Greek Religion de Gruyter.bernabe

5/28/2018 Greek Religion de Gruyter.bernabe

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GREEK RELIGION

PHILOSOPHY AND SALVATION

EDITEDBY

VISHWA ADLURI

RELIGIONSGESCHICHTLICHE VERSUCHE UND VORARBEITEN

WALTER DE GRUYTER


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CONTENTS

Salvation for the Wanderer: 4Odysseus, the Gold Leaves, and Empedocles 4

Miguel Herrero de Juregui 4Self-Determination and Freedom: 37The Relationship of God and Man in Homer 37

Arbogast Schmitt 37Parmenides Proem and Pythagoras Descent 65

Walter Burkert 65!"#$%&'()*&+,-.%/0*12&3 101Platos Transposition of Orphic Netherworld Imagery* 101

Alberto Bernab 101Platos Soteriology? 138

Stephen Menn 138The Eleusinian Mysteries in pre-Platonic Thought: 167Metaphor, PractiCe and Imagery for Platos Symposium 167

Barbara Sattler 167

From Politics to Salvation Through Philosophy: 210Herodotus Historiesand Platos RepublicX 210

Vishwa Adluri & John Lenz 210Memory and the Souls Destiny in Plotinus 237

Luc Brisson 237Iamblichus, Theurgy, and the Souls Ascent 263

John Finamore 263Rebirth Eschatology in Plato and Plotinus 279

John Bussanich 279Between the Two Realms: 330Plotinus Pure Soul 330

Svetla Slaveva-Griffin 330


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Plotinus and the Orient: 363Aoristos Dyas 363Vishwa Adluri 363

Bibliography 397About the Contributors 430


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CHAPTER FOUR

#$%&' ()*& +, - . %/ 0*12&3 P L A T O S T R A N S P O S I T I O N O F O R P H I C

N E T H E R W O R L D I M A G E R Y

Alberto Bernab

I . FOREWORDThe aim of this paper is to examine the descriptions of what

happens in Hades to the souls of the deceased as presented by Plato insome of his dialogues, specifically the descriptions found in Phaedo,Gorgias and the Republic. In all of these, references are made to the factthat souls of human beings face in Hades, after death, some form ofreckoning, either rewards or punishments depending on what havethey done during their lifetimes in this world.253In the pseudo-Platonic

dialogue Axiochus we find a similar description, which I shall discuss indue course. The cycle of journeys in the Netherworld as described in

*This paper is one of the results of a Consolider C Research Project, financed bythe Spanish Ministry of Education and Science (HUM2006-09403). I am verygrateful to Susana Torres for the translation of this paper into English and toSarah Burges Watson for your interesting suggestions.253Cf. P. Frutiger, Les mythes de Platon (Paris: Librairie Felix Alcan, 1930), 61ff., 209ff.;Hans Werner Thomas, 4"454678,Untersuchungen ber das berlieferungsgut inden Jenseitsmythen Platons, Diss. Wrzburg, 1938; J.A: Stewart, The Myths of Plato(London: Macmillan, 1962), 103-162; Karin Alt, Dieseits und Jenseits in PlatonsMythen von der Seele, Hermes 110 (1982): 278-299 and 111 (1983): 15-33; Emilia

Ruiz Yamuza, El mito como estructura formal en Platn (Sevilla: Servicio dePublicaciones de la Universidad de Sevilla, 1986); Luc Brisson, Las palabras y losmitos. Cmo y por qu Platn dio nombre al mito? (Madrid: Abada, 2005a) (withbibliography in pp. 221-238).


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Phaedrus, however, presents a very different pattern, which I will notdeal with here.254Plato attributes his knowledge of what happens in theNetherworld to various sources, but in commentaries or references tothese passages, the influence of Orphism is often adduced. The reasonsfor asserting Orphic influence, however, are rarely stated. I will try toexplain them more precisely, by means of comparing Platos statementsto what we know of Orphic literature from other sources. As a result ofthe present analysis it will be seen that, whereas certain elements ofthese eschatologies present remarkable coincidences with Orphiceschatology, others not only do not coincide, but are even contrary to

it. On the other hand, it is clear that Plato did not create a coherenteschatology and that, despite some recurring elements in the versionsof Phaedo, Gorgiasand the Republic, we could not establish a compositepicture from the philosophers various descriptions of the Beyond.255Inthe following analysis, I shall try to corroborate the idea that Platosimages of the Underworld, as presented in each of the dialogues, followdiverse literary and philosophical strategies, depending on the topicsand aims of the work in which they appear.

In my view, the description of the facts as proposed by Casadess256is a good starting point:

These eschatological myths are, without a doubt, a literary creation ofPlato and an excellent example of his extraordinary capacities as anarrator. Various levels are masterfully combined: firstly, the generalframework, in which the image of Hades, the traditional Homeric one, asit was known by all Greeks, is evoked; and secondly, the details withinthis general framework, which are a combination of his own additionswith brushes and nuances from other descriptions of Hades, mainly theOrphic one, which was lesser-known and more of a novelty than that of

254 Neither will I deal with Laws 903b-905d, which bears no distinctive Orphicfeatures.255 The differences have been particularly highlighted by Julia Annas, Platos

myths of judgement, Phronesis27 (1982): 119-143.256Francesc Casadess, Orfeo y orfismo en Platn, in Orfeo y la tradicin rfica: unreencuentro, ed. Alberto Bernab and Francesc Casadess (Madrid: Akal, 2008),1239-1279.


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Homer. Plato uses freely all these features in order to create his ownconception the destiny of the souls.

Casadess also underlines the fact that the Orphic elementsintroduced by Plato contributed to a compound image that seemed toshow more Orphic influence than was really the case.257

I will review in the following sections the descriptions of theNetherworld offered by Plato, as well as that found in the pseudo-Platonic Axiochus. I shall point out, in each case, the context of the taleand its purposes, the source to which Plato attributes it, the elementsthat are analogous to the tenets of the Orphics as regards geography

and setting, the characters, the places for rewards and punishments,and the reasons why the soul goes to one place or another, as well asthe differences both in conception and details, between the Platonicversion and that known from Orphic literature, insofar as it can bereconstructed.

II. NETHERWORLD IMAGERY IN GORGI SSocrates makes two references to the Netherworld in the Gorgias.

The first (492e-493c) occurs in the context of an argument betweenSocrates and Callicles, who has been defending the position that humanbehaviour should not conform to any moral restraint, but rather aim at

the fulfilment of desires. Socrates himself states his purpose inpresenting this eschatological framework (493c):

257Radcliffe G. Edmonds, Myths of the Underworld Journey: Plato, Aristophanes, and theOrphic Gold Tablets (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2004), 20-24 and 27offers a more radical solution; according to him, Platos model in terms of what wecall Orphic features shares a common traditional mythic pattern of action, butthe philosopher seeks to co-opt the traditionally authoritative mythic discoursein service of his own philosophic projects. Although I support the secondstatement, I think it extremely unlikely that the imagery of a Netherworld withrewards and punishments follows a traditional mythic pattern, when it clearly

opposes the really traditional one, that found in Homer, in the lyric poets and inthe vast majority of texts, even in Lucian, according to which the inane soulsinhabit a gloomy Hades in which they are all equal. Cf. review by Alberto Bernab,Review of Edmonds 2004,Aestimatio3 (2006): 1-13.


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All this, indeed, is bordering pretty well on the absurd; but still it setsforth what I wish to impress upon you, if I somehow can, in order toinduce you to make a change, and instead of a life of insatiatelicentiousness to choose an orderly one.258

Socrates hopes that the reference to punishments in theNetherworld may eventually dissuade Callicles from his amoralattitude. This is, indeed, the simplest presentation that Plato offers,omitting, as it does, the scientific elements characteristic of others.259The cue for introducing this tale is a quote by Euripides about thepossibility that life is death and death, life260and it is clear that Socrates

is trying to be modern in presenting the interpretation that ananonymous Sicilian or Italian offers of what the sages used to say,instead of the Orphic tale in its own terms.261 Some of thecharacteristics in this description seem to derive from Orphic images:the idea that certain souls can be punished in Hades and that suchpunishment would consist of taking water in a sieve to a leaky jar((9:;3).262

258Pl. Grg. 493c, transl. by W. R. M. Lamb.259Cf. Eric Robertson Dodds, Plato. Gorgias (Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1959), 372 adloc.260Pl.Gorg. 492e; Eur. Polyid. fr. 638 Kannicht. Cf. Alberto Bernab, La muerte es

vida. Sentido de una paradoja rfica, in !"#$%&'(). Studia philologiae in honoremRosae Aguilar ab amicis et sodalibus dicata, ed. Alberto Bernab and Ignacio RodrguezAlfageme (Madrid, 2007b), 175-181; Sara Macas Orfeo y el orfismo en la tragediagriega, in Orfeo y la tradicin rfica: un reencuentro, ed. Alberto Bernab andFrancesc Casadess (Madrid: Akal, 2008), 1185-1215, where it is pointed out theinversion of appraisals on life and death as a characteristic feature of the Orphics.261I have analysed the passage in Alberto Bernab, Platone e lorfismo, in Destinoe salvezza: tra culti pagani e gnosi cristiana. Itinerari storico-religiosi sulle orme di UgoBianchi, ed. Giulia Sfameni Gasparro (Cosenza: L. Giordano, 1998), 37-97, pointingout the different levels of the mentioned text: ancient poetic tale, attributed toOrpheus, interpretation of the tale, and oral transmission by an expert. Cf. alsoFrancesc Casadess, Gorgias493a-c: la explicacin etimolgica, un rasgo esencialde la doctrina rfica, Actas del IX Congreso Espaol de Estudios Clsicos II (Madrid

1997): 61-65.262The reference to the sieve is also present in Rep.363d, in the context of the ideasof Musaeus and his son, which would further support its characterization asOrphic in origin.


