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95-775: Ancient Greek authors such as Strabo and Plutarch note Orpheus's Thracian origins. Orpheus was called the ruler of the Bistonian Pieria , a region inhabited by the Thracian tribes Bistones and Pieres but others have identified him as a member of the Thracian tribe Ciconi , that lived in the Thracian Bisaltia . The major stories about him are centered on his ability to charm all living things and even stones with his music (the usual scene in Orpheus mosaics ), his attempt to retrieve his wife Eurydice from

190-586: A Late Antique summary of Aeschylus 's lost play Bassarids , Orpheus, towards the end of his life, disdained the worship of all gods except Apollo . One early morning he went to the oracle of Dionysus at Mount Pangaion to salute his god at dawn, but was ripped to shreds by Thracian Maenads for not honoring his previous patron (Dionysus) and was buried in Pieria . But having gone down into Hades because of his wife and seeing what sort of things were there, he did not continue to worship Dionysus, because of whom he

285-623: A consequence of his time spent in Nysa with Aristodemus. At around the age of 21, Strabo moved to Rome, where he studied philosophy with the Peripatetic Xenarchus , a highly respected tutor in Augustus's court. Despite Xenarchus's Aristotelian leanings, Strabo later gives evidence to have formed his own Stoic inclinations. In Rome, he also learned grammar under the rich and famous scholar Tyrannion of Amisus . Although Tyrannion

380-402: A daughter of Pierus , son of Makednos or (4) lastly of Menippe , daughter of Thamyris . Pindar, however, seems to call Orpheus the son of Apollo in his Pythian Odes , and a scholium on this passage adds that the mythographer Asclepiades of Tragilus considered Orpheus to be the son of Apollo and Calliope. According to Tzetzes , he was from Bisaltia . His birthplace and place of residence

475-757: A descriptive history of people and places from different regions of the world known during his lifetime. Although the Geographica was rarely used by contemporary writers, a multitude of copies survived throughout the Byzantine Empire . It first appeared in Western Europe in Rome as a Latin translation issued around 1469. The first printed edition was published in 1516 in Venice . Isaac Casaubon , classical scholar and editor of Greek texts, provided

570-400: A further punishment for his cowardice, he met his death at the hands of women ( Symposium 179d)." "Earlier than the literary references is a sculptured representation of Orpheus with the ship Argo , found at Delphi , said to be of the sixth century BC." Four other people are traditionally called Orpheus: "The second Orpheus was an Arcadian , or, according to others, a Ciconian , from

665-525: A jocular allusion in Cyclops 646); refers to his charming the infernal powers ( Alcestis 357); connects him with Bacchanalian orgies ( Hippolytus 953); ascribes to him the origin of sacred mysteries ( Rhesus 943), and places the scene of his activity among the forests of Olympus ( Bacchae 561.)" "Euripides [also] brought Orpheus into his play Hypsipyle , which dealt with the Lemnian episode of

760-560: A mortal, who lived and died in a village close to Olympus . "Some, of course, received him willingly, but others, since they suspected a plot and violence, combined against him and killed him." He made money as a musician and "wizard" – Strabo uses αγυρτεύοντα ( agurteúonta ), also used by Sophocles in Oedipus Tyrannus to characterize Tiresias as a trickster with an excessive desire for possessions. Αγύρτης ( agúrtēs ) most often meant ' charlatan ' and always had

855-575: A multiple Tony award-winning stage musical . Reeve Carney originated the role on Broadway. Sarah Ruhl's play Eurydice examines the myth from the perspective of Eurydice, and the myth features as one of the tales told in Mary Zimmerman 's play Metamorphoses . • Kaos (TV series) , (2024) a mythological comedy created by Charlie Covell for Netflix Strabo Strabo ( / ˈ s t r eɪ b oʊ / ; Greek : Στράβων Strábōn ; 64 or 63 BC – c.  24 AD )

950-602: A negative connotation. Pausanias writes of an unnamed Egyptian who considered Orpheus a μάγευσε ( mágeuse ), i.e., magician. "Orpheus ... is repeatedly referred to by Euripides, in whom we find the first allusion to the connection of Orpheus with Dionysus and the infernal regions: he speaks of him as related to the Muses ( Rhesus 944, 946); mentions the power of his song over rocks, trees, and wild beasts ( Medea 543, Iphigenia in Aulis 1211, Bacchae 561, and

1045-458: A nest of vipers and suffered a fatal bite on her heel. Her body was discovered by Orpheus who, overcome with grief, played such sad and mournful songs that all the nymphs and gods wept. On their advice, Orpheus traveled to the underworld . His music softened the hearts of Hades and Persephone , who agreed to allow Eurydice to return with him to earth on one condition: he should walk in front of her and not look back until they both had reached

