Who is Orpheus?
The biggest question we need to answer is who exactly is Orpheus. Known as a character in the Greek mythologyOrpheus was the son of two great figures, Apollo, the god of the Sun and logic, twin brother of the goddess Artemis, and Calliope, one of the muses.
This character stands out a lot in mythology due to one of his great myths, in addition, the legends of Orpheus specified that he was a divine musician, his instrument was the lyre and when he played it everyone was at his feet. In fact, it is thanks to this talent and in conjunction with a great voice, that Orfeo conquered everyone he met on his way.
Orpheus was highly sought after, making long journeys between cities to play the lyre. On one of these trips he met Eurydice and falls in love with her, they marry her and when she dies, Orpheus decides to go to the underworld to look for her, so they could live a life together again.
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first introduction
Finding an exact reference that mentions the origin of Orpheus is very difficult. If they ever existed, they never became public knowledge. However, Homer and Hesiod did make reference to him during the time of Ibycus. In their texts, they referred to Orpheus as the father of songs.
On the other hand, a timeline has been rescued, where several texts talk about the influence of Orpheus in the town and its myths. From the sixth century a. C., there was talk of how Orpheus was considered one of the most influential poets and musicians in antiquity, additionally, a reference is made to the fact that Orpheus was a visionary and an inventor, since he added two more strings to the lyre so that it generates better sounds.
Initially the lyre had 7 strings, after the invention of Orpheus, the lyre came to have nine strings, the sound, according to experts, is much better. Orpheus made this modification to honor the nine existing muses.
Orpheus' music was considered divine, not only was it capable of calming any wild animal in existence, but it was also capable of moving obstacles in its path, in addition to moving the soul of any mortal, god and demigod who heard him play and sing. As a musician, he set out to travel to many places with the Argonauts, one of these trips was a mission to find the Golden Fleece.
Many experts explain how Orpheus was one of the pioneers of human civilization. He was not only a famous musician, but he also gave humans knowledge of medicine, writing, and agriculture. As for religion, thanks to Orpheus, a Greek religious movement was created where he was worshipped alongside Apollo and Dionysus. Within this religion, various rituals and traditions were practiced, which eventually died out to give way to new religions.
The myth of Orpheus and Eurydice
If we explore the story of Orpheus, we will find that his most popular myth is the story he has with his wife Eurydice. The story tells that she was bitten by a snake while she was fleeing from Aristaeus, she succumbs to her wounds and dies, other texts talk about the possibility that this terrible event happened because Orpheus and Eurydice were walking through forbidden ground.
After Eurydice's death, a series of incredible events take place that allow the birth of this myth. Orfeo, being very hurt by the death of his wife, goes to the banks of the Estrimón river, where he dedicates himself to mourning his loss, after a while he decides to play one of the saddest songs that have been recorded. in Greek mythology.
His beautiful music and voice were full of feelings of pain, the song was so depressing, that the nymphs and the gods cried by his side because of the pain he was suffering, they advised him to go to the underworld to look for his beloved.
The path to the underworld is very difficult, Orpheus had to face various adversities and dangers that almost cost him his life, however, with great determination he manages to reach Hades and Persephone to ask them to return his wife. Persephone makes a request, to play a song that convinces them, Orpheus does this and the song is so incredible, that Hades and Persephone offer him the opportunity to take his wife to the world of mortals.
Although everything seems like a fairy tale come true, the truth is that it is not. Hades leaves him a very clear condition: he can only take Eurydice if he walks in front of her and does not try to look at her once until they reach the upper world. Orpheus accepts and decides to start the journey back, during which time he does not look at Eurydice once, not even to make sure she was okay.
Almost upon reaching the surface, temptation takes hold of Orpheus's heart, and in despair, he turns to look at his wife. She still had one foot in the underworld, so she vanishes and disappears forever. Many legends tell of Orpheus attempting to return to the underworld a second time, but was denied entry.
The myth of Orpheus and Eurydice leaves us with quite important lessons. Originally, what this myth wanted to convey was the consequences that impatience can have. Later, with the modifications and adaptations made to the myth, it talks about perseverance to reach a goal and how mistakes, no matter how small, can destroy everything.
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Death of Orpheus.
Not only is the myth of Orpheus searching for Eurydice tragic, but his death was also a consequence of that failed mission. According to Ovid, Orpheus decided that he would undertake the journey to seek his beloved once again in the underworld, however, Charon prohibited him from passing through the Lethe River, preventing Orpheus from reaching the kingdom of the dead.
Dejected and in great pain, Orpheus headed to the Rhodope and Haemus Mountains to spend the rest of his life lamenting. In reality, only three years passed until he met his end. During that time in the mountains, he devoted himself to singing and playing the lyre, emitting sad but beautiful songs. His misery moved even the trees themselves.
On top of that, Orpheus rejected any romantic connection, no matter how beautiful or powerful the woman was. In fact, he rejected several nymphs the gods placed in his path. In his lament, he didn't realize he had scorned the Thracian Bacchantes who were passing by, who took revenge and decided to kill him.
