ORPHEUS, a celebrated poet and musician of anti- quity. His reputation was established as early as the time of the Argonautic expedition, in which he was himself an adventurer; and is said by Apollonius Rhodius not only to have excited the Argonauts to row by the sound of his lyre, but to have vanquished and put to silence the sirens by the superiority of his strains. Yet, notwithstanding the great celebrity he had so long enjoyed, there is a passage in Cicero, which says, that Aristotle, in the third book of his Poetics, which is now lost, doubted if such a person as Orpheus ever existed. But as the work of Cicero, in which this passage occurs, is in dialogue, it is not easy to discover what was his own opinion upon the subject, the words cited being put into the mouth of Caius Cotta. And Cicero, in other parts of his writings, mentions Orpheus as a person of whose existence he had no doubts. There are several ancient authors, among whom is Suidas, who enumerate five persons of the name of Orpheus, and relate some particulars of each. And it is very probable that it has fared with Orpheus as with Hercules, and that writers have attributed to one the actions of many. But, how- ever that may have been, we shall not attempt to col- lect all the fables that poets and mythologists have in- vented concerning him; they are too well known to need insertion here. We shall, therefore, in speaking of him, make use only of such materials as the best an- cient historians, and the most respectable writers among the moderns, have furnished towards his history.

Dr Cudworth, in his Intellectual System*, after exa- mining and confuting the objections that have been made to the being of an Orpheus, and with his usual learning and abilities clearly establishing his existence, proceeds, in a very ample manner, to speak of the opi- nions and writings of our bard, whom he regards not only as the first musician and poet of antiquity, but as a great mythologist, from whom the Greeks derived the Thracian religious rites and mysteries.

"It is the opinion (says he) of some eminent philo- logers of later times, that there never was any such per- son as Orpheus, except in Fairy land; and that his whole history was nothing but a mere romantic allegory, utterly devoid of truth and reality. But there is nothing alleged for this opinion from antiquity, except the one passage of Cicero concerning Aristotle; who seems to have meant no more than this, that there was no such poet as Orpheus anterior to Homer, or that the verses vulgarly called Orphical, were not written by Or- pheus. However, if it should be granted that Aristotle had denied the existence of such a man, there seems to be no reason why his single testimony should preponde- rate against the universal consent of all antiquity; which agrees that Orpheus was the son of Oegar, by birth a Thracian, the father or chief founder of the mythologi- cal and allegorical theology amongst the Greeks, and of all their most sacred religious rites and mysteries; who is commonly supposed to have lived before the Trojan war, that is, in the time of the Israelitish judges, or at least to have been senior both to Hesiod and Homer; and to have died a violent death, most affirming that he was torn in pieces by women, because their husbands de- fected them in order to follow him. For which reason, in the vision of Herus Pamphilus, in Plato, Orpheus's soul passing into another body, is said to have chosen that of a swan, a reputed musical animal, on account of the great hatred he had conceived for all women, from the death which they had inflicted on him. And the historic truth of Orpheus was not only acknowledged by Plato, but also by Ifocrates, who lived before Ari- stotle," Orpheus, noble, in his oration in praise of Busiris; and confirmed by the grave historian Diodorus Siculus, who says, that Orpheus diligently applied himself to literature, and when he had learned ἐν μυθολογίᾳ, or the mythological part of theology, he travelled into Egypt, where he soon became the greatest proficient among the Greeks in the mysteries of religion, theology, and poetry. Neither was his history of Orpheus contradicted by Origen, when so justly provoked by Celsus, who had preferred him to our Saviour; and, according to Suidas, Orpheus the Thracian was the first inventor of the religious mysteries of the Greeks, and that religion was thence called Θρησκεία, Threkeia, as if a Thracian invention. On account of the great antiquity of Orpheus, there have been numberless fables intermingled with his history; yet there appears no reason that we should disbelieve the existence of such a man.

Cudworth is also of opinion, that the poems ascribed to Orpheus were either written by him, or that they were very ancient, and contained his doctrines. He farther argues, that though Orpheus was a polytheist, and affected a multiplicity of gods, he nevertheless acknowledged one supreme unmade deity, as the original of all things; and that the Pythagoreans and Platonists not only had Orpheus in great esteem, being commonly called by them the Theologer, but were also thought in great measure to have owed their theology and philosophy to him, deriving it from his principles and traditions.

