Orphism (religion)

Orphic mosaics were found in many late-Roman villas

Orphism (more rarely Orphicism; Ancient Greek: Ὀρφικά) is the name given to a set of religious beliefs and practices^[1] originating in the Ancient Greek and the Hellenistic world,^[2] as well as by the Thracians,^[3] associated with literature ascribed to the mythical poet Orpheus, who descended into Hades and returned. Orphics also revered Persephone (who annually descended into Hades for a season and then returned) and Dionysus or Bacchus (who also descended into Hades and returned). Orpheus was said to have invented the Mysteries of Dionysus.^[4] Poetry containing distinctly Orphic beliefs has been traced back to the 6th century BC^[5] or at least 5th century BC, and graffiti of the 5th century BC apparently refers to "Orphics".^[6]

Classical sources, such as Plato, refer to "Orpheus-initiators" (Ὀρφεοτελεσταί), and associated rites, although how far "Orphic" literature in general related to these rites is not certain.^[7] As in the Eleusinian mysteries, initiation into Orphic mysteries promised advantages in the afterlife.

Peculiarities

The main elements of Orphism differed from popular ancient Greek religion in the following ways:

• by characterizing human souls as divine and immortal but doomed to live (for a period) in a "grievous circle" of successive bodily lives through metempsychosis or the transmigration of souls.
• by prescribing an ascetic way of life which, together with secret initiation rites, was supposed to guarantee not only eventual release from the "grievous circle" but also communion with god(s).
• by being founded upon sacred writings about the origin of gods and human beings.

Evidence

Distinctively Orphic views and practices are attested as early as Herodotus, Euripides, and Plato. The recently published Derveni papyrus allows Orphic mythology to be dated back to the end of the 5th century BC,^[8] and it is probably even older.^[9] Other inscriptions found in various parts of the Greek world testify to the early existence of a movement with the same core beliefs that were later associated with the name of Orphism.

Mythology

The Orphic theogonies are genealogical works similar to the Theogony of Hesiod, but the details are different. They are possibly influenced by Near Eastern models. The main story is this: Dionysus (in his incarnation as Zagreus) is the son of Zeus and Persephone; Zeus gives his inheritance of the throne to the child, as Zeus is to leave due to Hera's anger over a child being born by another mother; the Titans are enraged over the proclamation of attendance and under Hera's instigation decide to murder the child, Dionysus is then tricked with a mirror and children's toys by the Titans who murder and consume him. Athena saves the heart and tells Zeus of the crime who in turn hurls a thunderbolt on the Titans. The resulting soot, from which sinful mankind is born, contains the bodies of the Titans and Dionysus. The soul of man (the Dionysus factor) is therefore divine, but the body (the Titan factor) holds the soul in bondage. Thus, it was declared that the soul returns to a host ten times, bound to the wheel of rebirth.

There are two Orphic stories of the rebirth of Dionysus: in one it is the heart of Dionysus that is implanted into the thigh of Zeus; in the other Zeus has impregnated the mortal woman Semele, resulting in Dionysus's literal rebirth. Many of these details differ from accounts in the classical authors. Firmicus Maternus, a Christian author, gives a different account with the book On the Error of Profane Religions. He says that Jupiter (Zeus) originally was a (mortal) king of Crete, and Dionysos was his son. Dionysos was murdered, and cannibalized. Only his heart was salvaged by Athena. A statue of gypsum (the same substance the Titans used to disguise themselves) was then made to look like Dionysos, and the heart is placed within.^[10]

• The "Protogonos Theogony", lost, composed c. 500 BC which is known through the commentary in the Derveni papyrus and references in classical authors (Empedocles and Pindar).
• The "Eudemian Theogony", lost, composed in the 5th century BC. It is the product of a syncretic Bacchic-Kouretic cult.
• The "Rhapsodic Theogony", lost, composed in the Hellenistic age, incorporating earlier works. It is known through summaries in later neo-Platonist authors.
• Orphic Hymns. 87 hexametric poems of a shorter length composed in the late Hellenistic or early Roman Imperial age.

