Orpheus god of ancient Greece. Myths of ancient Greece in art. Myths of Ancient Greece

Orpheus was the son of the Hyperborean Apollo and a Greek woman, a priestess of the sacred temple. From his northerner father he got dark blue eyes, from his Dorian mother he got golden curls of hair. Illegitimate child with early childhood was doomed to wander. After wandering through the mountains and forests of northern Greece, the grown-up son of Apollo ended up in Frankia (modern Bulgaria). His blond hair, flowing over his shoulders, seemed strange, inhuman to the Thracians, and his melodic singing evoked unknown feelings. The stern warriors were afraid of the soulful gaze of his blue eyes. The women were fascinated by the stranger; they said that his eyes combined the powerful light of the sun with the gentle radiance of the moon. Ecstatic bacchantes, priestesses of the cult of Bacchus, followed on his heels, listening to incomprehensible speech and strange melodies.

Great Bulgarian clairvoyant Vanga told about Orpheus: “I see him at first as an unhappy child in rags... Then he turned into a young tramp, unkempt and unshaven, with uncut nails. But he continued to sing. And the earth itself suggested songs to him... He put his ear to the ground and sang. And wild animals sat around and listened to his singing, but did not understand him ... "

Time passed, and the blessed youth from the forest found himself a wife among the Thracian women - Eurydice. When she suddenly died, he disappeared too. Then a legend arose that Orpheus descended into Hades, charmed Persephone and Erinyes with his singing, who agreed to release Eurydice from the World of Eternal Shadow, setting the condition that the singer should not look back at his wife on the way, but he could not resist, turned around and lost his wife forever narrowed

In reality, the young man went on further wanderings: first to the Greek city of Samothras, and from there to Egypt, where he asked for refuge from the priests in one of the temples of Memphis. There he became familiar with the secrets of the mysteries, went through the test of death and received initiation into the priesthood. In Memphis, the stranger also received a new name - Orpheus or Harp, composed of two Phoenician words meaning “light” and “healing”.

The name turned out to be prophetic - Orpheus brought divine light to his wild land.

From Egypt, the new initiate returned through Greece to Thrace and came to Mount Kaukaion, where the ancient sanctuary of the god of gods, Zeus, stood. This name was once sacred to every Thracian, but recently everything has changed: people began to worship earthly gods, preferring tangible joys to illusory ones. In the sanctuary of the Thunderer, only weak priests who were living out their days remained; Bacchus was glorified throughout the country. Therefore, Orpheus was greeted on Mount Kaukaion as a long-awaited savior, capable of turning the people from the physical and dark to the spiritually enlightened. With all the enthusiasm of his youth, using the secret knowledge gained in Memphis, Orpheus took up the task of spiritual revival of Thrace. He introduced new, Dionysian mysteries, transforming the cult of Bacchus itself and taming the Bacchae. He established the primacy of Zeus over all the gods and soon became the high priest of all of Thrace, and then extended his influence to Greece. He not only restored his father Apollo to his former glory at Delphi, but also laid the foundation for the Amphictyon Tribunal, which brought Hellas to social unity. Orpheus also became the great priest of Olympian Zeus, and for initiates - the Teacher who revealed the meaning of the heavenly Dionysus. He was revered as the father of mystics, the creator of sacred melodies, and the ruler of souls. They were called immortal and crowned with triads: in hell, on earth and in heaven. They were considered the life-giving genius of sacred Greece, who awakened its divine soul. They said that his seven-string lyre covered the entire universe with its sound, and each string corresponded to one of the states human soul, contains the secret of one science and art.

So the young vagabond became a holy singer and high priest of Greece and Thrace.

...The brighter the radiance of Light, the more active the hatred of Darkness. The progress of Orpheus was closely followed by the elderly Aglaonis, the priestess of the goddess of death Hecate. At her instigation, Orpheus’ mother was killed, and he himself, saved only by a miracle, became a beggar vagabond. Aglaonisa, with the help of evil spells, deprived the maiden Eurydice of her will and had already seen her sacrificed to Hecate, but intervention prevented divine singer. Writhing with impotent anger, the sorceress vowed revenge and soon fulfilled her promise.