They chained the animals that listened to Orpheus and him, they killed him by throwing stones at him, and continued like this until, not caring if he was still alive, they tore his body into pieces to scatter them on the ground. Orpheus's head and his precious lyre ended up in the Hebrew River, because it had an outlet to the sea, the head floated for a while until it eventually reached the island of Lesbos, there a snake tried to eat it.
Apollo saw this and decided to transform his son's head into a rock. Dionysus, who had known Orpheus and helped him, punished the Bacchantes by turning them into trees. Orpheus's soul ended up in the underworld, allowing him to reunite with his beloved and remain together until the end of time.
As expected, there are other versions that explain what happened, among the best known is the one collected by Eratosthenes, where he explained that once Orpheus had returned from the underworld, he decided to stop worshipping Dionysus (because despite the fact that he had helped him, his mission failed) and began to worship another god. Dionysus, offended, decided to punish him, so when he was on Mount Pangaeus waiting for the sun to rise, Dionysus sent the maenads to get rid of him.
Here the story is still a bit the same, the maenads completely destroyed it, the nymphs decide to collect all its pieces and give them rest in a grave. Finally, Zeus places the lyre in the sky, thus forming a constellation.
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Orphism.
As we have said before, the influence of Orpheus and his myth did not stay only in the arts, his teachings not only served to influence and teach those who read about him, but also worked to create Orphism. Ancient Greece had many religious currents that revolved around his stories, Orpheus inspired the creation of one of them, that is Orphism.
Basically, this religious movement details that Orpheus, its most important figure, is the master of enchantments. This type of religious movement was deeply rooted in what were believed to be mystery cults, and thus, its rituals and other traditions were steeped in mystery; this practice was then known as the Orphic Mysteries.
To go into a little more detail, the Orphic creed believed that a new interpretation of the human being should be proposed, where the belief prevails that the soul and the body were separate element beings that were responsible for building a person. Within this teaching it was established that the soul was an indestructible element and more powerful than the body, since when the physical body died, the soul survived and had to face punishments or rewards after death.
A precedent for this theory can be found in Homer; however, it is not the same, as there, it was believed that the most powerful being or element was the physical body, not the spiritual. The Orphics expressed that the soul was the most essential element and that it must be preserved above all else to remain pure; ultimately, this would lead them to salvation.
Likewise, this religious movement believed that the human body was simply a means of transport, commonly viewed as a temporary dwelling or prison for souls. From this perspective, the soul was oppressed until the moment of death, where it could be released from that container and live on a higher plane. Furthermore, the punishments and rewards of life would be obtained within the afterlife.
Orphism also believed in a possible reincarnation to other bodies, to definitively purify the soul. Within the expression of its creed, this current sought mythological themes that were very well defined at the time, these theories (theogony and soteriology) They were their key foundations.
Veneration.
There are quite a few people who were venerated at some point, mythology shows that not only its main characters (the 12 gods of Olympus) were the only ones who received such veneration from others, but other characters were also part of different cults. The veneration of Orpheus in Thrace is intertwined with that of Dionysus, the god of wine and vegetation.
Orphism uses various rituals and traditions that revolve around death and resurrection, as these themes are truly key when discussing the myth of Orpheus. The connection appears when Dionysus allows Orpheus access to the world of the dead and explains the dangers and shows him the path to follow. Thus, for Orpheus, he becomes a savior.
The creation of Orphism dates back to the mid-sixth century BC in Greece, where it became a sectarian religion. Followers of this religion spoke of their founder, Orpheus (who didn't actually found the religion, merely a figure he chose to worship) and how the body was the prison of the true human being, condemning one to death and rebirth until one's soul was pure.
Although belief in this religious movement quickly fell out of favor, it did influence several philosophers to think in the same way. For example, Plato's thoughts are strongly linked to Orphism. On the other hand, it is thanks to these thoughts that the belief that the soul exists and will survive beyond death remains influential today.
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Artistic samples of Orfeo.
Over the years, we have realized that there is an enormous number of references to the arts of certain myths and legends, these works, created by the hand of man, seek to venerate these stories. Orpheus is not a character that escapes this, in fact, we can talk about some artistic samples that currently exist that reflect him or reflect the best known myth of him.
In the plastic arts there are millions of representations of Orpheus, it would be almost impossible to record them all. As for painting, the best known are the works of Dürer, Émille Lévy and Émilie Bin, who carried out works and named them the death of orpheus, referring to what happened after the myth with Eurydice.
From a musical perspective, we find that the references to what happened to Orpheus and his story in general are great. This is not surprising, since, as we said before, Orpheus was known for being a musician. The most important work ever recorded was created by Claudio Monteverdi, composed in 1607 and called the Orpheus fable.
On the other hand, continuing with music but from a more modern point of view, there is an Off-Broadway musical called Hadestown baseball cap, where the story of Orpheus and his journey to rescue Eurydice is discussed, this magnificent work, created by the American Anais Mitchell, is also set in the Great Depression.
Other references that can be found is within a book of Latin poetry titled las Georgian From the writer Virgilio, within these chronicles, Orpheus is mentioned in the fourth book. On the other hand, within the Spanish language we can find a lyric Gongora and so many more references.
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