Burial rituals and beliefs

Gold orphic tablet and case found in Petelia, southern Italy (British Museum)^[11]

Surviving written fragments show a number of beliefs about the afterlife similar to those in the "Orphic" mythology about Dionysus' death and resurrection. Bone tablets found in Olbia (5th century BC) carry short and enigmatic inscriptions like: "Life. Death. Life. Truth. Dio(nysus). Orphics." The function of these bone tablets is unknown.

Gold-leaf tablets found in graves from Thurii, Hipponium, Thessaly and Crete (4th century BC and after) give instructions to the dead. Although these thin tablets are often highly fragmentary, collectively they present a shared scenario of the passage into the afterlife. When the deceased arrives in the underworld, he is expected to confront obstacles. He must take care not to drink of Lethe ("Forgetfulness"), but of the pool of Mnemosyne ("Memory"). He is provided with formulaic expressions with which to present himself to the guardians of the afterlife.

I am a son of Earth and starry sky. I am parched with thirst and am dying; but quickly grant me cold water from the Lake of Memory to drink.^[12]

Other gold leaves offer instructions for addressing the rulers of the underworld:

Now you have died and now you have come into being, O thrice happy one, on this same day. Tell Persephone that the Bacchic One himself released you.^[13]

Pythagoreanism

Orphic views and practices have parallels to elements of Pythagoreanism. There is, however, too little evidence to determine the extent to which one movement may have influenced the other.^[14]

The book The works of Aristotle (1908, p. 80 Fragments) mentioned^[15]

Aristotle says the poet Orpheus never existed; the Pythagoreans ascribe this Orphic poem to a certain Cercon (see Cercops).

Bertrand Russell (1947) noted^[16]

The Orphics were an ascetic sect; wine, to them, was only a symbol, as, later, in the Christian sacrament. The intoxication that they sought was that of "enthusiasm," of union with the god. They believed themselves, in this way, to acquire mystic knowledge not obtainable by ordinary means. This mystical element entered into Greek philosophy with Pythagoras, who was a reformer of Orphism as Orpheus was a reformer of the religion of Dionysus. From Pythagoras Orphic elements entered into the philosophy of Plato, and from Plato into most later philosophy that was in any degree religious.

Platonism

Bertrand Russell (1947) pointed out about Socrates

He is not an orthodox Orphic; it is only the fundamental doctrines that he accepts, not the superstitions and ceremonies of purification.^[17]

See also

• Derveni papyrus
• Orpheus
• Leibethra
• Pimpleia
• Phanes

References

1. Sexuality in Greek and Roman Culture by Marilyn B. Skinner, 2005, page 135, "... of life, there was no coherent religious movement properly termed "Orphism" (Dodds 1957: 147-9; West 1983: 2-3). Even if there were, ..."
2. Three Faces of God by David L. Miller, 2005, Back Matter: "... assumed that this was a Christian trinitarian influence on late Hellenistic Orphism, but it may be that the Old Neoplatonists were closer ..."
3. History of Humanity: From the seventh century B.C.E. to the seventh century C.E. Routledge reference, Siegfried J. de Laet, UNESCO, 1996,ISBN 92-3-102812-X, pp. 182–183.
4. Apollodorus (Pseudo Apollodorus), Library and Epitome, 1.3.2. "Orpheus also invented the mysteries of Dionysus, and having been torn in pieces by the Maenads he is buried in Pieria."
5. Backgrounds of Early Christianity by Everett Ferguson, 2003, page 162, "Orphism began in the sixth century BCE"
6. W. K. C. Guthrie, The Greeks & Their Gods (Beacon, 1954), p. 322; Kirk, Raven, & Schofield, The Presocratic Philosophers (Cambridge, 1983, 2nd edition), pp. 21, 30–31, 33; Parker, "Early Orphism", pp. 485, 497
7. Parker, "Early Orphism", pp. 484, 487.
8. "The Derveni Papyrus: An Interdisciplinary Research Project". Harvard University, Center for Hellenic Studies.
9. Kirk, Raven, & Schofield, The Presocratic Philosophers (Cambridge, 1983, 2nd edition), pp. 30–31
10. Firmicus Maternus, De errore profanarum religionum 6.4
11. British Museum Collection
12. Numerous tablets contain this essential formula with minor variations; for the Greek texts and translations, see Fritz Graf and Sarah Iles Johnston, Ritual Texts for the Afterlife: Orpheus and the Bacchic Gold Tablets (Routlege, 2007), pp. 4–5 (Hipponion, 400 BC), 6–7 (Petelia, 4th century BC), pp. 16–17 (Entella, possibly 3rd century BC), pp. 20–25 (five tablets from Eleutherna, Crete, 2nd or 1st century BC), pp. 26–27 (Mylopotamos, 2nd century BC), pp. 28–29 (Rethymnon, 2nd or 1st century BC), pp. 34–35 (Pharsalos, Thessaly, 350–300 BC), and pp. 40–41 (Thessaly, mid-4th century BC) online.
13. Tablet from Pelinna, late 4th century BC, in Graf and Johnston, Ritual Texts for the Afterlife, pp. 36–37.
14. Parker, "Early Orphism", p. 501.
15. Aristotle; Ross, W. D. (William David), 1877; Smith, J. A. (John Alexander), 1863-1939 (1908). The works of Aristotle. p. 80.
16. Bertrand Russel (1947). History of Western Philosophy. George Allen and Unwin. p. 37.
17. Bertrand Russel (1947). History of Western Philosophy. George Allen and Unwin. p. 111.

