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Myths helped ancient people make sense of their world and explained aspects of their current society. These stories often developed over time and came to represent different things. Many myths played an important part in ancient’s societies Cosmology and religion. A good example of this is the cycle of myths concerning Orpheus. He was at once a hero, musician, poet, and religious prophet. His life and death demonstrated to the Greeks the importance of music and poetry. His stories inspired a cult and a Mystery Religion even developed around the life and supposed teachings of Orpheus. The stories about the singer and prophet were among the most important in the Classical World and have continued to be, to this day.
==Origin of Orpheus==
Little is known about the origin of the stories of Orpheus and his origins may lie in Mycenaean era or in Minoan Civilization. The myths of Orpheus often have a Thracian connection and the Orphic tales may have originated in that region. Some have proposed that his name is based on the Greek word for orphan. A late Roman writer argued that the name Orpheus comes from ‘best voice’ in Greek. The earliest reference that we have for Orpheus comes from a 6th-century poem. There are many allusions to the poet, musician and prophet in the 5th and 4th century BC. However, at an early date, there was some doubt expressed as to whether or not Orpheus was a real person. Most Greeks and later Romans viewed him as an important historical figure <ref>Detienne, M. The writing of Orpheus: Greek myth in cultural context (JHU, JHU Press, 2002), p. 14</ref>. They believed he was a singer or a magician who existed in the generation before the Trojan War. Commentators from the Roman period believed that there was more than one Orpheus. There were up to four individuals known as Orpheus, and they were Greek and Thracians who were magicians, seers, musicians’ or prophets. There were probably others, including poets and religious figures who adopted the name Orpheus. It is not known if these individuals simply assumed the name or whether Orpheus was a moniker or title of some sort. A large body of poem and religious writings were known as Orphic writings in the Graeco-Roman World, which were very popular. These were almost certainly not the work of one figure. The popular version of Orpheus and his life came into its current form in the work of Virgil and Ovid <ref>Detienne, Marcel. The writing of Orpheus: Greek myth in cultural context (JHU, JHU Press, 2002), p. 145</ref>.
[[File: Orpheus three.jpg|200px|thumb|left| 19th century statue of the death of Eurydice]]
==Orpheus and Eurydice==
Orpheus and Eurydice married in a beautiful ceremony and the musician would play songs and his wife would dance to them. One day, God Aristaeus, the son of Apollo. saw Eurydice and instantly fell in love with her. He was a minor God and a cultural hero, associated with practical skills such as beekeeping. Aristaeus one day chased Eurydice and tried to abduct her. The wife of Orpheus fled but as she did, she trod on a snake, that bit her, and she died. There is another version of her death, according to Ovid <ref>Ovid. Metamorphoses, x, vi</ref>. In this version, Eurydice died on her wedding day, when during a dance she stepped on a venomous snake. Naturally, Orpheus was devastated, and he was grief-stricken. The gods and the nymphs were all so saddened that they decided to help him to retrieve his wife from Hades, the realm of the dead. The gods helped Orpheus to descend into the Underworld, which was strictly out of bounds for humans. One myth narrates that Orpheus father, Apollo had Hades’ grant the musician access to his dead beloved. Another version reports that Orpheus music melted the hearts of the God of the Underworld. He allowed Eurydice to follow Orpheus out of the Underworld on the condition that he did not look back as his wife exited the Underworld <ref>Ovid Metamorphoses, x, vi</ref>. However, Orpheus was not strong enough and turned back to see his wife and immediately Eurydice was drawn back into the realm of the Dead and she returned to the shadows.
==The death of Orpheus==
Orpheus was heartbroken and wandered in a daze. Now he could only sing sad and mournful songs and his only ease was staring at the infinite skies. As he drifted in Thrace, he encountered a group of women. They demanded that he sing for them, but he refused as he was heartbroken. The Thracian women were enraged, and they attacked him and tore the singer limb from limb and flung his body parts into a river. In other versions of the myth, he is torn asunder by female followers of Dionysus (Bacchus in Roman sources), after rejecting their sexual advances. According to one story, as his head floated down the river, it was still singing<ref>Virgil, The Georgics, iv</ref>. The Muses and nymphs buried him on an island, and it was claimed that music would rise from the tomb of Orpheus. In another version, the head of the musician became an oracle of his father, Apollo. Many myths show Orpheus and Eurydice being happily reunited in the Blessed Fields, in the Underworld<ref>Ovid. Metamorphoses, x, vi</ref>.
[[File: Orpheus four.jpg|200px|thumb|left| Gold tablets with Orphic inscriptions]]
==The religion of Orphism==
A large amount of poem, treatise, oracles, hymns, and religious works came to be attributed to Orpheus. By at least the 6th century BC, there was a cult dedicated to the great musician, this was not uncommon. At some point a whole religion developed based on the alleged prophecies and teachings of Orpheus, these were spread by itinerant priests. Many believe that Orphism, as it is known by modern scholars, was a reform of the cult of Dionysus. Thracian and Pythagorean influences have also been identified on the religion. Orphism taught its followers to live an ascetic life and to abstain from eating meat and to eschew all forms of violence. Some has seen similarities between Orphism and Buddhism and Jainism. A set of rites and ceremonies played a very important role in Orphism. These led eventually to the famous Orphic Mysteries. This was a Mystery Religion where initiates were given secret knowledge to the initiates. There are only a few sources on the religion which did not have a coherent set of doctrines. It appears that during the rituals that the descent of Orpheus into the underworld and his dismemberment and death were re-enacted. It has been suggested that these rites originated in the Dionysian Mysteries. Orphism taught that the uninitiated would be doomed to be reincarnated and suffer while the initiated would go to a Blessed afterlife with heroes such as Orpheus and Eurydice<ref>Guthrie, William Keith. Orpheus and Greek religion: a study of the Orphic movement (Princeton, Princeton University Press, 1993), pp. 125-145</ref>. Evidence communities forming around Orphic texts and rituals have been found from Southern Italy to the Crimea. In many parts of Greece and elsewhere, Orphic shrines were often believed to have oracles, that could foretell the future.
Edmonds, Radcliffe G., K. Dowden, and N. Livingstone. "Orphic Mythology." A Companion to Greek Mythology (2011): 73-106.
The Orphic Hymns. JHU Press, 2013.
Edmonds III, Radcliffe G. Redefining ancient Orphism: a study in Greek religion. Cambridge University Press, 2013.
==References==
