Some sources credit Orpheus with further gifts to humankind: medicine, which is more usually under the auspices of Asclepius (Aesculapius) or Apollo writing, which is usually credited to Cadmus and agriculture, where Orpheus assumes the Eleusinian role of Triptolemus as giver of Demeter's knowledge to humankind. The elegiac poet Hermesianax called her Agriope and the first mention of her name in literature is in the Lament for Bion (1st century BC). Euripides and Plato both refer to the story of his descent to recover his wife, but do not mention her name a contemporary relief (about 400 BC) shows Orpheus and his wife with Hermes. The earliest known reference to this descent to the underworld is the painting by Polygnotus (5th century BC) described by Pausanias (2nd century AD), where no mention is made of Eurydice. Orpheus was one of the handful of Greek heroes to visit the Underworld and return his music and song had power even over Hades. Poets such as Simonides of Ceos said that Orpheus's music and singing could charm the birds, fish and wild beasts, coax the trees and rocks into dance, and divert the course of rivers. Greeks of the Classical age venerated Orpheus as the greatest of all poets and musicians it was said that while Hermes had invented the lyre, Orpheus perfected it. Pindar calls Orpheus 'the father of songs' and identifies him as a son of the Thracian mythological king Oeagrus and the Muse Calliope. Most ancient sources accept his historical existence Aristotle is an exception.
The earliest literary reference to Orpheus is a two-word fragment of the 6th century BC lyric poet Ibycus: onomaklyton Orphēn ('Orpheus famous-of-name'). Most of them believed that he lived several generations before Homer. But to all other ancient writers, he was a real person, though living in remote antiquity. It was believed by Aristotle that Orpheus never existed. Cognates could include Greek: ὄρφνη ( órphnē 'darkness') and ὀρφανός ( orphanós 'fatherless, orphan') from which comes English 'orphan' by way of Latin.įulgentius, a mythographer of the late 5th to early 6th century AD, gave the unlikely etymology meaning "best voice", "Oraia-phonos". A probable suggestion is that it is derived from a hypothetical PIE root *h₃órbʰos 'orphan, servant, slave' and ultimately the verb root *h₃erbʰ- 'to change allegiance, status, ownership'. Several etymologies for the name Orpheus have been proposed. Shrines containing purported relics of Orpheus were regarded as oracles. He was credited with the composition of a number of works, including several theogonies, the Orphic Hymns, and the Orphic Argonautica. įor the Greeks, Orpheus was a founder and prophet of the so-called "Orphic" mysteries.
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. The major stories about him are centered on his ability to charm all living things and even stones with his music (the usual scene in Orpheus mosaics), his attempt to retrieve his wife Eurydice from the underworld, and his death at the hands of the maenads of Dionysus, who got tired of his mourning for his late wife Eurydice.
Īncient Greek authors such as Strabo and Plutarch note Orpheus's Thracian origins. He was also a renowned poet and, according to the legend, travelled with Jason and the Argonauts in search of the Golden Fleece, and even descended into the underworld of Hades, to recover his lost wife Eurydice. In Greek mythology, Orpheus ( / ˈ ɔːr f iː ə s, ˈ ɔːr f juː s/ Ancient Greek: Ὀρφεύς, classical pronunciation: ) was a Thracian bard, legendary musician and prophet.
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