OrpheusEurydiceANCIENT_CononPhotius
Conon's account of the Orpheus cult
Called by one scholar an important and unique witness to some elements of the ancient legend [of Orpheus]," Photius summarizes one of the fifty mythological narratives (diageseis) of Conon, dedicated to King Archelaus Philopator of Cappadocia (36 BC – AD 17). In this one, according to Photius, Conon recounted the story of Orpheus.
Conon’s 45th narrative tells the myth of Orpheus, the son of Oeagrus and Calliope, one of the Muses. He ruled the Macedonians and the Odryssae [i.e. Thrace] as a king. He was adept at music, but especially at the cithara. Indeed, even though the people of Thrace and of Macedon are lovers of music, he stood out among them as exceptional. He is famous for having descended to Hades in his longing for his wife Eurydice and for having charmed Pluto and Kore with songs that he should take his wife as their gift. But he did not enjoy the gift of her revivification, since he did not take note of the instructions concerning it. He was so clever at beguiling and charming with his songs that wild beasts and birds and even trees and rocks followed his lead with delight. In the end, the women of Thrace and of Macedon dismembered him, because he did not take part in their rites — but there were likely other pretexts, too. They said, thus, that because he was disaffected with his wife he despised their whole race. It came to pass that on the appointed days a number of women of Thrace and of Macedon were assembled at Leibethra, in a house that was suitably large and well appointed for the mystic rites. When they went inside to celebrate the rite, they set guards outside the doors. The women were keeping watch and seized the guards’ weapons, then got so disgracefully worked up in their anger that they overpowered the men who fought against them and they tore Orpheus limb from limb then cast his scattered bodyparts into the sea. When the land was afflicted with plague, because the women were not arraigned for their actions, the people asked the terrible curse to abate and they proposed to offer the head of Orpheus as a gift so that, if they could find it and bury it, they would receive relief. At length, they discovered the head near the mouth of the Meles River [near Smyrna] where a fisherman got it from the sea. Even then it was still singing, not damaged by the ocean. Nor did it have any of the signs of decay that human corpses have; it was flourishing, rather, and blooming with life-giving blood even then after so much time. So, they took it and buried it beneath a large monument, building a sanctuary around this, which for a time was a shrine (heroon) but later grew to become a sanctuary (hieron). For he is worshipped there with sacrifices and the other things gods are honored with. The precinct is utterly off limits to women.
—— Translation by Roger T. Macfarlane
Photius Bibl. 186 [140bBekker]
From the edition of R. Henry, Paris: Les Belles Lettres
R. Henry, Photius. Bibliothèque, 8 vols. Paris: Les Belles Lettres, 1959-1980.
Retrieved from: TLG
Ἡ [διήγησις] μεʹ ὡς Ὀρφεὺς ὁ Οἰάγρου καὶ Καλλιόπης μιᾶς τῶν Μουσῶν, ἐβασίλευε Μακεδόνων καὶ τῆς Ὀδρυσίδος, ἐπετήδευε δὲ μουσικήν, καὶ μάλιστα κιθαρῳδίαν. Καί (φιλόμουσον γὰρ τὸ Θρᾳκῶν καὶ Μακεδόνων γένος) ἤρεσκεν ἐν τούτοις διαφερόντως τῷ πλήθει. Κατέσχε δὲ δόξα ὡς εἰς Ἅιδου κατάβοι ἔρωτι τῆς γυναικὸς Εὐρυδίκης, καὶ ὡς τὸν Πλούτωνα καὶ τὴν Κόρην ᾠδαῖς γοητεύσας, δῶρον λάβοι τὴν γυναῖκα· ἀλλ’ οὐ γὰρ ὄνασθαι τῆς χάριτος ἀναβιωσκομένης, λαθόμενον τῶν περὶ αὐτῆς ἐντολῶν. Οὕτω δὲ θέλγειν καὶ κατακηλεῖν αὐτὸν ᾠδαῖς εἶναι σοφόν, ὡς καὶ θηρία καὶ οἰωνοὺς καὶ δὴ καὶ ξύλα καὶ λίθους συμπερινοστεῖν ὑφ’ ἡδονῆς. Τελευτᾷ δὲ διασπασαμένων αὐτὸν τῶν Θρᾳκίων καὶ Μακεδόνων γυναικῶν, ὅτι οὐ μετεδίδου αὐταῖς τῶν ὀργίων, τάχα μὲν καὶ κατ’ ἄλλας προφάσεις. Φασὶ δ’ οὖν αὐτὸν δυστυχήσαντα περὶ γυναῖκα πᾶν ἐχθῆραι τὸ γένος. Ἐφοίτα μὲν οὖν τακταῖς ἡμέραις ὡπλισμένων πλῆθος Θρᾳκῶν καὶ Μακεδόνων ἐν Λιβήθροις, εἰς οἴκημα ἓν συνερχόμενον μέγα τε καὶ πρὸς τελετὰς εὖ πεποιημένον. Ὁπότε δ’ ὀργιάζειν εἰσίασι, πρὸ τῶν πυλῶν ἀπετίθεσαν τὰ ὅπλα. Ὃ αἱ γυναῖκες ἐπιτηρήσασαι καὶ τὰ ὅπλα ἁρπασάμεναι, ὑπ’ ὀργῆς τῆς διὰ τὴν ἀτιμίαν τούς τε προσπίπτοντας κατειργάσαντο, καὶ τὸν Ὀρφέα κατὰ μέλη ἔρριψαν εἰς τὴν θάλασσαν σποράδην. Λοιμῷ δὲ τῆς χώρας, ὅτι μὴ ἀπῃτήθησαν δίκην αἱ γυναῖκες, κακουμένης, δεόμενοι λωφῆσαι τὸ δεινόν, ἔλαβον χρησμὸν τὴν κεφαλὴν τὴν Ὀρφέως ἢν ἀνευρόντες θάψωσι, τυχεῖν ἀπαλλαγῆς. Καὶ μόλις αὐτὴν περὶ τὰς ἐκβολὰς τοῦ Μέλητος δι’ ἁλιέως ἀνεῦρον ποταμοῦ, καὶ τότε ᾄδουσαν καὶ μηδὲν παθοῦσαν ὑπὸ τῆς θαλάσσης, μηδέ τι ἄλλο τῶν ὅσα κῆρες ἀνθρώπιναι νεκρῶν αἴσχη φέρουσιν, ἀλλ’ ἐπακμάζουσαν αὐτὴν καὶ ζωϊκῷ καὶ τότε αἵματι μετὰ πολὺν χρόνον ἐπανθοῦσαν. Λαβόντες οὖν ὑπὸ σήματι μεγάλῳ θάπτουσι, τέμενος αὐτῷ περιείρξαντες, ὃ τέως μὲν ἡρῷον ἦν, ὕστερον δ’ ἐξενίκησεν ἱερὸν εἶναι· θυσίαις τε γὰρ καὶ ὅσοις ἄλλοις θεοὶ τιμῶνται γεραίρεται· ἔστι δὲ γυναιξὶ παντελῶς ἄβατον.