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1140-498: A snake bite is incurred while she was dancing with naiads on her wedding day. Virgil wrote in his poem that Dryads wept from Epirus and Hebrus up to the land of the Getae (north east Danube valley ) and even describes him wandering into Hyperborea and Tanais (ancient Greek city in the Don river delta ) due to his grief. The story of Eurydice may actually be a late addition to

1235-402: A theogony concerning the birth of the gods, produced in the circle of the philosopher Anaxagoras , written in the second half of the fifth century BC. The papyrus dates to around 340 BC, during the reign of Philip II of Macedon , making it Europe's oldest surviving manuscript. The Orpheus motif has permeated Western culture and has been used as a theme in all art forms. Early examples include

1330-491: A valuable source of information on the ancient world of his day, especially when this information is corroborated by other sources. He travelled extensively, as he says: "Westward I have journeyed to the parts of Etruria opposite Sardinia; towards the south from the Euxine [Black Sea] to the borders of Ethiopia; and perhaps not one of those who have written geographies has visited more places than I have between those limits." It

1425-527: A very rocky mountain, called the Trojan mountain; beneath it there are caves, and near the caves and the river a village called Troy, an ancient settlement of the captive Trojans who had accompanied Menelaus and settled there. Strabo commented on volcanism ( effusive eruption ) which he observed at Katakekaumene (modern Kula , Western Turkey). Strabo's observations predated Pliny the Younger who witnessed

1520-582: Is "... pro-Roman throughout the Geography. But while he acknowledges and even praises Roman ascendancy in the political and military sphere, he also makes a significant effort to establish Greek primacy over Rome in other contexts." In Europe , Strabo was the first to connect the Danube (which he called Danouios) and the Istros – with the change of names occurring at "the cataracts," the modern Iron Gates on

1615-682: Is also said to have studied in Egypt. Orpheus is said to have established the worship of Hecate in Aegina . In Laconia Orpheus is said to have brought the worship of Demeter Chthonia and that of the Κόρες Σωτείρας ( Kóres Sōteíras ; 'Saviour Maidens'). Also in Taygetos a wooden image of Orpheus was said to have been kept by Pelasgians in the sanctuary of the Eleusinian Demeter. According to Diodorus Siculus , Musaeus of Athens

1710-532: Is an innovative perspective on the classic Greek tragedy of Orpheus and Eurydice . Baz Luhrmann 's 2001 jukebox musical film Moulin Rouge! is also inspired by the myth. Anaïs Mitchell 's 2010 folk opera musical Hadestown retells the tragedy of Orpheus and Eurydice with a score inspired by American blues and jazz, portraying Hades as the brutal work-boss of an underground mining city. Mitchell, together with director Rachel Chavkin , later adapted her album into

1805-505: Is analogous with that of Pentheus , who was also torn to pieces by Maenads; and it has been speculated that the Orphic mystery cult regarded Orpheus as a parallel figure to or even an incarnation of Dionysus. Both made similar journeys into Hades, and Dionysus-Zagreus suffered an identical death. Pausanias writes that Orpheus was buried in Dion and that he met his death there. He writes that

1900-509: Is believed that in the collection of writings which they used there were several versions, each of which gave a slightly different account of the origin of the universe, of gods and men, and perhaps of the correct way of life, with the rewards and punishments attached thereto." The Derveni papyrus , found in Derveni , Macedonia (Greece) in 1962, contains a philosophical treatise that is an allegorical commentary on an Orphic poem in hexameters,

1995-620: Is in the Lament for Bion (1st century BC). Some sources credit Orpheus with further gifts to humankind: medicine, which is more usually under the auspices of Asclepius (Aesculapius) or Apollo ; writing, which is usually credited to Cadmus ; and agriculture, where Orpheus assumes the Eleusinian role of Triptolemus as giver of Demeter 's knowledge to humankind. Orpheus was an augur and seer; he practiced magical arts and astrology , founded cults to Apollo and Dionysus , and prescribed

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2090-513: Is little record of his travels until AD 17. It is not known precisely when Strabo's Geography was written, though comments within the work itself place the finished version within the reign of Emperor Tiberius . Some place its first drafts around 7 BC, others around AD 17 or AD 18. The latest passage to which a date can be assigned is his reference to the death in AD ;23 of Juba II , king of Maurousia ( Mauretania ), who

2185-490: Is not known when he wrote Geographica , but he spent much time in the famous library in Alexandria taking notes from "the works of his predecessors". A first edition was published in 7 BC and a final edition no later than 23 AD, in what may have been the last year of Strabo's life. It took some time for Geographica to be recognized by scholars and to become a standard. Alexandria itself features extensively in

