The Mystical Hymns of Orpheus - Platonic Philosophy

THE
LEARN, 0 Musaeus, from my sacred song
What rites most fit to sacrifice belong.
Jove I invoke, the earth, and solar light,
The moon's pure splendour, and the stars of night.
The Greek Scholiast on Aristophanes (in Ranis) observes,
that Muszeus was the offspring of the Moon and
Eumolpus ; that according to Sophocles he uttered oracles
; and that he composed aapaAvaeis, TEXET~L and Ka-
Sappo~. Of these works, which are unfortunately lost, the
napa)lvm~s or ~a~aXw~ts, taught both individuals and cities
how by religious ceremonies they might be liberated from
the punishment attendant on the crimes which they had
committed. His ~eXerai, or Mysteries, are mentioned by
Plato, Lucian, and others. And the tcaSappoc contained
the means of expiating and becoming pwrijeed from guilt.
For a, copious developement of sacrifices, and of the
utility or power they possess in the universe, and also on
what account they were anciently performed, see Book the
Second of my translation of Porphyry's excellent Treatise
on Abstinence from Animal Food ; and Sect. V. of my
translation of Iam blichus on the Mysteries. Likewise, for
an account of Theurgy, or the art pertaining to divine
operations, see the latter of the abovementioned works,
and the accompanying notes.