The bishop of Gloucester* speaks no more doubtfully of the existence of Orpheus than of Homer and Hesiod, with whom he ranks him, not only as a poet, but also as a theologian, and founder of religion.

The family of Orpheus is traced by Sir Isaac Newton for several generations: "Sefac passing over the Hellespont, conquers Thrace; kills Lycurgus king of that country; and gives his kingdom and one of his singing women to Oeagrus, the son of Tharops, and father of Orpheus; hence Orpheus is said to have had the muse Calliope for his mother.

He is allowed by most ancient authors to have excelled in poetry and music, particularly the latter; and that to such a degree, that he is represented as taming the most ferocious animals, changing the course of the winds by his melody, and as caulking the trees of the forest to dance in concert with his lyre. This account, though we must suppose it fabulous, yet proves his excellence to have been great before he could have given rise to such fictions. He is said to have early cultivated the lyre, in preference to every other instrument; so that all those who came after him were contented to be his imitators; whereas, according to Plutarch, he adopted no model; for before his time no other music was known, except a few airs for the flute. Music was so closely connected in ancient times with the most sublime sciences, that Orpheus united it not only with philosophy, but with theology and legislation. He abstained from eating animal food; and held eggs in abhorrence as aliment, being persuaded that the egg sufficed before the chicken, and was the principal of all existence: both his knowledge and prejudices, it is probable, were acquired in Egypt, as well as those of Pythagoras many ages after.

With respect to his abstaining from the flesh of oxen, Gesner supposes it may have proceeded from the veneration shown to that animal so useful in tillage, in the Orphic Eleusinian mysteries instituted in honour of Ceres, the goddess of agriculture. He might have added, that, as those mysteries were instituted in imitation of those established in Egypt in honour of Osiris and Isis, this abstinence from animal food was of the like origin, and a particular compliment to Apis. But Abbé Fagnier, in an ingenious dissertation upon the Orphic Life, gives still more importance to the prohibition; for as Orpheus was the legislator and humanizer of the wild and savage Thracians, who were cannibals, a total abolition of eating human flesh could only be established by obliging his countrymen to abstain from everything that had life.

With respect to theology, Diodorus Siculus tells us, that his father Oeagrus gave him his first instructions in cultus, lib. religion, imparting to him the mysteries of Bacchus, asiv. cap. 25., they were then practised in Thrace. He became afterwards a disciple of the Idaei Dactyli in Crete, and there acquired new ideas concerning religious ceremonies. But nothing contributed so much to his skill in theological matters, as his journey into Egypt; where being initiated into the mysteries of Isis and Osiris, or of Ceres and Bacchus, he acquired a knowledge concerning initiations, expiations, funeral rites, and other points of religious worship, far superior to any one of his age and country. And being much connected with the descendants of Cadmus, the founder of Thebes in Boeotia, he resolved, in order to honour their origin, to transport into Greece the whole fable of Osiris, and apply it to the family of Cadmus. The credulous people easily received this tale, and were much flattered by the institution of the ceremonies in honour of Osiris. Thus Orpheus, who was held in great veneration at the Grecian Thebes, of which he was become a citizen, admirably adapted this fable, and rendered it respectable, not only by his beautiful verses and manner of fingering them, but by the reputation he had acquired of being profoundly skilled in all religious concerns. Diodorus Siculus also says that he was a most attentive student in all kinds of literature, whether sacred or profane.

At his return into Greece, according to Pausanias, he was held in the highest veneration by the people, as they imagined he had discovered the secret of expiating crimes, purifying criminals, curing diseases, and appeasing the angry gods. He formed and promulgated an idea of a hell, from the funeral ceremonies of the Egyptians, which was received throughout all Greece. He instituted the mysteries and worship of Hecate among the Eginetans, and that of Ceres at Sparta.

Justin Martyr says, that he introduced among the Greeks near 360 gods; Hesiod and Homer purified his labours, and followed the same clue, agreeing in the like doctrines, having all drank at the same Egyptian fountain.

