Transcription
Foreign, a tragic figure in Greek mythology, his likeness inspired generations of individuals. Through the many songs attributed to him as a great musician, he was known as an imparter of wisdom. Yet, his story implied quite the opposite. Journey with me and Neil into the depths of antiquity to learn the impact Orpheus had on the world. Get ready to obtain true gnosis.
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Thank you.
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Orpheus and Eurydice. Hymen, the god of the marriage feast, in his robes of saffron, flew from Crete through the measureless sky to the land of the Thracian Sauconis.
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Orpheus was calling the god to his wedding, through all to no purpose. That god attended, for sure, but the ritual words, the joyful faces, and omens of favor were sadly missing.
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Even the torch in his hand kept sputtering smoke, brought tears to the eyes, but never ignited. However strongly he waved, the outcome was even worse than foreshadowed. The newlywed bride, while taking a stroll through the grass with her band of attendant maids, suddenly fell down dead with the fangs of a snake in her ankle.
And Orpheus, the Thracian bard, had indulged his grief to the null. In the air above, he felt he must also appeal to the shades and dare to descend to the river Styx, to the Tenebrian Gateway. Making his way through the shattery tribes and ghosts of the buried, he came to Proserpina, thrown beside the Lord of the Shadows, who rules the dismal domain. And plucking the strings of his lyre, he began:
"You Powers Divine of the Subterranean Kingdom, for all of mortal creation must one day sink to our doom. If you will give me permission to tell you the truth, unvarnished by shifty pretenses, I've come down to explore the murky regions of Tartarus, nor to enchain the three-headed monster, Medusa bore the dog whose coat is bristling with edders. I'm here in search of my wife, cut off in the years of her youth, when a viper she trampled discharged its venom inside her ankle. I'd hope to be able to bear my loss, confess that I tried, but love was too strong. That god is well known in the world above, and I wonder whether you know him here. I divine that you do, if rumor has not invented the tale of the old abduction. You too are united by love. In the name of these confines of fear, and the name of this vast abyss, in your realm of infinite silence, I, Orpheus, implore you, unravel the web of my dear Eurydice's early passing. We all are destined for you. We may tarry a little bit, but sooner or later, we speed to our one habitation. This is the place that we all are bound for, our final dwelling. Aid, and yours is the longest reign that the human race must endure. Eurydice too, when her due of years has been rightly completed, shall own your sway. Till then, I beg you to let me enjoy her. If fate forbids you to show my wife any mercy, I'll never return from Hades myself. You may join in the deaths of us both."
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As Orpheus pleaded his cause, enhancing his words with his music, he moved with the bloodless spirits. The tears for a moment, tantal us, ceased to clutch at the fleeting pool. Ixion's wheel was spellbound. The vultures halted their pecking at Tityus' liver. The Danaids dropped their urns, and Sisyphus set on his boulder. The furious hearts were a song by the song, and story goes that they left real tears for the first time. The king and queen of the world below, for all refused such a moving appeal, and they summoned Eurydice, leaving the rest of the ghosts who have newly arrived. She slowly trailed along on her wounded ankle. Orpheus was told he could lead her away on one condition: to walk in front and never look back until he had left the veil of everness, or else the concession would count for nothing.
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In deadly silence, the two of them followed the upward slope. The track was steep, it was dark and shrouded in thick black mist. Not far to go now, the exit to the earth and the light was ahead. But Orpheus was frightened. His love was falling behind. He was desperate to see her. He turned, and at once, she sank back into the dark. She stretched out her arms to him, struggled to feel his hands on her own. For all she was able to catch, poor soul, was the yielding air. And now, as she died for the second time, she never complained that her husband had failed her. What could she complain of, except that he loved her? She only uttered her last farewell so faintly he hardly could hear it, and then she swept once more to the land of the Shadows.
Robbed of his wife all over again, Orpheus was stunned, like the terrified person who once caught the sight of a three-headed Hellhound, chained by the middle neck, and whose fear never left him until his nature changed at the stone crept over his body. Or poor Lethara, transformed to stone for her pride and her beauty, whose husband Olenus took her offense on himself and hoped to be changed in her place. Two hearts that were once united in love, and now are separate rocks on the snowy heights of Mount Ida. Orpheus wanted to cross the Styx for a second time, but his pleas were in vain, and the ferryman pushed him away from the bank. So he sat in the rags for a week without eating a morsel of food. His anguish, his grief, and his tears were all that kept him alive. Cursing the gods for their dark and cruel unkindness, he finally took himself back to Rhaedus' heights, and so winsept Hymas.
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Three years went by with his son, god Apollo, traversing watery Pisces to mark their ending. Orpheus now wouldn't have nothing to do with the love of woman. Perhaps because of his fortunate love, he may be plighted his trough forever. But scores of women were burning asleep with the bard and suffered the pain of rejection.
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Orpheus even started the practice among Thracian tribes, turning to love for immature and unplucking the flowers of the spring before he has come to his manhood.
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In summary, what we have here is a romantic tragedy of Orpheus, the poet, bard, demigod, who later becomes a follower of Dionysus. The Orpheus Mysteries are tied together in this way. This is from Ovid's Metamorphoses.
Gripped with the reality of his wife dying from a bite of a snake at a young, ripe age, tries to go to Hades to get her out. And they actually try to give him a, they play a game with him and say, "You can, you can have her, but you can't turn around. You have to walk backwards on your whole way out." And he tries to do this and fails, and that's it. It just ends like that. Very dark, tragic, romantic story.
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Let me know what you think about this in the comment section. Like and subscribe, and I'll see you later.
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[Applause]
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The death of Orpheus. With songs such as these, the Thracian minstrel bewitched the forest entrance, the beasts, and compelled the rocks to follow behind him. The wild, Zirconian women, tired in their dappled foscans, suddenly saw him where they stood on a hilltop, Orpheus chanting his lays in gentle accord with the strings of his lyre.
Foreign, tossing her flowing hair in the breeze, cried, "Look there! The man who rejects us!" And launched her thyrsi straight at the head of the great musician who served Apollo. The ivy-tipped spear inflicted a bruise without drawing blood. Another made it. Picked up a stone, it flew through the air, but the lyre and voice united to break its force, and it fell in front of the poet's feet, as though it were begging forgiveness for such a frenzied assault. Yet the women continued their reckless aggression. Restraint and flattery, the spirit of madness reigned. Orpheus singing could well have weakened their shots. Cacophony, one, the hideous scream of the Phrygian pipe with its curb bell, the banging of drums, the clapping of hands, in the bacchanals' shrieking, drowned the sound of the lyre, and the voice of the bard could no longer be heard. So the women's stones were at long last stained with his blood. First, the Maenads pounced on the innocent creatures that still lay up under the spell of his music, the numberless birds and the snakes, the lines of beasts which had followed an Orpheus' triumphal procession. Then, with their hands well bloody, they turned on Orpheus in person, massing together like birds who had spied the nocturnal screech owl fitting around in the daytime, our dogs in the morning fight in the amphitheater who prey on mortally wounded stag. Each woman attacked the bard by playing her leafy thyrsus, a weapon not made for such violence use.
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Then they threw clods of earth, sharp-pointed rocks, or branches ripped from the trees. Their madness had further weapons on widget to draw. As it happened, some oxen were plowing a nearby field, and the brawny peasants were sweating away as they dug the soil for their fruits of the earth. On-site and made it hoard, the workmen took their heels and abandoned their tools, the hoes, the heavy rakes, and the mattocks lying dispersed on empty fields. These tools were seized by the savage women who ripped the fierce horn oxen to pieces and then rushed back to complete the murder of Orpheus. The poet extended his helpless arms. He spoke, but now that for the first time spoken to no purpose. His voice had lost all power to move.
