Orphism

Complete English translation of the article published originally in Russian (2015).
                              Summary
It is commonly believed that the epic Theogony of Epimenides of Crete derives from the corpus of pseudepigrapha under his name and that it was composed by anonymous author (with Pythagorean background) after 500 B.C. We demonstrate (mainly on the basis the reconstruction of the proem of the Theogony) that such influences do not exist and we arrive at the conclusion that the Theogony was written by Epimenides himself around 600 B.C. Aristotle who was sceptical about the authorship of the poems attributed to Orpheus and Musaeus, cites Epimenides without reservations as the real author of the verses he cites. Therefore the common elements between Epimenides on the one hand, and the Orphics and Pythagoreans on the other (Night as the first principle, the cosmic egg, the immortality and reincarnation of the soul), should be interpreted as borrowings by the latter from Epimenides, not vice versa. As a “priest of Zeus and Rhea” Epimenides belongs to the ancient Cretan hieratic clan that claimed descendance from Aiakos, son of Zeus; in view of the extreme conservatism of Cretan cultural, political and religious traditions, the sources of Epimenides’ divine wisdom should be sought not in the hypothetical “northern” or eastern quarters, but in the local oral traditions that go back the Late Minoan times and are closely tied with the cults and myths of the region around Mount Ida and similar oracular caves. The discussion of Epimendes’ herbal medicine shows that it is connected both with therapeutuc use of herbs and with cathartic rituals; Indian Ayurveda provides a close typological parallel to this, so common Indo-European roots are possible. After this we address the problem of the origin and thesources of the Orphic Theogony and propose a new solution. Taking at its face value Aristotle’s information on Onomacritus as the author of the Orphic epic Theogony, we discuss the “Cretan connections” of Onomacritus and adduce in favour of our hypothesis numerous literary and epigraphical- archeological pieces of evidence that connect early Orphism and the belief in the reincarnation with the Idaen cave and the region around it (Orphic golden plates and epistomia from Eleutherna and Sfakaki near Rethymno collected and studied by Tzifopoulos). Inter alia, we also propose a new interpretation of the Orphic graffiti written on bone plates from Olbia as divinatory devices (mantic cards, the oldest known ancestor of the cards Tarot) that probably belonged to the “diviner of Hermes” Pharnabazos of Olbia and were connected with the dice divination (astragalomanteia), the proper art of Hermes. The divinatory dodecahedron found in the Idaean cave seems to be connected with astragalomanteia, as well.

This paper examines the Dyonisian and Orphic symbolic and ritual iconographical aspects of a Centuripe vase from Southern Italy from the Montreal Museum of Fine Arts. Measuring 70.5 by 34.5 centimeters, the basic form of the vase is that of a bell krater without handles set on a high foot and surmounted by a domed lid ending in an egg-shaped finial (Richter 188), formed of separate sections that have been assembled in production. The vase has been assembled from broken pieces, showing little surface damage. In order to facilitate description and analysis, two very similar Centuripe vases, one in New York, the other in Princeton, are  referred to.
A.Description of the iconographic and decorative aspects of the vase, which depicts a scene of three woman and a man in a ritual scene. One woman holds a thyrsus and tympaneum and there is a tripod.
B. Analysis of the elements in relation to the history and development of Greek vase art. Mayo has observed that ‘’death, marriage, and the mysteries is a frequent triad in South Italian and Sicilian vase-painting’’ (283). These aspects will be examined, in the context of feminine themes, to see if they can shed light on the imagery and function of the vase.
1. Feminine aspects
2. Marriage aspects
3. Funerary aspects
4. Dyonisian aspects
5. Orphic aspects
C. Interpretation.  Ariadne has often been linked  with Aphrodite (Otto 182-85).  Figure 29 (de Grummond 92)  is a wall painting from Pompeii depicting Dionysus and Ariadne watching a contest between Pan and Eros, aptly illustrating the combination of the worlds of Dionysus and Aphrodite. Figure 30 (Lissarague in Masks 21),  from a fifth century Bell krater, depicting what could be a puberty initiation scene,  illustrates  Dionysus and Ariadne in a ritual context. The Maenad holding the rabbit, a well-known fertility symbol could be an aspect linking Ariadne to Aphrodite. 
The portrait on the Montreal Centuripe vase could serve to indicate that the deceased identified herself with Ariadne, as her features resembles the Ariadne figure on the body. The head can be related to the ascension of Aphrodite in a  role of chthonian goddess (Calinescu in Mayo 143), and possibly related to Ariadne’s divinization after her revival  by Dionysus, where Zeus placed her crown in the heavens (Seyffert 64). As shown in figures 11-14, Centuripe imagery has been related to the Dionysus and Ariadne figures of the frieze of the Villa of Mysteries.

