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80-467: The Pierides were the daughters of Pierus , king of Emathia in Macedon , by Antiope of Pieria or Euippe of Paionia . The sisters were also called Emathides, named after their paternal uncle Emathus . In other sources, they are recounted to be seven in number and named them as Achelois , Neilo , Tritone , Asopo , Heptapora , Tipoplo , and Rhodia . In Ovid's Metamorphoses , Urania , one of

160-585: A Late Antique summary of Aeschylus 's lost play Bassarids , Orpheus, towards the end of his life, disdained the worship of all gods except Apollo . One early morning he went to the oracle of Dionysus at Mount Pangaion to salute his god at dawn, but was ripped to shreds by Thracian Maenads for not honoring his previous patron (Dionysus) and was buried in Pieria . But having gone down into Hades because of his wife and seeing what sort of things were there, he did not continue to worship Dionysus, because of whom he

240-533: A contest with the Muses. Being conquered, they were transformed into birds called Colymbas, Iyngx, Cenchris, Cissa, Chloris, Acalanthis, Nessa, Pipo, and Dracontis . In the account of Pausanias , Pierus has emigrated from Thrace into Boeotia and established the worship of the Muses at Thespiae . Orpheus In Greek mythology , Orpheus ( / ˈ ɔːr f iː ə s , ˈ ɔːr f juː s / ; Ancient Greek : Ὀρφεύς, classical pronunciation: [or.pʰeú̯s] )

320-407: A daughter of Pierus , son of Makednos or (4) lastly of Menippe , daughter of Thamyris . Pindar, however, seems to call Orpheus the son of Apollo in his Pythian Odes , and a scholium on this passage adds that the mythographer Asclepiades of Tragilus considered Orpheus to be the son of Apollo and Calliope. According to Tzetzes , he was from Bisaltia . His birthplace and place of residence

400-402: A further punishment for his cowardice, he met his death at the hands of women ( Symposium 179d)." "Earlier than the literary references is a sculptured representation of Orpheus with the ship Argo , found at Delphi , said to be of the sixth century BC." Four other people are traditionally called Orpheus: "The second Orpheus was an Arcadian , or, according to others, a Ciconian , from

480-516: A jocular allusion in Cyclops 646); refers to his charming the infernal powers ( Alcestis 357); connects him with Bacchanalian orgies ( Hippolytus 953); ascribes to him the origin of sacred mysteries ( Rhesus 943), and places the scene of his activity among the forests of Olympus ( Bacchae 561.)" "Euripides [also] brought Orpheus into his play Hypsipyle , which dealt with the Lemnian episode of

560-555: A mortal, who lived and died in a village close to Olympus . "Some, of course, received him willingly, but others, since they suspected a plot and violence, combined against him and killed him." He made money as a musician and "wizard" – Strabo uses αγυρτεύοντα ( agurteúonta ), also used by Sophocles in Oedipus Tyrannus to characterize Tiresias as a trickster with an excessive desire for possessions. Αγύρτης ( agúrtēs ) most often meant ' charlatan ' and always had

640-596: A negative connotation. Pausanias writes of an unnamed Egyptian who considered Orpheus a μάγευσε ( mágeuse ), i.e., magician. "Orpheus ... is repeatedly referred to by Euripides, in whom we find the first allusion to the connection of Orpheus with Dionysus and the infernal regions: he speaks of him as related to the Muses ( Rhesus 944, 946); mentions the power of his song over rocks, trees, and wild beasts ( Medea 543, Iphigenia in Aulis 1211, Bacchae 561, and

720-458: A nest of vipers and suffered a fatal bite on her heel. Her body was discovered by Orpheus who, overcome with grief, played such sad and mournful songs that all the nymphs and gods wept. On their advice, Orpheus traveled to the underworld . His music softened the hearts of Hades and Persephone , who agreed to allow Eurydice to return with him to earth on one condition: he should walk in front of her and not look back until they both had reached

