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A New System; or, an Analysis of Ancient Mythology. Volume II

By Jacob Bryant

ORPHEUS.

The character of Orpheus is in some respects not unlike that of Zoroaster, as will appear in the sequel. He went over many regions of the earth; and in all places, whither he came, was esteemed both as a priest, and a prophet. There seems to be more in his history than at first sight appears: all which will by degrees be unfolded. His skill in harmony is represented as very wonderful: insomuch that he is said to have tamed the wild beasts of the forest, and made the trees follow him. He likewise could calm the winds, and appease the raging of the sea. These last circumstances are taken notice of by a poet in some fine verses, wherein he laments his death.

He is mentioned, as having been twice in a state of ^[1015]death; which is represented as a twofold descent to the shades below. There is also an obscure piece of mythology about his wife, and a serpent; also of the Rhoia or Pomegranate: which seems to have been taken from some symbolical representation at a time, when the purport was no longer understood. The Orpheans dealt particularly in symbols, as we learn from Proclus. ^[1016]Ορφικοι δια συμβολον, Πυθαγορειοι δια εικονων, τα θεια μηνυειν εφιεμενοι. His character for science was very great; and Euripides takes particular notice of some antient tablets, containing much salutary knowledge, which were bequeathed to the Thracians by Orpheus: ^[1017]ἁς Ορφειη κατεγραψε γηρυς. Plato styles his works ^[1018]βιβλων ὁμαδον, a vast lumber of learning, from the quantity, which people pretended had been transmitted from him. He one while resided in Greece; and particularly at Thebes in Bœotia. Here he introduced the rites of Dionusus, and celebrated his Orgies upon mount ^[1019]Cithæron. He is said to have been the first who instituted those rites: and was the author of all mysterious worship. ^[1020]Πρωτος Ορφευς μυστηρια Θεων παρεδωκεν. All these were accompanied with science of another nature: for he is reputed to have been skilled in many arts.

From Thebes he travelled towards the sea-coast of Chaonia, in order to recover his lost Eurydice; who had been killed by a serpent. According to ^[1021]Agatharchides Cnidius it was at Aorthon in Epirus, that he descended for this purpose to the shades below. The same account is given by ^[1022]Pausanias, who calls the place more truly Aornon. In the Orphic Argonauts it is said to have been performed at Tænarus in ^[1023]Laconia. He likewise resided in Egypt, and travelled over the regions of Libya; and every where instructed people in the rites, and religion, which he professed. In the same manner he went over a great part of the world.

Some make Orpheus by birth a Thracian; some an Arcadian: others a Theban. Pausanias mentions it as an opinion among the ^[1025]Egyptians, that both Orpheus, and Amphion, were from their country. There is great uncertainty about his parents. He is generally supposed to have been the son of Œagrus, and Calliope: but Asclepiades made him the son of Apollo, by that ^[1026]Goddess. By some his mother was said to have been Menippe; by others ^[1027]Polymnia. He is also mentioned as the son of ^[1028]Thamyras. Plato differs from them all, and styles both Orpheus, and Musæus, ^[1029]Σεληνης και Μουσων εγγονοι, the offspring of the Moon, and the Muses: in which account is contained some curious mythology. The principal place of his residence is thought to have been in Pieria near mount Hæmus. He is also said to have resided among the Edonians; and in Sithonia, at the foot of mount Pangæus; also upon the sea-coast at Zona. In all these places he displayed his superiority in science; for he was not only a Poet, and skilled in harmony, but a great Theologist and Prophet; also very knowing in medicine, and in the history of the ^[1030]heavens. According to Antipater Sidonius, he was the author of Heroic verse. And some go so far as to ascribe to him the invention of letters; and deduce all knowledge from ^[1031]him.

Many of the things, reported to have been done by Orpheus, are attributed to other persons, such as ^[1032]Eetion, Musæus, Melampus, Linus, Cadmus, and Philammon. Some of these are said to have had the same ^[1033]parents. Authors in their accounts of Orpheus, do not agree about the manner of his ^[1034]death. The common notion is, that he was torn to pieces by the Thracian women. But, according to Leonides, in Laërtius, he was slain by lightning: and there is an ^[1035]epitaph to that purpose. The name of Orpheus is to be found in the lists of the Argonauts: and he is mentioned in the two principal poems upon that subject. Yet there were writers who placed him eleven generations before the war of Troy, consequently ten generations before that expedition. ^[1036]Γεγονε προ ια γενεων των Τρωικων—βιωναι δε γενεας θ· ὁι δε ια φησιν. He was born eleven ages before the siege of Troy, and he is said to have lived nine ages; and according to some eleven. This extent of ^[1037]life has been given him in order to bring him down as low as the aera of the Argonauts: though, if we may believe Pherecydes Syrus, he had no share in that expedition.