Literature

• Albinus, L. (2000). The house of Hades: Studies in ancient Greek eschatology. Aarhus [Denmark: Aarhus University Press. ISBN 9788772888330
• Alderink, Larry J. Creation and Salvation in Ancient Orphism. University Park: American Philological Association, 1981. ISBN 9780891305026
• Athanassakis, Apostolos N. Orphic Hymns: Text, Translation, and Notes. Missoula: Scholars Press for the Society of Biblical Literature, 1977. ISBN 9780891301196
• Baird, William. History of New Testament Research, volume two: From Jonathan Edwards to Rudolf Bultmann". Minneapolis, Minn: Fortress Press. 2002, 393. ISBN 9780800626273
• Bernabé, Albertus (ed.), Orphicorum et Orphicis similium testimonia et fragmenta. Poetae Epici Graeci. Pars II. Fasc. 1. Bibliotheca Teubneriana, München/Leipzig: K.G. Saur, 2004. ISBN 3-598-71707-5
• Bernabé, Alberto. “Some Thoughts about the ‘New’ Gold Tablet from Pherai.” Zeitschrift für Papyrologie und Epigraphik 166 (2008): 53-58.
• Bernabé, Alberto and Ana Isabel Jiménez San Cristóbal. 2008. Instructions for the Netherworld: the Orphic Gold Tablets. Boston: Brill. ISBN 9789047423744
• Betegh, Gábor. 2006. The Derveni Papyrus: Cosmology, Theology and Interpretation. Cambridge. ISBN 9780521801089
• Bikerman, E. "The Orphic Blessing". Journal of the Warburg and Courtauld Institutes 2 (1938–39): 368-74.
• Bremmer, Jan. "Orphism, Pythagoras, and the Rise of the Immortal Soul". The Rise and Fall of the Afterlife: The 1995 Read-Tuckwell Lectures at the University of Bristol. New York: Routledge, 2002. 11-26. ISBN 9780415141475
• Bremmer, Jan. "Rationalization and Disenchantment in Ancient Greece: Max Weber among the Pythagoreans and Orphics?" From Myth to Reason: Studies in the Development of Greek Thought. Ed. Richard Buxton. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1999. 71-83.
• Brisson Luc. "Orphée et l'orphisme dans l'antiquité gréco-romaine". Aldershot: Variorum, 1995, env. 200 p. (pagination multiple), ISBN 0-86078-453-3.
• Burkert, Walter. 2004. Babylon, Memphis, Persepolis: Eastern Contexts of Greek Culture. Cambridge, MA. ISBN 9780674014893
• Burkert, Walter. "Craft Versus Sect: The Problem of Orphics and Pythagoreans". Jewish and Christian Self-Definition: Volume Three - Self-Definition in the Greco-Roman World. Ed. B. Meyer and E. P. Sanders. Philadelphia: Fortress, 1982.
• Comparetti, Domenico, and Cecil Smith. "The Petelia Gold Tablet". The Journal of Hellenic Studies 3 (1882): 111-18.
• Dungan, David L. A History of the Synoptic Problem: The Canon, the Text, the Composition, and the Interpretation of the Gospels. New York: Doubleday, 1999. Print. 54-55. ISBN 9780385471923
• Edmonds, Radcliffe. Myths of the Underworld Journey: Plato, Aristophanes, and the 'Orphic' Gold Tablets. New York: Cambridge University Press, 2004. ISBN 9780521834346
• Edmunds, Radcliffe. “Tearing Apart the Zagreus Myth: A Few Disparaging Remarks on Orphism and Original Sin.” Classical Antiquity 18.1 (1999): 35-73.
