is located on Mount Olympus on the river Enipeus. He was a prophet and a cithara player." (Hyginus' Fabulae, 14.1 The Assembly of the Argonauts, translated by R. Scott Smith and Steven M. Trzaskoma, 2007, p.100)
[25] "When they sailed past the Sirens, Orpheus sang the music to counteract their song and so restrained the Argonauts." (Apollodoros' Library, Book I, The Sirens and Other Obstacles 135, translated by R. Scott Smith and Steven M. Trzaskoma, 2007, p.18)
[26] "Heracles was taught to drive chariots by Amphitryon, to wrestle by Autolycos, to shoot a bow by Eurytos, to fight in armor by Castor, and to play the lyre by Linos, who was Orpheus' brother." (Apollodoros' Library, Book II, Heracles' Boyhood and Education; Linos 63, translated by R. Scott Smith and Steven M. Trzaskoma, 2007, p.28)
[27] "Orpheus son of Oeagrus kept time for the rowers." (Hyginus' Fabulae, 14.32 The Assembly of the Argonauts, translated by R. Scott Smith and Steven M. Trzaskoma, 2007, p.104)
[28] Pausanias Boeotia IX. 30.9-11 (the quote begins at 30.10), trans. W. H. S. Jones, 1935; found here in the 1961 Loeb edition on p.305-307.
[29] A Classical Manual, Being a Mythological, Historical, and Geographical Commentary on Pope's Homer, and Dryden's Æneid of Virgil, 1833; pp.442-443.
[30] "Calliope and Oiagros (though really Apollo) had Linos, whom Heracles killed, and Orpheus, who was trained to sing to the cithara and moved stones and trees by his singing." (Apollodorus' Library I.14, trans. R. Scott Smith and Steven M. Trzaskoma, 2007, Hackett Publishing, p.3)
- "Orpheus, the son of Oeagrus and the Muse Calliope, a Thracian from the city of Flevia, which is located on Mount Olympus on the river Enipeus. He was a prophet and a cithara player." Hyginus' Fabulae 14.1, trans. R. Scott Smith and Steven M. Trzaskoma, 2007, Hackett Publishing, p.100)
And we have a different opinion also: "By Oeagrus she (Polyhymnia) became the mother of Orpheus. (Schol. l. c. i. 23.)" (DGRBM)
[31] Θεόλογὁς, one who discourses of the Gods, of poets such as Hesiod and Orpheus; of cosmologists (like the Orphics); of diviners and prophets. 2. theologian (L&S p.790, right column, sub-heading under θεολογ-εῖον)
[32] "Orpheus also discovered the Mysteries of Dionysos..." (Apollodoros' Library I.15, trans. R. Scott Smith and Steven M. Trzaskoma, 2007, Hackett Publishing, p.3)
[33] "Some say that Orpheus came to his end by being struck by a thunderbolt, hurled at him by the God because he revealed sayings in the Mysteries to men who had not heard them before." (Pausanias Desc. of Greece, IX. Boeotia, 30.5, trans. W. H. S. Jones, 1935; found here in the 1961 Loeb edition on p.303) William Smith believed that this particular legend deserves much more attention than the other legends concerning the death of Orpheus (A Dictionary of Greek and Roman Biography and Mythology, edited by William Smith, 1880; 2007 I.B Tauris edition, Vol. III, p.61, left column). To be struck by a thunderbolt by Zeus is mythically extremely significant.
[34] While Plato regarded many of the writings attributed to Orpheus as spurious "...he seems to have believed at least in the existence of Orpheus and in the genuineness of his Theogony. Not so, however, Aristotle, who held that no such person as Orpheus ever existed, and that the works ascribed to him were forged by Cercops and Onomacritus." (A Dictionary of Greek and Roman Biography and Mythology, edited by William Smith, 1880; 2007 I.B Tauris edition, Vol. III, p.60, right column)
[35] A Dictionary of Greek and Roman Biography and Mythology, edited by William Smith, 1880; 2007 I.B Tauris edition, Vol. III, p.59-60.
[36] Such as in the hymn To Apollo, with its reference to the day being equal to the night. Also, the language of the hymns pre-dates Classical Greek.
*CM= A Classical Manual, Being a Mythological, Historical, and Geographical Commentary on Pope's Homer, and Dryden's Æneid of Virgil, 1833. This very old and amazing reference book does not list an author.
ADDITIONAL LINKS FROM THIS WEBSITE RELATING TO ORPHEUS: Orphism
PLEASE NOTE: Throughout the pages of this website, you will find fascinating stories about our Gods. These narratives are known as mythology, the traditional stories of the Gods and Heroes. While these tales are great mystical vehicles containing transcendent truth, they are symbolic and should not be taken literally. A literal reading will frequently yield an erroneous result. The meaning of the myths is concealed in code. To understand them requires a key. For instance, when a God kills someone, this usually means a transformation of the soul to a higher level. Similarly, sexual union with a God is a transformation.
PHOTO COPYRIGHT INFORMATION: The many pages of this website incorporate images, some created by the author, but many obtained from outside sources. To find out more information about these images and why this website can use them, visit this link: Photo Copyright Information
DISCLAIMER: The inclusion of images, quotations, and links from outside sources does not in any way imply agreement (or disagreement), approval (or disapproval) with the views of HellenicGods.org by the external sources from which they were obtained.
Further, the inclusion of images, quotations, and links from outside sources does not in any way imply agreement (or disagreement), approval (or disapproval) by HellenicGods.org of the contents or views of any external sources from which they were obtained.
We are the children of the Earth and the Starry Sky
For more information: Inquire.hellenicgods@gmail.com
© 2010 by HellenicGods.org. All Rights Reserved.