800-492: A snake bite is incurred while she was dancing with naiads on her wedding day. Virgil wrote in his poem that Dryads wept from Epirus and Hebrus up to the land of the Getae (north east Danube valley ) and even describes him wandering into Hyperborea and Tanais (ancient Greek city in the Don river delta ) due to his grief. The story of Eurydice may actually be a late addition to

880-403: A theogony concerning the birth of the gods, produced in the circle of the philosopher Anaxagoras , written in the second half of the fifth century BC. The papyrus dates to around 340 BC, during the reign of Philip II of Macedon , making it Europe's oldest surviving manuscript. The Orpheus motif has permeated Western culture and has been used as a theme in all art forms. Early examples include

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960-667: Is also said to have studied in Egypt. Orpheus is said to have established the worship of Hecate in Aegina . In Laconia Orpheus is said to have brought the worship of Demeter Chthonia and that of the Κόρες Σωτείρας ( Kóres Sōteíras ; 'Saviour Maidens'). Also in Taygetos a wooden image of Orpheus was said to have been kept by Pelasgians in the sanctuary of the Eleusinian Demeter. According to Diodorus Siculus , Musaeus of Athens

1040-528: Is an innovative perspective on the classic Greek tragedy of Orpheus and Eurydice . Baz Luhrmann 's 2001 jukebox musical film Moulin Rouge! is also inspired by the myth. Anaïs Mitchell 's 2010 folk opera musical Hadestown retells the tragedy of Orpheus and Eurydice with a score inspired by American blues and jazz, portraying Hades as the brutal work-boss of an underground mining city. Mitchell, together with director Rachel Chavkin , later adapted her album into

1120-500: Is analogous with that of Pentheus , who was also torn to pieces by Maenads; and it has been speculated that the Orphic mystery cult regarded Orpheus as a parallel figure to or even an incarnation of Dionysus. Both made similar journeys into Hades, and Dionysus-Zagreus suffered an identical death. Pausanias writes that Orpheus was buried in Dion and that he met his death there. He writes that

1200-505: Is believed that in the collection of writings which they used there were several versions, each of which gave a slightly different account of the origin of the universe, of gods and men, and perhaps of the correct way of life, with the rewards and punishments attached thereto." The Derveni papyrus , found in Derveni , Macedonia (Greece) in 1962, contains a philosophical treatise that is an allegorical commentary on an Orphic poem in hexameters,

1280-613: Is in the Lament for Bion (1st century BC). 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. Orpheus was an augur and seer; he practiced magical arts and astrology , founded cults to Apollo and Dionysus , and prescribed

1360-470: Is lettered Orfeus der erst puseran ("Orpheus, the first pederast "). His head, still singing mournful songs, floated along with his lyre down the River Hebrus into the sea, after which the winds and waves carried them to the island of Lesbos , at the city of Methymna ; there, the inhabitants buried his head and a shrine was built in his honour near Antissa ; there his oracle prophesied, until it

1440-566: Is not mentioned by Homer or Hesiod . Most ancient sources accept his historical existence; Aristotle is an exception. Pindar calls Orpheus 'the father of songs' and identifies him as a son of the Thracian mythological king Oeagrus and the Muse Calliope . Greeks of the Classical age venerated Orpheus as the greatest of all poets and musicians; it was said that while Hermes had invented

1520-585: Is reflected in the Biblical story of Lot 's wife when escaping from Sodom . More directly, the story of Orpheus is similar to the ancient Greek tales of Persephone captured by Hades and similar stories of Adonis captive in the underworld. However, the developed form of the Orpheus myth was entwined with the Orphic mystery cults and, later in Rome, with the development of Mithraism and the cult of Sol Invictus . According to

1600-499: Is said to have lived, the Thracians knew nothing about writing. It came therefore to be believed that Orpheus taught, but left no writings, and that the epic poetry attributed to him was written in the sixth century BC by Onomacritus. Onomacritus was banished from Athens by Hipparchus for inserting something of his own into an oracle of Musaeus when entrusted with the editing of his poems. It may have been Aristotle who first suggested, in

