The image of Orpheus in Renaissance culture

This paper considers the complex image of legendary Orpheus, which was very attractive for Renaissancehumanists. The Orpheus myth and Orphism aroused devoted attention of Italian Neoplatonists, trying to establish a connectionbetween the pagan culture of antiquity and Christianity. Marsilio Ficino and his followers stressed that there were elements of monotheismin orphic texts and the portrayal of the creation of the world in Orphism was similar to that depicted in the Bible. Orpheus, as a legendarymusician, additionally attracted the interest of Neoplatonists due to the meaning they assigned to music in their attempts to comprehendthe cosmic harmony and to achieve the concord in soul. Then, humanists cultivated the ideal of a poet endowed with a divinegift, who was able to penetrate the mystery of human existence and the secrets of nature. They declared that poetry, if interpreted properly,could achieve the same results as philosophy. Moreover, as poetry both teaches and pleases, it could be highly influential. Humanistsalso evaluated the ability of poetry to speak allegorically, to generate multiple associations addressing not only the reason of listeners,but their intuition as well. Next, Orpheus became an ideal of orators. According to humanists, rhetoric had to play an especiallyimportant role in the education of people and in giving them access to a proper civilized life. They considered that the primary functionof knowledge was not only in the demonstration of truth but, in making it attractive for as many people as possible in order to bring realchange in their life. Therefore, rhetoric, applied to reason, as well as to will and emotions, is essential for every educated person; but it isespecially valid for men of authority. This skill, according to humanists, could be achieved due to reforms in education with rhetoric andlogic becoming most prominent in school curriculum. Thus, Orpheus in humanist culture of the Renaissance became an ideal symbolizing a wise man and prophet, leading men to religious and philosophical truth; a musician and poet, able to penetrate the secrets of humansouls and nature; an orator, who can persuade people to lead a more virtuous and useful life.

Keywords

Authors

References