Three days later, the savior and the rescued woman decorated themselves with garlands of the god Hymen - they became husband and wife. At the wedding, one of the bacchantes presented Eurydice with a cup, after drinking which the young woman was supposed to learn all the secrets of medicinal herbs. The intrigued girl took a sip of the cup and after the first sip fell dead - Aglanoisa's deadly poison had done its job.

The black witch killed her mother and wife, but did not get rid of her main rival - Orpheus! ...The moment of her gloomy triumph came when the high priest left Thrace for Greece for a long time. During this time, the servant of Hecate gathered around herself obedient Bacchantes and intimidated Thracian leaders and moved at the head of this army to Mount Kaukaion. She intended to storm the sanctuary of Zeus, slaughter its priests and put an end to the religion of Light.

Having learned about this, Orpheus returned to the sanctuary. The priests met him with reproaches:

You came too late! Why didn't you do anything to protect us? Aglaonis leads the Bacchantes, who lead the Thracians. The sorceress has sworn to kill us on our own altars! How can you protect us? Is it not the lightning of Zeus and the arrows of Apollo?

“They protect the Gods not with weapons, but with living words,” Orpheus answered them and descended into the hostile camp, accompanied by one student.

He addressed the warriors with words of truth about the divine Light. Orpheus spoke for a long time, and they listened to him in silence, as if remembering what was said. Suddenly Aglaonisa burst into the circle of warriors shouting: “Who are you listening to, the sorcerer? What God is he talking to you about? There is no god but Hecate! Now I’ll tell my bacchantes to tear this rogue to pieces, and let’s see how Zeus protects him!”

At her signal, the Bacchae rushed at the high priest. The warriors rushed after them and pierced Orpheus with swords. Dripping with blood, he extended his hand to the student, saying: “I also saw how Aglaonis kills my mother... Remember: people are mortal, but the Gods will not stop living!”

The Thracians, who witnessed the death of the divine singer, were horrified and left Mount Kaukaion. A student of Orpheus founded a new religion; his co-religionists, the Orphics, told people that in every person there is a divine and a dark principle that fight among themselves. The posthumous reward for a person’s soul also depends on the outcome of this struggle. The afterlife court could prescribe a person to a new earthly life, sometimes even in the form of an animal. Therefore, the killing of animals was equated by the Orphics with the killing of a person. Only after going through a series of reincarnations could a person reach the eternal dwelling of the righteous, located in the stars. The sinners headed to Hades, to Hecate. At one time, the popularity of this religion eclipsed Zeus and Apollo, and the priests of the official cult of the Olympians fought against it.

And therefore, the mysteries in honor of Orpheus became secret, only those chosen and ready to join the knowledge of the subtle worlds, the divine Light that animates the Universe, were allowed to attend them.

The greatest poet and musician who ever lived, the son of the Thracian river god Eager and the muse Calliope.

The young man could not boast of the nobility of his family. Orpheus's father was a mountain stream lost in the Thracian wilds, and his mother was the muse Calliope (Beautiful-voiced). He didn't commit
exploits similar to those that glorified Perseus or Hercules.

But his deeds are unparalleled, just as his glory is unparalleled.

His mother gave Orpheus the gift of singing and poetry. Apollo gave Orpheus a lyre, and the muses taught him to play it, so much so that even trees and rocks moved to the sounds of his lyre. Orpheus and Eurydice Orpheus fell in love with a young dryad

Eurydice

Hoping to return his beloved, Orpheus boldly descended into the kingdom of the dead. He took nothing with him except the cithara and unbroken-
shaved willow twigs. To penetrate Hades, he used the bottomless chasm Tenar, which opened near Aorn, in Thesprotis. Having descended, he charmed with his mournful music the ferryman Charon, the dog Cerberus and the three judges of the dead. Finding himself at the throne of Hades and Persephone, Orpheus fell to his knees, begging for his young wife to be returned to him. But the lord of the dead was adamant. Then Orpheus asked permission to sing to Hades and his beautiful wife and play the lyre. And Orpheus sang the best of his songs - a song about love. And while he sang, the willow branch he brought blossomed. Even the vengeful Erinyes, who knew no mercy, began to cry, and the strong heart of the ruler of the underworld trembled. Hades allowed Eurydice to return to the world of the living, but set one condition: on the way from the underworld, Orpheus should not turn around until Eurydice, who was following him, came out into the sunlight. Eurydice walked along a dark passage, led by the sounds of the lyre, and, already seeing the sunlight, Orpheus turned around to make sure that his beloved was following him, and at that very moment he lost his wife forever.

