ORPHEUS

Orpheus, the Thracian poet, lover, and priest-initiator, was given many faces from the 6^th century BCE to the 6^th centry CE. As a mythic figure, he was generally seen as the son of Oiagros, king – or river-god – of Thrace, and Calliope, the first of the nine muses whose domain was epic poetry. He was often portrayed in oriental sacerdotal robes with long sleeves, a Phrygian cap, and a cithara and plectrum.  Although we are left without further historical details on his origins or lineage, Diodorus of Sicily mentions that Egyptian priests affirmed it was he who, after having journeyed into Egypt, brought the mysteries of Demeter and Dionysus to Greece – similar to those of Isis and Osiris – as well as the knowledge of the Netherworld. The main stories on Orpheus focus on three episodes of his life: his expedition with the Argonauts, his descent in Hades, and his death by dismemberment, all allegorical in nature, and of great significance for the Ogdoadic Tradition. Aside from these tales and literary accounts from the classical world, of paramount importance to our Tradition are also texts central to Orphism such as the Rhapsodic Theogony, of which only fragments – widely used by the neoplatonists – are left to us, the 87 orphic hymns from the 2^nd and 3^rd centuries CE on invocations and fumigations, and the orphic gold tablets given to deceased initiates as instructions to become gods in the afterlife.