To remedy the inconsistences, which arise in the history of Orpheus, writers have supposed many persons of this name. Suidas takes notice of no less than four in ^[1038]Thrace. But all these will not make the history consistent. Vossius therefore, with good reason, doubts whether such a person ever existed. Nay, he asserts, ^[1039]Triumviros istos Poeseos, Orphea, Musæum, Linum, non fuisse: sed esse nomina ab antiquâ Phœnicum linguâ, quâ usi Cadmus, et aliquamdiu posteri. There is great truth in what Vossius here advances: and in respect to Orpheus, the testimony of Aristotle, quoted by him from Cicero, is very decisive. ^[1040]Orpheum poetam docet Aristoteles nunquam fuisse. Dionysius, as we learn from Suidas, affirmed the same thing. Palæphatus indeed admits the man; but sets aside the history. ^[1041]Ψευδης και ὁ περι του Θρφεως μυθος. The history too of Orpheus is nothing else but a fable. From what has been said, I think it is plain, that under the character of this personage we are to understand a people named ^[1042]Orpheans; who, as Vossius rightly intimates, were the same as the Cadmians. In consequence of this, there will sometimes be found a great similarity between the characters of these two persons.

I have shewn, that Colonies from ^[1043]Egypt settled in the region of Sethon, called afterwards Sethonia, upon the river Palæstinus. They were likewise to be found in the countries of Edonia, Pieria, and Peonia: in one of which they founded a city and temple. The Grecians called this city Orpheus: ^[1044]Ορφευς εστι πολις υπο τῃ Πιεριῃ. Orpheus is a city of Thrace, below Pieria. But the place was originally expressed Orphi, by which is meant the oracular temple of Orus. From hence, and from the worship here instituted, the people were styled Orphites, and Orpheans. They were noted for the Cabiritic mysteries; and for the Dionusiaca, and worship of Damater. They were likewise very famous for the medicinal arts; and for their skill in astronomy and music. But the Grecians have comprehended, under the character of one person, the history of a people. When they settled in Thrace, they introduced their arts, and their worship, among the barbarous ^[1045]natives, by whom they were revered for their superior knowledge. They likewise bequeathed many memorials of themselves, and of their forefathers, which were probably some emblematical sculptures upon wood or stone: hence we read of the tablets of Orpheus preserved in Thrace, and particularly upon mount ^[1046]Hæmus. The temple which they built upon this mountain seems to have been a college, and to have consisted of a society of priests. They were much addicted to celibacy, as we may judge from their history; and were, in great measure, recluses after the mode of Egypt and Canaan. Hence it is said of Orpheus, that he secreted himself from the world, and led the life of a ^[1047]Swan: and it is moreover mentioned of Aristæus, when he made a visit to Dionusus upon mount Hæmus, that he disappeared from the sight of men, and was never after ^[1048]seen. According to the most common accounts concerning the death of Orpheus, it was owing to his principles, and manner of life. He was a solitary, and refused all commerce with womankind: hence the Mænades, and other women of Thrace, rose upon him, and tore him to pieces. It is said, that his head, and lyre were thrown into the Hebrus; down which they were wafted to Lemnos. What is here mentioned of Orpheus, undoubtedly relates to the Orpheans, and to their temple upon mount Hæmus. This temple was in process of time ruined: and there is great reason to think, that it was demolished upon account of the cruelties practised by the priests, and probably from a detestation of their unnatural crimes, to which there are frequent allusions. Ovid having given a character of Orpheus, concludes with an accusation to this purpose.