1680-592: Is so universally known." Some ancient Greek authors, such as Strabo and Plutarch , write of Orpheus as having a Thracian origin (through his father, Oeagrus ). Although these traditional accounts have been uncritically accepted by some historians, they have been put into question by others, since it was only in the mid-/late 5th century that Orpheus acquired Thracian attributes. Additionally, as André Boulanger notes, "the most characteristic features of Orphism—consciousness of sin, need of purification and redemption, infernal punishments—have never been found among

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1760-432: 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'. Cognates could include Ancient Greek : ὄρφνη ( órphnē ; 'darkness') and ὀρφανός ( orphanós ; 'fatherless, orphan') from which comes English 'orphan' by way of Latin. Fulgentius , a mythographer of the late 5th to early 6th century AD, gave

1840-430: Is that of a coward, as instead of choosing to die in order to be with the one he loved, he instead mocked the gods by trying to go to Hades to bring her back alive. Since his love was not "true"—he did not want to die for love—he was actually punished by the gods, first by giving him only the apparition of his former wife in the underworld, and then by being killed by women. In Ovid 's account, however, Eurydice's death by

1920-525: The Orphikos bios , or "Orphic way of life". W. K. C. Guthrie wrote that Orpheus was the founder of mystery religions and the first to reveal to men the meanings of the initiation rites. There is also a reference, not mentioning Orpheus by name, in the pseudo -Platonic Axiochus , where it is said that the fate of the soul in Hades is described on certain bronze tablets which two seers had brought to Delos from

2000-592: The Republic to a "mass of books of Musaeus and Orpheus", and in the Laws to the hymns of Thamyris and Orpheus, while in the Ion he groups Orpheus with Musaeus and Homer as the source of inspiration of epic poets and elocutionists. Euripides in the Hippolytus makes Theseus speak of the "turgid outpourings of many treatises", which have led his son to follow Orpheus and adopt

2080-461: The Suda , he was described as a son of Linus , the son of Thracian Aethusa and in turn Pierus was the father of Oeagrus making him the grandfather of the musician Orpheus . His wife was known to be Methone , a nymph while others called her Pierus' sister. In the account of Antoninus Liberalis , Pierus sprung from the soil (an autochthon ). Most of the myths recounted Pierus to have fathered

2160-561: The Bacchic religion. Alexis , the fourth century comic poet, depicting Linus offering a choice of books to Heracles , mentions "Orpheus, Hesiod , tragedies, Choerilus , Homer, Epicharmus ". Aristotle did not believe that the poems were by Orpheus; he speaks of the "so-called Orphic epic", and Philoponus (seventh century AD) commenting on this expression, says that in the De Philosophia (now lost) Aristotle directly stated his opinion that

2240-472: The Breton lai Sir Orfeo from the early 13th century and musical interpretations like Jacopo Peri 's Euridice (1600, though titled with his wife's name, the libretto is based entirely upon books X and XI of Ovid 's Metamorphoses and therefore Orpheus's viewpoint is predominant). Subsequent operatic and musical interpretations include: Rainer Maria Rilke 's Sonnets to Orpheus (1922) are based on

2320-449: The Ciconian women, followers of Dionysus , first threw sticks and stones at him as he played, but his music was so beautiful even the rocks and branches refused to hit him. Enraged, the women tore him to pieces during the frenzy of their Bacchic orgies. In Albrecht Dürer 's drawing of Orpheus's death, based on an original, now lost, by Andrea Mantegna , a ribbon high in the tree above him

2400-573: The Giants false renown; she gave the Gods small credit for great deeds.—She droned out, `Forth, those deepest realms of earth, Typhoeus came, and filled the Gods with fear. They turned their backs in flight to Egypt ; and the wearied rout, where Great Nile spreads his seven-channeled mouth, were there received. – Thither the earth-begot Typhoeus hastened: but the Gods of Heaven deceptive shapes assumed.—Lo, Jupiter ( Zeus as Libyan Ammon's crooked horns attest)