2280-577: Is not mentioned by Homer or Hesiod . Most ancient sources accept his historical existence; Aristotle is an exception. Pindar calls Orpheus 'the father of songs' and identifies him as a son of the Thracian mythological king Oeagrus and the Muse Calliope . Greeks of the Classical age venerated Orpheus as the greatest of all poets and musicians; it was said that while Hermes had invented

2375-431: Is proper,' he observes in continuation, ' to derive our explanations from things which are obvious, and in some measure of daily occurrences, such as deluges, earthquakes, volcanic eruptions, and sudden swellings of the land beneath the sea; for the last raise up the sea also, and when the same lands subside again, they occasion the sea to be let down. And it is not merely the small, but the large islands also, and not merely

2470-548: Is reflected in the Biblical story of Lot 's wife when escaping from Sodom . More directly, the story of Orpheus is similar to the ancient Greek tales of Persephone captured by Hades and similar stories of Adonis captive in the underworld. However, the developed form of the Orpheus myth was entwined with the Orphic mystery cults and, later in Rome, with the development of Mithraism and the cult of Sol Invictus . According to

2565-745: Is said to have died "just recently". He probably worked on the Geography for many years and revised it steadily, but not always consistently. It is an encyclopaedic chronicle and consists of political, economic, social, cultural, and geographic descriptions covering almost all of Europe and the Mediterranean: Britain and Ireland, the Iberian Peninsula, Gaul, Germania, the Alps, Italy, Greece, Northern Black Sea region, Anatolia, Middle East, Central Asia and North Africa. The Geography

2660-504: Is said to have lived, the Thracians knew nothing about writing. It came therefore to be believed that Orpheus taught, but left no writings, and that the epic poetry attributed to him was written in the sixth century BC by Onomacritus. Onomacritus was banished from Athens by Hipparchus for inserting something of his own into an oracle of Musaeus when entrusted with the editing of his poems. It may have been Aristotle who first suggested, in

2755-585: Is so universally known." Some ancient Greek authors, such as Strabo and Plutarch , write of Orpheus as having a Thracian origin (through his father, Oeagrus ). Although these traditional accounts have been uncritically accepted by some historians, they have been put into question by others, since it was only in the mid-/late 5th century that Orpheus acquired Thracian attributes. Additionally, as André Boulanger notes, "the most characteristic features of Orphism—consciousness of sin, need of purification and redemption, infernal punishments—have never been found among

2850-436: Is that it is derived from a hypothetical PIE root *h₃órbʰos 'orphan, servant, slave' and ultimately the verb root *h₃erbʰ- 'to change allegiance, status, ownership'. Cognates could include ‹See Tfd› Greek : ὄρφνη ( órphnē ; 'darkness') and ὀρφανός ( orphanós ; 'fatherless, orphan') from which comes English 'orphan' by way of Latin. Fulgentius , a mythographer of the late 5th to early 6th century AD, gave

2945-430: Is that of a coward, as instead of choosing to die in order to be with the one he loved, he instead mocked the gods by trying to go to Hades to bring her back alive. Since his love was not "true"—he did not want to die for love—he was actually punished by the gods, first by giving him only the apparition of his former wife in the underworld, and then by being killed by women. In Ovid 's account, however, Eurydice's death by

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3040-445: Is the only extant work providing information about both Greek and Roman peoples and countries during the reign of Augustus. On the presumption that "recently" means within a year, Strabo stopped writing that year or the next (AD 24), at which time he is thought to have died. He was influenced by Homer , Hecataeus and Aristotle . The first of Strabo's major works, Historical Sketches ( Historica hypomnemata ), written while he

3135-532: The Orphikos bios , or "Orphic way of life". W. K. C. Guthrie wrote that Orpheus was the founder of mystery religions and the first to reveal to men the meanings of the initiation rites. There is also a reference, not mentioning Orpheus by name, in the pseudo -Platonic Axiochus , where it is said that the fate of the soul in Hades is described on certain bronze tablets which two seers had brought to Delos from

3230-610: The Republic to a "mass of books of Musaeus and Orpheus", and in the Laws to the hymns of Thamyris and Orpheus, while in the Ion he groups Orpheus with Musaeus and Homer as the source of inspiration of epic poets and elocutionists. Euripides in the Hippolytus makes Theseus speak of the "turgid outpourings of many treatises", which have led his son to follow Orpheus and adopt

3325-573: The Bacchic religion. Alexis , the fourth century comic poet, depicting Linus offering a choice of books to Heracles , mentions "Orpheus, Hesiod , tragedies, Choerilus , Homer, Epicharmus ". Aristotle did not believe that the poems were by Orpheus; he speaks of the "so-called Orphic epic", and Philoponus (seventh century AD) commenting on this expression, says that in the De Philosophia (now lost) Aristotle directly stated his opinion that