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Having failed in his attempt at convincing Callicles, Socrates offersa final infernal image of the Underworld (523a-527a), at the climax ofthe dialogue, its purposes being identical with the first one, thoughundoubtedly more elaborated and harsh. He presents it as a logosand,furthermore, a truelogos, although he also suggests that Callicles couldtake it as a mythos(523a). It is clear that the word logoshas an analoguein the Orphic hieroi logoi, in this case, it is a tale and not an argument.On the other hand, mythoiwould rather have the meaning of advice,something told without the slightest endorsement of truth.263

Socrates begins his own, and more detailed, tale with an allusion

to Homer, in which he reminds us of the distribution of powersbetween Zeus, Hades and Poseidon.264Subsequently, however, (withoutindicating that he is not quoting Homer any more), he refers to a normfrom the time of Cronus, than the author of the Iliaddoes not mentionanywhere:

That every man who has passed a just and holy life departs after hisdecease to the Isles of the Blest, and dwells in all happiness apart from ill;but whoever has lived unjustly and impiously goes to the dungeon ofrequital and penance which, you know, they call Tartarus.265

In Homer, all souls, with the exception a privileged few, obtainexactly the same destiny in the Netherworld. Therefore, this outlook in

which each soul has a different destiny, according to the degree towhich it has lead a just life, is not Homeric. It is, however, attributed tothe Orphics in various sources.266 Nevertheless, the two specific

263Cf. the interesting considerations in Annas 1982, 120f., as well as Brisson 2005a,147. On the myth in Gorgias, cf. Lucien Bescond, La doctrine eschatologique dansle mythe du Gorgias, in Politique dans lAntiquit, ed. Jean-Paul Dumont and LucienBescond (Lille: Un. Lille, 1986), 67-87.264Il. 15.187-192.265Pl. Grg. 523ab, transl. by W. R. M. Lamb.266 Cf., for example, in OF (from now onwards denomination of Alberto Bernab,

Poetae Epici Graecitestimonia et fragmentaII, fasc. 1-2 (Monachii et Lipsiae: Teubner),fasc. 3 (Berolini-Novi Eboraci: De Gruyter, 2004-2007), 340 those who live purelybeneath the rays of the sun, /as soon as they die have a smoother path /in a fairmeadow beside deep-flowing Acheron, (. . .) but those who have done evil beneath


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destinies for the souls indicated by Plato do not exactly coincide withthose which appear in Orphic imagery, since the Isles of the Blest arenot mentioned in any Orphic source known to us; the place to whichthe initiated arrive, according to the gold tablets, is clearly placed inHades.267 The Isles of the Blest appear in Hesiod (Op. 171) as the placewhere the lineage the demigods went in illo tempore, when theydisappeared from the Earth. In a passage which has very probably beeninterpolated, it is stated that Cronus is the king of that realm, whichprobably does not mean anything but the fact that their dethronedcelestial king lives in the same place as the race contemporaneous with

his kingdom.268

Pindar also mentions an Isle of the Blest,269

describing itas a place to which certain privileged human beings go, although nolonger the race of the demigods from Hesiod. The divinity with whomthey are now connected is Rhadamanthys.270 The Boeotian poet seemsto have mingled Homeric and Hesiodic concepts, such as Elysium, withOrphic ideas. Plato assimilates this synthetic vision offered by Pindar,but adds another tale that seems to be his own; he points out that in thetime of Cronus and the early days of Zeus reign, legal disputes were not

judged correctly because in old days man were judged while they yetlived, and by living judges. Zeus then decreed that henceforth soulsshould be judged after death and naked, stripped from everything that

the rays of the sun, /the insolent, are brought down below Kokytos /to the chillyhorrors of Tartarus, transl. by W. K. C. Guthrie.267 Alberto Bernab and Ana Isabel Jimnez San Cristbal, ed, Instructions for theNetherworld: The Orphic Gold Tablets(Leiden: Brill, 2008).268Martin L. West, Hesiod.Works and Days (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1978),commentary on 173a.269Pind. Ol. 2.70. Cf. Marco A. Santamara lvarez, !*+),+-.&%+,-$/&(+. Pndaro ylos misterios: edicin y comentario de la Olmpica Segunda (Tesis Doctoral,Salamanca, 2004); Marco A. Santamara lvarez, Pndaro y el orfismo, in Orfeo y latradicin rfica: un reencuentro, ed. Alberto Bernab and Francesc Casadess(Madrid: Akal, 2008), 1168ff.270

About the Isle of the Blest, cf. M.Martnez Hernndez, Del mito a la realidad: elconcepto makaron nesoi en Platn, Aristteles y Plutarco, in Plutarco, Platn yAristteles. Actas del V Congreso Internacional de la I. P. S., ed. A. Prez Jimnez, JosGarca Lpez andRosa Aguilar (Madrid: Ediciones Clsicas,1999), 95-110.


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disguised the category of their souls during their lifetimes. In order todo so, he assigned the task to three of his children:

Now I, knowing all this before you, have appointed sons of my own to bejudges; two from Asia, Minos and Rhadamanthus, and one from Europe,Aeacus. These, when their life is ended, shall give judgement in themeadow at the dividing of the road, whence are the two ways leading, oneto the Isles of the Blest, and the other to Tartarus. 271

The character of the judges is a recurrent theme in Plato. Theyappear in the other descriptions of the Netherworld referred to in thepresent paper (even in the Axiochus) and, aside from these, in other

noteworthy passages.In the Apology,272Socrates mentions a series of characters that he

considers it would be a privilege to see in Hades. The list starts withMinos, Rhadamanthys, Aeacus, and Triptolemus;273 he subsequentlyrefers to each and every demigod that was fair in life, and then hementions the poets, beginning with Orpheus. It is likely thatTriptolemus had been added by Plato to the list of those mentioned inGorgias to give an Eleusinian, and therefore Attic, nuance to it. Thereason for mentioning the judges is obvious: Socrates opposes thesereal judges to the false ones who have just condemned him. In the lightof this precise context, the reference in Gorgiasbecomes clearer, since it

insisted on the fallibility of the judges on this earth, who could bedeceived by the external look of human beings and, unlike the childrenof Zeus when they administer justice in Hades, were incapable ofdiscerning the truth in bare souls.

The trial of the souls is referred to again, both in the Seventh Letter,where it is attributed to ancient and sacred doctrine, and in a passageof Laws in which, discussing the norms on burials, there is a reminder

271Pl. Gorg.523e-524a, transl. by W. R. M. Lamb.272Pl.Apol. 41a (OF1076 I)273

In any case, as Santamara lvarez has suggested to me, orally, we do not haveto project necessarily on the Apology the eschatology present in Gorgias; Socratescould have been thinking that Minos, Rhadamanthys, and the others exercise theadministration of justice among the dead that is allocated to Minos in Od. 11.568


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that souls have to appear before the gods to be judged for theirbehaviour in this world.274

Therefore, the presence of the judges is an idea dear to Plato, butone that has no precedent, that we know of, in Orphic texts. The themeof the scales for weighing souls is characteristic of Egyptian religionand is not widespread in the Greek world, but resurfaces in Christianitythroughout the Middle Ages. We do find the theme of scales in theGreek world in ancient times as early as Homer, there, however, it isused not in the context of weighing the actions of the soul upon death,but rather the fates (kere) of one hero against another, i.e., in order to

determine which of the contenders is going to die.275

Minos, too,appears in Homer, but in order to settle disputes between the dead (Od.11.568). Later, we find a reference in Pindar to the trial of souls in theNetherworld.276