2480-579: The Pierides by Antiope , nymph of Pieria or Euippe of Paionia . An unnamed daughter of Pierus was said to be the mother of Orpheus, not the Muse Calliope as what the Greeks believed according to Pausanias . Pierus was famous for his daughters, the Emathides, nine maidens whom he named after the nine Muses . These girls, believing that their skills were a great match to the Muses, afterwards entered into

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2560-573: The Thracian Bisaltia , and is said to be more ancient than Homer and the Trojan War . He composed fabulous figments called mythpoeai and epigrams. The third Orpheus was of Odrysius, a city of Thrace , near the river Hebrus ; but Dionysius in Suidas denies his existence. The fourth Orpheus was of Crotonia; flourished in the time of Pisistratus , about the fiftieth Olympiad , and is, I have no doubt,

2640-408: The lyre , Orpheus perfected it. 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. Orpheus was one of the handful of Greek heroes to visit the underworld and return; his music and song had power even over Hades . The earliest known reference to this descent to

2720-552: The 1959 film Black Orpheus , tells the story in the modern context of a favela in Rio de Janeiro during Carnaval . Jean Cocteau 's Orphic Trilogy  – The Blood of a Poet (1930), Orpheus (1950) and Testament of Orpheus (1959) – was filmed over thirty years, and is based in many ways on the story. Philip Glass adapted the second film into the chamber opera Orphée (1991), part of an homage triptych to Cocteau. Nikos Nikolaidis 's 1975 film Evrydiki BA 2037

2800-617: The Argonautic voyage; Orpheus there acts as coxswain , and later as guardian in Thrace of Jason's children by Hypsipyle ." "He is mentioned once only, but in an important passage, by Aristophanes ( Frogs 1032), who enumerates, as the oldest poets, Orpheus, Musaeus , Hesiod , and Homer, and makes Orpheus the teacher of religious initiations and of abstinence from murder ..." "Plato ( Apology , Protagoras ), ... frequently refers to Orpheus, his followers, and his works. He calls him

2880-648: The Greeks, Orpheus was a founder and prophet of the so-called "Orphic" mysteries . He was credited with the composition of a number of works , including several theogonies, the Orphic Hymns , the Orphic Argonautica , the Lithica and the Hexameter poem . Shrines containing purported relics of Orpheus were regarded as oracles . Several etymologies for the name Orpheus have been proposed. A probable suggestion

2960-623: The Muse, rejoined;—“Look, those but lately worsted in dispute augment the number of unnumbered birds.—Pierus was their father, very rich in lands of Pella ; and their mother (called Evippe of Paeonia) when she brought them forth, nine times evoked, in labours nine, Lucina's ( Eilethyia ) aid.—Unduly puffed with pride, because it chanced their number equaled ours these stupid sisters, hither to engage in wordy contest, fared through many towns;—through all Haemonia and Achaia came to us, and said;—`Oh, cease your empty songs, attuned to dulcet numbers, that deceive

3040-615: The Muses recounts their contest with the Pierides to Athena in the following excerpts: So spoke the Muse. And now was heard the sound of pennons in the air, and voices, too, gave salutations from the lofty trees. Minerva (Athena), thinking they were human tongues, looked up in question whence the perfect words; but on the boughs, nine ugly jays (with Κίσσα and Pica often erroneously translated as magpies by later commentators) perched, those mockers of all sounds, which now complained their hapless fate. And as she wondering stood, Urania, goddess of

3120-511: The Muses. Around about that time Pierus, was king of Emathia, sprung from its very soil. He had nine daughters. They were the ones who formed a choir in opposition to the Muses. And there was a musical contest in Helicon. Whenever the daughters of Pierus began to sing, all creation went dark and no one would give an ear to their choral performance. But when the Muses sang, heaven, the stars, the sea and rivers stood still, while Mount Helicon, beguiled by

