Orphic Fragments

OVERVIEW OF THE CONTENTS OF THIS

BOOK

PART ONE: PRINCIPAL TESTIMONIES Testimonies refers to "testimonia," a scholarly term for ancient literary references or historical accounts written by other authors about a person or subject. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1–79
1. On the Myth of Orpheus (testimonies 1–172) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1–51
The Name (test. 1–4) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1–2
Orpheus original Greek: Ὀρφεύς (test. 5–6) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2
Age and Lineage (test. 7–21) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3–8
Father (test. 22–23) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8–9
Mother (test. 24–26) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9
Brothers (test. 27) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9–10
Sisters? (test. 28) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10
Sons (test. 29) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10
The Thracian Referring to Orpheus's homeland of Thrace, a region north of Greece considered wild and musical by the ancients. (test. 30–37) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10–12
Olympus and Pieria Regions in northern Greece sacred to the Muses and associated with Orpheus's birth and early life. (test. 38–41) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12–13
Teachers (test. 42–44) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13–14
Worshiper of Apollo and the Sun (test. 45) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14
The Power of Music (test. 46–55) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14–16
Musical Instruments (test. 56–58 a) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16–17
Spouses (test. 59–67) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17–20
Anonymous (test. 59–60) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17–18
Agriope (test. 61) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18
Eurydice (test. 62–67) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18–20
Aristaeus A minor god often credited in myth with the accidental death of Eurydice while pursuing her. (test. 68) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20–21
In the Underworld (test. 69–75) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 21–22
Despiser of Venus Refers to the tradition that Orpheus rejected women after losing Eurydice; Venus is the Roman name for the goddess of love, Aphrodite. (test. 76) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 22
Love of Boys (test. 77) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 22–23
Argonaut Orpheus was the legendary singer who accompanied Jason and the Argonauts on their quest for the Golden Fleece. (test. 78–80) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 24
Victor at the Isthmian Games (test. 81) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 24
Sorcerer and Physician (test. 82–86) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 25
Seer (test. 87–89) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 26
The Mysteries (test. 90–93) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 26–27
Author of the Bacchic Mysteries (test. 94–101) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 27–30
Founder of the Eleusinian Mysteries (test. 102–104) . . . . . . . . . . . 30
Initiate of Samothrace (test. 105) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 31
Author of Heroic Meter Heroic meter refers to dactylic hexameter, the rhythm used in the great epics of Homer and Hesiod. (test. 106) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 31
Astrologer (test. 107) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 32