Only one testimony considered to be Orphic presents a trial ofsouls. It is in the remains of a codex from the second or third centuryCE, contained within the collection of papyri in Bologna, in which therewere parts of a hexametric poem (OF 717). We do not know the time ofthe work nor its author. According to its style, it seems to be a poemfrom Roman times,277 whose author some specialists place around thesecond or third century CE,278whereas others prefer to place him in the

Judaic environment of Alexandrian Hellenism.279It is, without a doubt, a

274Pl. Epist. 7.335a (OF433 I); Leg. 959b.275Cf. Il.22.208-213. A similar scene was probably narrated in a lost epic poem, the

Aithiopis, if, as it seems, this was the source for Aeschylus tragedy ;?%)?9)TheWeighing of Souls, cf. Stefan Radt, Tragicorum Graecorum Fragmenta, vol. 3 Aeschylus(Gttingen: Vandenhoeck & Ruprecht, 1985), 347ff.276Pind. Ol.2.59-60.277Lloyd-Jones Parsons , Hugh Lloyd-Jones and P. J. Parsons, Iterum de CatabasiOrphica, inKyklosGriechisches und Byzantinisches. Rudolf Keydell zum 90. Geburtstag,ed. Hans.-G. Beck, Athanasios Kambylis and Paul Moraux (Berlin: De Gruyter,1978), 88-108.278A.Vogliano, Il papiro bolognese Nr. 3,Acme5 (1952): 394.279

Aldo Setaioli, Nuove osservazioni sulla descrizione delloltretomba nel papirodi Bologna, SIFC 42 (1970): 179- 224; Aldo Setaioli, Limagine delle bilance e ilgiudizio dei morti, SIFC 44 (1972): 38-54 and Aldo Setaioli, Ancora a proposito delpapiro bolognese n. 4, SIFC 45 (1973): 124-133.


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katabasis from which mythological names are absent; as such, is closerto a theological poem, and probably Orphic.280Even though this matterhas not been finally resolved,281the arguments in favour of its being anOrphic poem are quite solid.282It contains a description of the rewardsand punishments in the Netherworld, which bears very interestingsimilarities with Book VI of Virgils Aeneid. In a section, which,unfortunately, is in a poor state of preservation, we find the followingverse-ends:

] they gave in to fatal necessity283] and those without shame, but from their former Vanity

] and forget their courage 75] and taking up its flight it stopped] to others284that go in the opposite direction] from Earth others arrived] a tranquil path, but neither this one] was better than the other 80] raising the scales with his hand] attributing the correct sentence] she obeyed the voice of the divinity] upon hearing words of the God.] Carrying?285 85

The sequence of events in the passage can be easily reconstructed.Seemingly, some souls have already been judged and condemned (v.74). It is probable that the reference to oblivion in v. 75 is due to thefact that they have drunk the water of Lethe, which makes them forgetthe ancient courage they used to have in life.

280 Reinhold Merkelbach, Eine orphische Unterweltsbeschreibung auf Papyrus,MusHelv 8 (1951): 1-11.281Vogliano 1952, 385; 393.282Cf. Giovanni Casadio, Adversaria Orphica et Orientalia, SMSR 52 (1986): 294f.283 It refers to the necessity that forces the soul to reincarnate under certainconditions. The idea is already present in Emped. fr. 107 Wright (= B 115 D.-K., OF

449).284Probably souls.285 P. Bonon. (OF 717) 73-85, cf. Alberto Bernab, Hieros logos. Poesa rfica sobre losdioses, el alma y el ms all(Madrid: Akal, 2003), 281ff.


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In verses 77 and 79 two paths are mentioned, one goingdownwards, the path of the deceased, and another upwards, of those tobe reincarnated. There is a reference further on (v. 78) to the arrival ofother souls, most likely those who have just died, and from v. 81onwards there is a description of the trial of souls, in which a divinityuses the scales and pronounces the sentence, which the soul listens toand obeys (83-84).

Since there is an absence of judges in those texts which are firmlydated to the fifth to the third centuries BCE, we cannot help but thinkthat the presence of the judges in the Netherworld in the poem of the

Bologna Papyrus is a late addition to Orphic tradition, most likely fromthe tradition followed first by Pindar and later by Plato. The closestresemblance to a judge in the gold tablets is Persephone herself, who,according to one from Thurii (4thcentury BCE), decides whether or nota soul arriving before her as a suppliant will go to the dwellings of thepure286.

While the judges do not appear in ancient Orphic sources, themeadow and the crossroads, however, are present in the Orphic tablets;I will return to this point when analysing the eschatological myth of theRepublic.

The most interesting question arising in reference to theeschatology of Gorgiasis whether or not the myth, as is it is narrated byPlato, presupposes the reincarnation of the soul. Dodds considers that,despite not being explicitly mentioned, this belief is implicit in thereferences to mistrust and oblivion in 493c, as well as to thecontemplation of the sufferings of great sinners in 525c, which couldonly be a lesson to souls if they were to return to our world.287Annas,on the contrary, maintains that the Platonic tale contradicts that idea288and believes, following Irwin,289that the passage is meaningful withouthaving to assume that the lessons learnt by the deceased are intendedbe useful in this world. According to her, the myth in Gorgias is more

286

OF489-490.6-7, cf. Bernab and Jimnez San Cristbal 2008, 115f.287Dodds 1959, 303, 375, 381.288Annas 1982, 124f.289Terence H. Irwin, Plato. Gorgias(Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1979), 248.


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meaningful if there is a definitive trial, which would be a betterdeterrent for wicked behaviour.

I think a compromise solution, or at least a less radical one, can beachieved in the debate. It is a fact that the dialogue only refers to whathappens after the trial of a lifetime, without any references to furtherreincarnations, but it is also true (pace Annas) that nothing in theGorgias contradicts the possibility that, after suffering punishments inTartarus, the soul is given a second chance to undo its mistakes, afterone or several reincarnations. It is very likely that Socrates primaryaim was to dissuade Callicles, and therefore he underlines both the

primary scheme injustice-punishment, as well as the use of theeschatological tale as an incentive to be fair, rather than underliningreincarnation, which is irrelevant for the purpose of this myth andwhich could even weaken his argument, since it would leave room forCallicles to postpone to later lives the possibility of improving his moralcondition.

III . THE BEYOND IN PH EDOPlato presents a different eschatological vision in Phaedo.290

Although the myth itself starts in 107c ff., Socrates explains its raisondetrea while earlier:

I am of good hope thet there is a future for those that have died, and, asindeed we have long been told, a far better future for the good than forthe evil.291

290 Cf. John S. Morrison The Shape of the Earth in Platos Phaedo, Phronesis 4(1959): 101-119; William M. Calder The Spherical Earth in Platos Phaedo,Phronesis13 (1968): 121-125; M. S. Funghi Il mito escatologico del Fedone e la forzavitale dell)@A*), PP35 (1980): 176-201; Peter Kingsley,Ancient Philosophy, Mystery,and Magic. Empedocles and Pythagorean Tradition (Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1995),79ff.; Jean-Franois Pradeau, Le monde terrestre: le modle cosmologique dumythe final du Phdon, RPhil 186 (1996): 75-195; Stefania Mancini, Uninsegnamento segreto (Plat. Phaed. 62b), QUCC 90 (1999): 153-168; Edmonds 2004;

Bernab 2006; Gbor Betegh, Eschatology and Cosmology: Models and Problems,in La costruzione del discorso filosofico nelet dei Presocratici, ed.Maria Michela Sassi(Pisa: Edizioni della Normale, 2006), 27-50.291Pl. Phaed. 63c, transl. by R. Hackforth.


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The context justifying the myth is, therefore, Socrates wish toexplain to his disciples why he is not afraid of death and why they, too,should not be afraid for him. The ambiguous expression as indeed wehave long been told (B?(-*C- D)E (F#)+ #GC-%)+) does not clearlyexpress the source of this supposition, but it suggests, once again, anancient doctrine (()#)+H3#IC;3).

The preparation for this final eschatology continues throughoutthe whole dialogue, though a bit further on it again becomes the focusof the argumentation:

JWell then, my friend, said Socrates, Jif that is true, I may well hope that

when I have reached the place whither I am bound I shall attain in fullmeasure, there at last, that for which I have spent the effort of a lifetime;wherefore it is with good hope that I set upon the journey now appointedfor me, as may any man who deems that his mind is made ready andpurified.292

Socrates is using mystical language, albeit reinterpreted inphilosophical terms. Orphic mystai, upon arriving in Hades, proclaimedtheir purity, as a result of which they gained access to a privilegeddwelling in the Netherworld, as we know from a gold tablet from Thuriidating to the 4thcentury BCE.

