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Orpheus and Orphism

Selected sites for more information on Orpheus and Orphism.

Orpheus, the mythological figure who is most famous for attempting to bring back his wife from the Underworld, became the founder of a ìvibrant, adaptable, and popular religious movement, once known as "the Orphic life," which today we call Orphism. The movement seems to have come about because of Orpheus' Hymns; he was supposed to have "superhuman musical skills," (as we clearly see demonstrated in Ovidís Metamorphoses. These ìHymnsî or ìRhapsodiesî or so-called ìMysteriesî of Orpheus dealt with the main issues of purification and afterlife. You can read a large number of these translated hymns .

Central to the beliefs of Orphic observers seems to be the need to ìrelease the soul from the ëwheel of birth,íî meaning of course the cycle of reincarnation. Once ìreleasedî the soul became a god and ìenjoyed everlasting bliss"

Orphism was new to Greece in two ways: 1.) It was based on the written word as the source of religious authority, and 2.) Itís communities were not based on blood but on ìvoluntary adhesion and initiationî

Below are a list of links and a summary of each webpage:

EXPLORING PLATO'S DIALOGUES A Virtual Learning Environment on the World-Wide Web, Early Greek Philosophy
Science and Religion by John Burnet

Orphicism

It was not, however, in its Delian form that the northern religion had most influence. In Thrace it had attached itself to the wild worship of Dionysus, and was associated with the name of Orpheus. In this religion the new beliefs were mainly based on the phenomenon of "ecstasy" (ekstasis, "stepping out"). It was supposed that it was only when "out of the body" that the soul revealed its true nature. It was not merely a feeble double of the self, as in Homer, but a fallen god, which might be restored to its high estate by a system of "purificationís" (katharmoi) and sacraments (orgia). In this form, the new religion made an immediate appeal to all sorts and conditions of men who could not find satisfaction in the worship of the secularized anthropomorphic gods of the poets and the state religions.

The Orphic religion had two features which were new in Greece. It looked to a written revelation as the source of religious authority, and its adherents were organized in communities, based, not on any real or supposed tie of blood, but on voluntary adhesion and initiation. Most of the Orphic literature that has come down to us is of late date and uncertain origin, but the thin gold plates, with Orphic verses inscribed on them, discovered at Thourioi and Petelia take us back to a time when Orphicism was still a living creed. From them we learn that it had striking resemblance to the beliefs prevalent in India about the same time, though it is really impossible to assume any Indian influence in Greece at this date. In any case, the main purpose of the Orphic observances and rites was to release the soul from the "wheel of birth," that is, from reincarnation in animal or vegetable forms. The soul so released became once more a god and enjoyed everlasting bliss

http://www.globaltown.com/shawn/orphic.html

The Orphic Hymns with other texts for the study of the ancient Greek mysteries translated by Shawn Eyer The Orphic Hymn to Artemis is copyright © 1993 by Phanes Press. The Orphic Hymn to Aphrodite is copyright © 1995 by the Church of All Worlds. All other translations Copyright © 1991-1996 by Shawn Eyer. All rights reserved, including international rights.

Introduction

At the beginning of the Greek mystical tradition lies the legend of Orpheus, the courageous musician who ventured into the Underworld to rescue his true love Euridice. According to the myth, Orpheus returned from Hades, without his wife, but with a vast personal knowledge of the world of the gods. Orpheus is said to be the originator the the Mysteries, the first Initiator.

Behind these heroic and inspiring mythologies lies a vibrant, adaptable, and popular religious movement, once known as "the Orphic life," which today we call Orphism. Orphism was the esoterical heartbeat of the Hellenistic world, the first of the great Mystery schools, and a major impetus in the development of Greek philosophy and the Western mind. Leaving behind a vast body of artwork and literature, this ancient formof theosophy swept through the ancient world with a doctine that within each woman and man rested an immortal seed.