The palimpsest manuscript Sin. ar. NF 66 is one of the treasures of the Monastery of Saint Catherine located in the Sinai Peninsula. Nowadays it consists of a few fragmentary parchment sheets, but originally it was a larger codex of ca. 300 folia. Some of these leaves have been purloined from the Sinai and are now kept in Cambridge, Leipzig, and Saint Petersburg, while others have been lost. The codex contained the Lives of Palestinian monastic Saints in Arabic translation and was copied at the Monastery of Mar Saba near Jerusalem in the first quarter of the 10th century. It was later brought, under unknown circumstances, to the Sinai. All preserved folia are palimpsests, with scriptiones inferiores in Greek and Christian Palestinian Aramaic. This article focuses on one of the Greek erased texts – a previously unknown classical text in hexameters of mythological content – and offers its editio princeps. Based on an analysis of codicological and palaeographical features, combined with that of linguistic and stylistic elements, it will be suggested that the Sinai hexameters might originate from the Hieroi Logoi in 24 Rhapsodies, i.e. the longest lost Orphic poem we know of.

Many of the fascinating little gold leaves which have come to light by now are characterized by a peculiar mixture of verse and rhythmical prose. The lines in rhythmical prose have a distinctly performative ring and may be divided into two groups: one serving as a kind of secret password and commemorating an initiation ritual; the other issuing from an adaption of the poetical narration in order to be used as a libretto for a performance in the course of the initiation. In the second case, it seems justified to include them in an attempt at reconstructing not the words, to be sure, but at least the rough outline of the ‘story’ which was narrated in the original “Sacred discourse”.

PowerPoint presentation at the MYTH AND THE AUDIOVISUAL CREATION international conference, Madrid, 2018
ABSTRACT:
Aronofsky’s Mother! (2017): The disturbing power of syncretic mythical paradigms
Metka Zupančič, Professor Emerita, University of Alabama

Darren Aronofsky, Mother! (2017): An almost impotent Poet/Orpheus who cannot be content with domestic happiness and needs drama to become productive, willfully ignoring the destructiveness of his behavior. A diaphanous young woman akin to Hestia, dedicating her life to (earthly) creations (rebuilding a house, a hearth, a universe) and to motherhood, both in caring for her egomaniac husband and in giving birth to their child. A massive disruption in the self-contained system, with the intrusion of bigger and bigger crowds that make the Poet into a godly figure, with a Christ-like obsessive cult attached to him, which will lead to an apocalyptic collapse of this universe. A cannibalistic sparagmos of the newborn baby, this omophagy combined with a certain Eucharist (all the while the Poet remains intact, “delegating” his most beloved to be sacrificed in his stead). The young woman’s demise in self-immolation; with the final gift, to her husband, of her crystalized heart, from which a new cycle of existence might be born, as in the tradition of Dionysus Zagreus… An overwhelming abundance of mythical schemes—paradigms in which one could see an allegory, a controversial modern parable, extremely hard to decode and interpret, because of director’s deliberate choice to create a disturbing and overwhelming cinematographic experience for his audiences. In this completely SYNCRETIC MYTHICAL ENVIRONMENT, the main question is to establish the esthetic, emotional, intellectual and spiritual FUNCTION of the mythical paradigms such as integrated in this film. How do we recognize the mythical schemes, how do we perceive their overlapping and their interactions? In this particular audio-visual setting, and more generally in all audio-visual productions, how do mythical schemes combine into NEW MYTHICAL NARRATIVES? How do they AFFECT the audiences? In other words, what is the difference in their IMPACT, in comparison with a written text that we need to reactivate through our imagination? Clearly, on a large screen, these elements hit us with their IMMEDIACY and might thus be much more powerful—under the condition that they are indeed destined to carry “mythical” dimensions—when they manage to escape the expected, the easily anticipated, which is definitely the case with this Aronofsky’s film.

The revised essay published in Myth and Audiovisual Creation, José Manuel Losada & Antonella Lipscomb (eds.), Berlin: Logos Verlag, 2019 (103-114).

