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Plato's Orpheus: the Philosophical Appropriation of Orphic Formulae

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Plato's Orpheus: the Philosophical Appropriation of Orphic Formulae University of New Mexico UNM Digital Repository Foreign Languages & Literatures ETDs Electronic Theses and Dissertations 6-9-2016 Plato's Orpheus: The hiP losophical Appropriation of Orphic Formulae Dannu Hütwohl Follow this and additional works at: https://digitalrepository.unm.edu/fll_etds Recommended Citation Hütwohl, Dannu. "Plato's Orpheus: The hiP losophical Appropriation of Orphic Formulae." (2016). https://digitalrepository.unm.edu/fll_etds/20 This Thesis is brought to you for free and open access by the Electronic Theses and Dissertations at UNM Digital Repository. It has been accepted for inclusion in Foreign Languages & Literatures ETDs by an authorized administrator of UNM Digital Repository. For more information, please contact [email protected]. Dannu J. Hutwohl Foreign Languages and Literatures Professor Lorenzo F. Garcia Jr. Professor Monica S. Cyrino Professor Osman Umurhan by THESIS Submitted in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree of The University of New Mexico Albuquerque, New Mexico Acknowledgements I wish to extend a heart felt thanks to all the members of my thesis committee, without whom this project would not have been possible: first and foremost to my brilliant and inspiring advisor and mentor, Dr. Lorenzo F. Garcia Jr., for your endless patience, wisdom, and dedication; Just as the Orphic initiates would have been lost in the darkness of the Underworld without the help of their Gold Tablets, so too would I have been lost in this undertaking without the illuminating light of your golden advice. To Dr. Monica S. Cyrino, for your incredible editing skills and for always believing in and supporting me over the years in countless ways; Just as Demeter moved heaven and earth for Persephone, so too have you nurtured and championed my research. To Dr. Osman Umurhan, for always pushing me as a scholar to go beyond the limits and see both the small details and the big picture; and just as Iambe cheered up Demeter with laughter, so too has your contagious humor strengthened my resolve. To Dr. Luke Gorton for helping me with the linguistics of this project, and for being a great role model; Just as Socrates illuminated the origins of words in Plato’s Cratylus, so too have you helped me explore the etymologies of Indo-European. With all my soul I am eternally indebted to all of you for your dedication and support over the years, during which you have taught me so much and as such I have become a sum of all your gifts—you are my heroes! I would also like to thank my family for their unconditional love, encouragement and everlasting support, and my dear friends and colleagues Makaila Christensen and Samantha Davis, with whom I was blessed to spend the past three years and to gain life long friends and colleagues—thank you for making these years abundantly thought provoking and endlessly fun! iii Plato’s Orpheus: The Philosophical Appropriation of Orphic Formulae By Dannu J. Hütwohl B.A., Classical Studies, University of New Mexico, 2012 M.A., Comparative Literature and Cultural Studies, University of New Mexico, 2016 Abstract In this project I explore Plato’s deployment and transposition of Orphic eschatological ideas through his incorporation of Orphic formulae, based on the Olbian Tablets and Orphic Gold Tablets, into his philosophical settings throughout his dialogues. I show how Plato deploys Orphic formulae throughout his dialogues in order to promote his philosophy, which points to Plato’s knowledge of Orphic doctrine. First I analyze Plato’s use of specific terminology and formulae in eschatological contexts. Then I look specifically at the Orphic term poinē in terms of the Orphic myth of Dionysus. I contend with the arguments of Edmonds who redefines the Greek word poinē as time in order to discredit the existence of an Orphic doctrine. I survey the use of the Greek word poinē in Homer, Pindar, Plato, the Derveni Papyrus and the Gurôb Papyrus in order to demonstrate that poinē points to the cohesiveness and integrity of the Orphic doctrine. iv Plato’s Orpheus: The Philosophical Appropriation of Orphic Formulae ................... 1 Introduction: Orphic Mythology and Sources ........................................................................ 1 Plato’s Orphica: An Introduction ............................................................................................. 4 Soteriology and the Cycle of Rebirth: An Introduction ....................................................... 16 Overview: Chapter One .......................................................................................................... 