Orpheus and Art as the Model of Magic
Can art change nature, harness the power of the stars, and even overcome death itself? This keynote address will focus on the history and myth of Orpheus, and the mysteries and hymns that bear his name, to develop a model of magic practiced in, through, and as art and especially poetry and music. For this purpose we will first offer a careful investigation of who Orpheus might have been were we to take the myths about him to correspond to historical realities, as well as offering a careful mythological and historical investigation of the Orphic Hymns and Orphic mysteries.
This investigation will lead us to ask about the ancient Greek conceptions of nature and magic, the connection between astrology and art – most especially music and the idea of the music of the spheres, the later developments of ancient mysteries in Pythagoreanism and Platonism, and finally the distinction between magic understood as an art versus a science.
Can art change nature, harness the power of the stars, and even overcome death itself? This keynote address will focus on the history and myth of Orpheus, and the mysteries and hymns that bear his name, to develop a model of magic practiced in, through, and as art and especially poetry and music. For this purpose we will first offer a careful investigation of who Orpheus might have been were we to take the myths about him to correspond to historical realities, as well as offering a careful mythological and historical investigation of the Orphic Hymns and Orphic mysteries.
This investigation will lead us to ask about the ancient Greek conceptions of nature and magic, the connection between astrology and art – most especially music and the idea of the music of the spheres, the later developments of ancient mysteries in Pythagoreanism and Platonism, and finally the distinction between magic understood as an art versus a science.
Can art change nature, harness the power of the stars, and even overcome death itself? This keynote address will focus on the history and myth of Orpheus, and the mysteries and hymns that bear his name, to develop a model of magic practiced in, through, and as art and especially poetry and music. For this purpose we will first offer a careful investigation of who Orpheus might have been were we to take the myths about him to correspond to historical realities, as well as offering a careful mythological and historical investigation of the Orphic Hymns and Orphic mysteries.
This investigation will lead us to ask about the ancient Greek conceptions of nature and magic, the connection between astrology and art – most especially music and the idea of the music of the spheres, the later developments of ancient mysteries in Pythagoreanism and Platonism, and finally the distinction between magic understood as an art versus a science.