The inseparable relationship between the cult of Dionysus and politics in antiquity emerged as early as in archaic poleis and continued to evolve until late-antique times. Surprisingly enough, most monographs dealing with Greek and Roman political thought pay little, if any, attention to the essential role played by Dionysiac imagery. The only exception in which the name of Dionysus comes to the fore is the Bacchanalian affair, which has been widely discussed both in relation to Roman religion as well as in relation to Roman politics. Apart from that affair, however, Dionysus/Bacchus is seldom mentioned in mainstream research on Greek and Roman political practice.To date, no monograph systematically addressing the role of Dionysus in Greek and Roman political thought has seen the light of day. In existing studies, interesting and valuable as they are, the issue has been discussed only partially or in passing. The present volume fills this important gap by introducing the political importance of Dionysus into the academic mainstream. It brings together 11 contributions from an international team of scholars, starting with four top specialists in the field, Cornelia Isler-Kerényi, Jean-Marie Pailler, Richard Seaford and Richard Stoneman. The contributors develop an interdisciplinary approach to the subject by combining sub-disciplines and types of evidence: historiography, poetry, coins, epigraphy, art and philosophy, while the chapters also follow a chronological order. Thus, the reader can follow how the political ideas and motifs rooted in Greek classical thought were continued, adapted and developed in successive periods, from Hellenistic to Imperial to late-antique times. The book therefore casts a decisive light on a still underrated aspect of Greek and Roman theological refection on politics, and greatly helps to better understand the ancient thinking on the nature of ruling.

Sinaiticus arabus NF 66 is made up of six fragmentary folia and three tiny parchment scraps. These were originally part of a codex of ca. 300 folia containing the Arabic translation of several lives of monastic Saints connected to the Monastery of Mar Saba. It was copied at Mar Saba (near Jerusalem) in the first quarter of the 10th century and later brought, under unknown circumstances, to St. Catherine’s Monastery in the Sinai. A number of folia from this manuscript are now dispersed, and have been identified in several libraries:
• Leipzig, Univ. gr. 2 [22 folia] = Codex Tischendorf 2
• Saint Petersburg, NLR, gr. 26 [6 folia]
• Cambridge, Add. 1879.5 [a small piece of parchment]
All preserved folia are palimpsests, with scriptiones inferiores in Greek and Christian Palestinian Aramaic. Among the folia with Greek scriptio inferior three different texts can be recognized: one biblical, one grammatical, and one poetical.
This paper focuses on the poetical text in the Sinai manuscript. Based on an analysis of codicological and palaeographical features, combined with that of linguistic and stylistic elements, I will suggest a possible date and authorship for the content of these poetical fragments.

Pochi hanno indagato con solerzia gli intimi legami fra mitologie greche e fenomeni estatici quali lo "sciamanesimo". Gli orfici conoscevano delle "mappe" per aggirarsi nell'aldilà: erano geografie della coscienza affini ai sentieri invisibili percorsi dagli sciamani nelle loro trance. In Grecia come nelle steppe siberiane, il viaggio diventava mito: Odisseo legato a un albero cosmico ascoltava il linguaggio segreto delle Sirene, mentre gli iniziati varcavano le soglie di Ade certi di poter acquisire una vita paradisiaca. Come gli sciamani ricreavano universi sonori, Orfeo modulava nello spazio un suono incantatorio. Chi può giungere a una tale perfezione? Colui che si è purificato nell'acqua che zampilla dalle gelide fonti di Mnemosyne, il "ricordo" che risveglia la memoria antica e cancella l'angoscia della vita terrena.

The late Antique mosaic of Orpheus decorated a small room, approximately 18 m2 in area, connected with two even smaller ones, in 4 m2 and the other 2 m2 in area, belonging most likely to a small funerary chapel (or tomb) discovered in the ancient necropolis by the Damascene Gate in Jerusalem; it was discovered in 1901 by H. Vincent.
The author proposes a new interpretation of the iconographic program of the Orpheus myth used by wealthy Christians in a sepulchral context (see Olszewski M.T. «Orphée endeuillé de la mosaïque funéraire de Jérusalem», in Rey Mimoso-Ruiz, B. ed., Actes du colloque «Orphée entre Soleil et ombre», à l’Institut Catholique de Toulouse du 16 au 17 novembre 2007, Inter Lignes, numéros spécial – mars 2008, pp. 205-214, 226). He also proposes a new interpretation of the role Orpheus played in Roman funerary art, concentrating on the importance of the play on words and the visual and textual punning that was popular in ancient art and especially in funerary art. He rejects the popular interpretation of Orpheus as Christ in the Roman catacombs and proposes to interpret the image as that of Orpheus, bard of the departed souls, without any ahistorical connection with Christ. The program of the mosaic from Jerusalem is thus explained as a play on the words Orpheus-orphanos and Chiron (Chi-Rho) and Pan [Παν(τοκράτωρ)].The frequently used Christian funerary formula of resting in peace, Christ or the Lord corresponds
perfectly with the mood created around the mythical bard.
Orpheus’ universal role as singer and musician moving even the most stony of hearts, extolling the beloved departed, is absolutely justified in the context of a 6th-century Christian tomb. Orpheus is a popular and neutral figure, meaning that in effect it does not constitute a threat to Christian theology and can be tolerated by the educated Christians of Jerusalem.

