Orphic Gold leaves or tablets were found in the graves in South Italy and Greece which had been robbed in many cases. The text on the orphic tablets is full of mistakes, which indicates that their authors weren't highly educated. They were written in Greek. The contents of the tablets speak of religion we call orphism. Members of the orphism were called the Orphics, who believed in the immortality of the soul and were known by their ascetic way of living. The orphic performed special rituals in order to cleanse their soul of its Titanic nature, which they believed presented the body. It wasn't until the death of the body that soul was freed of the cycle of reincarnations and truly began to live. Persephone and Dionys are gods who play important role on the orphic tablets, while Orpheus name is not even mentioned. However, connection with him is obvious when we compare orphic tablets to the orphic literature, which contains poems of katabasis, theogony and the orphic hymns. They are mostly signed by Orpheus, which is actually work of their real authors, probably wanting to assure the work's credibility. Their real authors were later known by the name Orphics.
|