I come from among the pure, pure, queen of the subterranean beings. 293

Similarly, Socrates thinks that his purity guarantees him a similarprivilege to that promised to the Orphic believers, although the state ofpurity for him is achieved otherwise: not by means of a ritual, but bypractising philosophy. Instead of soul (K=>L) he speaks of mind(,+$';+)), because the cognitive conception of the soul predominates inthis part of the dialogue.294

The philosopher even admits the possibility that the Orphics wereright in their eschatological ideas, provided that they are understood ina particular manner:

292

Pl. Phaed. 67b, transl. by R. Hackforth.293OF 489-490.1.294 R. Hackforth, Platos Phaedo, translated with an introduction and commentary(Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1955), 52 n. 1.


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And it may well be that those persons to whom we owe the institution ofmystery-rites are not to be despised, inasmuch as they have in fact longago hinted at the truth by declaring that all such as arrive in Hadesuninitiated into the rites shall lie in mud, while he that comes therepurified and initiated shall dwell with the gods. For truly, as theirauthorities tell us, there areMany carry the wand, but Bacchants few are amongst them;where by JBacchants I understand them to mean simply those who havepursued philosophy aright.295

And a bit further on he refers again to Orphic ideas, this time totransmigration:

And we may put our question like this: do the souls of men that havedeparted this life exist in Hades or do they not? Now there is an ancientdoctrine that comes into my mind, that souls which have come from thisworld exist in the other, and conversely souls come and are born into thisworld from the world of the dead.296

Thus, Socrates has been preparing throughout the dialogue for thefinal eschatology, that will rest upon these two pillars: the relationexisting between initiationunderstood as philosophy , the rewards inthe Netherworld, and the theory of transmigration of the souls.

In the eschatological tale itself, Socrates, after arguing that, sincethe soul is immortal, it is not freed from its wickedness at death (107c),

starts describing its path to the Netherworld, introducing the tale withit is said, hiding thus the sources once more. There is a certainagreement in considering the myth as a construction upon variousmaterials, among which the Orphic ones are not dominant, and I am notgoing to enter into discussions about what is the sense of this myth inPlato.297 I would rather focus on describing its general lines and onpinpointing the elements that could be Orphic, according to theavailable sources on this religious movement.

Plato refers to certain guides:

295Pl. Phaed.69c (OF 434 III, 576 I), transl. by R. Hackforth.296

Pl. Phaed. 70c (OF428), transl. by R. Hackforth.297See the recent survey, with profuse bibliography, of the state of the question inEnrique ngel Ramos Jurado, Platn.Apologa de Scrates. Fedn, edicin revisada,traduccin, introduccin y notas (Madrid: Civitas ediciones, 2002), 196-198.


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Now this is the story: when a man has breathed his last, the spirit(,)9M&') to whom each was alloted in life proceeds to conduct him to acertain place, and all they that are gathered must abide their judgement,and thereafter journey to Hades in company with that guide whose officeit is to bring them from this world unto that other.298

There is no mentioning of guides in the gold tablets.299 Untilrecently, the only thing related to these daimoneswas a passage in theDerveni Papyrus, col. III 4, in which something was read along the lines ofeach of us having a daimon as a sort of guarding angel avant la lettre.However, it was found out that the disposition of the fragments of the

first three columns contained mistakes and now the column is readotherwise.300 Nonetheless, three columns later, in the same papyrus,some sort of daimones that hinder the soul in its path to theNetherworld are also mentioned, as the object of rituals carried out bysome professionals called magoi:

For prayers and sacrifices placate souls. An incantation by magoican dislodge daimonesthat have become a hindrance; daimonesthat area hindrance are vengeful souls.301

We can attest, therefore, that at least according to some Orphicinterpretations, there seemed to have been a belief in the interventionof certain intermediaries, so-called daimones, that hindered souls intheir path to the Netherworld, though they could be placated, and

eventually turn favourable. Unfortunately, the details of these beliefsare very poorly known.

The fact is that numerous non-Orphic texts mention daimones,often personal ones, which could have a function similar to thatdescribed by Plato. It is, therefore, a tradition that precedes Plato andthat continues much longer afterwards. Heraclitus seems to know thisidea already and contradicts it by considering that this daimon is

298Pl. Phaed. 107d, transl. by R. Hackforth.299Although William Keith C Guthrie, Orpheus and Greek Religion, 2nd ed. (London:Methuen,1952), 176 thinks that we can find them in the person who pronounces

some of the words in the tablets, which is unlikely.300 P.Derv. col. III, cf. Richard Janko, Reconstructing (again) the Opening of theDerveni Papyrus, ZPE166 (2008): 3751.301P.Derv. col. VI 1-4, transl. by R. Janko.


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nothing but each persons character.302 Menander mentions a daimonthat accompanies each person from the moment of birth303 and evenMarcus Aurelius often speaks about a certain ,)9M&'N#-&3, private andintimate.304

What it is particular about this eschatological version in Phaedo isthat the trial is somehow dimmed and there is no reference to the

judges, by contrast to other versions in which each soul faces its trialalone. There is, on the contrary, a sort of corporation of souls thataccepts or rejects those arriving, whereupon it is borne by constraintto the dwelling-place meet for it.305This corporation bears a strong

resemblance to the thiasoi of the mystai (M=?%O':+$?;=3) mentionedin the gold tablet from Pherai, recently published306. The philosopherdepersonalises the process, referring to a trial, without mentioning the

judges, and states that the souls go where they are appointed to,without precisely saying who appoints them, aside from abstractreferences to constraint or destiny.

Next, we find another novelty: a long and exhaustive description ofthe world, in which the Netherworld is integrated. According to thephilosopher, we inhabit cavities of an immense land, thinking we are onthe surface. There are many similarities between this description andthe double plane described in the myth of the cavern 307, where we also

302 Heraclit. fr. 94 Marc. (22 B 119 D.-K.) P:;3 Q':*A(&+ ,)9M&'. Cf. KyriakosTsantsanoglou, The First Columns of the Derveni Papyrus and their ReligiousSignificance, in Studies on the Derveni papyrus, ed. Andr Laks and Glenn W. Most(Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1997), 105 and Kouremenos in TheokritosKouremenos, George M. Parssoglou and Kyriakos Tsantsanoglou, The DerveniPapyrus(Firenze: Casa Editrice Leo S. Olschki, 2006), 146.303Menand. fr. 50 K.-A.304Marc. Aur. 3.16, 8.45, 12.3. Also Porph. Vit. Plotin. 10 refers to a ;@D-9;=,)9M;';3D)#;=M2';=.305Pl. Phaed.108c, transl. by R. Hackforth.306 R. Parker and M. Stamatopoulou, A new funerary gold leaf from Pherai, AE(2004): 1-32, Franco Ferrari and Lucia Prauscello, Demeter Chthonia and the

Mountain Mater in New Gold Tablet from Magoula Mati, ZPE162 (2008): 193-202,Alberto Bernab, Some Thoughts about the New Gold Tablet from Pherai, ZPE166 (2008): 53-58.307Pl. Rep.514a ff.


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believe that we are in the real world, although, in reality, we are underit, in a different one. In the myth of Phaedo, communication betweencavities is made through holes through which rivers also flow betweenthem.308

One of the parts of the earth corresponds to what the poets callTartarus, and Plato quotes Homer309to this respect. However, Aristotlescommentary on this passage seems to imply that the inspiration of thisdetail of infernal geography comes rather from an Orphic poem310. Thispoint seems to be endorsed by the long passage on the infernal rivers,the Acheron, that flows into the Acherusiad lake, the Pyriphlegethon

and the Kokytos.311

The source for this fantastic and detaileddescription cannot be Homer, less in its bare minimum, since the poetonly makes a brief reference to the rivers upon mentioning the doors ofHades (Od.10.513f.):

There into Acheron flow Puriphlegethonand Kokytos, which is a branch of the water of the Styx.

The brevity of the Homeric reference may suggest that Plato couldhave also found inspiration in Orphic sources although, needless to say,the vast majority of literary ornamentation in the description is clearlyhis.

Indeed, Orphics were interested in the description of infernal

dwellings, according to a remark in Damascius commentary to thePlatonic passage, which is itself based on a previous one by Proclus,

308 Pl. Phaed. 111d. The reference of this happening in a crater has lead somescholars (Martin L. West, The Orphic Poems (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1983),10-13; Kingsley 1995, 133-147) to purport an Orphic influence. Possible as it mightbe, it is based on a circular argument: we hardly know anything about the OrphicCrater and, in order to reconstruct it, we use the evidence in Platos texts, forwhich it would be necessary to claim that the philosophers texts derive from theformer. Neither instance can be proved.309Il.8.14.310 Pl. Phaed. 111e-12a (OF 27 I), Aristot. Meteor. 355b 34 (OF 27 II). Cf. Kingsleys

subtle argumentation in Kingsley 1995, 126f in order to defend the Orphic origin ofthis reference. Already Guthrie 21952, 168f., noticed the Orphic vocabulary of thePlatonic passage, but did not take into consideration Aristotles words.311Pl. Phaed.112e-113c.