The figure of Orpheus has been a constant source of fascination, sparkling the imagination of philosophers, artists, theologians, and laypeople alike. He has been variously presented as a dubious and possibly menacing fringe character, an awe-inspiring cult figure enjoying a privileged relation to the gods through his divine ancestry, one of the founders of Greek culture and the transmitter of ancient wisdom, the inventor of religious cults, or the emblem of arts and their special relation to love. Stories about Orpheus can condense such fundamental aspects of our existence as the immense and transformative power of music and poetry, love that persists against all odds and defies even death, fame and marginality, secrecy and anxieties about what we can hope for after our earthly life. His figure has offered an inexhaustible opportunity to give expression to such elemental concerns through the entire tradition from the archaic age to the current day.

Despite the amount of literature written on the subject of mystery cults and their relationship to death, Classical underworld scholars have yet to consider the topography of Hades. Based on the writings of Archaic Greek authors, this article provides a roadmap for the complex geography of the underworld. It explores the eschatological symbolism of many of the most important chthonian aspects of Greek religion, creating a web of interconnectedness based on ancient sources that shows the Greeks had a definitive answer to what lay beyond. Finally, the article explores the usefulness of the Orphic gold tablets in contributing to our understanding of both real and imagined Greek religious practices.

Praca ta jest próbą znalezienia możliwych przyczyn niejedzenia mięsa w starożytności. Skupiając się i bazując na źródłach dotyczących ruchu orfickiego oraz pitagoreizmu, wymienia kilka przyczyn religijnej proweniencji, jak wiara w metempsychozę, strach przed śmiercią czy pragnienie odtworzenia mitycznego, idealnego stanu ludzkiego życia, w którym nie było żadnej przemocy. Dla ukazania ewolucji podejścia do zwierząt i jedzenia mięsa, praca zawiera pierwsze polskie tłumaczenie "De esu carnium" Plutarcha, z przypisami oraz komentarzem. Praca naukowa finansowana ze środków budżetowych na naukę w latach 2014-2015 jako projekt badawczy w ramach programu pod nazwą „Diamentowy Grant”.

This paper is an attempt to find out possible reasons for non eating animal flesh in antiquity. Focusing and basing on sources for the orphic movement and pythagoreanism, it lists few reasons of religious origins, like faith in metempsychosis, fear of death in general or desire to recreate mythical perfect state of life without any violence. To present evolution of the approach towards animals and eating of flesh, it contains first polish translation of „De esu carnium” by Plutarch, with footnotes and commentary. This paper is financed by the budgetary funds for science in 2014-2015 as a research project under the program named Diamond Grant by the Ministry of Science and Higher Education of Poland.

This book deals with the Greek cure of the soul, focusing in particular on Socrates, who turned this idea into the core of his own philosophy. The first chapter offers an overlook of the different meanings of psyche from myth to Homer, Orphism, and the Presocratics (until Diogenes of Apollonia). The following chapters deal with Socrates’ peculiar understanding of the cure of the soul. Chapter two introduces to the “Socratic question” from the viewpoint of the Socratic cure of the soul. Chapter three focuses on the dialogues attributed to Plato (Apology, Phaedrus, and the First Alcibiades). Chapter four on Xenophon’s Memorabilia. The study shows that one common thread among these different accounts is the relationship between the soul and the divine: the Socratic cure of the soul implies an openness to both the world and its cosmic order.

El objetivo de este estudio es reunir una serie de referencias literarias, epigráficas e iconográficas concernientes a la vestimenta de los iniciados y analizar sus características, implicaciones y evolución a lo largo de la historia del orfismo, comparándolas con las de tradiciones afines como el dionisismo, Eleusis o los misterios de Andania o Samotracia

Why must Music challenge Philosophy in Plato’s Phaedo?
Apollo’s injunction in Socrates'dream, asking the philosopher to compose "demodè mousikê" instead of philosophy (the greatest of musics), means that it is impossible to control moral life by rationality alone (except to reduce that possibility to the natural philosopher, the only one capable of achieving ethics). This implies the use of music and it’s specific influence on "thumos" and "ethos"). But the injunction also means that Socrates should grasp what type of music he should practice: orphic incantation that gets its effects in a way similar to magical suggestion, or "melopoiia" in the style of some of the Tragics with the aim of increasing sharpness of sensibility in a combination of wisdom, acuity, and "ingenuity"? In which tone should sing the philosopher ?

