Memory and Forgetfulness within the Orphic narrative

Abstract

This article studies the problem of the representation of Memory and Forgetfulness within the Orphic narrative. Taking Orphism as a religious expression, like the Eleusinian mysteries and Dionysism, the article investigates the definition and function that Memory and Forgetfulness play in its eschatology. The aim of the article is to demonstrate that Memory and Forgetfulness occupy an important place within the Orphic religious narrative, especially with regard to the fate of the initiate after his death. The article also aims to present the similarities with which Memory and Forgetfulness appear in some Greek philosophers and poets. The main method used was literary analysis of Orphic fragments, pre-Socratic fragments, Platonic dialogues and Greek poetry. The results show that Memory and Forgetfulness play different but equally important roles within the Orphic narrative. Both signal the two possible fates of the initiate's soul in Hades, namely either reincarnation or remaining in the world of the dead. Another result is that Memory and Forgetfulness may have been appropriated by Greek philosophers and poets who, for their own purposes, transposed them from the religious and mystical environment to poetry and nascent philosophy.