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where it was firmly asserted that Plato had found inspiration in Orphicpoems:

The four rivers here described correspond, according to thetradition by Orpheus, to the four subterranean elements and the fourcardinal points in two sets of opposites: the Pyriphlegethon to fire andthe east, the Kokytos to earth and the west, the Acheron to air and thesouth. These are arranged in this way by Orpheus, it is thecommentator (i.e. Proclus) who associates the Oceanus with water andthe north.312

In another passage, Damascius even quotes to this respect an

Orphic poem (which must be the Rhapsodies):The four rivers are the four elements in Tartarus: the Oceanus, acordingto commentator (i. e. Proclus), is water, the Kokytos or Stygius earth, thePyriphlegethon fire, the Acheron air. Opposite to Pyriphlegethon is theStygius (hot against cold), opposite the Oceanus is the Acheron (wateragainst air); hence Orpheus [OF342] calls Lake Acheron Lake Aeria.313

From the perspective of this discussion, the most interestingaspect of Damascius comment is his remark that Proclus used for hisinterpretation of infernal geography a poem attributed to Orpheus, inwhich there was apparently a reference to the four rivers inconjunction with the description of the destiny of souls in Netherworld.

Since the poet calls the lake of AcheronAeria, nebula, it is only logicalthat Proclus related the Acheron to aer (nebulose air). The namePyriphlegethon made its identification with fire obvious. And thus theNeoplatonic philosopher ends up identifying the other two rivers withthe other two elements.

Plato tells us that the souls of most of the deceased arrive to theAcherusian Lake and that, once they have spent time there, which isapportioned more or less depending on each case, they arereincarnated again.314 I find it particularly interesting that thephilosopher relates this part of the description of infernal geography to

312

Damasc. in Pl. Phaed. 1.541 (277 Westerink) (OF341 II), transl. by L. G. Westerink.313 Damasc. in Pl. Phaed. 2.145 (363 Westerink) (OF 341 6V y 342), transl. by L. G.Westerink.314Pl. Phaed.113a.


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the theory of the metempsychosis, describing a sort of Purgatoryavant la lettre. We do not know whether this specific point was alreadypresent in the Orphic tradition or whether it is an innovation exclusiveto Plato; the latter seems more plausible to me, since there is no Orphicevidence to suggest otherwise.

The two following fragments referring to the Styx are also fromOrphic infernal descriptions, though filtered through Neoplatonicinterpretation:

The theologians give evidence that Oceanus is the source of allmovement, stating that it makes ten currents burst, nine out of which

flow to the sea315

.

And here Numenius (fr. 36 Des Places) and the interpreters of the hiddensense of Pythagoras understand as semen the river Ameles in Plato (Rep.621a) and Styx in Hesiod (Th. 361) and in the Orphics.316

Both passages clearly show the interpretation of Orphic texts inthe hands of those who pretend they have a hidden sense, rather thantheir real content, about which we are very poorly informed. Thesecond interpretation, in particular, seems to refer back to the pointthat, after arriving to the Styx, the soul can be reincarnated again,which leads Numenius to identify allegorically the role of the lake asseed for the growth of a new life with that of semen.

Finally, Plato states (Phaed. 113d) that the dead, arriving towherever their daimon takes them, are put on trial, without indicatingbefore whom, and that some are purified in the Lake of Acheron, whileothers, hopeless, are thrown into Tartarus, from which they wouldnever escape. After a certain amount of information, the philosopherrefers as expected to those who have led holy lives. They are freed fromthose places inside Earth as from jail, and they dwell on the surface ofthe earth, the philosophers being those who live without bodies and

315Procl.in Pl. Tim.III 180.8 Diehl (OF343). The tenth is Styx, cf. Hes. Th. 789-791: A

tenth part (of Oceanus) is immediately set aside, but nine around Earth and thewide side of the sea, making them twist in a silver swirl, are flown into the sea.The plural the theologians comprises, apparently, Orpheus and Hesiod.316Porphyr. ad Gaurum2.2.9 (34.26 Kalbfleisch, OF344).


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attain to habitation even fairer than those others. There are noparallels to this elaboration and we should therefore consider itPlatonic. For Socrates, the conclusion is that this is the reason why oneshould partake of virtue and wisdom throughout life, for the prize isglorious, and great is our hope thereof.317

Thus, the eschatological point of view in Phaedois conditioned bothby the nearness of Socrates death and the reasons for his personaltranquillity before this difficult moment.

Most likely, one of the reasons for the inclusion in the dialogue of acomplex cosmology is Platos inclination to create powerful imagery.

His main purpose, however, seems to be situating the places where thesoul receives rewards and punishments somewhere in the general mapof the universe.318 In order to configure it, the philosopher has partlytaken inspiration from images already existing in the poetic tradition,though he has also taken advantage of new scientific ideas about theshape of the world.

The presence of a daimonaccompanying the soul is also a noveltywith respect to other eschatologies. This novelty is within a tradition Ihave already made references to which, on the other hand, is not faraway from something divine and demonic (:-RS' %+ D)E ,)+MS'+;')that seems to refer to Socrates conscience.319 We can see, once more,that the whole presentation of the Netherworld is made with thedestiny of the philosopher in mind.

On the other hand, Plato clearly underlines in this eschatology thetransmigration of souls, while the trial, as such, appears undefined,with no mention even of judges. Both circumstances seem strange toAnnas,320 who considers that the philosopher has not successfullycombined reincarnation and the final judgement myth, although theauthor herself points out that Plato is thus expressing important truthson the relation between body and soul. I think that these twocharacteristics, an emphasis on the transmigration and the minimum

317

Pl. Phaed. 114c, transl. by R. Hackforth.318Cf. Annas 1982, 126.319Pl.Apol. 31cd, cf. Plut. De gen. Socr.10 p. 580C, 16 p. 585F.320Annas 1982, 127ff.


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relevance of the trial, fulfil the purpose of the eschatology in thedialogue: justifying Socrates hopes before death. The trial appearsimprecise because it is obvious that his life does not deserve anythingother than the best of destinies; the certainty that he is not going to bepunished permeates the whole dialogue. By contrast, the idea oftransmigration is pertinent in order to underline the concept that thebest fortune available to the soul is to abandon the body.321 Not onlythat, but the disciples who lament the prison and death of Socrates arenot conscious of the paradox that he is going to be immediately reallyfree, while they, seemingly free men, will remain prisoners of their

bodies and the miseries of life.322

Therefore, the clear addition of theidea of reincarnation provides a more optimistic message than that ofGorgias323, since even someone who is wicked and suffers punishmentwill have an opportunity for improvement further on. The outlook isdiscouraging for reprobates as well, but it brings hope in the long term.

How Orphic is this eschatology? Firstly, we should consider theinsertion of cosmological elements in the description of theUnderworld. The details of this cosmology coincide with those given inOrphic poems dedicated to the same topic, though Plato seems to haveclearly transcended a rather simplistic schema and has elaborated amuch more spectacular scenario; characters such as Adrasteia324 couldalso derive from Orphic sources. Secondly, the explicit relation betweentransmigration and rewards or punishments. The fact of receivingpunishment in the Netherworld does not substitute, but rathercomplements, the punishment of reincarnation, which implies furtheropportunities for reprobate souls. Thirdly, the references to daimonesthat act as guides in the Beyond.

Platonic transposition is evident, not only in the impressiveconstruction of Netherworld imagery, but also in the substitution of

321Annas 1982, 127.322Casadess 2008, 1268.323

In contrast to Annas 1982, 129, who believes that the introduction ofreincarnation ... blurs this message.324Adrasteia does not appear in Hesiod, but she does appear in Orphic sources: OF77, 208-211.


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initiation and ritualistic perspective for a moral concept andphilosophical initiation, as conditions to access eternal beatitude.

IV. ESCHATOLOGY IN THE REPUBLICPlato presents two sets of eschatological images in the Republic, in a

rather different manner. The first set is alien to him, since it isattributed to others and even criticised by the philosopher, who onlymentions it a couple of times: he attributes to Musaeus and his son aset up of rewards and punishments in the Beyond, the formerconsisting in a perpetual banquet and state of drunkenness for the

pious, and the latter, for the impious, in carrying water in a sieve andlying in mud.325 A second reference is made to teaching of a kind ofprofessionals who base their liberating rites on books by Musaeus andOrpheus.326 In neither reference does Plato add a description of theplace. He simply points out the difference in postmortem fortunebetween those who are initiated by these characters and those who arenot. It is clear that Plato does not share these doctrines that, as he seesit, have the serious fault of promising expiation of guilt by means of asimple ritual and of religious purity, something that for a philosopherof deep moral convictions such as himself, who is moreover trying todefine a model of city, becomes completely unacceptable.