The unknown author of the Derveni Papyrus tries to discover the hidden meaning of the Orphic poem he is commenting by using the method of allegory and etymology. According to his view, the names of some gods (as Cronos and Demeter) hint at concrete physic elements of the cosmology he describes. In Euripides' Bacchae we can see a similar approach with regard to a traditional myth. In the first episode, Tiresias uses etymology to explain an awkward point of Dionysus' mythical biography: his birth from Zeus' thigh (vv. 272-301). I propose that in the character of Tiresias Euripides portraits a common figure at the end of the fifth century: the “enlightened” priest, such as the author of the Derveni papyrus, who tries to defend his religious teachings and practices with the rational method of etymology. Therefore, through the analysis of Euripides' Tiresias it is possible to know better the personality of the anonymus commentator of Derveni.

RESUMEN: El mito del descenso de Dioniso al Hades para rescatar a su madre Sémele es narrado o mencionado por varios autores griegos y latinos desde el final del helenismo y sobre todo en la época imperial. Además, la iconografía ofrece unos pocos testimonios sobre la apoteosis de Sémele, llevada en un carro al Olimpo por su hijo.

Association de psychanalystes "Antigone à Grambois" Juillet 2008 (initialement accessible sur le site www.dissonancesfreudiennes.fr) Me voici aujourd'hui invitée à parler, selon une suggestion de Jacques Félician, de la divination grecque ou italique. Il s'agit, du moins je le suppose, de repérer dans les pratiques divinatoires anciennes un en deçà de la langue, fait de prescience obscure, de profération pulsée, inspirée, rythmée, de possession et de transe pythiques abouchées sur d'infernaux (ou célestes ?) effluves. La divination définit en effet un lieu et une pratique de communication entre des mondes hétérogènes. Mais j'ai peur de ne pas pouvoir suffire à l'attente. La réalité ne répond pas toujours aux mythes, y compris les mythes colportés par les acteurs anciens eux-mêmes. Pour l'historien, les oracles, ce sont d'abord des mises en jeu de l'aléatoire, tirage au sort, procédures de décision politique, mises en relation de questions et de réponses préformatées à partir de diagrammes complexes, telle la cartographie du foie interrogé par l'haruspicine étrusque ou la casuistique codifiée par les devins mésopotamiens. Là où le mot même d'oracle évoque la bouche (latin os, oris) et l'oralité, très étonnamment, le signe gravé, le sceau imprimé, le tracé, l'inscription, l'écriture, le livre même y interviennent très souvent en lieu et place de la vaticination délirante attendue. Cela est vrai même de la pythie et du trépied delphiques, dont le lexique spécifique décrit les procédures oraculaires avec les mots du tirage au sort 1 . Plus vrai encore d'Orphée, cette figure mythique de la musique et de la prophétie inspirées : Diodore de Sicile le range parmi les premiers utilisateurs de l'alphabet « pélasgique » 2 ; là où l'archéologie retrouve la trace de ses adeptes ou de ses oeuvres supposées, l'écriture toujours côtoie la lyre. Euripide évoquait des « tablettes » ou « planchettes » (sanides) thraces où s'inscrit la « voix » ou le « chant » (gêrus) d'Orphée comme un remède contre la mort 3 . L'enjeu reste en effet le corps et la vie du consultant comme du prophète. Un jour, du temps de Plutarque, la Pythie s'effondra en convulsions et en cris rauques, pour avoir été consultée malgré le dieu 4 . Dans le mythe aussi, Orphée mourut démembré. Endehors des lambeaux de son corps pieusement recueillis et ensevelis par les Muses en deuil, de lui ne resta qu'une tête, emportée par les flots, et qui chantait. Mais revoici déjà la bouche et le chant ! Le mythe et l'iconographie rapportent en effet cette image troublante de la tête d'Orphée voguant, toujours chantante, au fil de l'Hèbre thrace puis des flots marins, échouée enfin au rivage de Lesbos, ou peut-être à l'embouchure du fleuve Mélès en Ionie où des pêcheurs, entend-on dire, la recueillirent pour la déposer en un tombeau qui fut consacré à son culte héroïque, et finalement thraces où s'inscrit la parole d'Orphée, ni les remèdes que Phoibos donna aux Asclépiades pour guérir les pauvres humains. Les Scholies bv à ces vers apportent le témoignage d'Héraclide Pontique (III e s. av. J.-C.) sur la présence d'une collection de tablettes en Thrace, mais Héraclide a pu s'inspirer d'Euripide. Platon atteste la diffusion des textes orphiques dès son temps : infra, n. 28. Nous revenons infra sur les témoignages subsistants de la littérature orphique, et nous contentons ici de renvoyer aux belles pages de M. Detienne, L'écriture d 'Orphée, Gallimard, 1989, p. 10s. et 101-132 ; Les dieux d'Orphée, Gallimard, 2007, p. 13-30. Quant à l'usage des textes, voir Claude Calame, « Pratiche orfiche della scrittura : itinerari iniziatici ? », dans G. Guidorizzi & M. Melotti, Orfeo e le sue metamorfosi. Mite, arte, poesia, Roma, Carocci ed., 2005, p. 28-45. 4 Plutarque, La disparition des oracles, 51 (438 A-B).