3420-476: The Breton lai Sir Orfeo from the early 13th century and musical interpretations like Jacopo Peri 's Euridice (1600, though titled with his wife's name, the libretto is based entirely upon books X and XI of Ovid 's Metamorphoses and therefore Orpheus's viewpoint is predominant). Subsequent operatic and musical interpretations include: Rainer Maria Rilke 's Sonnets to Orpheus (1922) are based on

3515-504: The Ciconian women, followers of Dionysus , first threw sticks and stones at him as he played, but his music was so beautiful even the rocks and branches refused to hit him. Enraged, the women tore him to pieces during the frenzy of their Bacchic orgies. In Albrecht Dürer 's drawing of Orpheus's death, based on an original, now lost, by Andrea Mantegna , a ribbon high in the tree above him is lettered Orfeus der erst puseran ("Orpheus,

3610-583: The Mithridatic Wars . As the war drew to a close, Strabo's grandfather had turned several Pontic fortresses over to the Romans. Strabo wrote that "great promises were made in exchange for these services", and as Persian culture endured in Amaseia even after Mithridates and Tigranes were defeated, scholars have speculated about how the family's support for Rome might have affected their position in

3705-524: The Thracian Bisaltia , and is said to be more ancient than Homer and the Trojan War . He composed fabulous figments called mythpoeai and epigrams. The third Orpheus was of Odrysius, a city of Thrace , near the river Hebrus ; but Dionysius in Suidas denies his existence. The fourth Orpheus was of Crotonia; flourished in the time of Pisistratus , about the fiftieth Olympiad , and is, I have no doubt,

3800-406: The lyre , Orpheus perfected it. Poets such as Simonides of Ceos said that Orpheus's music and singing could charm the birds, fish and wild beasts, coax the trees and rocks into dance, and divert the course of rivers. Orpheus was one of the handful of Greek heroes to visit the underworld and return; his music and song had power even over Hades . The earliest known reference to this descent to

3895-555: The 1959 film Black Orpheus , tells the story in the modern context of a favela in Rio de Janeiro during Carnaval . Jean Cocteau 's Orphic Trilogy  – The Blood of a Poet (1930), Orpheus (1950) and Testament of Orpheus (1959) – was filmed over thirty years, and is based in many ways on the story. Philip Glass adapted the second film into the chamber opera Orphée (1991), part of an homage triptych to Cocteau. Nikos Nikolaidis 's 1975 film Evrydiki BA 2037

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3990-625: The Argonautic voyage; Orpheus there acts as coxswain , and later as guardian in Thrace of Jason's children by Hypsipyle ." "He is mentioned once only, but in an important passage, by Aristophanes ( Frogs 1032), who enumerates, as the oldest poets, Orpheus, Musaeus , Hesiod , and Homer, and makes Orpheus the teacher of religious initiations and of abstinence from murder ..." "Plato ( Apology , Protagoras ), ... frequently refers to Orpheus, his followers, and his works. He calls him

4085-524: The Aristotelian Xenarchus and Tyrannion who preceded him in teaching Strabo, Athenodorus was a Stoic and almost certainly the source of Strabo's diversion from the philosophy of his former mentors. Moreover, from his own first-hand experience, Athenodorus provided Strabo with information about regions of the empire which Strabo would not otherwise have known about. Strabo is best known for his work Geographica ("Geography"), which presented

4180-561: The Euxine [Black Sea] was so great, that its bed must be gradually raised, while the rivers still continued to pour in an undiminished quantity of water. He therefore conceived that, originally, when the Euxine was an inland sea, its level had by this means become so much elevated that it burst its barrier near Byzantium, and formed a communication with the Propontis [Sea of Marmara], and this partial drainage had already, he supposed, converted

4275-719: The Greeks, Orpheus was a founder and prophet of the so-called "Orphic" mysteries . He was credited with the composition of a number of works , including several theogonies, the Orphic Hymns , the Orphic Argonautica , the Lithica and the Hexameter poem . Shrines containing purported relics of Orpheus were regarded as oracles . Several etymologies for the name Orpheus have been proposed. A probable suggestion

4370-682: The Macedonians took his bones to Dion . Orpheus's soul returned to the underworld, to the fields of the Blessed, where he was reunited at last with his beloved Eurydice. Another legend places his tomb at Dion, near Pydna in Macedon . In another version of the myth, Orpheus travels to Aornum in Thesprotia , Epirus to an old oracle for the dead. In the end Orpheus commits suicide from his grief unable to find Eurydice. "Others said that he

