Fritz Graf, Professor and Chair of Greek and Latin and Director of Epigraphy at the Center for Epigraphic and Palaeographic Studies at Ohio State, is one of the world's leading experts on ancient Mediterranean myths and religions.
ASPECTS OF CHRISTIAN ARCHAEOLOGY IN THE HOLY LAND1 A. Ovadiah
''Various texts show how the Church, in its attempt to overpower Orphism, tried to merge Orpheus with Jesus and to turn them into one be- ing. This is further reinforced in De Laudibus Constantini by Eusebius, who compares the ‘Logos’ which tames mankind, with Orpheus who tames wild animals. This passage of Eusebius is, no doubt, evidence of the blurring of the functional differences between Orpheus and Jesus; it helps to understand the attempt of Christians to adopt Orpheus for their religious needs and to identify him with Jesus, with the ‘Logos’ or with the ‘Good Shepherd’.18''
18. Cf. A. Ovadiah and S. Mucznik, “Orpheus from Jerusalem – Pagan or Christian Image?”, The Jerusalem Cathedra, 1(1981), pp. 152-166.
Orpheus Mosaic, Jamahiriya Museum, Tripoli, Libya. From the villa Orpheus, near Lepcis Magna. It shows Orpheus playing his lyre among animals (upper level), fishermen and fishes (middle row), and a hunter returning home, two birds and a goatherd (down). Color modified. ---- Procedent de la vil·la Orfeu, a la vora de Lepcis Magna. S'hi veu Orfeu tocant la lira entre animals (nivell superior), pescadors i peixos (nivell mitjà) i un caçador tornant a cas, dos ocells i un pastor amb les seves cabres (nivell inferior). Color modificat
Reidar Hvalvik, Professor, Norwegian School of Theology, Oslo
''To a certain extent this example may explain the origin of the earliest images of Christ, or at least some of them: Pagan images were interpreted in the light of the Christian message. The images were, so to speak, “adopted” by the Christians.
Another popular figure in pagan funerary art was Orpheus, known as singer and poet. The myth about Orpheus was first and foremost characterized by his love for Eurydice. When she died after being bitten by a serpent, Orpheus decided to go to Hades and bring her back. By his beautiful song he made his way down to Hades and was permitted to take his beloved back to the land of the living – on one condition: He was not allowed to turn his face to look at Eurydice when they were ascending. Unfortunately he could not help turning his head, and had to return without his beloved. Nevertheless Orpheus became a symbol for love which is not hindered by death and grave. And even more important: He had been in Hades and had come back.
On this background it is not surprising that the image of Orpheus is found on sarcophagi and in grave chambers. He is usually depicted as a singer, sitting with the harp in his hands. He is surrounded by animals – tamed by his song and music. This motif is also found on Christian graves because Orpheus could easily be adopted by Christians. The church father Clement of Alexandria compares Christ and Orpheus and stresses that only Christ can tame the wildest of all animals – the human being (Protrept. 1). Due to Orpheus’ reputation as a singer and poet it is neither surprising that king David can be depicted as Orpheus in ancient synagogues, as in a synagogue in Gaza from 6th century. The surprising thing is the existence of images in a synagogue – but that is another story.
Through pagan, mythological figures Christ started to be depicted in Christian funerary art. In a way Christian art came from below in two senses of the word. It came from the catacombs of Rome (at least the oldest preserved images are found in Rome), and it came from ordinary people, not from the top of the ecclesiastical hierarchy, i.e. from presbyters and bishops.
By using motifs that originally were pagan, Christians in fact made a confession of their faith. It was not the pagan Hermes who was the Good Shepherd, but Christ. It was not Orpheus who went back from Hades, but Christ. Another interesting example of this phenomenon is the depiction of Christ in the shape of the sun god, Sol Invictus. The worship of various gods in the shape of the sun god was popular among the Romans. Why did the Christians choose this image? Because the sun or more precisely “the sun of righteousness” was a biblical image of Christ. Malachi 4:2 was read as a prophecy of Christ. Consequently Christ was the one who with good reason could be depicted as the sun. In the synagogue Hamat Tiberias we find the image of the pagan Sun god, related to the zodiac. This is, so to speak, a pure pagan motif; in the Christian grave chamber in Rome the pagan image is converted.''
J.B. Friedman: Orpheus-Christus in the Art of Late Antiquity, from Orpheus in the Middle Ages, Cambridge, 1969.
