Orpheus and Early Christianity: The Jerusalem Orpheus Mosaic

Authors:

Pages: 11-30
DOI: https://doi.org/10.54664/MLSE3621

Abstract:

The spread and enforcement of Christianity were accompanied by a slow process of creating its own symbols in fine arts and architectural forms. To a large extent, this process was closely related to the traditional means of expression inherited from paganism. An interesting example in this regard is the composition “Orpheus Taming Wild Animals” on the Orpheus mosaic found in Jerusalem in 1901. The history of the figurative scheme goes back to the end of the Archaic and the beginning of the Classical Era. Eventually, it illustrates a sustainable literary tradition with extremely scarce details, devoid of a narrative. The religious concepts of this ancient Orphic tradition were probably integrated and absorbed by early Christianity through the mediation of the Christian Gnostic sects and preserved in a funeral context until the 6th century BC.

Keywords:

“Orpheus Taming Wild Animals”; the Orpheus mosaic from Jerusalem; Christian Gnostic sects

Download

NA