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Those impious women destroyed him and threw those lips, those wonderful songs had attracted the rocks and touched the hearts of the beasts. His soul passed forth with his breath and melted into the winds. All his companions wept for Orpheus: soaring birds, the beasts of the wild, the stubborn rocks of the trees which so often had following the singing. The trees indeed dropped all their leaves, and the mourned, shorn-headed. It's also said that the rivers were swollen with tears they had shed themselves, while the nymphs of the streams and the woodlands edged their garments in black and allowed their hair to flow loose.
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Orpheus' limbs lay scattered around like, but his lyre and his head were thrown into the river Hebrus. Afloat midstream, O wonder! The instrument uttered a planet of moan. The lifeless tongue embedded a feeble dirge, and the banks re-echoed in sorrow. The river carried them both to the sea, where the poet took leave of his homeland and found his way to Methymna and Lesbos' coast.
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Here, as his head exposed an alien shore, the hair still dripping with sea spray, and fierce snake made no attack. Apollo at last intervened. The snake had opened its fangs, but escaping jaws were hardened to stone and froze in motion. Orpheus' shade passed under the Earth. You recognize all the places he's seen before. As he searched the Elysian Fields, he found the wife he had lost and held her close in his arms. At last, the lovers could stroll together side by side. Or she went ahead and followed, then Orpheus ventured in front and knew he now looked back at his own year. It is safely.
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Very sad, tragic tale about Orpheus losing his wife to a snake bite. He tries to go down to Hell and get her out. He fails. Now, a lot has, a lot happens with the story of Orpheus. There's the entire book about him, and he just gets into a lot of crazy stuff, but he ends up finally being killed by these, these Maenads, these women.
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So you gotta understand that the reason why this happens to Orpheus is none other than Dionysus himself, who orders the Maenads to tear him apart in a Bacchic orgy because of his, his choice to worship Apollo over Dionysus. And Apollo is the father of Dionysus, so this is sort of the jealous god aspect there.
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Next, however, the Maenads are punished by Dionysus himself, and then it gets into King Midas. So I will continue for the next chapter.
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The punishment of the Maenads. Bacchus, however, was angry at losing the priest of his mysteries. By the way, Bacchus is Dionysus. That's a Latin version of the name Dionysus, and would not allow the crime of his murder to go unpunished. There in the forest were all the Thracian women who had taken part in outrage. At once, he tried them in twisted tree roots, attacking each one at the point where she'd stopped her pursuit. He extended her toes, enforced the extremities down into solid earth. Imagine a bird which has caught her leg in a crafty bird catcher's hidden snare and knows that she's trapped. Imagine her flapping her wings in terror and drawing the cord of the noose advertider.
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So when a woman was struck on her own with her feet embedded, she tried in a panic to pull herself free, but the supple roots had her tight in the clutches of held her down and struggled to jump out. Desperately searching to find her her toes and her toenails, she saw that bark was creeping over the slender calves. As she tried to beat on her thigh to express her grief and frustration, her fist power struck upon wood. Her breast then turned into wood, and as soon as her shoulders were wood, you'd suppose that her outstretched arms were genuine branches. Indeed, you'd be perfectly right in supposing it.
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So let's do a little, little rundown of what happens to bugs. Orpheus is killed by these women known as the Maenads. This is Bacchus' appointed priest, his anointed one. And Bacchus comes back and turns her into a tree. Very, very wild stuff in these poems, very rich in symbolism. So next, we meet Midas.
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Bacchus was still to please. He abandoned Thrash altogether and taking a worthier band of dancers, he made timeless vines in the river Parthenius, although its waters were not yet golden and man hadn't started over to cover its precious sand. The god was the usual throng of Bacchants and Satyrs.
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Only Silliness was not an attendant. The Phrygian peasants had found the old drunkard reeling, bedecked in his garland flowers, brought him to Midas, the king, of whom Orpheus from Thrash had instructed in Dionysian rites when he taught Emilus of Athens.
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As soon as the king understood that his guest was a fellow initiate, to honor selling his arrival and general spirit, he ordered a feast which lasted for 10 continuous days and nights. At the end of that time, when the morning star had brought up the rear and the other stars in the sky, King Midas blythely went out into Lydian fields and restored the old man to his foster child. Bacchus, delighted to see his father again, Dionysus gave Midas the welcome but dangerous right to choose any boon he desired. The king, not one to employ employ such a gift very sensibly answered, "Grant that whatever I touch with my body may turn to gold." Bacchus agreed to this wish and gave and ask her power which would prove its downfall. So that the king had in shoes more wisely. Midas departed in high delight with his bane of present and put the gifts to test at once by touching some objects. Passing an oak with a low bough, but certainly pulled as a leafy twig, the twig in its foliage turned to gold. He lifted a stone from the ground, that also became pure gold. He touched a clod, the power in his fingers converted the soft earth into a hard nugget. Plucking the ears in ripe cornfield, he reaped a harvest of gold. He picked an apple and held it, a present from the Hesperia in his garden. He rested his hands on the doors of the lofty palace, the doors appeared to be glowing again. If he has washed his hands in the running water, the shower he shook from his fingers might well be seduce fair Dane's virtue. Gold, a world full of gold, he exclaimed. His mind could barely contain his hopes as he gloated. His servants laid him a table piled with the choicest meats and loaves of bread, an abundance. That was the moment of truth. When Midas hungrily touched the bread with his fingers, sear. His gifts were originally hard. Or he attempted to tear some meat in his dream teeth, he found he was uselessly crunching on wafers of yellowish metal. He mixed fresh water with wine, the god who had granted his wish, but all that entered his throat was a trickle of molten gold. Stunned by this turn of events, now wealthy but desolate, Midas longed to escape from his riches and loathed the thing that he had prayed for.
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Perpetually hungry, his throat was parched with a burning thirst. By his own act, gold had become detested torturer. Raising his hands at the radiant arms to the sky, "Oh Father Bacchus, forgive me! I know I have sinned, but pity my plight and rescue me now from the curse that seduced me."
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"The gods can be kind," so Bacchus, when Midas admitted his error, canceled the gift he had faithfully yielded and cured the affliction. "So that you needn't remain," he said, "encased in the gold you desire. Someone wisely to proceed to the river that flows by the mighty city of Sardis. Follow the ridge of the bank upstream and travel along until you come to Apocalist's source. To plunge your head in the foaming spring where it gushes most strongly and purge your guilt as you cleanse your body." The king went up. Sounds like a baptism, you know, the dying. I see in baptism, you're seeing all these rites being applied in these texts. Pay attention to those things. And purge your guilt as you cleanse your body. The king went up to the water is bitten. The power of the Midas touch, imbued with the gold, and pass from his human body into the river. The vein is now old, but the particles still flood over the fields to harden the soil with gold. To die to earth clods, yellow. Disgusted by wealth, King Midas haunted the fields and the forest, worshiping Pan, who always inhabits the mountain caves, but his wits were banned in obtuse forever. Moreover, his utter stupidity once again was destined to prove his downfall.
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You've heard of Tomyless, the rocky mountain which steeply ascends to a wide view over the straits, with the range extending as far as Sardis up north and the south to a tiny Hopia, where Pan was boasting about his piping skills to the list some nymphs as he practiced to easy tune on his wax-bound reeds. He dared to disparage Apollo's playing compared with his own and entered an ill-matched competition with Tomyless as judge. The venerable judge assumed his seat on the mountain. He ruled and brushed the trees away from his ears. To his dark green ringlets were only wreath with foliage of oak, acorns dangling around his temples. Then, with a glance at the god of the flocks.
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He said, "I am ready." So Pan performed on his rustic pipes, and his Barber strains entranced the ears of Midas, who chants to be there when he played. When his peace was finished, time when Salmi turned his head to Paul's direction, and did his forest Phoebius was crowned and wreath of punishing belay on his golden hair, and he swept the ground on his mantle Tyrene purple. His lyre was richly inlaid with jewels, Indian ivory, holding the instrument from his left hand, plectrum and right, and struck a pose of Maestro, and then he plucked at the strings with his practice thumb till Temulus, enthralled by the beautiful music, notified Pan that the pipes must yield the palm to the lyre. All agreed that was judgment pronounced at the sacred mountain.
