Orphism

The origins of Orphism are obscure, although they seem to date back at least to the sixth century b. c.e. Orphic ideology mainly concerned the mysteries of Dionysos, which many Greeks took very seriously. Thus, there was a certain reticence to speak about these mysteries, leaving modern scholars with only innuendos and side references to work with. Fortunately, archaeology has brought to light more direct data on this topic—papyri and leaves of gold buried with the dead to help them in their afterlife journeys.

Orphism, as the name implies, was attributed to the mythic poet Orpheus, son of Apollo and Calliope, who lived one generation before the Trojan War. Orpheus reputedly composed—actually wrote—several books of metaphysical philosophy concerning the origins and natures of the gods, the creation of humanity, and the path to a just life and blissful afterlife. Orphism espoused metempsychosis and the idea that morality in this life affects the quality of one's later (after)life.

According to Orphic theology, and in contrast to Hesiod's Theogony, Zeus once had sex with his mother Rhea. She gave birth to Persephone, with whom Zeus also had intercourse. Persephone bore Dionysos, who immediately achieved "favorite son" status with Zeus. Although Zeus kept the child well guarded, Hera, always the troublemaker, convinced the Titans to kidnap and murder the child. This they did, and ate Dionysos. Only his heart was preserved—by Athena, who gave it to Zeus. When Zeus found out about all this, he smote the Titans with a lightning bolt. From their ashes, humans were formed. Orphism, then, taught that the human body was composed of dead, evil gods. However, those Titans still had Dionysos, their last meal, running through their veins when they died, and thus Orphism taught that Dionysos was also present in all humans, providing the immortal aspect of the soul. In many respects, this theology ran contrary to Greek ideology, in which the gods were understood to be definitely immortal. The idea of humanity being created from the blood and body of an evil ex-deity, however, is present in Near Eastern cosmogonies like the Enuma Elish and Atrahasis, and it appears that some of Orphism derives from eastern ideologies.

One idea deriving from this myth was that humans were, by their very creation, evil, and guilty of Dionysos's death. Orphism held that humans consisted of evil flesh (Titans) that imprisoned a divine soul (Dionysos). Dionysos's mysteries purged humanity of this guilt, overcoming the evil flesh and setting humanity into accord with divinity. The books of Orpheus established how to do this, consisting of prescriptions for daily living as well as specific rituals used to expunge impurity. These having been mysteries, of course, we know little about the rituals. Even though some philosophers such as Plato scorned these mysteries and the "priests" who enacted them, the rites received enough reverence not to be spoken of except very indirectly. The general understanding is that, as with the Eleusinian Mysteries, some re-creation of the Dionysos story was reenacted, leading to catharsis and expiation of guilt (Guthrie 1993, 206).

Concerning the daily living, we know a bit more, and in many respects the Orphic lifestyle was similar to the Pythagorean (see chapter 10). Orphism disdained the flesh, the material aspect of humanity formed from the "sinful" Titans. The Orphic lifestyle, then, was ascetic, nonsensual, attempting to purify the flesh to bring one into closer union with the divine. As with Pythagorism, vegetarianism was practiced, and there was an interesting prohibition on eating beans as well.

The ultimate goal of Orphism was communion with the divine, an event that could only occur upon death and the final shedding of the evil flesh of humanity. Even in death, though, the initiate needed help in attaining bliss, lest he/she get reincarnated back into the human condition. To help the recently deceased, the Orphics buried their dead with "instructions" to navigate the afterlife. Often, these were composed on sheets of gold, and they have come to light in Hellenistic burials from Crete, Italy, and Thessaly (Meyer 1987, 101). The text from Thessaly reads:

I am parched with thirst, and perishing.

But drink of me, the ever-flowing spring on the

Right, (where) there is a fair cypress.

Who are you? Where are you from?

I am a child of Earth and of starry Heaven, but my

Race is of Heaven (alone).

(Translation by Meyer 1987, 101)

Orphics believed that the dead must wander through Hades, a hot and dry land. The written sheet reminded the deceased person's psyche not to drink the water of the left, which was Lethe, or Forgetfulness, but from the spring on the right, which was Memory. Then, when questioned by the afterlife judges, the initiate could claim to be a child of the divine, free from the dead and impure flesh of humanity (Meyer 1987, 101).