The world of people became disgusted with Orpheus. He went into the wild Rhodope Mountains and sang there only for the birds and animals. His songs were filled with such power that even trees and stones were removed from their places to be closer to the singer. More than once kings offered the young man their daughters as wives, but, inconsolable, he rejected everyone. From time to time Orpheus descended from the mountains to pay homage to Apollo.

Death of Orpheus

When Dionysus came to Thrace, Orpheus refused him honors, remaining faithful to Apollo, and the vengeful god sent the Bacchae to him. First, the women waited until their husbands entered the temple of Apollo, of which Orpheus was the priest, and then, seizing the weapons left at the temple doors, they burst inside, killed the men and tore Orpheus to pieces in a wild frenzy, tearing him to pieces. They threw their head into the Gebr River, which carried it out to sea. Eventually, the still singing head of Orpheus washed up on the island of Lesbos, where it was discovered by forest nymphs.
The poet's head, along with the lyre, was buried in a cave not far from Antissa, where Dionysus was revered. In the cave, the head prophesied day and night, until Apollo, discovering that this cave of Orpheus was preferred to his oracles, including in the sacred Delphi, appeared and silenced the head. In those days, healthy competition was out of the question.
The remains of Orpheus in Thrace, with tears in their eyes, were collected by the muses and buried near the city of Libetra, at the foot of Mount Olympus - since then the nightingales have been singing there sweeter than anywhere else in the world. The shadow of Orpheus descended to the kingdom of Hades, where he was reunited with his beloved Eurydice. Having recovered from the insanity, the Bacchantes tried to wash off the poet’s blood in the Helikon River, but the river went deep underground to avoid involvement in the murder. The Olympian gods (except Dionysus and Aphrodite) condemned the murder of Orpheus, and Dionysus managed to save the lives of the Bacchantes only by turning them into oak trees; firmly rooted in the ground.

There was a legend that the city of Libetra would be destroyed by a pig if Helios saw the bones of Orpheus. Many years later, the tomb of Orpheus was opened by a shepherd who fell asleep on a hill and heard fabulous singing in his dream. Waking up, the shepherd ran to Libetra and brought the townspeople. To the hill from under which one heard wonderful voice, many people rose up, and the vaults of the tomb collapsed. It was then that Helios saw the bones of Orpheus.

This, however, did not frighten the townspeople, who were confident that the city walls were able to withstand the largest pig. But the next day a gigantic cloud hung over Libetra, from which a rain of unprecedented force poured out. The waters of the Siye River (which means “pig”) overflowed and washed away the city.

