Classical Mythology

ORPHEUS AND ORPHISM: MYSTERY RELIGIONS IN ROMAN TIMES 367

rience) was initiated three times into the mysteries of Isis and Serapis; his life
was consecrated to Isis. In this experience we can see how the mythology of the
gods of the Greek city-state became incorporated in the mysteries that brought
hope of salvation to the individual worshiper. The power of that experience is
revealed in Lucius' description, with which we end our survey of the mystery
religions (Metamorphoses 11. 23):

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Perhaps you may ask, studious reader, what then was said, what was done. I

would tell you, if it were lawful to speak; and you would know, if it were law-

ful to hear. ... I do not wish to torture you... with the pain of long suspense.

Therefore hear, but believe, because these things are true. I approached the

boundaries of death; I trod the entrance of Proserpina and, carried through all

the elements, I returned. At midnight I saw the sun shining with brilliant light,

I came into the presence of the gods below and the gods above, and close by I

worshiped them. Behold, I have told you that about which, although you have

heard, you must remain ignorant.

SELECT BIBLIOGRAPHY

ORPHEUS

Athanassakis, Apostolos N. The Orphic Hymns. Text, translation, and notes. Atlanta:

Scholars Press, 1977.

Friedman, John Block. Orpheus in the Middle Ages. Cambridge: Harvard University Press,

1970.

Guthrie, W. K. C. Orpheus and Greek Religion: A Study in the Orphic Movement. Princeton:

Princeton University Press, 1993 [19661. The best introductory survey.

Segal, Charles. Orpheus: The Myth of the Poet. Baltimore and London: Johns Hopkins Uni-

versity Press, 1989. Chapters deal with various aspects of the subject. Vergil, Ovid,

Seneca, H. D., Rukeyser, Rich, Ashbery, and Rilke are among the authors treated. A

concluding chapter is called "Orpheus from Antiquity to Today."

Warden, J., ed. Orpheus: The Metamorphoses of a Myth. Toronto: University of Toronto

Press, 1985.

West, M. L. The Orphic Poems. New York: Oxford University Press, 1983.

MYSTERY RELIGIONS

Burkert, Walter. Ancient Mystery Cults. Cambridge: Harvard University Press, 1987.

Cole, Susan. Theoi Megaloi: The Cult of the Great Gods of Samothrace. Leiden: Brill, 1984.

Cumont, Franz. The Mysteries of Mithra. New York: Dover, 1956 [1903].

. Oriental Religions in Roman Paganism. New York: Dover, 1956 [1911]. Reprint of
English translation (London: Routledge, 1911) of Les religions orientales dans le pa-
ganisme romain (Paris, 1906).
Ferguson, John. The Religions of the Roman Empire. Ithaca: Cornell University Press, 1970.
See especially Chapter 7.
Godwin, Joscelyn. Mystery Religions in the Ancient World. Ithaca: Cornell University Press,
1971.