Orpheus or the Soteriological Reform of the Dionysian Mysteries1

In this paper, I present Orphism as a written reform of the myth of Dionysus and its ritual manifestations, perhaps initiated and influenced by Onomacritos, who acted as interpreter and editor, in the context of, and under the influence of, Attic synoecism; this last refers not only to a process of administrative unification mythically inspired by the figure and deeds of Theseus, but also to the political will to maintain the loyalty of the rural dēmoi to the urban oikos, with all the challenges and vicissitudes of life and conflict at the margins of society, during the tyranny, the democratic regime and the dissolution of the autonomy of the polis and the conflicts in the relations linking the centre and the periphery during the Hellenistic period. In support of the working hypothesis, a hermeneutic methodology is applied, reading ancient sources and making ad hoc use of Greek etymology in those cases where the reading suggests possible alternative interpretations. The final outcome of this hermeneutic exercise shows possible links between the Orphic ritual and the political and editorial activities of Pisistratus and Onomacritos. The conclusion reached is that, the principal characteristic of the Orphic reform of the Dionysian myth and ritual seems to be its soteriological content.