"Orpheus Leading Eurydice from the Underworld" by Jean-Baptiste-Camille Corot
ORPHEUS
Orpheus surrounded by animals. Ancient Roman floor mosaic, from Palermo
The legend of Orpheus is particularly attractive to those in the
arts as all would wish their art had the sort of magical power
attributed to his music.
Orpheus
was a legendary musician, poet, and prophet in ancient Greek religion
and myth. The major stories about him are centred on his ability to
charm all living things and even stones with his music, his attempt
to retrieve his wife, Eurydice, from the underworld, and his death at
the hands of those who could not hear his divine music. As an
archetype of the inspired singer, Orpheus is one of the most
significant figures in the reception of classical mythology in
Western culture, portrayed or alluded to in countless forms of art
and popular culture including poetry, film, opera, music, and
painting. From Wikipedia
The mysticism
attributed to Orpheus was also a powerful influence on Greek life and
through that ultimately on European culture.
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.
Bertrand Russell
Orpheus (left, with lyre) among the Thracians, from an Attic red-figure bell-krater
ORPHEUS
There was a singer
once they say;
None ever sung as he
could sing,
And none could ever,
ever play
As he upon each
singing string.
The world would hush
when hearing him,
All listen in their
stillness, even
The winged
inhabitants of heaven
Would follow him;
wild beasts of prey
Would lie before his
feet in peace.
Great, leaf-proud
trees would gently sway;
And all would wish
him not to cease.
His lyre had but
seven strings,
Like seven planets
wandering
The deep and
starry-sounding sky.
And it was said of
him as well
Even the three-faced
hound of hell
Was lulled by his
soft lullaby.
And in the song that
he would sing
Lived deeper truth
of everything,
As he would sing of
deeper showing
From life to life to
grow to light...
And all that's seen
by sightless sight,
And all that's heard
in silent knowing.
And he would play
and he would roam,
And when he sang
soft winds would moan,
And all things
dreamt of their lost home.
Will ever any sing
such song?
For he has gone now-
he has gone.
Orpheus with the lyre and surrounded by beasts (Byzantine & Christian Museum, Athens)
Orpheus with the lyre and surrounded by beasts (Byzantine & Christian Museum, Athens)