Those of the community, who survived the disaster, fled down the Hebrus to Lesbos; where they either found, or erected, a temple similar to that which they had quitted. Here the same worship was instituted; and the place grew into great reputation. They likewise settled at Lenmos. This island lay at no great distance from the former; and was particularly devoted to the Deity of fire. It is said by Hecatæus, that it received the name of Lemnos from the Magna Dea, Cybele. She was styled by the natives Λημνος, and at her shrine they used to sacrifice young persons. ^[1050]Απο μεγαλης λεγομενης Θεου· ταυτῃ δε και παρθενους εθυον. They seem to have named the temple at Lesbos Orphi, and Orpheï caput: and it appears to have been very famous on account of its oracle. Philostratus says, that the Ionians, and Æolians, of old universally consulted it: and, what is extraordinary, that it was held in high estimation by the people of ^[1051]Babylonia. He calls the place the head of Orpheus: and mentions, that the oracle proceeded from a cavity in the earth; and that it was consulted by Cyrus, the Persian. That the Babylonians had a great veneration for a temple named Orphi, I make no doubt: but it certainly could not be the temple at Lesbos. During the Babylonish empire, Greece, and its islands, were scarcely known to people of that country. And when the Persians succeeded, it is not credible, that they should apply to an oracle at Lesbos, or to an oracle of Greece. They were too refined in their religious notions to make any such application. It is notorious, that, when Cambyses, and Ochus, invaded Egypt, and when Xerxes made his inroad into Greece, they burnt and ruined the temples in each nation, out of abomination to the worship. It was another place of this name, an oracle of their own, to which the Babylonians, and Persians, applied. For it cannot be supposed, in the times spoken of, that they had a correspondence with the western world. It was Ur, in Chaldea, the seat of the antient Magi, which was styled Urphi, and Orphi, on account of its being the seat of an oracle. That there was such a temple is plain from Stephanus Byzantinus, who tells us, ^[1052]Μαντειον εχειν αυτους (Χαλδαιους) παρα βαρβαροις, ὡς Δελφοι παρ' Ἑλλησι. The Chaldeans had an oracle as famous among the people of those parts, as Delphi was among the Grecians. This temple was undoubtedly styled Urphi. I do not mean, that this was necessarily a proper name; but an appellative, by which oracular places were in general distinguished. The city Edessa in Mesopotamia seems likewise to have had the name of Urphi, which was given on account of the like rites, and worship. That it was so named, we may fairly presume from its being by the natives called ^[1053]Urpha, at this day. It was the former temple, to which the Babylonians, and Persians had recourse: and it was from the Magi of these parts, that the Orphic rites and mysteries were originally derived. They came from Babylonia to Egypt, and from thence to Greece. We accordingly find this particular in the character of Orpheus, ^[1054]ειναι δε τον Ορφεα μαγευσαι δεινον, that he was great in all the mysteries of the Magi. We moreover learn from Stephanus Monachius, that Orphon, a term of the same purport as Orpheus, was one of the appellations, by which the Magi were called. ^[1055]Orphon, quod Arabibus Magum sonat. In short, under the character of Orpheus, we have the history both of the Deity, and of his votaries. The head of Orpheus was said to have been carried to Lemnos, just as the head of Osiris used to be wafted to Byblus. He is described as going to the shades below, and afterwards returning to upper air. This is similar to the history of Osiris, who was supposed to have been in a state of death, and after a time to have come to life. There was moreover something mysterious in the death of Orpheus; for it seems to have been celebrated with the same frantic acts of grief, as people practised in their lamentations for Thamuz and Osiris, and at the rites of Baal. The Bistonian women, who were the same as the Thyades, and Mænades, used to gash their arms with knives, and besmear themselves with ^[1056]blood, and cover their heads with ashes. By this display of sorrow we are to understand a religious rite; for Orpheus was a title, under which the Deity of the place was worshipped. He was the same as Orus of Egypt, whom the Greeks esteemed both as Apollo, and Hephaistus. That he was a deity is plain from his temple and oracle abovementioned: which, we find, were of great repute, and resorted to by various people from the opposite coast.

As there was an Orpheus in Thrace, so there appears to have been an Orpha in ^[1057]Laconia, of whose history we have but few remains. They represent her as a Nymph, the daughter of Dion, and greatly beloved by Dionusus. She was said, at the close of her life, to have been changed to a tree. The fable probably relates to the Dionusiaca, and other Orphic rites, which had been in early times introduced into the part of the world abovementioned, where they were celebrated at a place called Orpha. But the rites grew into disuse, and the history of the place became obsolete: hence Orpha has been converted to a nymph, favoured of the God there worshipped; and was afterwards supposed to have been changed to one of the trees, which grew within its precincts.

Many undertook to write the history of Orpheus; the principal of whom were Zopurus of Heraclea, Prodicus Chius, Epigenes, and Herodorus. They seem all to have run into that general mistake of forming a new personage from a title, and making the Deity a native, where he was inshrined. The writings, which were transmitted under the name of Orpheus, were innumerable: and are justly ridiculed by Lucian, both for their quantity, and matter. There were however some curious hymns, which used to be of old sung in Pieria, and Samothracia; and which Onomacritus copied. They contain indeed little more than a list of titles, by which the Deity in different places was addressed. But these titles are of great antiquity: and though the hymns are transmitted in a modern garb, the person, through whom we receive them, being as late as ^[1058]Pisistratus, yet they deserve our notice. They must necessarily be of consequence, as they refer to the worship of the first ages, and afford us a great insight into the Theology of the antients. Those specimens also, which have been preserved by Proclus, in his dissertations upon Plato, afford matter of great curiosity. They are all imitations, rather than translations of the antient Orphic poetry, accompanied with a short comment. This poetry was in the original Amonian language, which grew obsolete among the Helladians, and was no longer intelligible: but was for a long time preserved in ^[1059]Samothracia, and used in their sacred rites.