Genealogy: Children of Hera
: Orpheus' origin appears in this branch. Hellenes

: and in this branch you can see the origin of Eurydice. There was Orpheus famous singer
Hellas. He was the son of the god Apollo, and according to other legends - the river god Eager and the muse Calliope; he was originally from Thrace.
According to some legends, he, along with Hercules and Thamyrid, studied with the skilled singer Linus, while others say that he spent his youth in Egypt and there he studied music and singing. From the sounds of his wonderful lyre, all nature was filled with awe: the choirs of enchanted birds fell silent, fish in the sea stopped their progress, trees, mountains and rocks responded to the sound of his songs; wild animals came out of their holes and caressed at his feet.
Orpheus had a wife - the beautiful Eurydice, the nymph of the Peneus Valley. One spring, she and her friends were picking flowers in the meadow. The god Aristaeus saw her and began to pursue her. While running away from him, she stepped on a poisonous snake, which bit her, and Eurydice died from the bite. Her nymph friends loudly mourned the death of Eurydice and filled the valleys and mountains of Thrace with their cries. Orpheus sat with his lyre on a deserted river bank and from morning to and from evening until sunrise he poured out his grief in sad and tender songs; rocks, trees, birds and forest animals listened to them. And so Orpheus finally decided to descend into underground kingdom to ask Hades and Persephone to return his beloved Eurydice to him.
Orpheus descended through the remote Tenar gorge into the underworld and without fear walked past the shadows crowding there. Approaching the throne of Hades, he played the lyre and said;
~ Gods of the underworld, I did not come to you to see the terrible Tartarus, not to shackle angry dog Cerberus, and I came for the sake of my wife Eurydice, who died, bitten by a snake.
So he said and played the lyre, and the shadows of the dead began to cry out of compassion. Tantalus, forgetting about thirst, stood enchanted by the play of Orpheus; Ixion's wheel stopped, and unfortunate Sisyphus, forgetting about his hard work, began to listen to the wonderful song, leaning on his stone. The cruel Erinyes shed tears for the first time; both Persephone and Hades could not refuse the request of the singer Orpheus.
They called Eurydice and allowed her to return to earth with Orpheus. But they ordered him on the way to the bright world not to look back, not to look at his wife Eurydice. So we went to long haul along a steep desert path Orpheus and Eurydice. Orpheus walked silently ahead and Eurydice followed him in deep silence. They were already close to the bright world, but Orpheus wanted to look back to check if Eurydice was following him, and at that moment when he looked back, Eurydice dies again and becomes a shadow and, stretching out her hands to him, returns to the underworld Aida.
Sad Orpheus hurried after the shadow that had disappeared in the darkness, but the indifferent carrier dead Charon did not heed his requests and refused to transport him to the other side of the Acheron River. For seven days the inconsolable singer sat on the bank of an underground river and found consolation only in tears. Then he returned to the valleys of the Thracian mountains. Here he lived in sorrow for three whole years.
and the only thing that consoled him in grief was song; and the mountains, trees and animals fell in love with listening to her.
One day he sat on a rock illuminated by the sun and sang his songs, and the trees crowded around Orpheus covered him with their shadow. Rocks crowded towards him, birds left the forests, animals came out of their holes and listened to the magical sounds of the lyre.
But the Thracian women, who were celebrating the noisy festival of Bacchus in the mountains, saw Orpheus. They had long been angry with the singer, who, having lost his wife, did not want to love another woman. Enraged bacchantes began to throw stones at him, but, enchanted by the sounds of the lyre and the song of Orpheus, the stones fell at his feet, as if begging for forgiveness. But still, the sounds of frantic flutes, horns and tambourines drowned out the sounds of Orpheus’ lyre, and stones began to fly to him. The frantic bacchantes rushed at Orpheus, began to beat him with thyrses entwined with grape leaves, and Orpheus fell under their blows.
Birds and animals mourned his death, and even the rocks shed tears. The trees dropped their leaves in sadness, dryads and naiads tore their hair out crying. The head of the murdered Orpheus and his lyre were thrown into the river Gebr by the bacchantes, and, floating on the water, the lyre made quiet sad sounds, and the head of Orpheus barely audibly continued the sad song, and the banks answered it with a sad echo.
The head and lyre of Orpheus floated down the river into the sea, to the shores of the island of Lesbos, where Alcaeus and Sappho sang their beautiful songs, where the nightingales sang more tenderly than anywhere else on earth.
And the shadow of Orpheus descended into the underground kingdom of Hades and found his Eurydice there and has never been separated from her since then.
There is another legend according to which the muses buried Orpheus’ body, and the gods placed Orpheus’ lyre in the sky among the stars.

Myths and legends of ancient Greece. Illustrations.

One of the characters Greek myths is Orpheus, born of the muse Calliope and the Thracian river god Eager. Orpheus was an excellent musician and singer: when he played his lyre and sang, people stopped as if spellbound, and animals froze.

"Orpheus playing the lyre." Mosaic

Many legends are associated with his name. For example, Orpheus was one of the participants in the famous campaign of the Argonauts. By playing the lyre and singing, he calmed the waves of the sea, thus helping the rowers. His singing dispelled Idas' anger. One of the most famous legends tells how Orpheus visited the kingdom of the dead. He was married to Eurydice and loved his wife very much. One day she was bitten by a snake and Eurydice died. Inconsolable Orpheus went to Hades in order to return his wife. He conquered the guards of the kingdom of the dead with his singing, and they agreed to return Eurydice to him on the condition that he would not look at her until she entered the house. But Orpheus could not fulfill the order: he turned to his wife, and she, immediately turning into a shadow, flew back to the kingdom of the dead.

The famous lyre that Orpheus played was made by Hermes from the shell of a tortoise and the sinews of Apollo's bulls. He pulled seven strings on it - in honor of the seven daughters of Atlas. Apollo himself tuned the lyre and gave it to Orpheus, who then stretched two more strings, and there were nine strings, which symbolized the nine muses.

