Orphism (religion)

Orphism (more rarely Orphicism) (Ancient Greek: Ὀρφικά) is the name given to a set of religious[1] beliefs and practices in the ancient Greek and the Hellenistic world,[2][3][4][5] as well as by the Thracians,[6] 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.[7] Poetry containing distinctly Orphic beliefs has been traced back to the 6th century BC[8] or at least 5th century BC, and graffiti of the 5th century BC apparently refers to "Orphics".[9]

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.[10] As in the Eleusinian mysteries, initiation into Orphic mysteries promised advantages in the afterlife.

Contents

Peculiarities

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

Compare with Christianity, Hinduism, Buddhism and Gnosticism.

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 4th century BC, and it is probably even older.[11] 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

See also: Orpheus#Orphic poems and rites

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; 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, contain the bodies of the Titans and Dionysus. The soul of man (Dionysus factor) is therefore divine, but the body (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 of which it is the heart of Dionysus that is implanted into the thigh of Zeus; he 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.[12] .

Burial rituals and beliefs

See also: Totenpass

Surviving written fragments show a number of beliefs about the after life similar to those in the "Orphic" mythology about Dionysus' death and resurrection. Bone tablets found in Olbia (5th cent. 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 BCE 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.[13]

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.[14]

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.[15]

See also

References

  1. ^ Sexuality in Greek and Roman Culture (Ancient Cultures) 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. ^ A History of the Synoptic Problem: The Canon, the Text, the Composition, and the Interpretation of the Gospels (The Anchor Bible Reference Library) by David Dungan and David Laird Dungan,1999,Back Matter: "... Neoplatonist Albinus (21-31). 54 Dial. 4.2 (italics added). 55 In Hellenistic Orphism, "an ascetic life featuring specific abstinences, especially vegetarianism," would have ..."
  4. ^ History of New Testament Research, Volume 2 (History of New Testament Research) by William Baird,2002,page 393: "... its religious neighbors, Lagrange focuses on a single example of Hellenistic religion, Orphism. This example, he thinks, is particularly appropriate, because Orphism is ...
  5. ^ Luther H. Martin,, Hellenistic Religions: An Introduction 1987:102: "... ritually participated in an actual mystery ritual. More striking to Hellenistic observers of Orphism than any supposed ritual practices were their ascetic practices ..."
  6. ^ History of Humanity: From the seventh century B.C. to the seventh century A.D. Routledge reference, Siegfried J. de Laet, UNESCO, 1996,ISBN 923102812X, pp. 182-183.
  7. ^ 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."
  8. ^ Backgrounds of Early Christianity by Everett Ferguson,2003,page 162,"Orphism began in the sixth century B.C"
  9. ^ 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
  10. ^ Parker, "Early Orphism", pp. 484, 487.
  11. ^ Kirk, Raven, & Schofield, The Presocratic Philosophers (Cambridge, 1983, 2nd edition), pp. 30-31
  12. ^ Firmicus Maternus, De errore profanarum religionum 6.4
  13. ^ 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 BCE), 6–7 (Petelia, 4th century BCE), pp. 16–17 (Entella, possibly 3rd century BCE), pp. 20–25 (five tablets from Eleutherna, Crete, 2nd or 1st century BCE), pp. 26–27 (Mylopotamos, 2nd century BCE), pp. 28–29 (Rethymnon, 2nd or 1st century BCE), pp. 34–35 (Pharsalos, Thessaly, 350–300 BCE), and pp. 40–41 (Thessaly, mid-4th century BCE) online.
  14. ^ Tablet from Pelinna, late 4th century BCE, in Graf and Johnston, Ritual Texts for the Afterlife, pp. 36–37.
  15. ^ Parker, "Early Orphism", p. 501.

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