At the end of dialogue, Plato explains his own eschatology in themyth of Er.327 This eschatology is presented, conversely, with greaterdetail and is, furthermore, the corollary to the work and the base thatsustains the political system proposed in it. Since for the Greeks a

325Pl. Rep. 363cd (OF431 I, 434 I).326 Pl. Rep. 364be (OF 573 I). Cf. also the reference to those people who, uponbecoming old, start fearing that that some myths told about the punishments tothe unfair in Hades, about which they used to laugh, were really true. Pl. Rep. 330d(OF433 III).327Pl. Rep. 614b-621b. Cf. Hilda Richardson, The Myth of Er (Plato, Republic616b),CQ 20 (1926): 115-131; Jean-Pierre Vernant, Le fleuve Amles et la Mlt

thanatou, in Mythe et pense chez les grecs(Paris: F. Maspero,1965), 79-94; GretchenSchils, Platos myth of Er: the light and the spindle, AC 62 (1993): 101-114;Angelica Fago, Il mito di Er: il mondo come caverna e lAde come regnoluminoso di Ananke, SMSR51 (1994): 183-218.


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completely new set of images would have been strange and scarcelyconvincing, Plato, albeit with modifications, models his vision uponpre-existing elements, some of which are Orphic.

The stated aim of the story (614a) is that each one picks up fromthis discourse what he wants to listen to, a sentence that, within thepolitical context of the Republic, indicates that the eschatology clearlyfollows political and moral purposes, in order to support everything hehas been so far arguing for in his masterpiece about the ideal city andits perfect citizens.

The main character of Platos tale is a Pamphylian called Er, who,

after being killed in action, had the privilege of being allowed to returnfrom the Netherworld twelve days after his own death, in order to tellwhat he had seen. It would seem that the philosopher wants to give histale a veneer of truth by making his character emulate Orpheus himselfin his visit to the Beyond and his return to describe what happensthere; the necessity of Ers return is given even greater authority, bythe fact that the gods themselves have commissioned him to do it. Histale is presented, therefore, as a direct message from the gods, aimed atcorrecting the false one given by Orpheus328. Er describes a wonderfulplace in which there are apertures and certain judges who send thepious up to the right and the impious down to the left. The place whereErs soul arrives is defined as a meadow a little bit further on 329, whenEr describes a continuous transit of souls coming and going, greetingeach other and chatting vivaciously. Of these, the ones coming fromunderground, that is, from the place of condemnation, mention(without specifics) terrible sufferings, while the ones coming fromheaven tell of visions of indescribable beauty. Er specifies that soulsexpiate their crimes and misdemeanours ten times for each one andeach time for a hundred years and that those who are good receivecompensation in the same proportion. After narrating the particularlyviolent punishments that await tyrants, personified in Ardieus, Platoprovides a wonderful vision of the whole universe, turning on thespindle of Necessity (Ananke) exhaustively described, filled with

328Pl. Rep.614b (OF 461).329Pl. Rep.614e.


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traditional figures, such as the Sirens and the Moirai, who aretransposed to a completely new setting. All of this bears littleresemblance to the Orphic universe.330

Lachesis announces to the souls that in their mortal condition theywill begin a new temporary journey, for which each of them can choosetheir destiny, and lots are drawn for taking turns to choose. The firstsoul chooses the life of a tyrant, which it immediately regrets. It cannotbut be meaningful that Orpheus appears in Ers tale precisely at thispoint, in a gallery of famous characters from literature and mythology.Plato humorously presents him as choosing the life of a swan due to his

hatred of women.331

It is at this point that alien eschatological imageryreappears:

And then without a backward look it passed beneath the throne ofNecessity (T'$CDU3). And after it had passed through that, when theothers also had passed, they all journeyed to the Plain of Oblivion(VL:U3), through a terrible and stifling heat, for it was bare of trees andall plants, and there they camped at eventide by the River of Fortetfulness(TM2#U%)) whose waters no vessel can contain. They were all required todrink a measure of the water, and those who were not saved by their goodsense drank more than the measure, and each one as he drank forgot allthings.332

Once they have drunk the water, the souls go to rest in preparation

for their new life on earth to which they return at midnight. Er, who isexempt, is told not to drink the water and finds himself resuscitatedin his own body. The dialogue concludes with an exhortation from

330 Ananke appears in some Orphic fragments (OF 77, 210, 250), but without anyrelation, that we know of, with the cycle of souls. On the other hand, WalterBurkert, Le laminette auree: da Orfeo a Lampone, in Orfismo in Magna Grecia. Attidel XIV Convegno di Studi sulla Magna Grecia, Taranto 6-10 ott. 1974 (Naples:ISAMG, 1975), 98, relates the fact that those who are going to be reborn go underthe throne of the goddess to the expression found in a golden tablet in Thurii (4th

c. BCE): OF 488.7 I went under the lap of the underground queen, which alsobears clear connotations of a rite of rebirth.331Pl. Rep. 620a (OF1077 I), cf. 1.5.332Pl. Rep 620e-621a (OF 462), transl. by P. Shorey.


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Socrates to practice justice in order to be compensated in theNetherworld.

In order to evaluate the possibility that Plato was using an Orphicmodel, I present herewith the most important document for ourknowledge of Orphic eschatology of the time, the gold tablet found inHipponium (Vibo Valentia) dated around 400 BCE:

This is the work of Mnemosyne. When he is on the point of dyingtoward the well-built abode of Hades, on the right there is a fountainand near it, erect, a white cypress tree.There the souls, when they go down, refresh themselves.

Dont come anywhere near this fountain!But further on you will find, from the lake of Mnemosynewater freshly flowing. On its banks there are guardians.They will ask you, with sagacious discernmentwhy you are investigating the darkness of gloomy Hades.Say: I am the son of Earth and starry Heaven;I am dry with thirst and dying. Give me, then, right away,fresh water to drink from the lake of Mnemosyne.And to be sure, they will consult with the subterranean queen,and they will give you water to drink from the lake of Mnemosyne,So that, once you have drunk, you too will go along the sacred wayby which the other mystai and bacchoi advance, glorious.333

Guthrie, who has outlined the similarities to be found between the

infernal setting described by Plato and the one presented in the Orphicgold tablets, thinks that both religious schemes can be equated334and,thus, he attributes to the Orphics the idea that, once the body dies, thesouls go to Hades, where they are brought before infernal judges, whowould determine their later destiny taking into account their conductduring their life on Earth, so the wicked ones are punished while thegood ones attain happiness. The souls that have to be reincarnated

333 OF 474, cf. Bernab and Jimnez San Cristbal 2008, 9ff., where other similargolden tablets, slightly later, are to be found alongside a detailed commentary.334 Guthrie 21952, 177f., following Jane Ellen Harrison, Prolegomena to the study of

Greek Religion(Cambridge: Cambridge University Press,

3

1922), 599. Neither authorcould have access to the golden tablet from Hipponium, published much later, butthey did know the one from Petelia (4th c. BCE), very similar to the former ( OF476), cf. Bernab and Jimnez San Cristbal 2008, 10f.


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must drink the water of oblivion in order to forget their previousexistence, they are thus returned to body and born again.

It seems clear that Guthries reconstruction of Orphic version ofthe souls journey is a mere transposition of the Platonic description,which takes it for granted that the Attic philosopher faithfully followedthe Orphic model.

Guthries assessment notwithstanding, everything in fact suggeststhat the parallels between the Platonic description and the referencesin the tablets are only superficial. The geography coincides, but onlyin part: shared elements are the fountain of Lethe, the paths on both

sides, the plain in which the soul experiences great thirst, and themeadow, mentioned in some Orphic tablets as the place in which theblessed dwell. We may also compare a tablet from Thurii and anotherfrom Pherai (Thessaly), both dated to the 4th century BC:

Hail, hail; take the path to the righttowards the sacred meadows and groves of Persephone.335Enter into the sacred meadow, since the initiate is free frompunishment.336

Yet there are profound differences. Plato tells us nothing of thedeceptive cypress tree. The disposition of the paths in his account isdifferent and has a different function, while his meadow is a mere point

of transit, as contrasted with the place to which privileged souls arrivein the gold tablets. Moreover, there is no reference in the latter to anyjudges, but rather to guardians who wait for the soul to give them apassword before allowing them to enter. Further on, moreover,Persephone herself is the one who decides whether to allow the newlyarrived soul to access the blissful place or not.

Above all, however, there are two distinct eschatological schemes.In Plato, we hear of a judgment, after which the soul, completelypassive, is judged, rewarded or condemned, and is taken to its allottedplace. Its fate is decided, for the sins or good deeds of its past life will beits only credentials. The person who is judged and approved goes toElysium for his merits. If the deceased is condemned to reincarnation,

335OF487.5-6.336OF493.