''Certainly, we have much to set straight if we could. Orpheus was a Greek who in Thrace tried to substitute the quietude of the Greek Apollo for the frenzy of the Thracian Dionysus, and met his death at the hands of the Maenads, the followers of Dionysus. Or he came from Crete and introduced the orgiastic cults into Greece from Asia. There is a tradition that he visited Egypt, which is interesting. He went down to Hades to recover his wife, Eurydice, and sailed with the Argonauts to Colchis. Who is to separate out the facts from such charming legends? In all events, the Orphic tradition is a confusion - there are at least three versions of the cosmogony, f'or instance - -but one which consists of an intermingling of ordered structures; many themes are interwoven, and the consequent suggestiveness is immense. We have to pick our way delicately, seeking out features which we can discern most clearly, remembering all the while that we are dealing in Orpheus more with the name of a tradition than with a single influence, or rather with a single influence over which has become encrusted an entire tradition. ''
'' L'iconographie des sarcophages chrétiens, son origine et les principes de son utilisation [modifier] Sarcophage chrétien du IVe siècle
Les images chrétiennes qui apparaissent à cette époque ne sont pas liées à la nécessité de propager le christianisme, mais répondent plutôt à un goût pour la représentation figurée qui est profondément enraciné dans le monde méditerranéen.
Il est difficile de cerner le moment où certaines formes, dans l'art funéraire, deviennent des manifestations de la foi chrétienne, à cause de ce phénomène qu'Henri-Irénée Marrou appelle la pseudomorphose (en cristallographie, le terme désigne l'état d'un minéral qui, après un changement de composition chimique, conserve sa forme cristalline primitive au lieu de cristalliser selon sa substance nouvelle): les images des premiers sarcophages chrétiens et des sarcophages païens sont puisées dans le même répertoire. On peut distinguer deux approches.
La première est une reprise sans modification des motifs existants: pour représenter des images allégoriques d'idées abstraites, les artisans ont recours à des scènes qui servent à représenter des idées semblables dans l'art païen. C'est le cas par exemple des motifs bucoliques qui, par leur univers champêtre, peuvent évoquer la paix éternelle (l'âge d'or = paradis). Le pasteur ou le criophore symbolisant la philanthropie dans l'art païen, ou encore l'Orphée en berger, sont investis de l'idée chrétienne du Bon Pasteur, le Christ conducteur d'hommes, qui va chercher la brebis égarée, l'allégorie de l'âme chrétienne. L'orante (ou dans certain cas son pendant masculin) qui symbolisait la piété sera la personnification de la foi chrétienne ou l'évocation d'un chrétien ordinaire. Elle est souvent représentée sous les traits de la défunte pour montrer que celle-ci avait été une bonne chrétienne (le geste de prière debout paumes de main tournées vers le ciel est repris par les chrétiens). Il n'est pas possible d'identifier ces représentations comme étant chrétiennes tant qu'elles figurent seules sur les sarcophages, mais elles acquièrent une connotation chrétienne quand elles se trouvent associées à des scènes bibliques.
La deuxième approche consiste à reprendre des modèles formels existants dans l'art païen ou profane pour présenter une nouvelle narration. Le meilleur exemple est l'histoire de Jonas, un des thèmes bibliques les plus anciens et les plus fréquents, souvent représenté en plusieurs scènes sur les sarcophages. Dans la première scène du cycle, qui est généralement réduite à la représentation du bateau, ce dernier est une transposition du motif funéraire de la barque avec des Amours ailés (ou des enfants) remplacés par des marins. Le poisson des scènes suivantes est représenté en monstre-dragon qui faisait partie du cortège de Neptune dans le décor des sarcophages païens (d'où la présence de Neptune à côté de la barque sur le sarcophage de Santa Maria Antica). Jonas lui-même en repos dans la quatrième scène est représenté d'après le modèle de Dionysos sous la treille ou à l'image du berger Endymion endormi. Dans les cas où seule cette dernière scène est représentée, c'est la coloquinte qui permet d'identifier le personnage comme étant Jonas.