Prophane authors look upon Orpheus as the inventor of that species of magic called evocation of the manes, or raising ghosts: and indeed the hymns which are attributed to him are mostly pieces of incantation, and real conjuration. By all accounts he was an admirable musician: he is said to have received a lyre from Apollo, or according to some from Mercury, upon which he played with such a masterly hand, that even the most rapid rivers ceased to flow, the savage beasts of the forest... rest forgot their wildness, and the mountains came to listen to his song. All nature seemed charmed and animated, and the nymphs were his constant companions. Eurydice was the only one who made a deep impression on the melodious musician, and their nuptials were celebrated. Their happiness, however, was but short; for Aristeus became enamoured of her; and as she fled from her pursuer, a serpent that was lurking in the grass bit her foot, and she died of the poisoned wound. Her loss was severely felt by Orpheus, and he resolved to recover her or perish in the attempt. With his lyre in his hand, he entered the infernal regions, and gained an easy admission to the palace of Pluto. The king of hell was charmed with the melody of his strains; and according to the beautiful expressions of the poets, the wheel of Ixion stopped; the stone of Sisyphus stood still; Tantalus forgot his perpetual thirst, and even the furies relented. Pluto and Proserpine were moved with his sorrow, and consented to restore him Eurydice, provided he forbore looking behind him till he had come to the extremest borders of hell. The conditions were gladly accepted, and Orpheus was already in sight of the upper regions of the air, when he forgot his promise, and turned back to look at his long-lost Eurydice.

All dangers past, at length the lovely bride In safety goes, with her melodious guide; Longing the common light again to share, And draw the vital breath of upper air: He first, and close behind him followed she; For such was Proserpine's severe decree. When strong desires th' impatient youth invade; By little caution, and much love betrayed: A fault which easy pardon might receive, Were lovers judges, or could hell forgive. For near the confines of ethereal light, And longing for the glimm'ring of a sight, Th' unwary lover cast a look behind, Forgetful of the law, nor master of his mind. Straight all his hopes exhale'd in empty smoke; And his long toils were forfeit for a look.

DRYDEN'S Virgil.

He saw her, but she instantly vanished from his eyes: He attempted to follow her, but he was refused admission; and the only comfort he could find was to soothe his grief at the sound of his musical instrument in groves or on the mountains. He totally separated himself from the society of mankind; and the Thracian women, whom he had offended by his coldness to their amorous passion, or, according to others, by his unnatural gratifications and impure indulgencies, attacked him while they celebrated the orgies of Bacchus; and after they had torn his body to pieces, they threw his head into the Hebrus, which still articulated the words Eurydice! Eurydice! as it was carried down the stream into the Aegean sea. Others think, that, as he attempted to conjure his wife from the dead, which they understand by the story of his going down to hell, he thought he saw her; and when afterwards, on looking back, he missed her, he died of grief. There is certainly some reason for supposing this to be the case; for there were persons and temples publicly appointed for the purpose; and Pantheas really speaks of that temple which was in Thesprotia, and where Orpheus went to call up the ghost of Eurydice. Poets often mention this subject; and instances of it occur in history both sacred and profane. The witch of Endor is well known to those who read the historical part of the Bible. But to particularise instances, whether sacred or profane, would be endless. Some maintain that he was killed by a thunderbolt. He was buried at Pheria in Macedonia, according to Apollodorus. The inhabitants of Dion boasted that his tomb was in their city, and the people of Mount Libethrus in Thrace claimed the same honour; and farther observed that the nightingales which built their nests near his tomb, sang with greater melody than all other birds. Orpheus, as some report, after death received divine honours; the muses gave an honorable burial to his remains, and his lyre became one of the constellations in the heavens.

Tzetzes explains the fable of his drawing his wife Eurydice from hell, by his great skill in medicine, with which he prolonged her life, or, in other words, snatched her from the grave. Aesculapius, and other physicians, have been said to have raised from the dead those whom they had recovered from dangerous diseases.

The bishop of Gloucester, in his learned, ample, and admirable account of the Eleusinian mysteries, says, "While these mysteries were confined to Egypt their native country, and while the Grecian lawgivers went thither to be initiated, as a kind of designation to their office, the ceremony would be naturally described in terms highly allegorical. This way of speaking was used by Orpheus, Bacchus, and others: and continued even after the mysteries were introduced into Greece, as appears by the fables of Hercules, Castor, Pollux, and Theseus's descent into hell; but the allegory was so circumstantial, as to discover the truth concealed under it. So Orpheus is said to get to hell by the power of his harp:

Threici fretus cithara, fidibusque canoris.