3200-412: The Orpheus myth. Poul Anderson 's Hugo Award-winning novelette " Goat Song ", published in 1972, is a retelling of the story of Orpheus in a science fiction setting. Some feminist interpretations of the myth give Eurydice greater weight. Margaret Atwood 's Orpheus and Eurydice Cycle (1976–1986) deals with the myth, and gives Eurydice a more prominent voice. Sarah Ruhl 's Eurydice likewise presents

3280-502: The Orpheus myths. In particular, the name Eurudike ("she whose justice extends widely") recalls cult-titles attached to Persephone . According to the theories of poet Robert Graves , the myth may have been derived from another Orpheus legend, in which he travels to Tartarus and charms the goddess Hecate . The myth theme of not looking back, an essential precaution in Jason 's raising of chthonic Brimo Hekate under Medea 's guidance,

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3360-519: The Pierides, being transformed into birds: "The greatest of our number ended thus her learned songs; and with concordant voice the chosen Nymphs adjudged the Deities, on Helicon who dwell, should be proclaimed the victors. But the vanquished nine began to scatter their abuse; to whom rejoined the goddess; `Since it seems a trifling thing that you should suffer a deserved defeat, and you must add unmerited abuse to heighten your offence, and since by this appears

3440-598: The Star where the entrance to the Underworld that Orpheus had opened, the "Door of Orpheus," has moved to Central Park in Manhattan . In the books, it's used by Percy Jackson , Nico di Angelo, and Will Solace to sneak into the Underworld. Due to Orpheus creating it with his music, the door can only be opened by music being played for it. • Vinicius de Moraes ’s play Orfeu da Conceição (1956), later adapted by Marcel Camus in

3520-613: The Thracians" . Indeed, the introduction of the worship of the Muses in the times of Archelaos , the genealogies featuring Apollo , Pierus and Methone , Orpheus's tomb in Leibethra and the importance of this gesture as a part of the king's cultural policy, makes the hypothesis of the Pierian , or Macedonian , roots of Orpheus, highly probable. The testimonies referring to his death, grave and heroic worship, for example early attestations to

3600-460: The crashing of their ships into the islands. When Orpheus heard their voices, he drew his lyre and played music that was louder and more beautiful, drowning out the Sirens' bewitching songs. According to 3rd century BC Hellenistic elegiac poet Phanocles , Orpheus loved the young Argonaut Calais , "the son of Boreas, with all his heart, and went often in shaded groves still singing of his desire, nor

3680-399: The end of our endurance, we shall certainly proceed to punish you according to the limit of our wrath.’ But these Emathian sisters laughed to scorn our threatening words; and as they tried to speak, and made great clamour, and with shameless hands made threatening gestures, suddenly stiff quills sprouted from out their finger-nails, and plumes spread over their stretched arms; and they could see

3760-403: The epic Orphic Argonautica , composed somewhere between the fourth and sixth centuries. Earlier Orphic literature, which may date back as far as the sixth century BC, survives only in papyrus fragments or in quotations. Some of the earliest fragments may have been composed by Onomacritus . Aelian (second century AD) gave the chief reason against believing in them: at the time when Orpheus

3840-520: The existence of a real, or fictitious, gravestone epigram of Orpheus, point most strongly to his Macedonian links. Nevertheless, the Pierians were a Thracian tribe, while the origins of the Ancient Macedonians is obscure. According to Apollodorus and a fragment of Pindar, Orpheus's father was Oeagrus , a Thracian king. His mother was (1) the muse Calliope , (2) her sister Polymnia , (3)

3920-469: The judges of the musical contest. One of the Pierides sang about the flight of the Olympian gods from the monster Typhoeus : Twas shameful to contend; it seemed more shameful to submit. At once, the chosen Nymphs swore justice by their streams, and sat for judgment on their thrones of rock. At once, although the lot had not been cast, the leading sister hastened to begin.—She chanted of celestial wars; she gave