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he is given water from Lethe to drink. By contrast, in the schemedescribed in the tablets, the soul, which is active, finds itself faced by atest which it must overcome. In the moment of its transition to theother world the souls crucial goal must be to take the right path.Everything depends on this, and on its remembering what it must do:this is why the tablets are the work of Mnemosyne337, because she willhelp it to remember the teachings it has received. If it does what itshould do, it will be successful. If it makes a mistake, it will bereincarnated. In the Platonic text, a higher authority evaluates thesouls moral behavior during its terrestrial sojourn, while in the tablets

a ritual declaration on the past of the deceased seems to suffice.338

Furthermore, Plato conceives a heavenly place for the rewarded,in complete contrast to the space for the condemned, which is theUnderworld. Orphic eschatology, on the other hand, places bothrewards and punishments in Hades.

It is clear, then, that Plato freely re-elaborated on Orphic motifs inthe service of his own philosophical and literary interests, as, in fact, ishis normal procedure in dealing with inherited material. And it is alsoevident that the eschatology in the Republic, conceived as surpassingthe Orphic partly based on it, but adapted to embody clearphilosophical interests is by far the most masterfully achieved of all ofPlatos creations, as well as the culmination of his descriptions of theNetherworld.339

V. ESCHATOLOGY IN XIOCHUS

337 Cf. f. e. OF 474.1, and Orphic Hymns 77.9-10 MW?%)+3 M'LM' X(2C-+*- /-Y+2*;=%-#-%Z3. About Mnemosyne in the tablets, cf. Bernab and Jimnez San Cristbal2008, 15-19.338Only in the great tablet from Thurii (OF492, 4th century BC) can we find any

reference to behavior and retribution (Q'%)M;+[L) in accordance with it, but thereare many obscurities in the text.339Even the evidence from the Bologna Papyrus( 2) seems to indicate that Plato, ina sort of return twist, influenced the Orphics themselves.


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The pseudo-Platonic Axiochus provides a brief but intensedescription of the Netherworld.340 It occurs in the context of thearguments that Socrates that Axiochus, father of Clinias, should notfear death. Firstly, he demonstrates the evils that are left behind thanksto death, a reasoning that does not seem to impress the old man. Hethen discusses the survival of the soul and the happiness that awaits thegood in the Netherworld. Although the dialogue is not Platonic341, thispart is clearly inspired by other descriptions of the Beyond by theAthenian philosopher, and it is thus worthwhile to include it here. Thetale in the Axiochus is, significantly, put in the mouth of a certain

Gobrias, an Iranian magos who, quoting as his source some bronzetablets from the land of the Hyperboreans, tells that, after freeing itselffrom the body, the soul goes to Plutos realm. The author thereforesupports the tenet of the immortality of the soul and the idea thatdeath represents liberation from it. He adds a few cosmological andgeographical references. According to him, the earth occupies thecentral part of the universe and is surrounded by a sphere, whose upperhemisphere is the dwelling of the heavenly gods, and its lower one thedwelling of the infernal gods, and that behind doors with iron locks aretwo of the Netherworld rivers, the Acheron and the Kokytos. Oncethese rivers are crossed, there lies the plain of truth, where Minosand Rhadamanthys are to be found. It would seem that the author of

Axiochushas used elements from other eschatological descriptions, butreducing them to the minimum (two hemispheres, two rivers, two

judges).The trial of the souls also takes place there:

340 [Pl.] Axioch. 371a (OF 434 IX, 713 III). Cf. Jacques Chevalier, tude critique dudialogue pseudo-platonicien, lAxiochos sur la mort et sur limmortalit de lme(Lyon: A.

Rey, 1914); Maria Lucia Violante, Un confronto tra PBon. 4 e lAssioco. Lavalutazione delle anime nella tradizione orfica e platonica, CCC 5 (1981): 313-327.341 Cf. the extremely informative state of the question in Pilar Gmez Card,Axoco, in Platn. DilogosVII (Madrid: Gredos, 1992), 389-425.


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There are some judges sitting there, asking each one of the newly arrivedwhat sort of life they lead and what their habits were when theyinhabited their bodies. Lying is impossible.342

The expression inhabit their bodies, is interesting, in that itconceives the body as a sort of dwelling for the soul, without thenegative connotations of the Orphic grave or the Platonic prison.343We should also note the relevance of the moral schema according towhich the souls receive Netherworld treatment commensurate withtheir behaviour in this world. By contrast to his restraint in thedescription of infernal cosmology, the author describes in great detail

the two places to which the souls may go, one paradisiacal and theother horrifying.344Unlike Platonic eschatologies, in which we find very little

description of paradise, the author of the Axiochus gives a profusedescription of this locale; a locus amoenus in which, in addition to thestereotypical meadows, the symposium of the blessed and the ever-flowing spring, the quintessential cultural practices of the Greeks, arealso added: poetry, music and philosophy. Conversely, negative imagesare based on topoi about the damned: Danaids, Tantalus, Tityus andSisyphus, to which the author adds the torches of the Furies. AlthoughEleusis is mentioned, the images are in fact typical of Southern Italy.We find them in the decoration of Apulian ceramics of the fourthcentury BCE with motifs of the Netherworld,345 and they have certainprecedents in Pindars descriptions in some Threnoi and in the secondOlympian.346

342[Pl.]Axioch.371c.343Pl. Crat. 400c (OF430 I).344[Pl.]Axioch. 371c-372a (OF434 IX, 713 III).345 Cf. Marina Pensa, Rappresentazioni delloltretomba nella ceramica apula (Rome:Bretschneider, 1977); Christian Aellen, la recherche de lordre cosmique (Zrich:AKANTHUS, 1994); Bernab and Jimnez San Cristbal 2008, 195-203.346 On religion in Pindar, in general, cf. Emilio Surez de la Torre, Pndaro y la

religin griega, CFC(Gr) 3 (1993): 67-97; on its relation to Orphism, Hugh Lloyd-Jones, Pindar and the Afterlife, in Pindar, Fondation Hardt. Entretiens surlantiquit classique 17 (Vandoeuvres-Genve: Fondation Hardt, 1985), 245-283;Maria Cannat Fera, Pindarus. Threnorum fragmenta (Roma: Athenaeum, 1990),


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The Boeotian poet, in describing the locus amoenusof the blessed inthe Netherworld, adds athletics to the delights of paradise, inaccordance with the expectations of his clientele for the Epinikia.347 Insheer contrast, he also presents a horrifying description of the place ofthe damned,348and he also provides, in another passage, a brief outlineof the happy destiny of certain individuals in the Netherworld. 349

The first two Pindaric passages quoted are in threnoi, within theframework of a consolatioto the families of the deceased, which meansthat we do not know whether the reason for the presence of theseideas, as opposed to those developed by the poet in other works, which

are closer to traditional Olympian religion, are due to the literary genreto which the fragment belongs to or, more likely, were part of thereligious beliefs of the odes commissioner, whom the poet is trying toplease. This second possibility seems to be corroborated by thepresence of the very same ideas in an Epinikion, Olympian II, most likelybecause Theron of Acragas, the tyrant who commissioned the work,was sympathetic to the ideas of this religious circle.350Pindar refers tosomeone who administers justice underground, passing his judgementwith ineluctable hostility and points to the fact that some live anexistence without tears, whilst others undergo sufferings unbearable towitness.

Apart from the paradisiacal place, we also find here a reference tothe trial of souls and a passing reference to the punishments.

Finally, returning once more to the description in Axiochus, itseems that the initiated continue to practice in the Netherworld themysteries that have enabled them to reach the seat of the blessed. Inthis regard, Chevalier compared a fragment of Plutarch in which the

164ff., and Santamara lvarez 2004; 2008. Cf. also Gnther Zuntz, Persephone, ThreeEssays on Religion and Thought in Magna Graecia(Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1971), 83ff.and Alberto Bernab, Una cita de Pndaro en Platn Men.81b (Fr.133 Sn.-M.), inDesde los poemas homricos hasta la prosa griega del siglo IV d. C. Veintisis estudios

filolgicos, ed.Juan Antonio Lpez Frez (Madrid: Ediciones Clsicas, 1999), 239-259.347

Pind. fr.129 Maehl. = 58 Cannat Fera (OF439).348Pind. fr.130 Maehl. = 58b Cannat Fera (OF440).349Pind. fr. 143 Maehl. (OF 446).350Pind. Ol. 2.56 (OF445).