The second, most famous legend tells of the death of Orpheus, the cause of which was insufficient respect for the god Dionysus. Orpheus revered Helios more than others, calling him Apollo. Upon learning of this, Dionysus became angry and sent his companions, the Maenads, to attack the singer, who tore his body into pieces and scattered it all over the earth. Having learned about this, the lyres collected all the parts of Orpheus's body and buried them in Liberti. All the stones, trees, birds and animals mourned the death of the singer for a long time. The Muses could not find only his head. She sailed for some time along the Gebr River and reached the island of Lesbos, where Apollo found her. The head remained on the island: it prophesied and performed various miracles. The soul of Orpheus descended into the kingdom of the dead and united with Eurydice.

According to one legend, the Maenads had to be punished for depriving the world of Orpheus' songs: Dionysus himself turned them into oak trees.

Images of Orpheus have survived to this day. He was shown as a young, beardless youth, dressed in a light robe and high leather boots. The most ancient is considered to be his image on the relief of the metope of the treasury of the Sicyonians in Delphi.

G. Moreau. "Orpheus"

Many artists and sculptors turned to the legends about Orpheus in their work, including G. B. Tiepolo, P. Rubens, J. Tintoretto, O. Rodin. The myth of Orpheus and Eurydice was repeatedly used in their works by various writers and poets: R. M. Rilke, J. Anouilh, A. Gide, M. Tsvetaeva and others.

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ORPHEUS

- Thracian singer, son of the muse Calliope and the god Apollo (or the river god Eager). Linus's brother, who taught him music, but Orpheus later surpassed his teacher. With his miraculous singing he charmed gods and people and tamed the wild forces of nature. Orpheus took part in the Argonauts' campaign to Colchis, and although he was not a great warrior, it happened that it was he who saved his comrades with his songs. So, when the Argo sailed past the island of the Sirens, Orpheus sang even more beautifully than the Sirens, and the Argonauts did not succumb to their spell. No less than for his art, Orpheus became famous for his love for his young wife Eurydice. Orpheus descended to Hades for Eurydice and charmed the guard Cerberus with his singing. Hades and Persephone agreed to let Eurydice go, but on the condition that Orpheus would go ahead and not look back to look at his wife. Orpheus violated this ban, turned to look at her, and Eurydice disappeared forever. Coming to earth, Orpheus did not live long without his wife: he was soon torn to pieces by participants in the Dionysian mysteries. Musey's teacher or father.

// Gustave MOREAU: Orpheus // Odilon REDON: Head of Orpheus // Francisco de QUEVEDO Y VILLEGAS: On Orpheus // Victor HUGO: Orpheus // Joseph BRODSKY: Orpheus and Artemis // Valery BRUSOV: Orpheus // Valery BRUSOV: Orpheus and Eurydice // Paul Valéry: Orpheus // LUCEBERTE: Orpheus // Rainer Maria RILKE: Orpheus. Eurydice. Hermes // Rainer Maria RILKE: "O tree! Rise up to the heavens!.." // Rainer Maria RILKE: "Like a girl almost... He brought her..." // Rainer Maria RILKE: "Of course, if he is God. But if he... " // Rainer Maria RILKE: "Do not erect a tombstone. Only a rose..." // Rainer Maria RILKE: "Yes, to glorify..." // Rainer Maria RILKE: "But about you, I want, about the one who I knew..." // Rainer Maria RILKE: "But to the end you, divine and sweet-voiced..." // Rainer Maria RILKE: "You will leave, come and finish the dance..." // Yannis RITZOS: To Orpheus // Vladislav KHODASEVICH: The Return of Orpheus / / Vladislav KHODASEVICH: We // Marina TSVETAEVA: Eurydice to Orpheus // Marina TSVETAEVA: “So they floated: the head and the lyre...” // N.A. Kuhn: ORPHEUS IN THE UNDERGROUND KINGDOM // N.A. Kuhn: THE DEATH OF ORPHEUS

Myths of Ancient Greece, dictionary-reference book. 2012

Orpheus, the god of ancient Greece. Myths of ancient Greece in art. Myths of Ancient Greece - Orpheus and Eurydice

But his deeds are unparalleled, just as his glory is unparalleled.

Death of Orpheus

See also interpretations, synonyms, meanings of the word and what ORPHEUS is in Russian in dictionaries, encyclopedias and reference books: