Orpheus in the ancient sources

Ancient Sources / Figures / Orpheus

30 passages from 11 ancient authors that tell of Orpheus, in the original with English translation, author by author in the order the Greeks read them. Orpheus charmed the Underworld itself with his lyre to win back Eurydice. Read his full story: the descent, the loss, the Argonauts and his death. For the story in one place, read our article on Orpheus.

Homer (1)

Homer, Homerica 6.1–7Contest of Homer and Hesiod: originsThe Contest opens with the cities that claim Homer and Hesiod as their own, and with the disagreement about Homer's parents, Hellanicus and Cleanthes saying his father was Maeon. It gives the oracle that Homer would die on Ios, and the descent of both poets from Apollo and Linus.

Apollodorus (1)

Apollodorus, The Library (Bibliotheca), with the Epitome 1.3.1–6Zeus's children, the Muses, Orpheus and the birth of AthenaZeus marries Hera and has children by many goddesses, among them the Seasons, the Fates, the Graces, Persephone and, by Mnemosyne, the nine Muses. The Muses' sons include Linus and Orpheus, who goes down to Hades for Eurydice and loses her by looking back, as well as Hyacinth (loved by Thamyris and by Apollo), Rhesus and the Corybantes; Thamyris is blinded by the Muses and the Sirens are born of Melpomene. Hephaestus is born to Hera (alone, or by Zeus, in Homer's version) and thrown out of heaven, and Athena springs from the head of Zeus after he swallows Metis.

Pindar (1)

Pindar, Pythian Odes 4.143–299Pythian 4: for Arcesilas — the Argonauts and the golden fleeceJason offers Pelias the flocks and herds but asks for the sceptre and throne of his father Aeson, and Pelias answers softly, sending him to fetch the golden fleece and the spirit of Phrixus. Jason gathers the Argonauts, including Orpheus, Echion and Eurytus, who sail after his prayer to Zeus. At Colchis Aeëtes sets him a task, and with Medea's charms Jason wins the fleece, kills the serpent and carries Medea off, and the ode ends with a plea that Arcesilas recall the exile Damophilus.

Euripides (4)

Euripides, Alcestis 326–368Second episode: Admetus vows lifelong mourningThe Chorus answers for Admetus that he will keep her wishes. Admetus promises that he will not marry again, that he will end all feasting and music, and that he will have a statue of his wife laid on his bed. He says that he would bring her back from Hades if he had the voice of Orpheus, and that he will be laid in the same tomb with her.
Euripides, Alcestis 962–1007Third choral song: nothing is stronger than NecessityThe Chorus says that it has traced the paths of the Muses and studied the sky, and yet found nothing stronger than Necessity, that there is no remedy for it in the writings of Orpheus or in the herbs of the sons of Asclepius. They say that Alcestis, who died for her husband, will be honoured as a goddess, and the Chorus sees Heracles coming toward the hearth.
Euripides, Iphigenia at Aulis 1211–1254Fourth episode: Iphigenia pleads for her lifeIphigenia says that if she had the eloquence of Orpheus she would move the rocks to follow her. As a suppliant she twines her limbs about her father's knees and begs him not to destroy her before her time. She asks what she has to do with the marriage of Paris and Helen, and begs for one glance and one kiss to carry to her death.
Euripides, Cyclops 624–662Fifth episode: the satyrs shrink back from the brandOdysseus calls for silence and tells the satyrs to go in and grip the red-hot brand, but one after another they find excuses, one claiming to have gone lame and another to have dust in his eyes. The Chorus offers instead a spell of Orpheus. Odysseus calls them worthless allies and says that he will use his own men, while the Chorus promises to encourage him from outside.

Apollonius Rhodius (5)

Apollonius Rhodius, Argonautica 1.1–121Pelias' oracle and the catalogue of the ArgonautsThe poet invokes Phoebus and tells how Pelias, warned by an oracle to beware the man with one sandal, sends Jason after the Golden Fleece when Jason loses a sandal crossing the Anaurus. The catalogue of the Argonauts begins with Orpheus and goes on through Asterion, Polyphemus, Admetus, Mopsus, Peleus and Telamon and Tiphys, who steers the ship Athena and Argus built. It closes with Phlias and the sons of Bias from Argos.
Apollonius Rhodius, Argonautica 1.448–558The feast, Orpheus' song and the departure from PagasaeAt the feast on the shore Idas jeers at Idmon's prophecy and Idmon answers him, and Orpheus ends the quarrel by singing of the origin of earth, sky and sea. At dawn the heroes embark, Tiphys takes the helm and Argo leaves Pagasae to the music of Orpheus' lyre while Cheiron shows Achilles to his father Peleus from the shore.
Apollonius Rhodius, Argonautica 1.910–988Samothrace and the welcome of CyzicusOn Orpheus' advice the Argonauts put in at Samothrace to be initiated, then pass the Hellespont and enter the Propontis. They land on the island of Bear Mountain, where king Cyzicus and the Doliones receive them kindly and give them a feast.
Apollonius Rhodius, Argonautica 1.1078–1152The halcyon's omen and the rites for the Mother on DindymumTwelve days of storm keep Argo at Cyzicus until Mopsus reads the cry of a halcyon as a command to appease the Mother of the gods on Mount Dindymum. The heroes build an altar, Orpheus leads an armed dance, a spring wells up from the mountain, and the winds drop.
Apollonius Rhodius, Argonautica 4.885–981The Sirens, the Wandering Rocks and ScyllaAt dawn the Argonauts leave Aeaea; Orpheus drowns out the Sirens' song with his lyre, though Butes dives in and is saved by Cypris. The Nereids pass Argo through the Wandering Rocks, with Hera and Hephaestus watching, and the heroes sail on past Thrinacia and the cattle of Helios.