Les premières illustrations des scènes bibliques apparaissent dans la deuxième moitié du IIIe siècle. Le choix des scènes vient probablement des prières pour les mourants (et des liturgies funéraires) qui se référaient aux exemples de salut accordé par Dieu dans l'Ancien et le Nouveau Testament. En s'appuyant sur ces exemples, les fidèles souhaitent que leurs demandes d'intervention divine, exprimées dans les prières, soient en quelque sorte prolongées sur les parois de leurs tombes. Cela explique pourquoi les sarcophages richement décorés étaient souvent enterrés, les scènes représentées étaient adressées à Dieu et non à la contemplation des fidèles.
Les thèmes vétérotestamentaires qui prédominent au début sont mêlés aux univers pastoraux. Au IVe siècle, ils cèdent peu à peu la place dominante aux sujets néotestamentaires. Parmi les scènes de l'Ancien Testament qui reviennent le plus souvent figurent celle de Jonas (déjà mentionnée), les trois Hébreux dans la fournaise (Dn 3
), Daniel entre les lions (Dn 6
), Noé (Gen 6
, Gen 7
, Gen 8
), Moïse et la source miraculeuse (Ex 17
), le sacrifice d'Isaac (Gen 22
), et moins systématiquement l'histoire de Suzanne (Dn 13
), Adam et Ève créés par Dieu (Gen 2
) ou dans la scène du péché originel (Gen 3
), la remise de la Loi à Moïse sur le mont Sinaï (Ex 24
). L'iconographie de plusieurs de ces scènes n'est pas figée et peut varier, des personnages sont rajoutés, comme l'ange et le serviteur dans la représentation des Hébreux.
Les scènes les plus fréquentes du Nouveau Testament, qui se multiplient dès le début du IVe siècle sont les miracles du Christ: la multiplication des pains (Jn 6
), le miracle de Cana (Jn 2
), la guérison de l'aveugle (Jn 9
), de l'hémorroïsse (Mc 5
, Mt 9
) et de l'infirme (Jn 5
), la résurrection de Lazare (Jn 11
). Les scènes de l'Adoration des Mages (Mt 2
), la Nativité (Lc 2
) et le Baptême du Christ (Jn 1
), qui rappellent l'importance de l'Incarnation pour la Rédemption, sont porteuses d'un message du salut aussi bien individuel que collectif. Des éléments apocryphes s'insèrent dans le récit, tels le bœuf et l'âne dans la Crèche. Pierre, distingué dans l'assemblée des disciples, trouve rapidement sa place dans le décor, probablement à cause de son importance pour Rome : les scènes les plus courantes étant celles de son arrestation (avec deux soldats en « bonnet pannonien », en usage dans l'armée romaine au IVe siècle) et l'annonce du reniement (Lc 22. 31-34
)
Mais dans le courant du IVe siècle, le répertoire s'élargit : les scènes des vies de Pierre et de Paul, le Christ parmi les apôtres, différents moments du cycle de la Passion, l'entrée dans Jérusalem (Mt 21
; Lc 19
; Jn 12
), le lavement des pieds (Jn 13
), Jésus devant Pilate et le lavement des mains (Mt 27. 24
). Dans la scène de Crucifixion le Christ est représenté couronné de lauriers, avec au pied de la croix deux soldats-gardiens.
Ces différentes scènes et personnages sont répartis sur les parois sans chronologie ou lien direct, c'est l'ordre de l'ensemble qui semble diriger le plus cet agencement. La scène de Daniel entre les lions, à la composition symétrique, se place souvent dans le centre (par exemple sous le médaillon), le sacrifice d'Isaac et la remise de la Loi, dessinant des diagonales, s'insèrent à côté du médaillon. La source miraculeuse et la résurrection de Lazare se trouvent dans les extrémités des cuves, en raison de la verticalité de leur composition. La scène des trois Hébreux dans la fournaise est régulièrement placée sur le bandeau du couvercle à cause de son horizontalité.
L'art chrétien présente à ses débuts davantage d'unité, aussi bien dans l'art des sarcophages que dans celui des catacombes, l'iconographie étant la même dans les grandes lignes. Il n'y a pas non plus de différence importante entre les sarcophages romains et provinciaux des IIIe siècle et IVe siècle siècles. Mais la manière simple et expressive des premiers sarcophages, exécutés dans le style plébéien, s'effacera au IVe siècle devant le courant qu'on a appelé le « classicisme constantinien ». Le bas-relief, se rapprochant de la ronde-bosse, retrouve alors son élégance, et le traitement poli accentue la sérénité des personnages qui vient remplacer le naturel des expressions du IIIe siècle.''