4465-412: The Orpheus myth. Poul Anderson 's Hugo Award-winning novelette " Goat Song ", published in 1972, is a retelling of the story of Orpheus in a science fiction setting. Some feminist interpretations of the myth give Eurydice greater weight. Margaret Atwood 's Orpheus and Eurydice Cycle (1976–1986) deals with the myth, and gives Eurydice a more prominent voice. Sarah Ruhl 's Eurydice likewise presents

4560-505: The Orpheus myths. In particular, the name Eurudike ("she whose justice extends widely") recalls cult-titles attached to Persephone . According to the theories of poet Robert Graves , the myth may have been derived from another Orpheus legend, in which he travels to Tartarus and charms the goddess Hecate . The myth theme of not looking back, an essential precaution in Jason 's raising of chthonic Brimo Hekate under Medea 's guidance,

4655-661: The Romanian/Serbian border. In India , a country he never visited, Strabo described small flying reptiles that were long with snake-like bodies and bat-like wings (this description matches the Indian flying lizard Draco dussumieri ), winged scorpions, and other mythical creatures along with those that were actually factual. Other historians, such as Herodotus , Aristotle , and Flavius Josephus , mentioned similar creatures. Charles Lyell , in his Principles of Geology , wrote of Strabo: He notices, amongst others,

4750-613: The Star where the entrance to the Underworld that Orpheus had opened, the "Door of Orpheus," has moved to Central Park in Manhattan . In the books, it's used by Percy Jackson , Nico di Angelo, and Will Solace to sneak into the Underworld. Due to Orpheus creating it with his music, the door can only be opened by music being played for it. • Vinicius de Moraes ’s play Orfeu da Conceição (1956), later adapted by Marcel Camus in

4845-625: The Thracians" . Indeed, the introduction of the worship of the Muses in the times of Archelaos , the genealogies featuring Apollo , Pierus and Methone , Orpheus's tomb in Leibethra and the importance of this gesture as a part of the king's cultural policy, makes the hypothesis of the Pierian , or Macedonian , roots of Orpheus, highly probable. The testimonies referring to his death, grave and heroic worship, for example early attestations to

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4940-464: The crashing of their ships into the islands. When Orpheus heard their voices, he drew his lyre and played music that was louder and more beautiful, drowning out the Sirens' bewitching songs. According to 3rd century BC Hellenistic elegiac poet Phanocles , Orpheus loved the young Argonaut Calais , "the son of Boreas, with all his heart, and went often in shaded groves still singing of his desire, nor

5035-402: The epic Orphic Argonautica , composed somewhere between the fourth and sixth centuries. Earlier Orphic literature, which may date back as far as the sixth century BC, survives only in papyrus fragments or in quotations. Some of the earliest fragments may have been composed by Onomacritus . Aelian (second century AD) gave the chief reason against believing in them: at the time when Orpheus

5130-586: The eruption of Mount Vesuvius on 24 August AD 79 in Pompeii : …There are no trees here, but only the vineyards where they produce the Katakekaumene wines which are by no means inferior from any of the wines famous for their quality. The soil is covered with ashes, and black in colour as if the mountainous and rocky country was made up of fires. Some assume that these ashes were the result of thunderbolts and subterranean explosions, and do not doubt that

5225-528: The existence of a real, or fictitious, gravestone epigram of Orpheus, point most strongly to his Macedonian links. Nevertheless, the Pierians were a Thracian tribe, while the origins of the Ancient Macedonians is obscure. According to Apollodorus and a fragment of Pindar, Orpheus's father was Oeagrus , a Thracian king. His mother was (1) the muse Calliope , (2) her sister Polymnia , (3)

5320-539: The explanation of Xanthus the Lydian, who said that the seas had once been more extensive, and that they had afterwards been partially dried up, as in his own time many lakes, rivers, and wells in Asia had failed during a season of drought. Treating this conjecture with merited disregard, Strabo passes on to the hypothesis of Strato , the natural philosopher, who had observed that the quantity of mud brought down by rivers into

5415-460: The first pederast "). His head, still singing mournful songs, floated along with his lyre down the River Hebrus into the sea, after which the winds and waves carried them to the island of Lesbos , at the city of Methymna ; there, the inhabitants buried his head and a shrine was built in his honour near Antissa ; there his oracle prophesied, until it was silenced by Apollo. In addition to

5510-448: The first critical edition in 1587. Although Strabo cited the classical Greek astronomers Eratosthenes and Hipparchus , acknowledging their astronomical and mathematical efforts covering geography, he claimed that a descriptive approach was more practical, such that his works were designed for statesmen who were more anthropologically than numerically concerned with the character of countries and regions. As such, Geographica provides

