The cosmopolitan nature of Orpheus

Abstract

In mythological and literary terms, four are the mythemes that underlie the narrative of Orpheus: a) his participation in the trip of the Argonauts in search of the Golden Fleece; b) his marriage with the nymph Eurydice, who is soon swept away by death; c) his katabasis to Hades, where he went to try to get the beloved among the dead: he is successful, but his disobedience to the infernal gods causes him to lose Eurydice definitely; d) his violent death, quartered by the jealous Maenads of Thrace. In this plot, Orpheus stands out as bringer of the lyre and civilizing hero, and his power of seduction enchants animals, stones, plants, men and gods. The four mythemes also point, in outline, to a configuration in terms of literary genres, because the first is clearly epic and the three remaining explore lyric and dramatic aspects of the mythic cycle. Anyway, Orpheus as priest would be the founder of the mystery cults named Orphism, which enjoyed great reputation during the cosmopolitan Hellenistic period. Therefore, given the fact that the myth of Orpheus made its way also through philosophy and the arts, the intention of this paper is to trace and ground in it some migrations of Orpheus through Greek and Latin culture.