Orphism

Ancient Greek mystery religion of which the Orphic hymns, poems attributed to the legendary poet Orpheus, formed a part. The cult dates from the 6th or 7th century BC, but the poems are of a later date. Secret rites of purification and initiation, accompanied by a harsh lifestyle, were aimed at securing immortality in the Islands of the Blessed.

Orphic myth The central deity in Orphism was Dionysus Zagreus. According to Orphic tradition, Zagreus was the son of Persephone, goddess of the underworld, and Zeus (in the form of a serpent). He was entrusted with the government of the world, but the Titans, prompted by Zeus's jealous wife Hera, sought to kill him. Zagreus, in an effort to escape, went through a series of metamorphoses, but was finally torn to pieces in the form of a bull. The Titans devoured his remains except the heart, which was preserved by Athena and delivered to Zeus who consumed the organ. Zeus immediately fathered Semele and, through her, Dionysus Zagreus.

In Orphic theology, Zeus destroyed the Titans with a thunderbolt and made mortals from the ashes which contained goodness from Zagreus and evil from the Titans.

Origins and beliefs Orphism probably originated from pre-Hellenic religion which had been preserved in secret societies. It included several elements which are absent from Homeric Greek religion, including a sense of sin and the need for personal atonement; the idea of the suffering and death of a god-human; a belief in immortality following a cycle of reincarnations; and an asceticism derived from the the tenets of the Greek mathematician and philosopher Pythagoras. The function of Orphism was to liberate the good element in humanity, a concept which was regarded in the classical period as superstition, but was popular in the Roman empire.