5605-503: The hot masses burst out from the ground as estimated by a logical reasoning. Such type of soil is very convenient for viniculture , just like the Katanasoil which is covered with ashes and where the best wines are still produced abundantly. Some writers concluded by looking at these places that there is a good reason for calling Dionysus by the name ("Phrygenes"). Hermesianax (poet) Too Many Requests If you report this error to

5700-412: The islands, but the continents, which can be lifted up together with the sea; and both large and small tracts may subside, for habitations and cities, like Bure, Bizona, and many others, have been engulfed by earthquakes.' Strabo commented on fossil formation mentioning Nummulite (quoted from Celâl Şengör ): One extraordinary thing which I saw at the pyramids must not be omitted. Heaps of stones from

5795-519: The land of the Hyperboreans . A number of Greek religious poems in hexameters were also attributed to Orpheus, as they were to similar miracle-working figures, like Bakis , Musaeus , Abaris , Aristeas , Epimenides , and the Sibyl . Of this vast literature, only two works survived whole: the Orphic Hymns , a set of 87 poems, possibly composed at some point in the second or third century, and

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5890-464: The last book of Geographica , which describes it as a thriving port city with a highly developed local economy. Strabo notes the city's many beautiful public parks, and its network of streets wide enough for chariots and horsemen. "Two of these are exceeding broad, over a plethron in breadth, and cut one another at right angles ... All the buildings are connected one with another, and these also with what are beyond it." Lawrence Kim observes that Strabo

5985-753: The left side into marshy ground, and that, at last, the whole would be choked up with soil. So, it was argued, the Mediterranean had once opened a passage for itself by the Columns of Hercules into the Atlantic, and perhaps the abundance of sea-shells in Africa, near the Temple of Jupiter Ammon , might also be the deposit of some former inland sea, which had at length forced a passage and escaped. But Strabo rejects this theory as insufficient to account for all

6080-458: The legendary story of Typhon takes place in this region. Ksanthos adds that the king of this region was a man called Arimus. However, it is not reasonable to accept that the whole country was burned down at a time as a result of such an event rather than as a result of a fire bursting from underground whose source has now died out. Three pits are called "Physas" and separated by forty stadia from each other. Above these pits, there are hills formed by

6175-413: The local community, and whether they might have been granted Roman citizenship as a reward. Strabo's life was characterized by extensive travels. He journeyed to Egypt and Kush , as far west as coastal Tuscany and as far south as Ethiopia in addition to his travels in Asia Minor and the time he spent in Rome . Travel throughout the Mediterranean and Near East, especially for scholarly purposes,

6270-406: The lost De Philosophia , that Onomacritus also wrote the so-called Orphic epic poems. By the time when the Orphic writings began to be freely quoted by Christian and Neo-Platonist writers, the theory of the authorship of Onomacritus was accepted by many. The Neo-Platonists quote the Orphic poems in their defence against Christianity, because Plato used poems which he believed to be Orphic. It

6365-417: The love of women, either because things ended badly for him, or because he had sworn to do so. Yet, many felt a desire to be joined with the poet, and many grieved at rejection. Indeed, he was the first of the Thracian people to transfer his affection to young boys and enjoy their brief springtime, and early flowering this side of manhood. Feeling spurned by Orpheus for taking only male lovers ( eromenoi ),

6460-408: The master of rhetoric Aristodemus , who had formerly taught the sons of the Roman general who had taken over Pontus. Aristodemus was the head of two schools of rhetoric and grammar, one in Nysa and one in Rhodes . The school in Nysa possessed a distinct intellectual curiosity in Homeric literature and the interpretation of the ancient Greek epics. Strabo was an admirer of Homer 's poetry, perhaps as

6555-536: The mystery rites preserved in Orphic texts. Pindar and Apollonius of Rhodes place Orpheus as the harpist and companion of Jason and the Argonauts . Orpheus had a brother named Linus , who went to Thebes and became a Theban. He is claimed by Aristophanes and Horace to have taught cannibals to subsist on fruit, and to have made lions and tigers obedient to him. Horace believed, however, that Orpheus had only introduced order and civilization to savages. Strabo (64 BC – c. AD 24) presents Orpheus as

6650-425: The name of Aristaeus (by the time of Virgil's Georgics , the myth has Aristaeus chasing Eurydice when she was bitten by a serpent) and the tragic outcome. Other ancient writers, however, speak of Orpheus's visit to the underworld in a more negative light; according to Phaedrus in Plato 's Symposium , the infernal gods only "presented an apparition" of Eurydice to him. In fact, Plato's representation of Orpheus

6745-409: The people of Lesbos, Greeks from Ionia and Aetolia consulted the oracle, and his reputation spread as far as Babylon . Orpheus's lyre was carried to heaven by the Muses , and was placed among the stars . The Muses also gathered up the fragments of his body and buried them at Leibethra below Mount Olympus , where the nightingales sang over his grave. After the river Sys flooded Leibethra,

