grgr (34): orphism

[Dave Monroe]

Also, interestingly enough, the historical background for the birth of tragedy
(...), involving that cultural working-out on stage of the shift from teh blood
vengeance of the Eumenides to the rational justice of the polis, see, not only
Aeschylus' Oresteia, esp. The Eumenides, but also Jean-Pierre Vernant, Myth and
Tragedy in Ancient Greece.  Thank you, this has all been very helpful ...

Lorentzen / Nicklaus wrote:

> the orphics seem to condemn the traditional mythical structures that are used to
> affirm the primacy of existence und to gurantee hierarchies and equilibrium
> between
> humankind and gods, and consequently within humankind itself.  this transformation
> aquires greater significance when seen against its historical background: the
> changes and contradictions experienced by the athenian polis between the sixth and
> fifth centuries bc. since the orphics rejected sacrifice (and this is typical of
> ascetics who make up a community of 'saints'), what are they if not a significant
> indication of this profound social upheaval, a response that, even though destined
> to be marginalized and forgotten, is nevertheless creative and original in the
> face of historical
> change?" (giovanni filoramo: a history of gnosticism, p. 52)
>
>  kfl
>