Los procesos que signaron los orígenes de la tradición occidental pertenecen a la categoría de polythrýleta, “cosas muy discutidas”. La causa de ello radica en que la experiencia griega está transida de una mutación conceptual de surgimiento paulatino y recreación vertiginosa. En efecto, el acervo griego semeja a veces un animal mitológico constituido por partes inauditas y cualidades proteicas de transformación. Sin embargo, si se abandonan las perspectivas estáticas y compartimentadas, es posible desmontar esta apariencia monstruosa y encontrar en la base conformaciones germinales del imaginario ocultadas progresivamente por la sedimentación de ideas. Los trabajos que integran este volumen repasan en esta clave y con un enfoque dinámico distintas encrucijadas de mutación conceptual con el propósito de revelar los núcleos que constituyeron el pensamiento posterior.

Índice
Mapa de ruta:
Caminos entre los hircociervos antiguos
CLAUDIA MÁRSICO - Ejes para pensar lo griego
LUIS ÁNGEL CASTELLO - El alfabeto griego.
Sistema, desarrollo y consecuencias
LEANDRO PINKLER - Consideraciones sobre el orfismo
ANDRÉS RACKET - Acerca de un uso específico del término phýsis
en el Filoctetes y el Edipo en Colono de Sófocles.
La phýsis y las determinaciones provenientes del padre
RODRIGO ILLARRAGA - "Debemos entregar los asuntos
de la ciudad a las mujeres". Algunas notas sobre
política y sociedad en Asambleístas de Aristófanes
CARLOS MARTÍN - El precio de la felicidad: justicia social
y economía en la filosofía griega
MARISA DIVENOSA - Entre oralidad y escritura. Una
aproximación a los Dissoì Lógoi
ADRIÁN LASTRA - La poesía entre cuerdos y Locos:
reflexiones sobre el dialogo platónico Ion
YOLANDA PERUGINI - ¿Técnicos o inspirados?
Poesía y epistemología a la luz de la argumentación
del Ion
HERNÁN INVERSO - Ontología y verdad: la dimensión
antepredicativa y el problema de los simples
en Antístenes, Platón y Aristóteles
PABLO MARZOCCA - La unidad de la causa final
en Aristóteles y sus consecuencias
ESTEBAN BIEDA Y VICTORIA JULIÁ - Aristóteles,
Sobre virtudes y vicios. Introducción, traducción y notas

A un secolo di distanza, questo libro volge lo sguardo a uno tra i grandi protagonisti delle avanguardie artistiche. La produzione di Léger, negli anni cruciali prima del conflitto mondiale, è setacciata in maniera capillare: non solo i capolavori acclamati, ma anche le opere considerate “minori”. Tra queste, la fitta produzione di disegni è stata riordinata nel suo complesso, per la prima volta. Da tale prospettiva è stato possibile seguire il percorso sperimentale che ha condotto ai grandi dipinti, svelandone motivazioni spesso trascurate. Ma la trattazione non si limita al dialogo a due con l’autore prescelto: al contrario si dà un impianto corale, che coinvolge la vasta rete di relazioni che legano Léger ai compagni dell’avanguardia. Ne risulta una rilettura del cubismo in senso lato, nelle sue connessioni con le tendenze pittoriche internazionali e con gli operatori di altre discipline, quali i poeti, i filosofi, i compositori musicali. Il tutto è condotto con rigore e chiarezza d’esposizione, in riferimento costante alle fonti e agli studi storiografici, da quelli ormai classici ai più recenti.

