Chapter X: Orphic and Dionysiac Mysteries

Our chief source a fragment of the _Cretans_ of Euripides.
The Idaean Zeus the same as Zagreus. The _Omophagia_ or
feast of raw flesh. The bull-victim. Bull-worship in
Crete. The Minotaur. Evidence of Clement of Alexandria
as to the _Omophagia_. Narrative of Firmicus Maternus.
Analogous _Omophagia_ among primitive Arabs. Account of
Nilus. Sacramental union with the god by eating his flesh.
Reminiscences of human sacrifice in Greek tradition. The
Titans and the infant Zagreus. The Titans white-earth men. The
smearing with gypsum. The Orphic doctrine of the dismembered
god. The Mountain Mother. Her image on a Cretan seal
impression. The Kouretes her attendants. The final consecration
of the mystic. Meaning of the word ὁσιωθείς, ‘consecrated.’
Orphic taboos. Orphic formalism. Parody of Orphic rites of
initiation in the _Clouds_ of Aristophanes. The ‘shady side’
of Orphism. The Liknophoria. Dionysos Liknites. Symbolism
of the _liknon_. Purification, rebirth. The _liknon_ and
the Homeric _ptyon_. The _liknon_ in marriage ceremonies.
The Sacred Marriage. Orphic elements in Eleusinian Ritual.
Iacchos at Eleusis. The Liknophoria at Eleusis. The Sacred
Marriage and the Sacred Birth at Eleusis. Thessalian influence,
Brimo. Thracian influence, Eumolpos. Dionysos at Eleusis. As
child, and as grown man. The pantomime element in the cult
of Dionysos. Its influence on the Eleusinian Mysteries, pp. 479-572.

CHAPTER XI.

ORPHIC ESCHATOLOGY.

The tablets our chief source for Orphic doctrines. Their
_provenance_ and general character. The Petelia tablet of
the British Museum. Analogous tablets from Crete. The Well
of Mnemosyne. Parallels in Fiji and Egypt. Lethe in Greek
Literature. Lethe in the ritual of Trophonios. The river of
Eunoë, Good Consciousness, in Dante. The Sybaris tablets. The
tablet of Caecilia Secundina. The confession of Ritual Acts
on the Sybaris tablets. The attainment of divinity through
purification. The escape from the Wheel. The kid and the
milk. The formulary of adoption. Eschatology on Orphic vases
from Lower Italy. Orpheus in Hades. The tortured criminals.
Developement by Orphism of doctrine of eternal punishment.
The Danaides and the Uninitiated, pp. 573-624.

CHAPTER XII.

ORPHIC COSMOGONY.

Orphic theology as seen in the Hymns. The World-Egg. Use of
eggs in Orphic ritual of purification. Birth of Eros from
World-Egg. Complex origin of Orphic Eros. Eros as Herm. Eros
as Ker of life. Evidence of art. Eros as Ephebos. Eros and
the Earth-Mother. Eros present at the Anodos. Evidence of
art. The Mystery-cult at Phlya, the birthplace of Euripides.
Pythagorean revival of the cult of the Mother. The mystic Eros
as Phanes and Protogonos. _Contaminatio_ of Eros and Dionysos.
Popular Orphism on vases from Thebes. Eros as Proteurhythmos.
The divinities of Orphism are demons rather than gods. Orphism
resumed, pp. 625-659.

CRITICAL APPENDIX ON THE ORPHIC TABLETS pp. 660-674.

INDEX

I. Greek pp. 675, 676.

II. General pp. 676-680.