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Only Midas challenged the verdict and called it unfair. Apollo couldn't allow such intensive ears to preserve the human appearance. He lengthened them out, he filled them with shaggy gray hairs, he made them floppy and able to waggle their tips. The rest of King Midas belonged to put to a man. His other memories remained intact, but he wore the ears of a lumbering donkey. Needless to say, he was anxious to hide them and tried to undo the effect of a shameful appendage by wearing a purple tiara. But sadly, the servant who cut his hair was bound to notice the shocking additions. Although the barber was itching to broadcast what he had seen, he hadn't the nerve to betray his master. Unable, however, to keep the secret all to himself, he slipped away and dug a hole in the ground and whispered inside, "King Midas has ass's ears." He then reshuffled the soil into the empty hole to bury all trace of his words and quietly vanish. But soon, a close-pack cluster of quivering reeds began to grow on the spot, and said, after a year of ripening, gave the planter away, and the breeze from itself, they would rustle and whistle the buried words, "King Midas has ass's ears."
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Just happened here. Midas wished that they had the touch of gold. He's granted that wish, but very, very fast, he realized this is a big mistake. He can't even eat food, like it's just a horrible thing to do, and he realizes that wisdom grows deeper than just looking for riches and wealth. So what happens next is he's told to dip into the river and be washed away from his sins by Dionysus, and he does this. So as he's walking away from this, from this river, he sees Apollo and Pan having a contest, and the judge is Mount Tumulus, and the judge declares Apollo the winner, and it's a musical contest. And Midas was able to hear the musical contest as he was down there, but he eavesdrops and he thinks that Pan should have won. So even Apollo is saying, "You have the ears of an ass." Apollo makes sure that everyone is aware of this right off the bat by transforming Midas's ears into donkey ears. So now he looks even more like a fool.
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When I read this, I'm looking at Midas like myself. There's bigger things in life. There's more important things to to worry about. If I just worried about if I can get rich, and then there's the second aspect of it where he washes away from his sins and now he wants to be the judge of everything. So he just, he just gets redeemed from his sin, right? He, he gets born again, and immediately after he's born again, he wants to judge everybody else. You notice that? No, Apollo should have won that. No, Pan should have won that. And he's immediately rebuked and saying, "Dude, shut up. You have donkey ears." I think it's great. I think it's a genius. I think this is an amazing piece of literature.
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Just as the ancient Near Eastern conception of prophecy and prophethood may mean different things in different contexts, so Orpheus may be all things to all men. Orpheus appears in countless legendary stories as the son of the solar Apollo, the high priest of Dionysus and the Muse Calliope, or as a devoted worshiper of Apollo himself. Accordingly, Orpheus makes Helios the same as Apollo and Dionysus, though as a giver of oracles and the prophet, always was a companion of Apollo, and he was always devoted to Bacchus. Subsequently, Dionysus sent the Maenads against him in jealousy, and he was torn to pieces like the Egyptian Osiris.
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And so, Orpheus is a prophet in the trivial sense of a person who foretells the future, or in the sense of the theological administrator, an authority in covenants and treaties of the Israelite politico-military enterprises. In both cases, prophecy is an integral part of the divination, who is fundamental cosmological premise and logic are based on the ancient ideology of Near Eastern royalty. Consequently, prophecy is a form of divination along with dreams, visions. By the time we get to the first century, Orphism and Judaism are starting to marry each other. There are Orphic texts that are used by the Jews, and the Jews in Alexandria are even claiming Orpheus as one of their prophets. Plato writes about Orpheus and Musaeus, Orpheus being the teacher of a man named Musaeus. There are some who later think that this is Moses, but the Alexandrians flipped this on their head and say that it's the other way around, that Musaeus or Moses is the teacher of Orpheus. And so the pagans and Jews go back and forth on who is more important to them. Between Orpheus' golden plates about how to get through Hades and be transmigrated are adopted by Gnostic Christians in the second century. The term Orphism is somewhat of an ambiguous, as it is not clear exactly what it refers to. The angels never spoke of Orphism, but only about Orpheus. Think of Orpheus like a prophet. Orpheus is presumed to be the author of Orphic books and certain Orphic rites. A book became Orphic simply by being ascribed to Orpheus. The question of whether Orphism existed as a religious movement or as merely a set of beliefs described in the Orphic literature remains controversial. The rise of Orphic ideas and the nature of Orphic practices remain obscure, despite some recent discoveries. The unifying factor: Orpheus is a mythical figure of Thracian origin, whose main characteristic was a unique gift for music. This characteristic features in a number of ancient stories about Orpheus. He is said to have enchanted Hades with his song so that his prematurely dead wife Eurydice returned to life. Thank you to have taken part in the Argonauts' Expedition and ousting the Sirens, and to have been beheaded by Thracian women, while his head continued to sing hymns. Though his achievements, Orpheus appears as a great shaman, somebody whose spirit can affect the whole of nature, from plants and animals to souls and even gods or Hades. These achievements are often the subject of the Orphic poems, usually hymns or longer poems of theogonic or cosmogenic content, most of them now lost or only partially preserved. Such Orphic poems presumably started to circulate from the 6th century BCE to the 5th and 4th centuries, as the testimony of various authorities suggest. Plato and others. A relatively recent find, the Derveni Papyrus, which I've done a video about recently, discovered in a tomb in northern Greece and dating from the 4th century BCE, contains a commentary on an Orphic theogony and proves to such Orphic poems were in circulation already in the 5th century BCE. In the 6th century CE, Damascius, discussing the Orphic account of the beginnings of the world, talks of three Orphic theologians, of which he had only indirect knowledge. According to the core of Orphic cosmology, Cronos, the primordial divinity, gives birth to Aether and Chaos, and they generate a world egg. The link between these poems and a cult of Orpheus is difficult to determine. The Divinity Papyrus, buried and burned with an unknown Greek, makes even clearer the close linking of religious practices to a specific text. Orphism seems to have been very much a book of religion. Plato talks purveyors of purifications and rituals which bring deliverance from unrighteousness, claiming that these people perform rites in accordance with books by Muse and Orpheus. The most ancient testimony to Orphic practice comes from Herodotus, with reference to the prejudice against introducing woolen articles into temples or being buried in them.
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Herodotus says this is an Egyptian custom, and in this they agree with the practices which are called Orphic and Bacchic, though they are actually Egyptian and Pythagorean. Herodotus is not only one who identifies Orphic with Bacchic rites, and Euripides' Hippolytus, Theseus uses the verb "bacchan" for Orphic rites. Archaeological evidence further supports the close relation between Orphic and Bacchic rites, and Orpheus often figures in artistic depictions of predominantly Dionysian themes. Orpheus is sometimes said to be the initiator of the cult of Dionysus, but at other times he is presented as having neglected the worship of Dionysus after his journey to Hades, instead venerating the Sun, for which his punishment was his assassination by a group of Thracian women. We hear of active Orphic "hoi" in Athens and in southern Italy in the 5th century BCE, and we know of their distinctive views, but little is certain of their rites. Ancient sources speak of Orphic rites, though without giving precise information, and also participants in these rites, presumably the Mysteries referred to at least in some of those occurrences are the Eleusinian Mysteries. In some sources, Orpheus is mentioned as their founder.