For the last century, scholars have discussed the existence of one or more Orphic poems about the rape and rescue of Persephone. Today, the Berlin Papyrus BKT 5. 1, pp 7-18 nº I 2, dated to the 2nd-1st B.C.E., is commonly recognized to have traces of an ancient Orphic poem, which we know from various references. The papyrus contains a prose account in which there are some quotations of a poem attributed to Orpheus, but very similar to the Homeric Hymn to Demeter (h. Cer.). For this reason the h. Cer. has traditionally served as the main reference for the reconstruction, analysis and study of this poem. My aim is to examine other traditions about the rape of Persephone that might be directly or indirectly reflected in the Berlin Papyrus. For this purpose, I will compare the episode of the rape with other similar accounts within and outside the Orphic tradition.

La ricchezza e la precisione delle indicazioni strumentali nell'Orfeo di Monteverdi ci mostrano un uso degli strumenti che segue da un lato gli affetti, dall'altro l'idea drammaturgica, oltre a una funzione imitativa ricca di madrigalismi strumentali e timbrici.

El presente trabajo se basa en una clasificación y comentario de todos los epítetos que recibe el dios griego Dioniso en los Himnos órficos. Este corpus hímnico se caracteriza por presentar una extensa lista de epítetos que pretende recoger aspectos variados de la divinidad destinataria. La composición literaria pertenece a la religión órfica, menos atestiguada en la literatura que la religión griega canónica. Por ese motivo el análisis de todos los epítetos que se aplican al dios principal del panteón órfico y, por tanto, al que goza de mayor presencia en los Himnos órficos, nos sirve de ayuda para comprender cómo se concibe a Dioniso en el orfismo: los diferentes nombres que se le aplican, la mitología asociada a él, sus atributos o aspectos rituales. El estudio se basa en el análisis del texto griego, que también se facilita en las páginas finales en su totalidad, apoyado en otras fuentes de la literatura griega.

This work is based on a classification and review of all epithets that receives the Greek god Dionysos in Orphic Hymns. This hymnic corpus is characterized by a long list of epithets that aims to capture various aspects of the addressed deity. This literary composition belongs to the Orphic religion, less attested in literature that the canonical Greek religion. For this reason, the analysis of all epithets applied to the main god of the Orphic pantheon and, therefore, to the one more frequent in the Orphic
Hymns, can help to understand how is Dionysus conceived in Orphism: the different names applied to him, the mythology associated with him, his attributes and ritual
aspects. This study is based on the Greek text, which is also given overall in the final pages, and supported by other sources of Greek literature.

Entre Dioniso y Orfeo existen relaciones de diversa índole: obras órficas en que Dioniso tiene un papel importante, mitos sobre Orfeo en los que interviene el dios o coincidencias en detalles de los mitos referidos a ambos o en sus funciones. Hay también interrelación entre los ritos báquicos y los órficos, que aparecen con frecuencia como entidades intercambiables, si bien no todos los ritos báquicos son órficos. Los ritos órficos se diferencian de los dionisíacos en el uso de libros, en la creencia de un mito antropológico asociado al desmembramiento del dios y en una existencia ultramundana, sujeta a premios y castigos. Igualmente hay una serie de tabúes y preceptos alimentarios y de vestido que son en exclusiva órficos y de un modo de vida que convierte el baccheuein transitorio dionisíaco en un estado permanente. El ritual orgiástico dionisíaco, eventualmente sangriento, es, en cambio, ajeno a lo órfico. El ritual órfico tampoco parece haber adquirido nunca la forma de celebración cívica dentro de un calendario con una clase sacerdotal estable, como otros cultos mistéricos.

L'articolo esamina la presenza di immagini che rappresentano figure circolari (il ciclo, la corona) nelle lamine auree rinvenute in un contesto funerario della Magna Grecia, il cosiddetto "Timpone piccolo" nella zona della colonia di Thurii. Si tratta di una terminologia iniziatica elaborata in un culto misterico finalizzato all'immortalizzazione, forse legato alla dottrina della metempsicosi. Questo gergo esoterico viene paragonato con le attestazioni di simboli analoghi nell'antico Iran preislamico, legati al raggiungimento di una condizione di beatitudine nell'aldilà.

In 1856 Pinder observed that the two snakes, shown on the reverses of the Cistophoric coinage, have different sexes, which provides a better understanding of these coin types. It will be argued that the knot the two snakes are forming is a feature of their natural mating habits during sexual intercourse. The quiver on the reverse represents the heraldic figure of the Pergamene Empire. In Orphic mythology Zeus and Demeter, both in the form of snakes, are the parents of Persephone. The obverse too seems to refer to the orphic circle, where Zeus, again as a snake, mates with Persephone and creates Dionysos. Hence, the creation of Dionysos is the topic of the images of the Cistophori. This is yet more evidence for the promotion of the Orphic cult by the Attalids.
As the frieze of the great altar of Zeus at Pergamon seems to be influenced by the Orphic genealogy of gods as well, it seems to be more than a coincidence that both the beginning of the Cistophoric coinage and the layout of the great altar are now agreed to be dated to the early years after Eumenes II’s victory over the Galatians in 166 BC. The Cistophori in particular allude to viewing this victory as Dionysos’ achievement.
It will further be argued that the small Cistophoric issue from Crete in the time of Marc Antony can also be understood as referring to Orphic ideas. Hence, the Romans were far from misinterpreting the religious agenda of the Cistophoric coin images, which they effectively used when shifting the focus to their own political propaganda.