Cirencester, Corinium Museum website Cirencester (Roman Corinium) has one of the best collections of Roman mosaics in Britain, in a newly designed and superbly laid out museum. The beautiful second-century mosaic of the Seasons has been incorporated into a reconstruction of a Roman house. In the fourth century AD two groups of mosaicists based in Cirencester made mosaics for the many wealthy residences in the town and villas in the Cotswolds: the Corinium Museum has an impressive display of their work, including a scene of Orpheus surrounded by the wild animals who were charmed by his music, which was a local speciality.
Peter Johnson - 2002 - Social Science - 72 σελίδες The master of the Barton Farm mosaic was obviously responsible for the Orpheus mosaic from Dyer Street and the magnum opus of the officina, ...
The Orpheus pavement of Cirencester (and Woodchester) and the south-west are a Romano-British Specialty and belong to a moment when the tale had become a vehicle of both pagan and Christian teaching. Dionysiac legend also had its place, as at East Coker (Somerset), where the story of the divine birth may be recognized. The Labours of Hercules appear at Bramdean (Hampshire), the story of Cyparissus at Leicester. These echo not Vergil, but the hardly less beloved Ovid.
( Woodchester villa is found Near Cirencester’s: The villa's plan is of the courtyard type confirming to typical Italian design. There are comparatively few of this layout in England. It had two large courtyards surrounded by buildings with 65 rooms including a main residence, a farm, a sun terrace, a spa and bath complex, and a large hall that contained the wonderful mosaic, The Great Pavement. This is one of the most complex and intricate mosaic designs found in northern Europe, and is 2,209 square feet and when complete contained one and a half million pieces of stone. This great mosaic was made around AD 325 by craftsmen from Corinium, with the main design based around Orpheus and his relationship with nature. In all, thirteen mosaics have been recorded in situ.)
(The Orpheus mosaic at Woodchester is one from among the largest of surviving Roman pavements north of the Alps; 50’ square and 1½ million pieces of stone. ~~ reproduced here without reduction to preserve detail and lighting)
Professor Keith Branigan, BA, PhD, FSA was appointed to the first Chair of Archaeology at Sheffield in 1976. He has researched and published extensively on the prehistory of the Aegean and on Roman Britain. His special interests are in funerary behaviour, early metallurgy and the relationships between town and country.
''The popular figure with all his attibutes was depicted in early figure with all his attributes was depicted in early Jewish art as well. Orpheus wearing a Phrygian cap and playing a harp in front of some animals appear on the second stage of the main panel above the Torah Ark in the third century synagogue of Dura Europos. Here, too, the popular image of a musician was probably taken to represent King David, the harpist, the ancestor of the future Messiah, and annointed king and savior of the Nation of Israel.
David with harp, detail from Gaza synagogue floor
Evidence for the existence of such a figure in Jewish art is found only later, in the beginning of the sixth century, in the mosaic floor of the synagogue at Gaza. There the harpiest confronted by animals is crowned rather than donned with a Phrygian cap, and above his head is the Hebrew inscription "David."
John Block Friedman is professor emeritus of English at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign and visiting professor of English at Kent State University-Salem. He received his Ph.D. from Michigan State University.
Orpheus in the Middle Ages από John Block Friedman - 2000 - Literary Criticism - 267 σελίδες John B. Friedman takes the reader through the journey of a myth -- where Orpheus becomes an Orpheus-Christus, a courtly knight and the writer of love lyrics.
Poet as Orpheus with Two Sirens Unknown Greek, Tares, South Italy, about 350 - 300 B.C. Terracotta and pigment
A seated man is flanked by sirens, creatures part bird and part woman, in this nearly life-size terracotta group. In Greek mythology, the singing of the sirens lured sailors to their deaths; thus the creatures have general funerary connotations. The seated man is also a singer, as shown by his open mouth and his now-missing lyre, which he once cradled in his left arm. His precise identity, however, is uncertain. He might be Orpheus, who was famous for his singing and who traveled to the land of the dead and was able to return. But in art of this period, Orpheus is usually shown wearing a specific Eastern costume not seen here. Therefore, this man may just be an ordinary mortal, perhaps the deceased, in the guise of a poet or singer.
Originally brightly painted, this large-scale terracotta sculpture is characteristic of the Greek colonies in South Italy. With its funerary imagery, the group may have decorated a tomb. Although terracotta sculpture is also found in mainland Greece, artists in the Greek colonies in South Italy used this medium with greater frequency and on a larger scale because there were few sources of good stone suitable for sculpting.