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Mysteries are sometimes identified with the Eleusinian Mysteries, according to poisonous Orphic ideas. Indeed, permeated the Eleusinian and also the Theban Mysteries of the Cabiri. Orphics were particularly concerned with the purity of the soul, which was deemed to be imprisoned in the body. This purity was sought through an ascetic way of life with strict rules, especially about diet, such as abstinence from meat, but also from eggs, beans, and wine. Orphics believed in an afterlife and the transmigration of the soul, similar to reincarnation, a feature which brings Orphism closer to the Pythagorean ideas rather than Eleusinian Mysteries. There is a certain common ground between Orphism and Pythagoreanism, and perhaps some rivalry between them.
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To judge from such contradicting testimonies is that according to which Pythagoras and the Pythagoreans or the true authors of Orphic poems, and that Pythagoras was indebted to Orpheus. Orphic literature proliferated in the Hellenistic and Imperial eras. In the religious syncretism of late antiquity, the name Orpheus continued to fascinate, but now there was even less concern for demarcation between Orphic and other religious cults. A significant revival of interest in Orphic literature occurs with the Neoplatonists. Orpheus was now not only an inspired poet, but also a theologian and a prophet. The Orphic poems were interpreted allegorically. Under this interpretation, were held to be in accord with the doctrines of Platonic philosophy. The Orpheus legend had a considerable impact on Christianity. Although the Orphic rites were dismissed, the story of Orpheus charming nature with his music was interpreted as a pre-figuration of Christ by Clement of Alexandria, charming human souls with his teaching. Christ, in his role as the Good Shepherd, is said to be the new Orpheus, and Christ is the new Orpheus singing the song of salvation. The figure of Orpheus, which is often found in catacombs, stands for Christ, who can be depicted as Orpheus himself, as you see here in the ancient catacombs. Orpheus is depicted right next to Jesus.
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And with that being said, I want to know what you guys think about that. Orpheus is, or the Orphic Mysteries, sort of the, what fills the void before Christianity, if that makes sense? Or as Christianity in a real sense, what fills the void after Orphism? Or do they blend into each other through an evolution of ideas? What do you guys think about Orphism? Let me know in the comments. And you have this detained true gnosis. Thank you. Thank you.
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Pythagoras.
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Born 570 BC on the island of Samos. It was a contemporary of Pherecydes, and was brought up in a culture of Ionian philosophy, which was heavily influenced by Homer and Hesiod. It's contemporary there, aside the Syrian, founded the Eleusinian Mysteries, which would later be the influence on Christianity, as well as Socrates, Plato, Aristotle, and Neoplatonic religions.
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Pythagoras founded the school of Italy, known as the Pythagorean School. Most of his philosophy is still taught today, and his math is still used today as well. Pythagorean theorem is a popular way to do calculus and algebra. At some point in his youth, he left the country and traveled to Egypt, on which occasion Polycrates gave him a letter of introduction to Amasis, and he learned the Egyptian language, as Antiphon tells us in his treatise on those men who have become conspicuous for virtue. He also associated with the Chaldeans and the Magi, through his contemporary Pherecydes, the Syrian. His philosophy began to shape the Hellenistic world before Alexander paved the way. Alexander, who was taught by Aristotle, was also taught by Plato, who was also taught by Socrates, and Socrates being a contemporary of Epicurus and Democritus, followers of the Pythagorean philosophy. And the long story short, Pythagoras' philosophy shaped Western philosophy.
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In Egypt, he entered into the holiest parts of their temples and learned all the most secret mysteries that relate to their gods. Then he returned again to Samos and finding his country under the absolute dominion of Polycrates, he set sail and fled to Croton in Italy. Having giving lost the Italians, which at the time were divided into tribes, the Latins, Geotruscans, he gained a very high reputation there, together with his followers, who were about 300 in number, and governed the Republic in the most excellent manner and set the stage for the Roman Republic.
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His teachers were known as symbols. Members took a vow of silence that they would not reveal these symbols to non-members. Those who did not obey the laws of the community were expelled, sometimes even killed. Some of these mystery teachings are still around today in the form of Freemasonry, Rosicrucians, and others like the Esoteric Society. He got all these ideas of the Brotherhood from Egypt, which also he saw in Babylon as well.
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Heraclides of Pontus says that he was accustomed to speak of himself in this manner, that he had formerly been to Aethalides, and I bet it counted to the son of Hermes, and that Hermes had desired him to select any gift he pleased except immortality. Accordingly, he had requested that whether living or dead, he might preserve the memory of what had happened to him. While therefore he was alive, he recalled everything, and when he was dead, he remained the same memory. Had a subsequent period, he passed into Epirus and was wounded by Menelaus. While he was in Epirus, he used to say that he had formerly been an athlete. Then he received a gift from Hermes, the perpetual transmigration of the soul, and passing into whatever plants or animals it pleased, and he had also received the gift of recollecting all that his soul and suffering hate, and when sufferings too are endured by the Russian souls. Oh, Pythagoras did not leave behind a single book, but they talk foolishly of Heracles, a natural philosopher, speak plainly enough of him, saying Pythagoras, the son of Manistars, practiced inquiry beyond all other men, and making selections from these writings, he thus formed the wisdom of his own, in extensive learning and cutting art. Thus he speaks, because Pythagoras, in the beginning of his treatise on nature, writes in the following manner: "By the air which I breathe and the water which I drink, I will not endure to be blamed and account with this disclosure." There are many examples of Pythagoras' life being mythicized. For example, some accounts say that he was able to talk with animals, and they were able to talk back to him, and he can communicate with them, and that none, no animals were scared of him, would come up to him, and even go on his shoulder. Birds that fly up to him, cattle would yield his callings, snakes wouldn't bite him.
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It is even said that he was robbed when he was on a boat, he was taken as a slave, but even his slave holders, so drawn to his nature and his aura, that they had to let him go and treat him well.
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Pythagoras is known for his writing, the Golden Verses. Which I follow first: "Honor the immortal gods as the law demands. Reverence thy oath. Then illustrious heroes. Venerate divinities under the earth. Do rites performing. Then honor your parents and all your kindred. Among others, the most virtuous thy friend. The highest duty is honor of self. Let justice be practiced." In other words, as deeds. He also wrote 75 maxims on what to do in your life. The place you like, a book of proverbs. First one being: "Go not beyond the balance, transgress not justice." Two: "Sit not down on the bushel, do not loaf on your job." Three: "Tear not pieces the crown, do not be a joy killer." These are the proverbs that lead up to what is called the Pythagorean Y.
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Pythagorean Y is a symbol showing the two different paths of life. Towards the left, there's the slothful way, which leads to falling into the fire, and then to the right, there's the way of hard work, which leads to having your own throne. The Pythagorean letter Y, it's spread, shows the two paths with the man's life is led. The right hand track, the sacred virtue, tense though steep and rough at first, it rests and ends. The other broad and smooth from its crown on rocks, the travelers tumbled down. He who to virtue by harsh toils aspires, seducing pains or from renowned acquires, but who seeks loft luxury and flies the labor of great X, dishonor and die.
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He's also accredited for the sentences of Sextus, which are short ethical sayings. Number one: "To neglect things of the smallest consequence is not the least thing in human life." Number two: "The sage and despiser of wealth must resemble God." Number three: "Do not investigate the name of God, because you will not find it, for everything called by name receives its appellation from which is more worthy than that self, so that if one person that calls on another that hears, who is it there for? Who has given the name to God? The word God is not a name of his, but indication of what we conceive of him." Number four: "God is light, incapable of receiving its opposite." There's 104 of these, and they are the ones who've shaped Ionian philosophy.
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He's said to have episodes where he would wrap your travel places where he would completely disappear in one spot and appear miles into another, like teleportation.
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It's hard to tell which of these are true, which of these are myth, but there are a lot of different things ascribed to him as far as mathematics, philosophy, geometry. Even Democritus, the man who came up with atomic theory, ascribes most of his ideas to Pythagoras. So he might be the most important man that ever lived in the West. His contemporary, Pherecydes, from the Syrian, is also noted sometimes as one of the Seven Sages of Greece. The Seven Sages of Greece lived a century before Pythagoras, and Pherecydes, which Pythagoras learned from, and from that he passed down to Socrates and Plato, and the rest is history.