The Hymns which form the major part of this collection are late products of the Orphic religion, not the celebrated (and probably more beautiful) collection of songs which were renowned throughout the ancient world.

About This Translation

The Orphic Hymns have not been translated often into modern English, and there are thus not a wide variety of versions from which to choose. All of them, moreover, have been done within the confines of the academic world, and as such were not done in a manner conducive to ritual use. This translation in progress is meant to provide a suitable English version. An invocation should sound like an invocation.

Orphic

Besides community initiations, there were ceremonies for individual persons of deeper religious longing. Such persons were called Orphics after Orpheus, the Greek hero with superhuman musical skills who was supposedly the author of sacred writings; these writings were called the Orphic rhapsodies and they dealt with such subjects as purification and the afterlife. It is possible to reconstruct a common pattern for these initiations of individuals, although an Orphic ìchurchî never existed, and the doctrines of the manysmall communities of individualists varied on a broad scale.

Many Orphics seem to have had a strong feeling of sin and guilt. They believed that there was a divine part in manóhis soulóbut it was wrapped up in the body, and man's task was to liberate the soul from the body. This could be achieved by living an Orphic life, which included abstinence from meat, wine, and sexual intercourse. After death the soul would be judged. If a man had lived a righteous life, his soul would be sent to the meadows of the blessed in Elysium; but, if he had committed misdeeds, his soul would be punished in various ways and perhaps sent to hell. Following a period of reward or punishment, the soul would be incarnated in a new body. Only a soul that had lived a pious life three times could be liberated from the cycle.

HELLENIC RELIGION

Orphean Cosmogony is the oldest existing description of the creation of the World, or, more precisely, the Cosmos.In the Hellenic language, Cosmos literally means ornament, coming from the verb "cosmoo", meaning to adorn, later to embellish. The Stoics, the philosopher Hellanikos and others have also described identically the process of creation, but each with his own mystical terminology. In antiquity, the ones who knew were bound not to reveal these things to the public, as this was considered a blasphemy. Cosmological knowledge was sacred. It derived from the ´Golden Epochª of Mankind (Golden as used by Hesiodus). It was preserved by mystics, as religious knowledge, during the long ages of regression of human civilization, that followed the floods (of Ogygos and Deukalion) and other delusionary events. In the present day, scientific knowledge is so disseminated, that this mystic prohibition is useless and obsolete.

Orphic Hymns translated by Thomas Taylor

To Musaeus | To The Goddess Prothyraea | To Night
To Protogonus | To the Stars | To the Sun

To Pan | To Hercules | To Saturn To Rhea | To Jupiter | To Juno

To Neptune | To Pluto | To Thundering Jove

To Jove, as the Author of Lightning | To the Clouds | To the Sea, or Tethys

To Nereus | To the Nereids | To Proteus

To the Earth | To the Mother of the Gods | To Mercury

To Proserpine | To Bacchus | To the Curetes

To Pallas | To Victory | To Apollo

To Latona | To Diana | To the Titans

To The Curetes | To Corybas | To Ceres | To the Ceralian Mother

To Mises | To the Seasons | To Semele

To Dionysus Bassareus Triennalis | To Liknitus Bacchus | To Bacchus Pericionius

To Sabasius | To Ippa | To Lysius Lenaeus

To the Nymphs | To Trietericus | To Amphietus Bacchus

To Silenus, Satyrus, and the Priestesses of Bacchus | To Venus | To Adonis

To the Terrestrial Hermes | To Cupid, or Love | To the Fates

To the Graces | To Nemesis | To Justice

To Equity | To Law | To Mars

To Vulcan | To Eculapius | To Health

To the Furies | To the Furies | To Melinoe

To Fortune | To the Daemon, or Genius | To Leucothea

To Palaemon | To the Muses | To Mnemosyne, or the Goddess of Memory

To Aurora | To Themis | To the North Wind

To the West Wind | To the South Wind | To Ocean

To Vesta | To Sleep | To the Divinity of Dreams

To Death