• Finkelberg, Aryeh. "On the Unity of Orphic and Milesian Thought". The Harvard Theological Review 79 (1986): 321-35. ISSN 0017-8160
• Graf, Fritz. 1974. Eleusis und die orphische Dichtung Athens. Berlin, New York, ISBN 9783110044980.
• Graf, Fritz. "Dionysian and Orphic Eschatology: New Texts and Old Questions". Masks of Dionysus. Ed. T. Carpenter and C. Faraone. Ithaca: Cornell UP, 1993. 239-58, ISSN 0012-9356.
• Graf, Fritz, and Sarah Iles Johnston. 2007. Ritual texts for the Afterlife: Orpheus and the Bacchic Gold Tablets. Routledge: London, New York, ISBN 9780415415507.
• Guthrie, W. K. C. 1935, revised 1952. Orpheus and Greek Religion: A Study of the Orphic Movement. London.
• Harrison, Jane Ellen. Prolegomena to the Study of Greek Religion. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1903.
• Herrero de Jáuregui, Miguel. "Orphism and Christianity in Late Antiquity". Berlin / New York: Walter de Gruyter, 2010, ISBN 9783110216608.
• Kern, Otto. Orphicorum fragmenta, Berolini apud Weidmannos, 1922.
• Linforth, Ivan M. Arts of Orpheus. New York: Arno Press, 1973.
• Martin, Luther H. Hellenistic Religions: An Introduction 1987, 102, ISBN 9780195043907.
• Nilsson, Martin. "Early Orphism and Kindred Religious Movements". The Harvard Theological Review 28.3 (1935): 181–230.
• Parker, Robert. "Early Orphism" The Greek World. Ed. Anton Powell. New York: Routledge, 1995. 483–510, ISBN 9780415060318.
• Pugliese Carratelli, Giovanni. 2001. Le lamine doro orfiche. Milana, Libri Scheiwiller.
• Robertson, Noel. “Orphic Mysteries and Dionysiac Ritual.” Greek Mysteries: the Archaeology and Ritual of Ancient Greek Secret Cults. Ed. Michael B. Cosmopoulos. New York: Routledge, 2004. 218-40, ISBN 9780415248723.
• Sournia Alain. Chap. "Sagesse orientale et philosophie occidentale : la période axiale" in Fondements d'une philosophie sauvage. Connaissances et savoirs, 2012, 300 p., ISBN 9782753901872.
• Tierney, M. "The Origins of Orphism". The Irish Theological Quarterly 17 (1922): 112–27.
• West, Martin L. "Graeco-Oriental Orphism in the 3rd cent. BC". Assimilation et résistence à la culture Gréco-romaine dans le monde ancient: Travaux du VIe Congrès International d’Etudes Classiques. Ed. D. M. Pippidi. Paris: Belles Lettres, 1976. 221–26.
• West, Martin L. 1983. Orphic Poems. Oxford, ISBN 9780198148548.
• Wroe, Ann. Orpheus: The Song of Life, The Overlook Press, New York: 2012, ISBN 9781590207789.
• Zuntz, Günther. Persephone: Three Essays on Religion and Thought in Magna Graecia. Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1971, ISBN 9780198142867.

External links

• Online Text: The Orphic Hymns translated by Thomas Taylor
• The Orphic Hymns translated by Thomas Taylor – alternative version
• Alexander Fol, Orphica Magica I, Sofia 2004
• Rosicrucian Digest vol. 87 devoted entirely to Orphism
• Edmonds, Radcliffe. “Tearing Apart the Zagreus Myth: A Few Disparaging Remarks on Orphism and Original Sin.” Classical Antiquity 18.1 (1999): 35-73.
• A Genealogy of Philosophic Enlightenment in Classical Greece
• Orphism
• Orphic Religion