Text from: www.getty.edu/art/gettyguide/artObjectDetails?artobj=8398 Comments
Orpheus charming the animals Roman mosaic discovered at Blanzy-les-Fismes (Aisne), 4th century
Orpheus provides a link between the human, animal and supernatural worlds, through the magic of his music. Animals, being supremely sensitive to sounds, becoming his willing slaves. The purpose of the cult of Orpheus is to liberate the soul by the grace of music, acknowledging in doing so the influence that each has on the other.
Orphée Dimensions L. 4.70 m ; La. 4.68 m Domaines archéologie ; romain ; mosaïque Description Mosaïque de pavement provenant sans doute d'un triclinium (elle était prolongée par une mosaïque un peu plus étroite, blanche à semis noir, qui a disparu). La partie centrale est organisée en 9 compartiments géométriques (5 carrés et 4 rectangulaires), séparés par un bandeau constitué d'une double torsade. Le tableau central (cercle inscrit dans un grand carré) représente Orphée assis, vêtu d'une tunique à manches longues et d'un manteau accroché sur les épaules, jouant de la lyre. Autour de lui, dans quatre panneaux rectangulaires, figuraient des animaux en train de courir ; il ne subsiste qu'un lion, l'arrière train d'un second animal, l'extrêmité des pattes d'un troisième. Aux quatre coins étaient représentées, dans un cercle inscrit à l'intérieur d'un carré, les saisons ; il ne reste que l'Eté, figurée sous les traits d'une femme en buste, coiffée d'épis de blé. Le pourtour est constitué d'une grande bordure de rinceaux, conservée en grande partie. Representation precision Type iconographique maladroit de l'Orphée phrygien (contrairement à ce que dit H.Stern), vêtu de la tunique à manches longues (thème le plus fréquent) et coiffé d'un bonnet phrygien mal figuré. Lieu de conservation Musée départemental des Antiquités
H. C. Ackerman and J. R. Gisler, Lexikon Iconographicum Mythologiae Classicae VII, 1 (LIMC) (Zurich and Munich, 1994) 90ff. nos. 94ff.
J. Huskinson, 'Some pagan mythological figures and their significance in early Christian art', Papers of the British School at Rome, 42, 1974, 68ff., 87f. for details. To be added: M.Comstock and C.Vermeule, Sculpture in Stone: the Greek. Roman. and Etruscan Collections of the Museum of Fine Arts. Boston (Boston, 1976) no. 251. [return to text]
G.Pesce, Sarcofagi romani di Sardegna (Rome, 1957) no. 57.
H. Stern,'La Mosaïque d'Orphée de Blanzy-lès-Fismes', Gallia 13, 1955: 41ff.; and 'L'Orphée dans l'art paléochrétien', Cahiers archéologiques 23, 1974, 1ff.; J .B.
Friedman Orpheus in the Middle Ages (Cambridge Mass., Harvard University Press, 1970);
M. C. Murray, 'The Christian Orpheus', Cahiers archéologiques 26, 1977, 19ff.; and Rebirth and Afterlife (BAR International series 100) (Oxford, 1981); and LIMC 104. [6] n.b. Orpheus too was used as a figure type for David (e.g. the Gaza synagogue mosaic: LIMC 97 no. 170)
K. Branigan, The Roman Villa in S.W. England (Bradford on Avon, l976) 65ff.; E.W.Black, 'Christian and pagan hopes of salvation in Romano-British Mosaics', in eds.
M. Henig and A. King, Pagan Gods and Shrines of the Roman Empire (Oxford, 1986) 153ff.
D.Watts, Christian and Pagan in Roman Britain (London, Routledge, l99l) 36, 207f.
LIMC 94f. no. 145 (reliefs from Danube area);
G. Koch and H.Sichtermann, Römische Sarkophage (Munich, 1982) 416. LIMC nos. 143, 149-158, 168 and 169.
Michaelides, 'A new Orpheus mosaic in Cyprus', Acts of the International Symposium 'Cyprus between the Orient and Occident' Nicosia 8-14 September 1985 (Nicosia, 1986) 477.
G. Guidi, 'Orfeo, Liber Pater, e Oceano in mosaici della Tripolitania', Africa Italiana 6, 1935, 120ff.; Stern Mosaïque 49ff.;
A. Ovadiah and S. Mucznik, 'Orpheus Mosaics in the Roman and Early Byzantine Periods', Asaph: Studies in Art History 1, 1980, 43ff.