4000-509: The land of the Hyperboreans . A number of Greek religious poems in hexameters were also attributed to Orpheus, as they were to similar miracle-working figures, like Bakis , Musaeus , Abaris , Aristeas , Epimenides , and the Sibyl . Of this vast literature, only two works survived whole: the Orphic Hymns , a set of 87 poems, possibly composed at some point in the second or third century, and

4080-406: The lost De Philosophia , that Onomacritus also wrote the so-called Orphic epic poems. By the time when the Orphic writings began to be freely quoted by Christian and Neo-Platonist writers, the theory of the authorship of Onomacritus was accepted by many. The Neo-Platonists quote the Orphic poems in their defence against Christianity, because Plato used poems which he believed to be Orphic. It

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4160-468: The love of women, either because things ended badly for him, or because he had sworn to do so. Yet, many felt a desire to be joined with the poet, and many grieved at rejection. Indeed, he was the first of the Thracian people to transfer his affection to young boys and enjoy their brief springtime, and early flowering this side of manhood. Feeling spurned by Orpheus for taking only male lovers ( eromenoi ),

4240-635: The mouth of each companion growing out into a rigid beak.—And thus new birds were added to the forest.—While they made complaint, these jays that defile our groves, moving their stretched-out arms, began to float, suspended in the air. And since that time their ancient eloquence, their screaming notes, their tiresome zeal of speech have all remained." Another retelling of the contest of Pierides and Muses appeared in Antoninus Liberalis ' Metamorphoses : Zeus made love to Mnemosyne in Pieria and became father of

4320-591: The mystery rites preserved in Orphic texts. Pindar and Apollonius of Rhodes place Orpheus as the harpist and companion of Jason and the Argonauts . Orpheus had a brother named Linus , who went to Thebes and became a Theban. He is claimed by Aristophanes and Horace to have taught cannibals to subsist on fruit, and to have made lions and tigers obedient to him. Horace believed, however, that Orpheus had only introduced order and civilization to savages. Strabo (64 BC – c. AD 24) presents Orpheus as

4400-474: The name of Aristaeus (by the time of Virgil's Georgics , the myth has Aristaeus chasing Eurydice when she was bitten by a serpent) and the tragic outcome. Other ancient writers, however, speak of Orpheus's visit to the underworld in a more negative light; according to Phaedrus in Plato 's Symposium , the infernal gods only "presented an apparition" of Eurydice to him. In fact, Plato's representation of Orpheus

4480-486: The pleasant shadows of the grove. And thus again Urania; “On our side we trusted all to one.” Which having said, Calliope, mother of Orpheus of Leivithra , arose. Her glorious hair was bound with ivy. She attuned the chords, and chanted as she struck the sounding strings: Calliope sang many stories from myths during the contest with the Pierides. The Muse recounted the abduction of Persephone by god of underworld, Hades and

4560-503: The pleasure of it all, swelled skywards tilI, by the will of Poseidon, Pegasus checked it by striking the summit with his hoof. Since these mortals had taken upon themselves to strive with goddesses, the Muses changed them into nine birds. To this day people refer to them as the grebe, the wryneck, the ortolan, the jay, the greenfinch, the goldfinch, the duck, the woodpecker and the dracontis pigeon. Pierus (king of Macedonia) In Greek mythology , Pierus ( Ancient Greek : Πίερος )

4640-401: The poems were not by Orpheus. Philoponus adds his own view that the doctrines were put into epic verse by Onomacritus . Aristotle when quoting the Orphic cosmological doctrines attributes them to "the theologoi ", "the ancient poets", "those who first theorized about the gods". In addition to serving as a storehouse of mythological data along the lines of Hesiod 's Theogony , Orphic poetry

4720-406: The river Helicon sank underground when the women that killed Orpheus tried to wash off their blood-stained hands in its waters. Other legends claim that Orpheus became a follower of Dionysus and spread his cult across the land. In this version of the legend, it is said that Orpheus was torn to shreds by the women of Thrace for his inattention. Ovid recounts that Orpheus had abstained from