Aristophanes (1)

Aristophanes, Frogs 1014–1052Agon: the poets as teachers of menAeschylus says that the poets of old taught men: Orpheus gave them rites, Musaeus healing, Hesiod farming and Homer the art of war. He says that his own Seven against Thebes made men eager for battle, and contrasts his heroes with Euripides' Phaedras and Stheneboeas. Euripides asks whether his tale of Phaedra was untrue, and Aeschylus answers that such tales should be hidden from the stage.

Diodorus Siculus (3)

Diodorus Siculus, Library of History, Books 4 to 6 (the Greek myths) 4.25.1–4.27.5Heracles: Hades, Orpheus and the HesperidesHeracles is initiated at Athens in the Eleusinian Mysteries, and the historian digresses briefly on Orpheus. Heracles then descends to Hades, where Persephone welcomes him, and brings back Cerberus. For the last labour, the golden apples of the Hesperides, writers disagree about whether the prize was apples or golden-coloured sheep; the section also gives the story of Atlas and the Atlantides, whom Heracles rescues from pirates sent by Busiris, and Atlas's teaching him astronomy.
Diodorus Siculus, Library of History, Books 4 to 6 (the Greek myths) 4.40.1–4.44.7The Argonauts I: Jason and the voyage to PhineusJason, nephew of Pelias, has a great ship built on Mount Pelion and gathers the chiefs of Greece, with Heracles among them. On the way they rescue Hesione at Sigeium, come through a storm thanks to Orpheus' prayers to the gods of Samothrace, and reach Phineus, whose sons are freed by the Boreadae and Heracles. They then put in on the coast of the Tauric Chersonese, where strangers are sacrificed to Artemis.
Diodorus Siculus, Library of History, Books 4 to 6 (the Greek myths) 6.1.1–11Euhemerus on the godsIn a fragment on the gods the historian is quoted as dividing them into eternal ones, such as the sun and moon and stars, and terrestrial ones, such as Heracles and Dionysus, who were honoured as gods for their benefactions. He then summarises the account of Euhemerus, who sailed from Arabia to the island of Panchaea, where a golden stele recorded the deeds of Uranus, Cronus and Zeus as kings.

Ovid (6)

Ovid, Metamorphoses 10.1–85Orpheus and EurydiceHymen, called to the wedding of Orpheus and Eurydice, comes with a smoking torch and an ill omen, and Eurydice is bitten by a snake and dies. Orpheus goes down to the underworld and sings before Hades (Pluto) and Persephone (Proserpina), and the shades, even the Furies, weep, and Tantalus, Ixion and Sisyphus forget their torments. He is allowed to lead Eurydice back on condition that he does not look back, but as they near the light he turns to see her, and she slips away. Orpheus then shuns women and gives his love to the young men of Thrace.
Ovid, Metamorphoses 11.1–84The death of OrpheusThe Thracian women, who are angered by Orpheus' refusal to love another woman after Eurydice, attack him during the rites of Dionysus (Bacchus). Their spears and stones are charmed by his music until the noise of their pipes and drums drowns it out, and they tear him to pieces and throw his head and lyre into the river Hebrus. His shade goes to the underworld, where he is reunited with Eurydice, and Dionysus punishes the women by turning them into trees.
Ovid, Metamorphoses 10.143–219Ganymede and HyacinthusOrpheus sings of the love of Zeus (Jupiter) for Ganymede, whom the god carries off to heaven as an eagle to be his cup-bearer. He then sings of Apollo's love for Hyacinthus, with whom he plays at quoits, until the discus, thrown by Apollo and deflected by the wind, strikes the boy on the head and kills him. Apollo, unable to restore him, makes a flower grow from his blood, marked with the letters of his grief.
Ovid, Metamorphoses 10.86–142Orpheus sings: the trees and CyparissusOrpheus, driven away from the world by grief, sits on a bare hill and plays, and trees come to listen, among them the cypress, once the boy Cyparissus. Cyparissus, who loved a tame stag that was his companion, killed it by accident with a javelin, and grieved so deeply that Apollo changed him into a cypress tree.
Ovid, Metamorphoses 10.220–297The Propoetides and PygmalionOrpheus sings of the Cerastae, men with horns who sacrificed strangers, and of the Propoetides, who denied the divinity of Aphrodite (Venus) and were the first to prostitute themselves, and who were turned to stone. Pygmalion, a sculptor of Cyprus, disgusted by such women, carves an ivory statue so beautiful that he falls in love with it. At the festival of Aphrodite he prays for a wife like the statue, and when he returns home and kisses the statue, it comes to life, and they have a daughter, Paphos.
Ovid, Metamorphoses 10.298–430MyrrhaOrpheus sings of Myrrha, daughter of King Cinyras of Cyprus, who falls in love with her own father. She tries to hang herself, but is saved by her nurse, and the nurse, learning the cause of her grief, tries to dissuade her.

