Orpheus

by G.R.S. Mead

(...)"ORPHEUS.I. INTRODUCTION. FOREWORD. WHO has not heard the romantic legend of Orpheus and Eurydice ? The polished verse of Virgil, in his Georgics (iv. 452-527), has immortalised the story, told by " Caerulean Proteus" (ibid., 388). But few know the importance that mythical Orpheus plays in Grecian legends, nor the many arts and sciences attributed to him by fond posterity. Orpheus was the father of the pan-hellenic faith, the great theologer, the man who brought to Greece the sacred rites of secret worship and taught the mysteries of nature and of God. To him the Greeks confessed they owed religion, the arts, the sciences both sacred(...)"

208 pages, Kindle Edition

First published September 1, 1999

About the author

George Robert Stowe Mead, who always published under the initialism G.R.S. Mead, was a historian, writer, editor, translator, and an influential member of the Theosophical Society, as well as founder of the Quest Society. His scholarly works dealt mainly with the Hermetic and Gnostic religions of Late Antiquity, and were exhaustive for the time period.

Reviews

[Murray · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book is, as a friend of mine once put it, worth all the tea in China. It presents in an accessible form an outline of the teachings of the semi-mythical Orpheus. That there was such a teacher is hard to dispute, but we know little about him for certain and his life has become wrapped in profound mythology.
His teachings have been gleaned from the so called Orphic Hymns and also other writers in his tradition who commented on his teachings. The inestimable Mead has summarised the teachings in this fairly concise book. There is enormous value in the diagrams that Mead provides. For those for whom the Ancient Wisdom is still seen as having a transcendent truth that is of value today, these diagrams provide wonderful clues and much to think about. Mead's text is not a difficult read and provides much to ponder.
This book should be on any philosophy student's shelf, if they wish to have some insight into the Ancient Mysteries.

[Ady ZYN · Rating 5 out of 5]

Highly recommended.