6840-401: The phenomena, and he proposes one of his own, the profoundness of which modern geologists are only beginning to appreciate. 'It is not,' he says, 'because the lands covered by seas were originally at different altitudes, that the waters have risen, or subsided, or receded from some parts and inundated others. But the reason is, that the same land is sometimes raised up and sometimes depressed, and

6935-401: The poems were not by Orpheus. Philoponus adds his own view that the doctrines were put into epic verse by Onomacritus . Aristotle when quoting the Orphic cosmological doctrines attributes them to "the theologoi ", "the ancient poets", "those who first theorized about the gods". In addition to serving as a storehouse of mythological data along the lines of Hesiod 's Theogony , Orphic poetry

7030-417: The quarries lie in front of the pyramids. Among these are found pieces which in shape and size resemble lentils. Some contain substances like grains half peeled. These, it is said, are the remnants of the workmen's food converted into stone; which is not probable. For at home in our country (Amaseia), there is a long hill in a plain, which abounds with pebbles of a porous stone, resembling lentils. The pebbles of

7125-404: The river Helicon sank underground when the women that killed Orpheus tried to wash off their blood-stained hands in its waters. Other legends claim that Orpheus became a follower of Dionysus and spread his cult across the land. In this version of the legend, it is said that Orpheus was torn to shreds by the women of Thrace for his inattention. Ovid recounts that Orpheus had abstained from

7220-558: The same with Onomacritus , who changed the dialect of these hymns. He wrote Decennalia, and in the opinion of Gyraldlus the Argonautics, which are now extant under the name of Orpheus, with other writings called Orphical, but which according to Cicero some ascribe to Cecrops the Pythagorean. But the last Orpheus [the fifth] was Camarinseus, a most excellent versifier; and the same, according to Gyraldus, whose descent into Hades

7315-401: The sea also is simultaneously raised and depressed so that it either overflows or returns into its own place again. We must, therefore, ascribe the cause to the ground, either to that ground which is under the sea, or to that which becomes flooded by it, but rather to that which lies beneath the sea, for this is more moveable, and, on account of its humidity, can be altered with great celerity. It

7410-453: The sea-shore and of rivers suggest somewhat of the same difficulty [respecting their origin]; some explanation may indeed be found in the motion [to which these are subject] in flowing waters, but the investigation of the above fact presents more difficulty. I have said elsewhere, that in sight of the pyramids, on the other side in Arabia, and near the stone quarries from which they are built, is

7505-427: The son of Oeagrus ( Symposium ), mentions him as a musician and inventor ( Ion and Laws bk 3.), refers to the miraculous power of his lyre ( Protagoras ), and gives a singular version of the story of his descent into Hades: the gods, he says, imposed upon the poet, by showing him only a phantasm of his lost wife, because he had not the courage to die, like Alcestis , but contrived to enter Hades alive, and, as

7600-604: The story of Orpheus's descent to the underworld from Eurydice's perspective. Ruhl removes Orpheus from the center of the story by pairing their romantic love with the paternal love of Eurydice's dead father. David Almond 's 2014 novel A Song for Ella Grey was inspired by the myth of Orpheus and Eurydice, and won the Guardian Children's Fiction Prize in 2015. The story of Orpheus is mentioned in Rick Riordan 's fantasy novels The Last Olympian and The Sun and

7695-436: The underworld is the painting by Polygnotus (5th century BC) described by Pausanias (2nd century AD), where no mention is made of Eurydice. Euripides and Plato both refer to the story of his descent to recover his wife, but do not mention her name; a contemporary relief (about 400 BC) shows Orpheus and his wife with Hermes. The elegiac poet Hermesianax called her Agriope ; and the first mention of her name in literature

7790-469: The underworld, and his death at the hands of the maenads of Dionysus , who got tired of his mourning for his late wife Eurydice. As an archetype of the inspired singer, Orpheus is one of the most significant figures in the reception of classical mythology in Western culture , portrayed or alluded to in countless forms of art and popular culture including poetry, film, opera, music, and painting. For

7885-454: The unlikely etymology meaning "best voice", "Oraia-phonos". Although Aristotle did not believe that Orpheus existed, all other ancient writers believed he once was a real person, though living in remote antiquity. Most of them believed that he lived several generations before Homer . The earliest literary reference to Orpheus is a two-word fragment of the 6th century BC lyric poet Ibycus : onomaklyton Orphēn ('Orpheus famous-of-name'). He