Pausanias (5)

Pausanias, Description of Greece 9.30.1–12Helicon: statues of the Muses and of the poets, and the traditions about OrpheusPausanias lists the statues in the grove of the Muses, among them images of the Muses by Cephisodotus, Strongylion and Olympiosthenes and a Dionysus taken by Sulla from Orchomenus. He describes statues of Thamyris, Arion, Sacadas, Hesiod and Orpheus. He gives his view of Orpheus and the various accounts of his death, including the river Helicon and the destruction of Libethra by the torrent Sys, and says Orpheus' hymns are short and sung by the Lycomids.
Pausanias, Description of Greece 10.30.1–9Delphi: Polygnotus' painting of the underworld (3): the daughters of Pandareos, Phocus, Orpheus and ThamyrisPausanias continues the underworld painting with the daughters of Pandareos, Antilochus, Agamemnon, Protesilaus, Achilles and Patroclus, and Phocus giving a signet to Iaseus. He describes Maera, Actaeon with his mother and hound, and Orpheus seated in the grove of Proserpine beside the willows and Promedon. He ends with Schedius, Pelias, the blind Thamyris with his broken lyre and Marsyas teaching Olympus to play the flute.
Pausanias, Description of Greece 1.14.1–7Athens: Enneacrunus, Triptolemus, temple of Hephaestus, Heavenly AphroditeNear the Music Hall is the fountain Enneacrunus, with temples of Demeter and Kore and of Triptolemus. Pausanias gives the Argive and Athenian versions of the Triptolemus story and the variant parentages in Musaeus, Orpheus and Choerilus, but declines to describe the Eleusinium because of a dream. He also notes the statue of Epimenides, the temple of Good Fame, a temple of Hephaestus beside a blue-eyed Athena, and the sanctuary of Heavenly Aphrodite, a cult that came from the Assyrians through Paphos and Ascalon.
Pausanias, Description of Greece 6.20.1–19Olympia: Sosipolis, the stadium and the TaraxippusPausanias describes the sanctuary of Ilithyia and Sosipolis on the slope of Mount Cronius, with the story of the child who turned into a serpent and routed the Arcadians. He also describes the Hippodamium, the stadium and the altar of Demeter Chamyne, and the starting-gate of the hippodrome with its bronze eagle and dolphin, invented by Cleoetas. He then gives the rival explanations of the Taraxippus, the 'terror of the horses', which he himself takes to be a surname of Poseidon Hippius.
Pausanias, Description of Greece 10.7.1–8Delphi: plots against the sanctuary and the history of the Pythian contestsPausanias lists those who plotted against the sanctuary at Delphi, from the Euboean robber and Pyrrhus to the Phocians, the Gauls and Nero. He then gives the history of the Pythian games: the first prize for a hymn, the contests added by the Amphictyons in the forty-eighth Olympiad, the dropping of the flute-song as too doleful, and the later additions of chariot, armed and foal races. He ends with the laurel wreath as the Pythian prize.

Nonnus of Panopolis (2)

Nonnus of Panopolis, Dionysiaca 19.97–157Book 19: Oiagros wins the song contest; Dionysos sets the prizes for dancingOiagros, father of Orpheus, sings two lines on Apollo and Hyacinthos and the promise that Dionysos will make Staphylos live for ever, and wins the bull, while Erechtheus gets the goat. Dionysos then sets out a golden mixing-bowl and a silver bowl as prizes for a dancing contest in honour of the dead king, who loved dancing.
Nonnus of Panopolis, Dionysiaca 13.393–463Book 13: Samothrace, Thrace and CyprusEmathion's men come from Samothrace under the giant Ogyros, and Oiagros of Thrace leaves his infant son Orpheus on Calliopeia's knees. The Cyprians come under Litros and Lapethos. The poet tells how a dolphin carried Aphrodite to the island and names its towns.

Orpheus (attributed) (1)

Orpheus (attributed), Orphic Hymns 0–3Hymns 0-3: Musaeus (proem), Hecate, Prothyraea, NightThe collection opens with a prologue in which Orpheus addresses his pupil Musaeus, promises to teach him the rites of sacrifice and then calls on a long roll of gods, nymphs, spirits and personified powers to attend. The prologue ends with a short invocation of Hecate of the crossroads, which Taylor prints as its closing lines (modern Hymn 1). The next two hymns invoke Prothyraea, the goddess who presides over childbirth, and Night, named as the parent from whom gods and men first arose.