22 Overview: Chapter Two .......................................................................................................... 23 Chapter One: Life-Death-Life Formula ....................................................................... 28 Introduction ............................................................................................................................. 28 I.1 The Orphic Hieros Logos: Platonic ta legomena (Apology 41c7) ................................... 31 I.2 The Orphic Hieros Logos: Plato’s Seventh Letter .......................................................... 36 I.3 The Orphic Hieros Logos: Plato’s Apology ...................................................................... 38 I.4 The Orphic Hieros Logos: Orphic Soteriological Formulae in the Apology ................. 40 I.5 The Orphic Hieros Logos: Plato’s Phaedo ....................................................................... 48 I.6 The Body/Soul Formula: The Corruption of the Human Soul ...................................... 53 I.7 The Body/Soul Formula: Pythagorean Beliefs in σῶμα/σῆμα ...................................... 59 I.8 The Body/Soul Formula: Plato’s ἀπαλλαγή “Release” of the Soul from the Body ..... 61 I.9 The Body/Soul Formula: Orphic Fragments Referring to “Release” ........................... 65 1.10 The Body/Soul Formula: Forms of Release (ἀπαλλαγή) in the Phaedo ..................... 67 I.11 The Body/Soul Formula: Dialysis and Other Forms of Release in Phaedo ................ 68 I.12 The Body/Soul Formula: The Soul’s Imprisonment and Its Possibility of Salvation Expressed in the Zagreus Myth .............................................................................................. 71 Chapter Two: ποινή and the Zagreus Myth ................................................................ 76 Introduction ............................................................................................................................. 76 II.1 Meno 80c and ποινή ......................................................................................................... 77 II.2 ποινή in Homer ................................................................................................................. 85 IΙ.3: ποινή in Pindar ............................................................................................................... 91 II.4 The Etymology of ποινή and τιμή ................................................................................ 110 II.5 ποινή and Orphic Papyri ............................................................................................... 112 II.6 τίνειν τιμωρίας in Plato’s Dialogues ............................................................................ 123 II.7 τιμωρία and Underworld Geography .......................................................................... 127 II.8 τιμωρία in Plato’s Apology, Cratylus, and Phaedo ...................................................... 129 Plato’s Orpheus: Concluding Remarks ...................................................................... 135 Bibliography .................................................................................................................. 140 v Plato’s Orpheus: The Philosophical Appropriation of Orphic Formulae Introduction: Orphic Mythology and Sources The mythological biography of the legendary figure Orpheus unfolds in several Greek myths. Orpheus was the son of Apollo, and was famed for his music (Pindar, Pythian 4.176-177; Euripides, Alcestis 357-362). Orpheus provided his harmonious sounds to protect the Argonauts from the Sirens (Apollonius Rhodius, Argonautica 4.890-920), and was a magician with mystical powers over nature (Simonides fr. 567 PMG). With these gifts Orpheus descended into the realm of Hades to retrieve his dead wife (Plato, Symposium 179d), but he was subsequently dismembered at the hands of Bacchic women (Pseudo-Eratosthenes, Katasterismi 24). This elusive biography of the culture hero Orpheus provided the background for an initiatory cult dedicated to death, rebirth and the salvation of the soul, but the identity of Orpheus as man or myth continues to elude scholars. Orphic literature consists of a substantial collection of extant and fragmentary texts—the Hymns, Krater, Lithica, and Argonautica—as well as testimonia concerning a broad range of themes associated with the mythical Orpheus or Mystery rites in general. Gottfried Hermann first published both the extant Orphic texts and fragments in his Orphica, “Orphic references” (1805), but when the debate over Orphism became the subject of philology, Otto Kern then exclusively assembled the Orphic fragments under the name Orphicorum fragmenta (1922), which included both Classical and Hellenistic 1 authors, such as Plato’s Orphica as well as references to Orpheus
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