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Ancient Sources/References
to Orpheus
• Orpheus is not mentioned by the earliest Greek
poets, Homer and Hesiod.
• The earliest literary reference to Orpheus is a two-
word fragment of the sixth-century BCE lyric poet
Ibycus: onomaklyton Orphēn ("Orpheus famous-of-
name”)
• Pindar (6th-century) calls Orpheus "the father of
songs" and identifies him as a son of the Thracian
king Oeagrus and the Muse Calliope.
Ancient Sources/References
to Orpheus
• List of those Permitted to Return from the Underworld:
Hyginus 251
• Orpheus the Argonaut: Hyginus 14
• Orpheus and the Sirens (Apollodorus. Argonautica) 4
• Orpheus and Eurydice: Apollodorus 1.3.2
• Vergil's Georgics IV / Ovid's Metamorphoses X
• Death of Orpheus: Vergil's Georgics IV / Ovid's
Metamorphoses XI
• Orpheus’ Lyre: Hyginus Astronomica 2.7
• Orphic Hymns
Important Themes
• Orpheus and the power of song
• Separated lovers
• The Hero who descends to the
Underworld and returns
• The Death of Orpheus: Orpheus and
Maenads
• Orpheus as the founder of Orphism
Orpheus the Singer
• Orpheus’ parents the Muse Calliope
and the god Apollo are also singers
• Orpheus shares with his parents the
attribute of a lyre (stringed musical
instrument).
Orpheus’ Parents
• son of Oeagrus (Apollodorus,
1.19.16)
• son of the Muse Calliope and
Oeagrus (Apollodorus. Astronomica
II.7)
• Now Calliope bore to Oeagrus or,
nominally, to Apollo, a son Linus,38
whom Hercules slew; and another
son, Orpheus (Apollodorus Library
1.3.2)
• God of music
FILM
• Black Orpheus by Marcel Camus (1959)
• Jean Cocteau’s Orphic film triology (1930-1960)
LITERATURE
• Robert Southey, Thalaba the Destroyer, 1801
"...Did Thracian shepherd by the grave
Of Orpheus hear a sweeter melody...“
SONG
• Carly Simon “Orpheus” (1983) See next slide
ORPHEUS (Carly Simon)
Orpheus, it could have been
you could have held me again
You said your songs had all gone
And that the road back up was too long
But it was there for us
It was there for us Simon, Carly. “Orpheus.”
I loved you all along
Orpheus Perf. Carly Simon. On “Hello
The part of me that died
Was ready to be reborn Big Man” album. Warner
And you called of the hounds
Of hell with your songs Bros., 1983.
Orpheus, Orpheus
I loved you all along, Orpheus Available on the “Clouds in
Orpheus, It could have been
You could have held me again My Coffee 1965-1995” album.
But you couldn’t wait
Somewhere along the road Artista, 1995. #8221879828.
you lost your faith
Out of despair and believing
I was gone
You gave up on my love Listen to it here:
you gave up on us
But it was there for us, https://open.spotify.com/track/46
It was there for us
I loved you all along 9USuQkMDkOCq3blRpCP2
Orpheus
Question
Why has the Orpheus myth been so
popular in modern media like opera, film
and song?
The Death of Orpheus
Now read about the death of Orpheus:
• Vergil's Georgics IV
• Ovid's Metamorphoses XI
• Orpheus’ Lyre: Hyginus Astronomica
2.7
The death of Orpheus at the hand of a Maenad. Red-figured
amphora from Nola, Italy, 450-440 BCE Terracotta, height: 32 cm
Inv. G 436 Louvre, Departement des Antiquites
Grecques/Romaines, Paris, France
Maenads
Maenads attacking Pentheus (Roman wall painting from the
House of the Vettii, Pompeii) Furious Maenad,carrying a thyrsus and a leopard, with a snake
rolled up over her head.Tondo of an Ancient Greek Attic white-
ground kylix 490–480 BC from Vulci.Staatliche
Antikensammlungen Munich Germany.
Gustave Moreau
Thracian Woman Carrying Orpheus’ Head
1864
watercolor on paper
Private Collection
Orphism
Orphism was a set of religious beliefs and
practices associated with Orpheus and very
popular in the ancient Greek world.
• How do ancient myths and art emphasize the importance of Orpheus’ lyre?
• Summarize the ways that ancient myths and art about Orpheus illustrate the power and importance of song
and singers.
• How do the linguistic associations with Orpheus’ name relate to the myth of Orpheus?
• What reason does Vergil offer in the Georgics to explain why Orpheus looked back at Eurydice? How does
Eurydice respond to what Orpheus did?
• Describe the way Ovid in his Metamorphoses says each of the following respond to Orpheus’ song as in
the Underworld: the bloodless spirits, Tantalus, Ixion, Sisyphus, the vultures eating Tityus, the Danaids, and
Hades/Persephone. What do these responses suggest about Orpheus’ abilities as a singer?
• In his Metamorphoses Ovid describes the ways that Orpheus responded to the loss of Eurydice a second
time. Make a list of the things Orpheus did after this happened.
• Compare Vergil’s and Ovid’s stories of Orpheus and Eurydice. List three ways they are similar and three
ways they are different.
• What do artistic representations of the story of Orpheus and Eurydice add to your understanding of the
myth?
• What does the myth of Orpheus and Eurydice suggest about ancient Greek attitudes towards love, death
and song?
• Why has the Orpheus myth been so popular in modern media like opera, film and song?
• What does Vergil say about Orpheus’ head after the singer is killed by the Maenads? How does this
enhance Orpheus’ power as a singer? How does it increase the pathos of the story?
• What aspects of the myth of Orpheus would have encouraged Orphic beliefs?
• Why did early Christians associate Orpheus with Christ?