---

[1014] Antholog. l. 3. p. 269.

[1015] See Huetius. Demons. Evang. prop. 4. p. 129.

[1016] In Theolog. Platonis. l. 1. c. 4.

[1017]

[1018] Plato de Repub. l. 2. p. 364.

[1019] Lactant. de F. R. l. 1. p. 105.

[1020] Scholia in Alcestin. v. 968.

Concerning Orpheus, see Diodorus. l. 1. p. 86. Aristoph. Ranæ. v. 1064. Euseb. P. E. lib. 10. p. 469.

[1021] L. 22. See Natalis comes. l. 7. p. 401.

[1022] L. 9. p. 768.

[1023] V. 41.

[1024] Ibid. v. 99.

[1025] L. 6. p. 505.

[1026] Apollon. Rhod. l. 1. v. 23.

[1027] Scholia. ibid.

[1028] Natalis Comes. l. 7. p. 400.

[1029] De Repub. l. 2. p. 364. Musæus is likewise, by the Scholiast upon Aristophanes, styled ὑιος Σεληνης. Ranæ. v. 106. Schol.

[1030] Lucian. Astrologus.

[1031] See Lilius Gyraldus de Poetarum Hist. Dialog. 2. p. 73. Ορφευς, φορμικτας αοιδαν πατηρ. Pindar. Pyth. Ode. 4. p. 253.

[1032] Clementis Cohort. p. 12. Diog. Laert. Proœm. p. 3. Herodotus. l. 2. c. 49. Diodorus. l. 1. p. 87. l. 3. p. 300. Apollodorus. l. 1. p. 7.

[1033] Linus was the son of Apollo and Calliope. See Suidas, Λινος.

[1034] There were, in like manner, different places where he was supposed to have been buried.

[1035] Proœm. p. 5. Antholog. l. 3. p. 270. In like manner Zoroaster was said to have been slain by lightning.

[1036] Suidas, Ορφευς.

[1037] Tzetzes makes him live one hundred years before the war of Troy. Hist. 399. Chil. 12.

[1038] Ορφευς.

[1039] Vossius de Arte Poet. c. 13. p. 78.

[1040] Cicero de Nat. Deor. l. 1. c. 38. See also Ælian. Var. Hist. l. 8. c. 6.

[1041] C. 24. p. 84.

[1042] Through the whole of this I am obliged to dissent from a person of great erudition, the late celebrated Professor I. M. Gesner, of Gottingen: to whom, however, I am greatly indebted, and particularly for his curious edition of the Orphic poems, published at Leipsick, 1764.

[1043] All the Orphic rites were confessedly from Egypt. Diodorus above. See Lucian's Astrologus.

[1044] Suidas.

[1045] Maximus Tyrius. c. 37. p. 441.

[1046] Scholia upon the Hecuba of Euripides. v. 1267. See also the Alcestis. v. 968.

[1047] Plato de Repub. l. 10. p. 620.

[1048] Diodorus. l. 4. p. 282. The history of Aristæus is nearly a parody of the histories of Orpheus and Cadmus.

[1049] Ovid. Metamorph. l. 10. v. 81. The like mentioned of the Cadmians. See Æschylus. Ἑπτ' επι Θηβαις. Proœm. Ælian. Var. Hist. l. 13. c. 5.

[1050] Hecatæus apud Steph. Byzant. Λημνος. The first inhabitants are said to have been Thracians, styled Σιντιες και Σαπαιοι; the chief cities Myrina, and Hephaistia.

[1051] Philostrati Heroica. p. 677. εν κοιλῃ τη γῃ χρησμωδει.

[1052] Steph Byz. Χαλδαιος.

[1053] Pocock's Travels. vol. 2. p. 159.

[1054] Pausan. l. 6. p. 505.

[1055] See Huetii Demonst. Evang. pr. 4. p. 129.

[1056]

[1057] Servius in Virgil. eclog. 8. See Salmasius upon Solinus. p. 425.

[1058] Περι την πεντηκοστην Ολυμπιαδα. Tatianus. Assyr. p. 275. These were the Orphic hymns, which were sung by the Lycomedæ at Athens.

[1059] Diodorus Sic. l. 5. p. 322.

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