Tearing Apart the Zagreus Myth: A Few Disparaging Remarks on Orphism and Original Sin

Abstract

In this essay, I distinguish between the ancient tales relating to the dismemberment or sparagmos of Dionysos and the modern fabrication which I call the "Zagreus myth." This myth is put together from several elements: 1) the dismemberment of Dionysos; 2) the punishment of the Titans; 3) the creation of mankind from the Titans; and 4) the inheritance humans receive from the first three parts - the burden of guilt from the Titans' crime and the divine spark from the remains of Dionysos. Building upon Linforth's critical review, I first examine the pieces of evidence out of which this Zagreus myth has been assembled, demonstrating that the few pieces of evidence used to construct the myth fail to support the existence of such a story before the modern era. While ancient sources provide testimony to the first three components of the myth, the final component-the resulting original sin-is an addition of modern scholars. I next show that, viewed without the framework of the Zagreus myth, the pieces of evidence provide testimony to a variety of tellings of the dismemberment myth, which was not the exclusive property of the "Orphics" but rather a well-known element in the Greek mythic tradition. I then explore the Christian models of religion within which the myth was mistakenly reconstructed, noting the role this reconstruction of Orphism played in the turn-of-the-century debates surrounding the nature of the early Church. Finally, I conclude that the gold tablets and their religious contexts have been misunderstood because these texts have been interpreted in terms of a modern fabrication dependent on Christian models, the Zagreus myth. The "Orphic" gold tablets themselves have nothing to do with the stories of sparagmos and anthropogony, but instead supply important evidence for the study of Greek eschatological beliefs.

Vegetarianismo en la Grecia Antigua

“…La existencia en la Antigüedad de un mito órfico que fundamentaba las creencias del grupo se ha puesto en duda por algún autor (sobre todo por Edmonds, 1999), pero con argumentos poco convincentes. Como resultado del cotejo de diversas fuentes antiguas (Bernabé, 2002(Bernabé, , 2008, puede obtenerse un relato bastante coherente, que es el siguiente:…”

Soberana del Hades. Perséfone en la epigrafía funeraria y en las láminas áureas

“…Véase bibliografía sobre este asunto en Edmonds 2004: 58 ss. Sobre la construcción del "mito Zagreo", véase Edmonds 1999. 47 Insistir en la amplia presencia de Perséfone no significa vincular las láminas de oro al culto eleusino. Mi interés se limita a subrayar su importancia en las lamellae coincidente, en el tiempo, con la que la diosa asume en los epitafios como Soberana del Inframundo.…”

“…Edmonds 1999. 64 Kahn -Lyotard & Loraux 1996 171, en su poético artículo "Perséfone: la doncella y la muerte".…”

Extra‐Ordinary People:MystaiandMagoi, Magicians and Orphics in the Derveni Papyrus

“…Rohde 1925Macchioro 1930, 75-77;Morford and Lenardon 1985, 217-18. For the invention of this idea in the nineteenth century, see Edmonds 1999, chap. 2.…”