B. Walters, 'Littlecote', Current Archaeology 80, 1981, 264ff.
. S. Scott, 'Symbols of power and nature: the Orpheus mosaics of fourth century Britain', ed. P. Rush, Theoretical Roman Archaeology: Second Conference, (Avebury, 1995) 105ff.
LIMC 103ff. has a good discussion of this.
F. Graf, 'Orpheus: a poet among men' in ed. J. Bremmer, Interpretations of Greek Mythology (London, Croom Helm, 1987) 80ff.
B. Andreae, Studien zur römischen Grabkunst (Heidelberg, 1963) 121.
Ovadiah and Mucznik Mosaics 49f. cf. I. Linforth, The Arts of Orpheus, (Berkeley, University of California Press, 1941) for the difficulty in finding any sect that might be described as unequivocally Orphic despite the increase in esoteric cults in the second and third centuries AD. (cf. Murray's argument in Rebirth 45ff. : the Orpheus of philosophical and mystic tradition is not the Orpheus of art.)
A. Bosio, Roma Sotterranea (Rome, 1632) 627ff. [return to text]
Friedman Orpheus 13ff; Murray Rebirth 42, especially n.37. For monotheism in the Diathekai : Linforth Arts 280.
E. Irwin, 'The Songs of Orpheus and the New Song of Christ', in ed. J. Warden Orpheus: the metamorphoses of a myth (Toronto, University of Toronto Press, 1982) 51ff. She observes (56) that Christian art did not use Orpheus as a psychopomp figure. The Eusebian reference is too late to have influenced the image of the Christian Orpheus, but it may be used to confirm the currency of the idea at the time.
K.Dunbabin, The Mosaics of Roman North Africa (Oxford, Clarendon Press, 1978) 158ff. (for seasons) and 231 (Christian versions of rural themes).
S. Ellis, 'Power, architecture, and decor: how the late Roman aristocrat appeared to his guests'
E. Gazda, Roman art in the private sphere (Ann Arbor, University of Michigan Press, 1991) 124ff.
J. Thirion, 'Orphée magicien dans la mosaïque romaine', Mélanges d'archéologie et d'histoire de l'école française de Rome 67, 1955, 169ff.; for Dionysus in El Djem mosaic: Dunbabin Mosaics 184f.;
T. Mathews, The Clash of Gods: A reinterpretation of early Christian art (Princeton NJ, Princeton University Press, 1993) 68f., and chapter 3 passim for Jesus the Magician.
W.F.Volbach, Early Christian Art (London, 1961) pls. 35 and 158. For David at Gaza see n. 6 above. For Orpheus mosaics at Hanover and Tolmeita: LIMC 92, no.124, and 94 no. 141.
Adam: M.T. and P. Canivet 'La mosaïque d'Adam dans l'église syrienne de Huarte', Cahiers archéologiques 24, 1975, 49ff.
C.R.Chiarlo, 'Sul significato dei sarcofagi a lenos decorati con leoni', Annali della scuola normale di Pisa. 4 1974, 1307ff. To show how specific the symbolism could become: see L. Musso
A. Giuliano, Museo Nazionale Romano. I Le Sculpture ii (Rome, 1981) 84f. Mosaics: D. Levi. Antioch Mosaic Pavements I (Princeton NJ, Princeton University Press, 1947) 318f. and Dunbabin Mosaics 230f.
H. Marrou, Mousikos Aner (Grenoble, 1937);
F.Cumont, Recherches sur le symbolisme funéraire des romains, (Paris, 1942) 253ff.
M. Wegner, Die Musensarkophage (Die antiken Sarkophagreliefs) V,3 (Berlin, 1966) no. 24 (for a comparable figure of Apollo), and no. 184 (for the Apollo/Orpheus figure). This may be the point (i.e. re syncretistic approaches) to mention the report by Scriptores Historiae Augustae: Alexander Severus 29,2 that this emperor had in his Lararium images of both Orpheus and Christ.
M. Henig, 'Personal interpretations of deity' in Henig and King, Shrines 164.
P. Dronke, 'The return of Eurydice', Classica et Medievalia 23, 1962, 198ff.; and C. Segal, Orpheus: the myth of the poet (Baltimore, Johns Hopkins University Press, 1989).
