Notebook
Notebook, 1993-

ANCIENT GREEK CULTURE

[From: Kyriazis, Constantine D. Eternal Greece. Translated by Harry T. Hionides. A Chat Publication.]

Demigods and Heros - Achilles - Aegisthus - Agamemnon - Ajax the Locrian - Ajax the Telamonian - Alcestis - Amphiaraos - Amphitrite - Antigone - Atalanta - Belerophon - Cadmus - Clytemnestra - Daedalus - Danae - Dioscuri - Electra - Europa - Eurydice - Ganymede - Hector - Hecuba - Helen - Heracles - Hippolytus - Icarus - Io - Iphigenia - Jason - Leda - Menelaus - Minos - Nestor - Niobe - Odysseus - Oedipus - Orestes - Medea - Orpheus - Paris - Pasiphae - Pelops - Penelope - Perseus - Phaedra - Phaethon - Phrixus - Priam - Telemachus - Theseus - Triptolemus

Orpheus


The son of Oeagros, king of Thrace, or of Apollo according to another tradition, and the nymph Caliope or Polyhymnia. He is considered the greatest mythical poet and musician of Greece. He was so marvelous a player on the lyre which Apollo had given him, that the sound of the music stopped the flow of streams, the rocks followed him, the trees stood still, and the beasts were spellbound. He took part in the expedition of the Argonauts and managed with his music to appease the turbulent waves, to save the Argonauts from the lure of the Sirens, and to lull the dragon of Colchis to sleep. Orpheus had travelled to Egypt and was initiated in the mysteries of Osiris. He finally settled in Thrace and took as wife Eurydice. When the latter died from a snake bite in her attempt to avoid the attentions of Aristaeus, Orpheus received permission to go down to Hades to bring her back to the world of the living. By his music he subdued Cerberus and persuaded the other demons and Hades to release Eurydice, but on the condition that Orpheus should not look back at her as she followed him. Orpheus, however, forgot the condition and looked back, and Eurydice immediately vanished forever. From that moment Orpheus refused to have any ties with other women and during a certain Dionysian orgy the women of Thrace fell upon him and tore him to pieces. His head floated on the river Hebrus and with his lyre reached the island of Lesbos. The Lesbians buried the head of Orpheus and his lyre was placed among the Muses in the constellations in the heavens. The pieces of Orpheus were associated among the ancients with the cutting up of Dionysos Zagreus by the Titans following the instructions of Hera. Orpheus was regarded as the founder of Orphism, [p. 73] a mystic workshop associated with Dionysos but also related with the myth of Osiris and Adonis. [pp. 73-74]

[Kyriazis, Constantine D. Eternal Greece. Translated by Harry T. Hionides. A Chat Publication.]




NOTEBOOK | Links

Copyright

The contents of this site, including all images and text, are for personal, educational, non-commercial use only. The contents of this site may not be reproduced in any form without proper reference to Text, Author, Publisher, and Date of Publication [and page #s when suitable].