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Another belief attributed to Pythagoras is the Harmony of the Spheres, which maintained that the planets and stars move according to mathematical equations which correspond to musical notes and thus produce an audible symphony. According to Pomfrey, Pythagoras taught that seven Muses were actually the seven planets singing together. In this philosophical dialogue, Proceptus Aristotle has literally double say. Pythagoras was asked why humans exist. He said, "To observe the heavens." And he used to claim that he himself was an observer of nature and was for the sake that this is passed over into the light. He also taught a communal lifestyle and vegetarianism, similar to what we see with the Qumran community for a century. Israel.
Thank you, but I'm also excited to be here to talk about the life of Apollonius of Tyana. And we're going to talk about that. Jacob has read this book written by Philip Flavius Philostratus, a second-century writer, is third century, and he wrote it for Julia Domna, wife of Septimus Severus and mother of Caracalla. So now they got the timeline down, now we know where we're at. Yeah, let's get into his life. I, I mean, it's, it's a lot. There's a lot he does, a lot of stuff he goes, a lot of different cities, meets a lot of different people. What to start off? I'll just start off now. I'll throw it to you. He is a Pythagorean philosopher, um, and he's very, very skeptical, it seems like, but, um, I'm gonna let you talk about it a little bit so you could just take, take the floor.
Sure. So Apollonius of Tyana, he goes around, he's ministering his, uh, Pythagorean beliefs, and he, he's a philosopher, and he was persecuted under, uh, Emperor Domitian. The Mission, uh, banned, uh, the philosophers from Rome. And one of the most notable things, if not the most notable thing about him, is actually after he died, because after he died, the, his followers believed him to be, they started believing him to be the son of Zeus. Now, his alternatively, his father is actually Apollonius Senior. So there are different versions of his, uh, parenthood. In some cases, Zeus, in other cases, it's another guy called Apollonius. And, um, there are people out there that think that Apollonius has significant parallels to Jesus, um, in terms of miracles. Yes, because he, he rises from the dead. I mean, he wasn't crucified, but he rises from the dead, and he ascends to heaven. Like his body, his, his body can't be found. It'll, they are, they are taking his body on the, on their way to be buried, and his body disappeared. It, it's sort of reminiscent to the Gospels when they say, "Oh, Jesus' body, his body's missing." The empty tomb thing. So the, the way Apollonius satana, um, the way his death is portrayed, and his postmortem is portrayed, is somewhat quasi-similar to the to the empty tomb narrative in the Gospels. The way the, the way Apollonius is mythologized kind of gives one the feeling that they might have thought him to be Apollo in the flesh. I think it means son of Apollo. I think the, the EOS at the end of the name, it means son. Yeah, Apollo Aeneas means the son of Apollo.
Now, he does, he does pay tributes to, he does a, uh, offering, but he doesn't use meat. He uses like a, a cake, like a, a sweet cake, which is kind of interesting if you think about it, because you don't hear about that in these religious texts. You always hear about the offering of the ram, or the sheep, or the goats, or something, and this guy's just offering, offering sweet rolls to his God. It's like, yeah, it's kind of funny. And he, and Apollonius is quoted by Lucius as bringing up, uh, talking about Euripides. He's talking about, um, the writings of Juba, like that's like big time, um, Mauritanian, uh, Ptolemaic, and have very Hellenic. And he talks about justice. He travels with a guy called Damas. Yeah, he's apparently a student of his, and they're traveling together throughout the Middle East. And in a, in the sense, it does somewhat sound like his ministry. Sound can remind one of, uh, Paul preaching and ministering, uh, to, uh, to the churches. Apollonius is in that way, is doing the same thing. He's preaching to the Pythagoreans in their, uh, households, or, um, if you, you could one could call them churches, I suppose. They're the equivalents, uh, uh, thereof. And Apollonius, he also went on a ship that got shipwrecked, just like Paul, ironically. And, uh, Josephus as well, there's a shipwreck narrative in there. And in another instance, his father is a, in the mythological aspect of the story, his father is called Zeus Asbamius. So it's a sort of a different form of Zeus, because the title Asbamius is in there. And, um, the other thing is going back to the parallels. There are some people out there that are mythicists. I think that Jesus didn't exist. They, they, some, they like to say that Jesus is a complete copy of Apollonius. And sometimes they'll say, "Well, he's both Jesus and Paul." And I'm like, "Okay, well, Apollonius, he does have parallels, but the parallels aren't that serious." Um, if anything, he's like a, a rival to, uh, Christianity. And that's really as far as I can take that. Because Apollonius of Tyana, yeah, he's sort of like a more Hellenic version, like a more Greco-Roman version of this savior figure, demigod figure, like, you know, say like he, and it seems like Chicano. It seems like his main objective is he goes to these different cults, in different things. He goes to Corinth, he goes to Antioch, he goes, he goes into India. He's traveling the world and eating with these Brahmins, meeting with these priests, he's meeting with these Magi. And yeah, like he's updating their, their ways of doing these. What he's doing is he's looking at their rites and he's saying, "Okay, okay, where are you getting these rites from? Okay, they're ancient rites, I get that. Why?" And then he's like challenging them on their rites, and he tries to change it for them and make them better. And it's almost like, I almost want to feel like maybe this is like sort of an allegory of Rome jumping into, like Rome became at the time, at the time. Okay, so the time of Apollonius of Tyana, his life, first century Rome, right? At this point in time, Rome was going around and coming, going into different countries, like Syria, Judea, Egypt, even like, even in the Parthian world, they were kind of spreading influence in there, especially Augustus. Gus has had a big control over Parthian satraps, and he almost brought back that he, some, some historians say that he was the closest one to bring back Alexander's Empire, which obviously didn't happen. But the same thing, yeah, if anyone was the closest, it was Augustus. Now, with that being said, this could be an allegory of influence of Rome on the rest of the world, is spreading these practical Roman ideals. Yeah. And speaking on the influence of Rome, Apollonius of Tyana was taken in by the Flavians. He was a philosopher for Dysphasia, it's very, in a very similar situation to Josephus being adopted into the Flavian household, receiving the name translated as Josephus. Now, it says here, um, "As soon as it was day, and the wind fair from land, the ship was ready to sail. Crowds flocked to the shore, all anxious to embark with Apollonius, notwithstanding the small size of the vessel. It was now autumn, a time of year when the sea is not much to be trusted. The people who suppose Apollonius had power over fire and water and perils of every kind, all asked leave to go on board with him. All has to leave to go on board, even when he found the numbers were more than the ship was able to contain." And happening at the same time to see another vessel.
At anchor, near the tomb of Ajax, is either bringing up the anchor thing, and the anchor, and the dolphin, and the anchor is a big symbolism into the Flavian family. He cried out, "Let us embark in that vessel, for it, for it is glorious to be saved with the multitude." After doubling the Trojan Promontory, he bid the pilot steer for Elia, situate over against Lesbos, and to make it by coasting near Nathamana, for there it was Achilles told him calamities was buried, and there his statue was to be seen of the height of one cubit, representing a man far older than even Palomedes was.
As soon as the vessel touched his land, he went ashore and said aloud, "Holy men of Greece, let us show our respect for this great man, from whom comes all knowledge, and let us treat him better any Achaeans did, by honoring him for the sake of virtue, who was so unjustly put to death." So, based on my reading here, it kind of looks like the ministry of Apollonius of Tyana seems to be portrayed kind of like, uh, projected into the Homeric ethics. Um, and this is, this is in a chapter 13, page, uh, 199 of my, uh, translation about, uh, other translation that I have.
