In Greece before 500 BC, ideas such as those mentioned in the last paragraph hardly arose. In the 6th century BC, however, there emerged a strain of religion that laid great stress on a pure and immaculate life as a prerequisite for the immortal existence of the soul after the death of the body, in a sort of paradise under the earth or among the planets and the stars of heaven. If that was not possible, then at least a happy rebirth on Earth could be hoped for. These ideas were new in that time. Their adherents invoked the mythical singer Orpheus, who was said to have gone to the underworld in order to fetch his beloved Eurydice back to life, and who had, albeit alone, come back to the realm of the living, having overcome death in that way; hence the name Orphics. New in this was the concept of an immortal soul, which was understood to be equal to one’s intellect and consciousness, whereas the emotions were thought of as the mortal and perishable part of the psuche. New also was the fact that these Orphics formed private associations that were outside the religious mainstream of the polis. Holy “books” and oracles attributed to Orpheus circulated among them. In subsequent centuries, such private movements or associations would play a major role in the spread of new religions and new forms of religiosity. In the 6th century, however, the Orphics probably were still a small group in various Greek states, particularly the Greek colonies in the south of Italy. For the vast majority of the Greeks, the traditional gods and goddesses with all their human attractions and failings probably still sufficed.
World History