7980-440: The upper world. Orpheus set off with Eurydice following; however, as soon as he had reached the upper world, he immediately turned to look at her, forgetting in his eagerness that both of them needed to be in the upper world for the condition to be met. As Eurydice had not yet crossed into the upper world, she vanished for the second time, this time forever. The story in this form belongs to the time of Virgil , who first introduces

8075-453: The writings of other authors. Strabo was born to an affluent family from Amaseia in Pontus (in present-day Cappadocia ) in around 64   BC. His family had been involved in politics since at least the reign of Mithridates V . Strabo was related to Dorylaeus on his mother's side. Several other family members, including his paternal grandfather, had served Mithridates VI during

8170-639: Was Pimpleia close to the Olympus . Strabo mentions that he lived in Pimpleia. According to the epic poem Argonautica , Pimpleia was the location of Oeagrus's and Calliope's wedding. While living with his mother and her eight beautiful sisters in Parnassus , he met Apollo , who was courting the laughing muse Thalia . Apollo, as the god of music, gave Orpheus a golden lyre and taught him to play it. Orpheus's mother taught him to make verses for singing. He

8265-629: Was a Greek geographer , philosopher , and historian who lived in Asia Minor during the transitional period of the Roman Republic into the Roman Empire . He is best known for his work Geographica ("Geography"), which presented a descriptive history of people and places from different regions of the world known during his lifetime. Additionally, Strabo authored historical works, but only fragments and quotations of these survive in

8360-479: Was also a Peripatetic, he was more relevantly a respected authority on geography, a fact of some significance considering Strabo's future contributions to the field. The final noteworthy mentor to Strabo was Athenodorus Cananites , a philosopher who had spent his life since 44 BC in Rome forging relationships with the Roman elite. Athenodorus passed onto Strabo his philosophy, his knowledge and his contacts. Unlike

8455-523: Was famous, but he thought Helios to be the greatest of the gods, Helios whom he also addressed as Apollo. Rousing himself each night toward dawn and climbing the mountain called Pangaion, he would await the Sun's rising, so that he might see it first. Therefore, Dionysus, being angry with him, sent the Bassarides , as Aeschylus the tragedian says; they tore him apart and scattered the limbs. Here his death

8550-465: Was his heart at rest. But always, sleepless cares wasted his spirits as he looked at fresh Calais." The most famous story in which Orpheus figures is that of his wife Eurydice (sometimes referred to as Euridice and also known as Argiope). While walking among her people, the Cicones , in tall grass at her wedding, Eurydice was set upon by a satyr . In her efforts to escape the satyr, Eurydice fell into

8645-734: Was in Rome ( c.  20 BC ), is nearly completely lost. Meant to cover the history of the known world from the conquest of Greece by the Romans, Strabo quotes it himself and other classical authors mention that it existed, although the only surviving document is a fragment of papyrus now in the possession of the University of Milan (renumbered [Papyrus] 46). Strabo studied under several prominent teachers of various specialities throughout his early life at different stops during his Mediterranean travels. The first chapter of his education took place in Nysa (modern Sultanhisar , Turkey) under

8740-570: Was popular during this era and was facilitated by the relative peace enjoyed throughout the reign of Augustus (27 BC – AD 14). He moved to Rome in 44 BC, and stayed there, studying and writing, until at least 31 BC. In 29 BC, on his way to Corinth (where Augustus was at the time), he visited the island of Gyaros in the Aegean Sea. Around 25 BC, he sailed up the Nile until he reached Philae , after which point there

8835-411: Was recited in mystery-rites and purification rituals. Plato in particular tells of a class of vagrant beggar-priests who would go about offering purifications to the rich, a clatter of books by Orpheus and Musaeus in tow. Those who were especially devoted to these rituals and poems often practiced vegetarianism and abstention from sex, and refrained from eating eggs and beans—which came to be known as

8930-778: Was the son of Orpheus. The Argonautica ( Ἀργοναυτικά ) is a Greek epic poem written by Apollonius Rhodius in the 3rd century BC. Orpheus took part in this adventure and used his skills to aid his companions. Chiron told Jason that without the aid of Orpheus, the Argonauts would never be able to pass the Sirens —the same Sirens encountered by Odysseus in Homer 's epic poem the Odyssey . The Sirens lived on three small, rocky islands called Sirenum scopuli and sang beautiful songs that enticed sailors to come to them, which resulted in

9025-459: Was the victim of a thunderbolt." On the writings of Orpheus, Freeman , in the 1946 edition of The Pre- Socratic Philosophers pp. 4–8, writes: "In the fifth and fourth centuries BC, there existed a collection of hexametric poems known as Orphic , which were the accepted authority of those who followed the Orphic way of life, and were by them attributed to Orpheus himself. Plato several times quotes lines from this collection; he refers in

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