[Applause] So, yeah, and, and, you know, a lot, a lot of the stuff in here is very, I don't want to say like boring or fluffy, but like it's like extra, like it's really, it's, yeah, it seems to be really repetitive, and like he just kind of, he does his little vow of silence. After his vow of silence is over with, he just kind of goes away and goes somewhere else. He's just doing things like one by one. And, and the real, the whole point of me breaking this up is that he kind of is very schizophrenic, just like Jesus was, like in, in the Gospels. He's just, what is he doing? Why, why is this all happening? Why does he have to, unlike, like for example, in the Gospel, why does he, why does he have to die on the cross? Why is that even a thing? Same thing on the Polyester, why is he doing all this? You just don't even realize, and never really, the writer never really explains it. It's just, this is what he's doing, and this is who he was, and he, he worked these miracles, and he went into Judea, and he taught all these, uh, mysteries to everybody. And, okay, cool. What's the point? You know what I'm saying? And like, that, right, that really is a question then I would like to hear somebody try to answer. What is the point of Apollonius of Tyana? You know what I mean?
Yeah, and, um, and another conversation that our place is having over philosophy, there's a similar, it's not completely similar, it's quasi-similar to something Jesus said, uh, supposedly said, and in the Gospels. I'm gonna read this. "When Apollonius discovered that the yo of blush and change color at one time as it disposed to speak, and that another as if not, he the more urged his request, just as if he had no foreknowledge of his character. The oath, as soon as he received a little his presence of mind, cried out, 'O ye gods, what shall I say of myself? I am not wicked, and yet I know not whether I can call myself good. As little or no praise can attach to a negative virtue of not having acted ill.'" "Excellently observed," said Apollonius, "you speak as if instructed by the Indians, as if you had learned that sentiment from the lips of the Divine Iarcas himself, for it is his own. But how, or from whom, have you received such opinions? For you appear as if afraid to have found so."
The way that's expressed, "O ye gods," come on. It kind of sounds like the character is complaining to the god, saying, "Oh, they seem to have somewhat forsaken him in this instance." Philosophy is talking to this guy that's, uh, complaining about this. And God, and Jesus says, "My God, my God, why are you mistaken me?" This also does parallel songs, uh, I was insults. I think it was in the Psalms, uh, the, uh, "Eli, Eli," then, um, it's not quite the same. And, uh, just before that, there's a, uh, a few sentences before that. It says, "Applications are requested to him to sit opposite to him and address him in the following manner: 'Young Egyptian, for you are, I suppose, in this country, tell us the good and evil of your life, that you may be pardon for anything you have done wrong by reason of your yoke, and praise for what you have done well, and may flaw philosophize with me and my friends.'" And then the rest of it goes exactly as I read after that.
Yeah, and, and I noticed, and the thing about it, part of his philosophy is that he likes to be critical. He's very critical of different, different people. Like, in different, for example, let me just jump to an example. Right, somebody tells him that he's praying to Asclepius, the god of health, and the Asclepius, he's saying, "Asclepius is not healing me. Why isn't Asclepius healing me?" And then Apollonius tells him, "He's not healing you because you keep eating, uh, dense foods, and you keep doing, you're not being healthy. You're not even trying." He's basically telling the person, "Asclepius isn't real. You got to get your stuff healthy, right? By praying to Asclepius, you're making a pact with yourself." Is the message I got from you. So it almost, right, atheistic. He almost feels like an atheist the way he goes around and criticizes all these rites and tells people, "You, that's not how it works. You, the way you get, the way you heal yourself, yeah, you pray, you do Asclepius, yeah, you give an offering, but you also stop eating bad food, and you start exercising, and doing this and that." It's actually kind of, uh, refreshing to read in an ancient text, yeah, and hear those type of philosophy being pushed, you know what I mean? It's like he's definitely a different type of character for the times.
Now, we got to get into his death. How does he die? Yeah. So, um, according to what we're told by, uh, Lucius, Apollonius died at the same year Domitian did, or might have been one year later. So around 96, 97, 98. Okay. What exactly happened though? Um, disciples, I hear you here, he wants to meet, she and dies. His Apollonius dies too. And that's pretty much the idea. He dies of old. He dies the old days. He's not killed. He's not killed. That's a common misconception. I wonder where people get that from. People hear that he gets killed by his own disciples in the same way that, you know, right? You know what I mean? Like, exactly. That's kind of what everyone kind of throws around there. I wonder if there's a different source for that. So I'm trying to figure out, but why do people say that? And not that I'm aware of, I don't, I don't, I don't think there was a different source. Um, so it sounds, so Apollonius, as I was saying earlier, Muncie dies. They, they take him, they take his body to go get buried, possibly in a tomb. I don't remember. Um, but I know his body doesn't make it because they look at it, and it's gone. He really, he ascended, apparently. He sent it to heaven to be with Zeus, something like that. So it says he dies in the year 100 A.D. That's what it says right here. Then another source right here, I'm looking at. Yeah, that's, that's it. It's pretty, it ties in. Apollonius after Domitian. Yeah, yeah, around the same time. Yeah, it's nothing right here. I'm seeing Domitian died 96. So to be on the safer side, I'm just going to say 96.
Now, why are you saying that he, he died? Why does it have to be so the same as Domitian? I don't, why are you saying that? Because they, they, because it says that he wants to make sure it dies, I prolong his dies too. That's what the story says. Okay. It's strange, but that's the way it's, that's the way it goes. Um, so it says, okay, now I gotta listen to some of his miracles. I just want to go across. I just want to read them out, just so you can kind of touch up. So it says that he had extra sensory perception. We already talked about that. When Emperor Domitian was murdered on September 18, 96 A.D., Apollonius was said to have witnessed the event from Ephesus in Turkey, about midday on the day that it happened in Rome. So he's kind of remote viewing the death from Turkey while Domitian's dying in Italy, which is very weird. And then he, he told those present with him, "Take heart, gentlemen, for the tyrant has been slain on this day." So he was very against Domitian, but his brother Titus, he liked, right? Yeah. Okay. So he kind of, he kind of mirrors the church attitude. The church later on, and this is later on, obviously, yeah. Later on, the church, right, post-Constantine times, the church will say, "Domitian was evil, Domitian is damned to hell, while Titus and his father, uh, Joseph, you know, Titus, same name as father, actually, were both good. They were both, you know, they, they were agents of God or whatever they, you know, whatever you want to call it." But that's basically it. Kind of mirrors that. So you see us, you see a similarity there. But, um, yeah, other than that, the comparisons with him being the same person as Jesus, I think that's a bit of a stretch. I think that the fact that they're both from the same century, born around the same time, they both sort of these figures that go around and shaking the fabric of reality with their philosophy, yeah, you can, you can draw comparisons there. But to say they're the same person is, especially considering the death, the death is not even close. Two completely different, two completely different life spans, two completely different parts of the world. I mean, you can say that the writers were borrowing from each other. Yeah, that's fine. But to say that this is the same person, I'm right, no, I'm gonna say big, yeah, exactly. It doesn't work. It's kind of like, it kind of reminds me of the exaggerated parallels between Horus and Jesus. Yes. In fact, almost if not practically every single parallel between Horus and Jesus has been proven false. Yeah. Um, and Gerald Massey, is that he's that guy back in the 19th century that came up with those, uh, ridiculous ideas, and everybody else is parroting his work, trying to say, "Oh, look at this, everything is coming from Egypt." You know, that's that crap.
