Orpheus (Greek: Ὀρφεύς; in English pronounced /ˈɔrfiəs/ or /ˈɔrfjuːs/) is an important figure from Greek mythology, the inspiration for subsequent Orphic cults, much of the literature, poetry and drama of ancient Greece and Rome and, due to his association with singing and the lyre, much dramatic Western classical music.
Orpheus was called by Pindar "the father of songs" and asserted to be a son of the Thracian river god Oiagros. The Muse Calliop...
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Orpheus (Greek: Ὀρφεύς; in English pronounced /ˈɔrfiəs/ or /ˈɔrfjuːs/) is an important figure from Greek mythology, the inspiration for subsequent Orphic cults, much of the literature, poetry and drama of ancient Greece and Rome and, due to his association with singing and the lyre, much dramatic Western classical music.
Orpheus was called by Pindar "the father of songs" and asserted to be a son of the Thracian river god Oiagros. The Muse Calliope is his mother. but as Karl Kerenyi observes, "In the popular mind he was more closely linked to the community of his disciples and adherents than with any particular race or family".
The Greeks of the Classical age venerated the legendary figure of Orpheus as chief among poets and musicians, and the perfector of the lyre invented by Hermes. Poets like Simonides of Ceos said that, with his music and singing, he could charm birds, fish and wild beasts, coax the trees and rocks into dance, and even divert the course of rivers. He was one of the...
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