Contrary to the hypothesis of the northern or "shamanistic" origin of the ancient Greek doctrines of the reincarnation and immortality of the soul, a completely new theory of Aegean origin is argued in this work based on the fact that all four of the earliest representatives of this tradition  either were directly related to Crete (Epimenides) and the Cyclades (Pherecydes of Syros), or had significant religious and philosophical contacts with the Cretan mantics (Onomacritus, the author of the ancient Orphic Theogony according to Aristotle) and the cult of Apollo Hyperborean on Delos (Pythagoras), which allowed only "bloodless" sacrifices, the religious and moral justification of which was the belief in the kinship of all living beings and reincarnation with the consequent prohibition of any bloodshed and animal sacrifice. A typology and an attempt at diachronic filiation of early versions of the doctrine of reincarnation are given. It is hypothesized that the “classical” Orphic-Pythagorean version was created by Pythagoras of Samos in the last third of the 6th century BC in Magna Graecia: it was a synthesis of the ancient Aegean version of Epimenides’ Theogony (c. 600 BC going back to the Aegean Bronze age doctrines of ‘rebirth’ reflected in the so-called Cycladic idols), which did not associate reincarnation with "punishment" for sins, but understood it as a continuation of eternal life in this world, and ancient Egyptian eschatology: the judgment of the soul in the afterlife, the osirification of the deceased, etc. Pythagoras based his doctrine of the human nature (immortal soul and mortal body) on a metaphysical substance dualism of peras and apeiron. The court diviner of the Peisistratidai in Athens in the late 6th century B.C. Onomacritus, who was probably a Pythagorean himself, according to the reliable evidence of Aristotle, expounded it in a mythopoetic form (the myth of the sparagmos of the divine child Dionysus by the evil Titans) in the Orphic Theogony which he ascribed to the mythical singer of times immemorial Orpheus. It was this Pythagorean (ethicized) version of the doctrine that was adopted by Plato, the Platonic tradition  and - in an expurgated form – by the Church fathers who admitted only the post-mortem immortality of the soul, but rejected its pre-existence and of reincarnation (except Origen).
Вопреки гипотезе северного или "шаманистического" происхождения древнейших греческих учений о реинкарнации и бессмертии души в работе аргументируется совершенно новая теория Эгейского происхождения, так как все четыре наиболее ранних представителя этой традиции либо по своему происхождению  напрямую связаны с Критом (Эпименид) и Кикладами (Ферекид из Сироса), либо имели значимые религиозно-философские контакты с критской мантикой (Ономакрит, автор древней орфической Теогонии согласно Аристотелю) и культом Аполлона Гиперборейского на Делосе (Пифагор), допускавшим только "бескровные" жертвоприношения, религиозно-нравственным обоснованием которых была вера в родство всех живых существ и реинкарнацию с вытекающим отсюда запретом любого кровопролития. Дается типология и попытка диахронической филиации ранних версий учения о реинкарнации. Выдвигается гипотеза, согласно которой "классическая" орфико-пифагорейская версия была создана Пифагором из Самоса в последней трети. 6-го века до н.э. в Великой Греции в результате синтеза древнейшей эгейской версии Эпименида (не связывавшей реинкарнацию с "наказанием" за грехи, а понимавшей ее как продолжение вечной жизни в этом мире) и древанеегиптеской эсхатологии (суд души в загробном мире, осирификация покойника и т.д.). Пифагор основывал свою теорию природы человека и бессмертия души (при смертности тела) на метафизическом субстанциальном дуализме предела и беспредельного. Придворный гадатель Писистратидов Ономакрит, выходец из пифагорейских кругов Южной Италии, в конце 6 века до н.э. дал мифопоэтическую форму этому учению в Теогонии, которую он приписал мифическому певцу Орфею: миф о расчленении божественного младенца Диониса злыми Титанами. Именно эта пифагорейская версия была усвоена Платоном, платонической традицией и – в реформированном виде –  патристикой: отказ от реинкарнации и учения о предвечности души (кроме Оригена).