And now, here's something that's really interesting. I want to bring up here. So it says here, "The people of Tarsus of old bore no kindness to Apollonius, because neither his continual reproach is known language in which he conveyed them were adapted to the resolvement at the minute manners. However, at this time, they loved him as much as he had been their founder and the great support of their city. It happened once when Titus was sacrificing in public, that the whole city assembled, presented a petition to him, which contained matters of the greatest moment. He said he would present it to his father and perform the duties of an ambassador for them." When he said this, Apollonius came forward and thus addressed him, "Suppose I could prove to you, as some of the persons present, or both enemies to you and your father, that they came to Jerusalem on an embassy for the purpose of exciting revolt, and that they privately gave assistance to those who were in arms against you, and I could prove all this, what do you think they would deserve?" "Nothing," replied Titus, "but instant death." "And are you not ashamed," said Apollonius, "to show more promptitude in punishing delinquents than in rewarding those who never offended, and in assuming to yourself authority sufficiently punished, while you defer that are become recompensing until you have recompensing until you have seen and conferred with your father?" Titus was not displeased with this mode of reasoning. He said, "I grant them their petitions, as I know my father will not be angry with me for having submitted to truth."
And you so this sort of reminds me of the Jesus and Pilate getting philosophical on the Gospels. In the same way, Apollonius gets philosophical with Titus. And what's interesting is Apollonius and Titus seem to be on the same side when it comes to the Jews. He just, that places is trying to tell Titus to be a little bit more careful with his philosophical judgments of people. Ready for this Easter egg nugget? So later in the, uh, in the Empire period, before the right before the Christian era, actually late third Century, 272 A.D., according to the Historia Augusta, yeah, Aurelian, Emperor Aurelian, captures the city of Tiana, okay, against the Palmyrene Empire, and he is about to destroy the entire city. And according to the Augusta, he has a vision where he's, he sees Apollonius has come down and tell him to spare the city. Now, that crazy thinking that people are still talking about Apollonius at Tyana, right before the Christian era, he was fresh on everyone's mind, being pulled as like, "Oh, look, we got a vision from him. Like he's some sort of God that can have, that can give emperors visions." So later on, the story, because this story doesn't even end yet, right around that time period, so we gotta shoot, I'm trying to let everyone realize this real quick. Sure. The setting of the Roman Empire at this time, the Christian church is growing. It's almost taken over. Just we were a couple decades away from the church totally taking control of the state religion. We're right there right now. There's two, there's the pagan Rome, and then there's Christian Rome, and they're like this right now. They're both present. So right after that happens, according, right after this vision happens, people start making talismans. There's these talismans, these coins, these magic coins, uh, with Apollonius on them. And yeah, they were said to be sent from heaven, and there are magical figures, and columns erected in public places, meant to protect the cities from afflictions. Oh, yeah. And the great popularity of these talismans was challenged, was a challenge to the Christians. This is what's written down, and some of the Byzantine authors condemned them as sorcery and the work of demons. So the reason why I'm bringing that up is like, this is sort of fascinating that they both, both of these myths start around the same time, first century, and they both sort of grow, they will sort of grow all the way to the fourth century, and then they put heads, and then then we have the war coming with Constantine, and that's it. Christianity rules, rules the West for the next thousand years. But I just think it's fascinating. You can almost can't talk about Christianity and get deep and talk about the history of Christianity without talking about the life of Apollonius of Tyana. They have to go together. Even if you, and I agree with them, I agree with the Christians on this one, they don't, they, they are not the same. They oppose each other. They do. Oh, yeah, that's right. Especially that's what I just read. The church saw them as demonic, um, demonic arches that were being built in the name of Apollonius. However, you gotta, you have to recognize that people didn't believe that this was a Messiah figure who can come visions and tell you things. That's fascinating.
And the other interesting thing is his father, Apollonius, sent, uh, Apollo Senior, sent his son, Apollonius Junior, um, the guy we're talking about, to Tarsus to be taught by Eudaimus for three years. Yes. And he was in Antioch for a while, and that's the, and that is the birthplace, I think, yeah. That, yeah. And Paul was Antioch all the time. He was taught by three years by Barn. It was with Barnabas for three years. And, yeah, and, you know, Antioch, Syria, is the, is the city, according to the Bible, where the word Christian first became a thing, where they started calling themselves Christians. The first time it ever happened, according to the Bible, is in Antioch, Syria. Well, if you think about it, if it, it really did start in Antioch, yeah. I believe is there all the time. And I also think that I also think that the Syrians, um, according to some reports, I don't know how sure this is, I might have to ask a scholar of this question, but the first Bible was written in Syriac. It was called the Peshitta, which means a straight rule, and it was written in Antioch, Syria. So that is even, right, that makes it even more convincing if that's true.
Another, another point I'll bring up is Odessa in, uh, early literature was called Antioch, and it was, it's ruled, it's ruled by the same family that controls Adiabene. And Professor Eisenman had made the argument to Adiabene, he actually is Odessa, because Adiabene and Josephus's works is described as being low. It is located by Josephus as being beyond the Euphrates, which Odessa has been archaeologically located as being beyond the Euphrates. And in later literature, Helena is the queen of Odessa, and earlier literature, going as far back as Josephus, she's the queen of Adiabene. So it's, it's the same family. And, and the thing is, Ananias of Adiabene taught anti-circumcision, not that at their kingdom, he could, he was trying to convince his Atis Prince, Pizzates, yeah, that don't circumcise, man, it's not needed. But Elias or Ananias, his opponent, this is happening in the late 80s, 20s, early 80s, 30s, that he's saying, "No, you got to keep the Torah's Nazis, you got to circumcise, you want to be Jewish, you gotta circumcise." And Elias aren't convinced. Prince's Aunties to circumcise. Um, it's a, it's a similar argument to the one Paul had with Cephas and James and Galatians, uh, some around some chiefs. But anyway, Cephas and Paul had that conflict. Paul posed him to the face over this. It was, it got really, really ugly. Um, but yeah, it's practically the same already. But is it the same now? Is it the same people? No, it's not the same exact people. It's just, it's the same ideology being taught. Yeah.
At the end of the day, at the end of the day, and this is, we could probably close over at this point. Sure. At the end of the day, these are myths. So, yeah, yeah, right. When, when we're talking about writing people writing myths, they're, they're gonna borrow from each other. It's the Zeitgeist of the times. It's in the air. It's not like they're cop, everyone wants to say who copied who. It's not even about who copied who. It's about what the writer was going with, you know? Who, a great example is Dr. Josh Bowen. He brings up Eminem. Okay. Why do you bring up Eminem? Well, Eminem might make a rap line, he might borrow from a bit. Yeah, I remember him. And it's not, yeah, it's not that he's copying other, other rappers. He's referencing them and making something else with it. So it's not like it's not, you really can't, it's copying or plagiarizing. It's just, it's just making a new form of art with, with what's around. That's just speaking on that. Um, I'm gonna do a video pretty soon here on my channel about Manetho being very confused, like Manetho screwing up, uh, hit Moses in a big way. I'm gonna show people that the story of Osiris, it's, it's, it's bunk. It's nothing. It's, it's nothing. Nothing else also says that Osiris was a person that lived. Yeah, well, like we can't go off that as someone who's telling the truth. You know, exactly. There's some people out there that think that, oh, look, this guy's saying the Hikes, so sorry, the Jews, but like, no, no. Um, and then the thing is, it was actually Josephus that's making that claim. I don't recall Josephus quoting Manetho to back him up saying he actually thinks this. Yeah. Um, and, and the thing is, going on, you can do that on a video on the Hyksos expulsion. Oh, yeah. So all that became, uh, related with the Jewish, uh, Exodus. We could do a video on that later. But, sure. You got any closing remarks on Apollonius? So we haven't mentioned, and we want to tie everything up on whatever you want. Yeah. I'll give, I'll give a conclusion. Um, as for adding anything more, I think we've covered the bases on that. Um, Apollonius of Tyana, long story short, is a similar person in the sense that he could, he did miracles that resemble that of Jesus's miracles. The missing body narrative is identical to the empty tomb narrative in the Gospels. He was the unified after his death, a god is his father by a human mother, somehow. And, and a contradiction in some cases, he actually has a human developer, which is somewhat of an identical paradox to have, uh, Jesus and Apollonius debated. He got, he got philosophical with Roman government officials, just like Jesus did. Um, he was also, he got into conflict with them, and also was friendly with them too, at the same time, which is also similar to Paul. He also got into conflict with them, and he also got into friendly conversations with them and worked with them too. It was a, um, yeah, it just went back and forth like that. Um, it got shipwrecked, taught by figures, by somebody, Tarsus is in there. Shipwreck, the shipwreck thing that happens also in the Aeneid, and I think in The Odyssey. In The Odyssey? Yeah. No, not even funny enough, even Martian, that's just got shipwrecked. Yeah. So that, that shipwrecked peril, I see why everyone likes to go with it because it's like, but I think I think that's just a very easy narrative to write about because they're, oh, yeah. Um, the thing that happened back then, sure, right? Yeah. So I don't, I don't draw too much attention to that like some people do, like, "Oh, look, they both got shipwrecked." So, "Oh, I'm just noticing the parallel." "Oh, yeah." I know people that, people, so there are people out there over-accentuate and say, "Well, that's because he is Paul." I'm like, "No." Right, right. You know, there are people out there. I'm gonna have Ralph Allison tomorrow or in two days, and I want to ask him because I know he loves talking about that. Like he thinks that it's impossible that the saint. He actually, I've heard him say this before. No, nothing, nothing, not say anything bad about him. He will say, "Well, how could there be two shipwrecks?" I'll say that, um, it's called having two shipwrecks. One ship gets wrecked, and another ship gets wrecked. That's how it's possible. Like, what do you, what kind of question is that? Yeah. And the thing is, I'm gonna, I'm gonna save my, uh, my, I don't want to talk about. I want to have him on. I'm gonna ask him questions. Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah.