4800-649: The river Sys flooded Leibethra, the Macedonians took his bones to Dion . Orpheus's soul returned to the underworld, to the fields of the Blessed, where he was reunited at last with his beloved Eurydice. Another legend places his tomb at Dion, near Pydna in Macedon . In another version of the myth, Orpheus travels to Aornum in Thesprotia , Epirus to an old oracle for the dead. In the end Orpheus commits suicide from his grief unable to find Eurydice. "Others said that he

4880-534: The ruler of the Bistonian Pieria , a region inhabited by the Thracian tribes Bistones and Pieres but others have identified him as a member of the Thracian tribe Ciconi , that lived in the Thracian Bisaltia . 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

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4960-546: The same with Onomacritus , who changed the dialect of these hymns. He wrote Decennalia, and in the opinion of Gyraldlus the Argonautics, which are now extant under the name of Orpheus, with other writings called Orphical, but which according to Cicero some ascribe to Cecrops the Pythagorean. But the last Orpheus [the fifth] was Camarinseus, a most excellent versifier; and the same, according to Gyraldus, whose descent into Hades

5040-427: The son of Oeagrus ( Symposium ), mentions him as a musician and inventor ( Ion and Laws bk 3.), refers to the miraculous power of his lyre ( Protagoras ), and gives a singular version of the story of his descent into Hades: the gods, he says, imposed upon the poet, by showing him only a phantasm of his lost wife, because he had not the courage to die, like Alcestis , but contrived to enter Hades alive, and, as

5120-458: The sorrow of the young girl's mother, the goddess Demeter for the loss of her beloved daughter. Calliope also told the account of the unrequited love of the river god Alpheus to the nymph Arethusa and also the adventure of hero Triptolemus in Scythia where he encountered the envious King Lyncus . The following lines described the punishment of the victorious Muses to their vanquished opponents,

5200-592: The story of Orpheus's descent to the underworld from Eurydice's perspective. Ruhl removes Orpheus from the center of the story by pairing their romantic love with the paternal love of Eurydice's dead father. David Almond 's 2014 novel A Song for Ella Grey was inspired by the myth of Orpheus and Eurydice, and won the Guardian Children's Fiction Prize in 2015. The story of Orpheus is mentioned in Rick Riordan 's fantasy novels The Last Olympian and The Sun and

5280-436: The underworld is the painting by Polygnotus (5th century BC) described by Pausanias (2nd century AD), where no mention is made of Eurydice. 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 elegiac poet Hermesianax called her Agriope ; and the first mention of her name in literature

5360-465: The underworld, and his death at the hands of the maenads of Dionysus , who got tired of his mourning for his late wife Eurydice. 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. For

5440-456: The unlikely etymology meaning "best voice", "Oraia-phonos". Although Aristotle did not believe that Orpheus existed, all other ancient writers believed he once was a real person, though living in remote antiquity. Most of them believed that he lived several generations before Homer . 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'). He

5520-440: The upper world. Orpheus set off with Eurydice following; however, as soon as he had reached the upper world, he immediately turned to look at her, forgetting in his eagerness that both of them needed to be in the upper world for the condition to be met. As Eurydice had not yet crossed into the upper world, she vanished for the second time, this time forever. The story in this form belongs to the time of Virgil , who first introduces

5600-473: The vulgar, untaught throng. If aught is yours of confidence, O Thespian Deities contend with us: our number equals yours. We will not be defeated by your arts; nor shall your songs prevail.—Then, conquered, give Hyantean Aganippe ; yield to us the Medusean Fount;—and should we fail, we grant Emathia's plains, to where uprise Paeonia's peaks of snow.—Let chosen Nymphs award the prize—.' The nymphs became

