Orpheus
Just don't look back. (The Bus 6.12)
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ORIGINALLY PUBLISHED (1.44) 5 SEPTEMBER 2022
The Stop
Orphism is the collection of Greco-Roman mystery religions1 based on the mythology surrounding Orpheus. A lack of historical evidence means there is no ‘coherent description’ of these religions, but most scholars agree that by the 5th century BCE an Orphic movement existed - largely composed of ‘travelling priests who offered teaching and initiation’ based on the myth’s legends.
Though there are many and varied mythological accounts of his birth,2 what is common amongst them is that Orpheus was the ‘father of songs.’ As a young man, Orpheus was recognised as a gifted musician and received a lyre from Apollo. He quickly became a ‘larger-than-life musician,’ a composer and singer of songs that could ‘move animals, rocks and trees’ and he is credited with inventing ‘epic, lyric, and other forms of poetry and song.’3
The most famous myth about Orpheus involves Eurydice, the love of his life who was killed on their wedding day by a venomous snake. Overcome with grief, he ‘filled the highs of heaven with the moans of his lament,’ and his song affected the gods so much that some - including Apollo - suggested he go into the Underworld to ask for the return of his wife. Carrying only his lyre, Orpheus travelled into the Underworld, singing as he went. His music was so beautiful he was able to pass into the Underworld alive, charming the three-headed dog Cerberus4 and convincing Hades5 - the king of the Underworld - to allow Eurydice to return back to the living world. However, Hades stipulated one condition: as they travelled out of the underworld, Orpheus was forbidden to look back at Eurydice until they both had reached the surface. As the couple climbed towards the land of the living, Orpheus began to wonder if Hades had tricked him. His anxiety worsened and began to prey on his mind until - just as he reached the surface and saw the sun - he turned to ensure she was with him. And she was … but at that moment, having not yet reached the surface, Eurydice slipped away into the air as the ‘walls of the Underworld echoed a whispered and sorrowful farewell.’ Having failed, Orpheus ensured Eurydice would never return to the world of the living again.
The death of Orpheus varies according to its telling. In some traditions, his inability to stop mourning the loss of Eurydice meant he wandered the world playing miserable songs on his lyre until he was torn apart by either a ‘band of Thracian women or Dionysian maenads.’6 In others, losing Eurydice caused him to shun women completely and choose only homosexual relationships, becoming a ‘vicious and outspoken misogynist’ and in some accounts ‘convinc[ing] the husbands of the women of Thrace to accompany him on his wanderings.’ These accounts have him being ‘killed by a band of angry women’ who are angered at his behaviour.7 However - regardless of the means of his death - there was an attraction to the myth’s idea of death not being final. Orpheus’s determination to bring his love back to life introduces the idea of resurrection to the Hellenic world - priming it for the introduction of the same by Christianity hundreds of years later.
The Detour
Today’s Detour is to a 2011 article from Mental Floss about how military operations get their code names. If you’ve ever wondered about these names (e.g., Desert Storm, Overlord, Barbarossa, Mermaid Dawn) and where they come from, your question will be answered.
How Military Operations Get Their Code Names
The Recommendation
Today’s Recommendation is Donna Tartt’s first8 novel, The Secret History (1992). Narrated in the first person, the novel is the story of a murder, the events leading up to it and the lasting effects it had on the group of students responsible. It’s a great read - I read it when it was first published and again a few years ago while on holiday - that has aged well.
From the back cover: 'What we did was terrible, but still I don't think any of us were bad, exactly; chalk it up to weakness on my part, hubris on Henry's, too much Greek prose composition - whatever you like.' Under the influence of their charismatic classics professor, a group of clever, eccentric misfits at an elite New England college discover a way of thinking and living that is a world away from the humdrum existence of their contemporaries. But when they go beyond the boundaries of morality, their lives are changed profoundly and for ever. The Secret History is a story of two parts; the chain of events that led to the death of a classmate - and what happened next.
The Sounds
Today’s playlist is inspired by the topic - some overtly, others less so: ‘The Lyre of Orpheus’ (Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds, 2004), ‘Orpheus Under the Influence’ (The Buttertones, 2013), ‘Wet Dream’ (Wet Leg, 2022), ‘Walk Away Renee’ (Orpheus, 1968) and ‘The Killing Moon’ (Echo and the Bunnymen, 1984). It’s a great list. Enjoy!
The Thought
Today’s Thought is from President Harry S. Truman (1952)9:
‘Socialism is a scare word they’ve hurled at every advance the people have made. Socialism is what they called public power, social security, deposit insurance, and independent labor organizations. Socialism is their name for anything that helps all people.’
If you have a thought on this Thought - or any part of today’s issue - please leave a comment below:
And that’s the end of this stop - I hope you enjoyed a brief diversion from your regular journey!
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Until the next stop …
Mystery religions were secret cults in the Greco-Roman world. Members were sworn to secrecy to not reveal the various beliefs and rituals - often on pain of death - which is one reason why so little is known about them. Popular throughout the ancient world for hundreds of years, they peaked in the first three hundred years CE, eventually dying out as they were replaced by and absorbed into Christianity. Sources for today’s Stop include: Orpheus (Britannica), Orpheus (Greek Mythology), Orpheus (Mythopedia), Orpheus and Eurydice (Greek Mythology), Mystery Religion (Britannica) and The Muses (Britannica).
Some have Orpheus being the son of a mortal and a Muse (usually Calliope); other accounts say that Apollo is his father. The Muses were the Greek goddesses of ‘poetic inspiration, the adored deities of song, dance and memory, on whose mercy the creativity, wisdom and insight of all artists and thinkers depended.’ They are commonly depicted as the nine daughters of Zeus and Mnemosyne: Thalia (Comedy), Urania (Astronomy), Melpomene (Tragedy), Polyhymnia (Hymns and Sacred Poetry), Erato (Lyric Poetry), Calliope (Epic Poetry), Clio (History), Euterpe (Flute-playing) and Terpsichore (Choral Lyric and Dancing).
Some myths credit Orpheus with inventing other ‘arts’ such as ‘medicine, writing and agriculture.’ He was obviously quite busy.
Along with Charon - the blind ferryman who carried souls across the River Styx - Cerberus was one of the principal guardians of Hades.
And his wife Persephone (see The Bus Issue 1.3 - Demeter).
Thrace was an ancient region in what is now the southeastern Balkans. Ancient historians noted the Thracians were ‘superior fighters’ with an ‘advanced culture … noted for its poetry and music.’ See: Thrace. The maenads were female followers of Dionysus, the god of wine. During the ‘orgiastic rites of Dionysus, maenads roamed the mountains and forests performing frenzied, ecstatic dances and were believed to be possessed by the god. While under his influence, they were supposed to have unusual strength, including the ability to tear animals or people to pieces.’ Which is, of course, seriously good stuff.
Varied accounts of his death notwithstanding, one constant is that Orpheus was ‘brutally torn apart’ and many versions tell of his head, ‘still singing sweetly or even delivering fateful oracles’ floating to various islands. For a very odd novel starring Orpheus in a modern-day London setting (after an experimental treatment for writer’s block, the protagonist hallucinates various spherical objects to be the head of Orpheus), check out Russell Hoban’s The Medusa Frequency (1987).
Arguably, it’s her best novel, and though her other two novels - The Little Friend and The Goldfinch - are good, for me they work best because of some seriously effective set-pieces rather than as a whole.
For a good biography of the 33rd President, see: Harry S. Truman