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In the small town of Jovren, Bulgaria, there are a group of Eastern Orthodox Christians who, on certain feast days of the saints, come to a forest and light candles, leave blessed icons and coins in the mouth of a cave known as the Devil's Throat, in memory of Orpheus, the son of Apollo and husband to Eurydice. For it is thought that this cave was the same cave Orpheus descended into to talk to Hades and demand his wife be returned to the realm of the living. Now, you may be asking yourself, how is it the case that so many Christians are venerating a legendary Thracian demigod, prophet, and musician? The story behind such a notion goes way back to the earliest Christians and their claim to the venerable figure. One of the first well-known and erudite Christians who lived in the second century, Justin the philosopher, considered a saint in all the churches, believed that Orpheus was one of the prophetic voices in antiquity that pointed to the Christian doctrine of monotheism, due to the fact that he had met Moses sometime during his life. He writes in his "Address to the Greeks": "At all events, we must remind you what Orpheus, who was, as one might say, your first teacher of polytheism, laterally addressed to his son Musaeus and to the other legitimate auditors concerning The One and Only God, and he spoke thus: 'There is one Zeus alone, one son, one hell, one Bacchus, and in all things but one God, nor of all these as diverse. Let me speak.' And when he swears, he says, 'Now I adore You by the highest Heaven, the work of the great God, the only wise, and I adore You by the Father's voice, which first He uttered when He established the whole world by His counsel.'" Here he calls the word "voice" for the sake of the poetical meter, and that this is so is manifest from the fact that a little further on, where the meter permits him, he names it "word," for he said, "Take the word divine to guide your steps."
Now, this account of Orpheus is not necessarily promoting him as a great figure, but Justin the philosopher takes these Orphic hymns to be prophesying that one God exists as Father, and that He creates using His voice or will. This is very much something Christians took seriously, due to the fact that Jesus was thought to be the Word becoming flesh, as written in the Gospel of John. However, as we go into the next century, we see that the seeds are being put in place for Orpheus's sainthood. Coming into the third century, Clement of Alexandria becomes a towering figure in the realm of Orthodox Christian theology, as a catechetical leader of the Alexandrian School of Theology. He's seen with great esteem among the various members of the church, either in the laity or the clergy. And Eusebius's "Ecclesiastical History" cites one letter given to Clement where he is addressed as "the Blessed Presbyter, a man virtuous and approved, whom you yourselves also know and will recognize." Clement of Alexandria takes the promotion of Orpheus as a prophet, which was claimed by Justin the philosopher, and goes three steps farther with it. In his "Exhortation to the Heathen," chapter 7, he writes in this venturesome manner: "Has he on the stage brought truth before the spectators? But the Thracian Orpheus, the son of Oeagrus, hierophant and poet at once, after his exposition of the orgies and his theology of idols, introduces a Palamon of truth with true solemnity, though tardily singing the strain: 'I shall utter to whom it is lawful, but let the doors be closed nevertheless against all the profane. But do you hear, O Musaeus, offspring of the light-bringing moon, for I will declare what is true, and let not these things which once appeared in your breast rob you of dear life, but looking to the Divine Word, apply yourself to it, keeping right the seat of intellect and feeling, and walk well in the straight path, and to the immortal King of the Universe alone direct your gaze.' Thus far Orpheus at last understood that he had been an error, but linger no longer, O man endued with varied wisdom, but turn and retrace your steps and propitiate God."
Now, this is a very interesting admission here. Clement makes the case that Orpheus was more than a prophet, but also repented of his sins and was aware that his early hedonistic lifestyle of idol worship was wrong. This echoes a concept in Christian theology known as "The Virtuous Pagan," which conforms with what Paul calls in Chapter 2 of the Romans, "the law written on the heart." However, this in itself doesn't explain whether or not Orpheus was saved and brought to heaven. For this, we must go a bit later and talk about Saint Catherine of Alexandria. Catherine of Alexandria, a daughter of Constus, the governor of Alexandria, was best known as being martyred under the behest of Emperor Maxentius. She was known as a philosopher and a debater. One of her debates were included in the writings of Demetrius of Rostov, an 18th-century Russian Bishop of the Eastern Orthodox Church, showing how late this material becomes cherished in Eastern Europe. She writes, "Then, having opened for us the gates of Paradise closed by evil, He rose on the third day and ascended into Heaven, from whence He came. He sent down the Holy Spirit upon His disciples, and they went about preaching His divinity, in which you also, O philosopher, ought to believe, so that you may become His true servant, for He is merciful and summons all who have sinned, saying, 'Come unto Me all ye that labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest.' Believe then your own teachers and gods, Plato, I say, Orpheus, and Apollonius, who, although unwillingly, plainly confessed Christ to be God."
Now, this passage is referencing a specific reading of Matthew 12:40 and Ephesians 4:9, where it says, "For as Jonah was three days and three nights in the belly of a huge fish, so the Son of Man will be three days and three nights in the heart of the Earth." "What does He ascended mean, except that He also descended to the lower earthly regions?" This is specifically recalled by Saint John Damascene in the 6th century in his "Exposition of the Orthodox Faith," for "no other thing has subdued death, expiated the sin of the first parent, despoiled Hades, bestowed the resurrection, granted the power to us of condemning the present and even death itself, prepared the return to our former blessedness, opened the gates of Paradise." This is Jesus going into Abraham's bosom and taking all the prophets, patriarchs, philosophers, and good people to Heaven. This is the fate of Orpheus. There is much more I could talk about in the history of the Christian imagination. For instance, there was a popular Christianized version of the Orpheus story from the 14th century called "Sir Orfeo," who recasts Orpheus as a king who bargains for his dead wife in Hades. If we wanted to extend these parallels to Judaism, there have been synagogues, such as the Dura-Europos Synagogue, unearthed by archaeologists, which dates back to 245 A.D., which looks similar to the interior of an Eastern Orthodox church and presents a large icon of Orpheus in it. Ultimately, the connection behind this figure and the Abrahamic religions is quite strong, and with that, you have just attained true gnosis. Thank you so much for watching this video. I'd like to thank my members, Morgan Silva, Marilyn Cook, Edna Boseman. Make sure to sign up for a YouTube membership for only three dollars a month, you can access exclusive video essays early.
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