5680-630: Was Pimpleia close to the Olympus . Strabo mentions that he lived in Pimpleia. According to the epic poem Argonautica , Pimpleia was the location of Oeagrus's and Calliope's wedding. While living with his mother and her eight beautiful sisters in Parnassus , he met Apollo , who was courting the laughing muse Thalia . Apollo, as the god of music, gave Orpheus a golden lyre and taught him to play it. Orpheus's mother taught him to make verses for singing. He

5760-508: Was a Thracian bard , legendary musician and prophet . 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 . Ancient Greek authors such as Strabo and Plutarch note Orpheus's Thracian origins. Orpheus was called

5840-515: Was famous, but he thought Helios to be the greatest of the gods, Helios whom he also addressed as Apollo. Rousing himself each night toward dawn and climbing the mountain called Pangaion, he would await the Sun's rising, so that he might see it first. Therefore, Dionysus, being angry with him, sent the Bassarides , as Aeschylus the tragedian says; they tore him apart and scattered the limbs. Here his death

5920-582: Was hidden in the leader of a flock; Apollo in a crow; Bacchus in a goat; Diana ( Artemis ) in a cat; Venus ( Aphrodite ) in a fish; Saturnian Juno ( Hera ) in a snow-white cow; Cyllenian Hermes in an Ibis' wings. Urania and Athena continued their conversation about the great match: Such stuff she droned out from her noisy mouth: and then they summoned us; but, haply, time permits thee not, nor leisure thee permits, that thou shouldst hearken to our melodies.” "Nay doubt it not,” quoth Pallas (Athena), “but relate your melodies in order.” And she sat beneath

6000-462: Was his heart at rest. But always, sleepless cares wasted his spirits as he looked at fresh Calais." The most famous story in which Orpheus figures is that of his wife Eurydice (sometimes referred to as Euridice and also known as Argiope). While walking among her people, the Cicones , in tall grass at her wedding, Eurydice was set upon by a satyr . In her efforts to escape the satyr, Eurydice fell into

6080-412: Was recited in mystery-rites and purification rituals. Plato in particular tells of a class of vagrant beggar-priests who would go about offering purifications to the rich, a clatter of books by Orpheus and Musaeus in tow. Those who were especially devoted to these rituals and poems often practiced vegetarianism and abstention from sex, and refrained from eating eggs and beans—which came to be known as

6160-416: Was silenced by Apollo. In addition to the people of Lesbos, Greeks from Ionia and Aetolia consulted the oracle, and his reputation spread as far as Babylon . Orpheus's lyre was carried to heaven by the Muses , and was placed among the stars . The Muses also gathered up the fragments of his body and buried them at Leibethra below Mount Olympus , where the nightingales sang over his grave. After

6240-488: Was the king of Emathia in Macedonia. He was the eponym of Pieria and Mt. Pierus . Pierus was credited to be the first to write in the praise of the Muses . According to Marsyas of Pella (c. 330 BC), Pierus was the son of Makednos by a local woman and brother of Amathus (Emathus), eponym of Emathia but Solinus (9.10) contradicts this idea because according to him Pierus was unrelated and older than Makednos. In

6320-710: Was the son of Orpheus. The Argonautica ( Ἀργοναυτικά ) is a Greek epic poem written by Apollonius Rhodius in the 3rd century BC. Orpheus took part in this adventure and used his skills to aid his companions. Chiron told Jason that without the aid of Orpheus, the Argonauts would never be able to pass the Sirens —the same Sirens encountered by Odysseus in Homer 's epic poem the Odyssey . The Sirens lived on three small, rocky islands called Sirenum scopuli and sang beautiful songs that enticed sailors to come to them, which resulted in

6400-462: Was the victim of a thunderbolt." On the writings of Orpheus, Freeman , in the 1946 edition of The Pre- Socratic Philosophers pp. 4–8, writes: "In the fifth and fourth centuries BC, there existed a collection of hexametric poems known as Orphic , which were the accepted authority of those who followed the Orphic way of life, and were by them attributed to Orpheus himself. Plato several times quotes lines from this collection; he refers in

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