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%-#-%)9 are identified with death, based upon an etymology thatidentifies %-#-%L with %-#-=%L death, in which we also findinteresting parallels with the outlook presented inAxiochus.351

In theAxiochus, the place for punishment is Tartarus, but the placefor rewards is not determined by a geographic space, but rather bythose who inhabit it. It is thus the region of the pious. This expressioncoincides with those characteristic of the Orphic gold tablets, whichrefer to a path in which the other mystai and bacchoi gloriouslyadvance (OF 474.15-16), to a place over which the souls will reignalongside the rest of the heroes (OF 476.11), to a space underground

where the blessed souls go as a result of having celebrated the teletai(having fulfilled the same rites as the other fortunate people [OF485.7]), to the thiasus of the mystai (OF 493a), to the thiasus of theright (OF487.2)352, to the dwellings of the pure (OF 489.7) or to thesacred meadow, where the mystes is free from punishment (OF493).These places are always defined by the company of the other initiatedand by their happiness, not as clearly defined geographic spaces.

VI. RECAPITULATION AND COMPARISONS

351

Plu. fr. 178 Sandbach (OF 594). Cf. Chevalier 1914. See also Burkert 1975, 96;Francisco Dez de Velasco, Un problema de delimitacin conceptual en Historiade las Religiones: la mstica griega, in Imgenes de la Polis, ed. Domingo Plcido,Jaime Alvar, Juan M. Casillas and Csar Fornis (Madrid: Ediciones Clsicas, 1997),407-422; Christoph Riedweg, Initiation-Tod-Unterwelt: Beobachtungen zurKomunikationssituation und narrativen Technik der orphisch-bakchischenGoldblttchen, in Ansichten griechischer Rituale. Geburtstags-Symposium fr W.Burkert, ed. Fritz Graf (Stuttgart and Leipzig: Teubner, 1998), 367 n. 33; AlbertoBernab, La experiencia inicitica en Plutarco, in Misticismo y religiones mistricasen la obra de Plutarco, Actas del VII Simposio Espaol sobre Plutarco, ed. AurelioPrez Jimnez and Francesc Casadess (Madrid-Mlaga: Ediciones Clsicas, 2001),10ff.; Alberto Bernab, Los terrores del ms all en el mundo griego. La respuestarfica, in Miedo y religin, ed. Francisco Dez de Velasco (Madrid: Ediciones del

Orto, 2002), 326.352 It is a new reading provided by Marco Antonio Santamara, included, like OF493a, in the addenda et corrigenda to OF II 3 and in Bernab and Jimnez SanCristbal 2008, 95-98 and 151-160.


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It is time to recapitulate and briefly compare the Platonic visions ofthe Netherworld with one other, and with what we know of Orphicimages of the afterlife. In order to do so, I will unravel the differentelements in which they consist. To avoid excessive repetition in thequotes, I will refer to Gorg. 492e-493c as Gorg.1; to Gorg. 523a-527a asGorg.2; to the Orphic references to the destiny of the souls in theNetherworld in Phaed. 69c and 70c as Phaed.1; to the vision of theBeyond specified in Phaed. 107c ff. as Phaed.2; to the vision referred toin Rep.363c as Rep.1; to that offered in Rep.614a ff as Rep.2 and, finally,to the one referred to in Axioch.371a as Ax., on the understanding that

Gorg.1, Phaed.1 and Rep.1 are not Platonic, but rather reflections ofOrphic doctrines.All the images share, as a common denominator a belief in the

immortality of the soul, understood as the capacity to perceive andunderstand also in the Underworld. The occurrence, in some cases, ofphysical punishment (splashing about in the mud, carrying water in asieve, being burnt by torches), the conversations held by the souls, theenjoyment of meadows, rivers or food, give evidence of the extremedifficulty of imagining the soul as incorporeal; instead, it still has theappearance of the body that used to carry it, or at least, a corporalappearance. Plato coincides in this point with Orphic sources, and it is,moreover, a constant throughout history, from mediaeval images tofilms such as Ghost. It seems difficult for the human being to envisionanything else.

The idea of reincarnation is present in Phaed.1, Phaed.2 and Rep.2;it seems clear that it is absent from Ax., and is not expressly mentionedin the other sources, but in Gorg.1 and Rep.1 it seems to be implied,inasmuch as they reflect an Orphic point of view. Nor is it incompatiblewith Gorg.2. I have already explained this circumstance as a question ofemphases of certain aspects over others, according to the purposes ofeach dialogue.

In the case of the Orphic versions, the authorship of the tale isattributed to one of the sages in Gorg.1; to those who established the

teletai and to an ancient tale in Phaed.1 and to Musaeus and his sonin Rep.1. Plato avoids mentioning the name of Orpheus, but his shadowlingers over these versions; over the unmentioned source in Phaed.2


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(the expression it is being told refers to a former and ancienttradition) and over Gorg.2, that starts with Homer and is then followedby a tale of uncertain origin, deriving from an oral source (QDUD;A3in524a). The prestige of Orpheus is also evident from a passage in the

Apology, where the poets Orpheus and Musaeus are mentionedalongside the infernal judges. And even Er seems to be competing withOrpheus, who in his tale inhabits the Netherworld. By contrast, theauthor of Ax. chooses another exotic source, Gobrias the magos.

Platos Underworld myths coincide with Orphic eschatology in theidea that in the Netherworld souls can either go to a pleasant or an

unpleasant place, in contrast to the Homeric tradition, widely acceptedin classical Greece, of an equally sombre Hades for all the deceased.There is a great deal of variation, however, in the specific location ofthe places where good and bad souls go. In Gorg.1, Phaed.1 and Rep.1they are both in Hades. This corresponds to the idea expressed in theOrphic texts, which refer to unspecified spaces in Hades, characterisedas good or evil only by the type of souls that inhabit them. Gorg.2makes a distinction between the Isles of the Blest and Tartarus. Thisoccurs at the end of an adaptation of an idea previously found in Hesiodand developed by Pindar (Ol. 2.70-82). Rep. 2 mentions heaven andbelow. The latter could refer to Hades or Tartarus, but the referenceto heaven is not compatible with any Orphic sources. Ax. mentionsTartarus as a place of punishment, while its version of paradise ischaracterised, as in the Orphic sources, by the people who dwell in it(the region of the pious), and not by geographical features.

There are also variations in the geography of Netherworld, whichis not described at all in those versions derived directly from Orphicsources (Gorg.1, Phaed.1 and Rep.1). Such geography, however, isdescribed in greater or lesser detail in the others, from the simplecrossroads and the meadow where the judges stand in Gorg.2, whichpreserves a basically Orphic imagery, through the stylized account inthe Ax., in which we find two infernal rivers and two spheres, celestialand infernal, and, finally, the more elaborate descriptions in Phaed.2,

with bifurcations and infernal rivers, or the complex one in Rep.2, withthe spindle of Necessity. Therefore, although the more elaborate


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eschatologies have some elements of Orphic origin, these are diluted inthe grandiose Platonic creations.

The trial is present neither in Gorg.1, nor in Phaed.1 nor in Rep.1,which would support the opinion presented here that it is in fact aliento the oldest Orphic sources. Indeed, the most important point in theOrphic gold tablets is the remembering of certain passwords such as Iam the son of Earth and of the starry Sky (OF474.10, etc), I come fromamong the pure, pure myself (OF488.1, etc) or the mystes is free frompunishment (OF488). The first is an indication that the newly arrivedknows a tale about the origin of man that characterises him as initiated,

the second refers to his ritual purity, achieved by means of the teletai,whilst in the third he claims the right to enjoy a privileged situation,that of avoiding punishment simply on the grounds that he is a mystes.

By contrast, the idea of trial is an essential element of Platoscharacterisations of the Netherworld. For this, his sources are notOrphic. Minos is portrayed in Homer as administering justice amongthe dead (Od.11.568), whilst the idea of the trial of souls is to be foundin Pindar (Ol. 2.59-60). There are differences among the Platonicversions concerning the number and identity of the judges: four arementioned by name in the Apology,353 three in Gorg.2, two in Ax., andunnamed judges in Rep.2; the trial is undefined in Phaed.2. The onlyreference to a trial within an Orphic context is to be found in theBologna Papyrus, and it is very likely that this reflects Platonic influenceover the late Orphic tradition.

Platos references to postmortem rewards are meagre. As regardsOrphic eschatologies, there are no references to them in Gorg.1 (itsmain purpose being to use the punishments to scare Callicles) andAdeimantus sneers at Orphic images of drunkards in perpetual banquetin Rep.1, which has a close analogue in the phrase you have wine, as

your blessed honour found in the tablet of Pelina (OF485.6). In Phaed.1the philosopher states that the initiated and the purified will dwell with

353

Pl.Apol. 41a (OF1076 I), although their numbers grow with other demigods, allthose who were fair in life and, moreover, it is uncertain whether these judgesdecided the reward or punishment of the soul, or they simply have the Homericfunction of administering justice among the deceased, cf. n. 21.


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the gods. The difference between considering the Orphic blessed as abunch of drunkards or as cohabitants with the gods seems to runparallel with the philosophers main focus of interest in each case. InPhaed.1 he presents a positive eschatology, and since he is going toconclude that those initiated are the true philosophers, amongst whomis Socrates himself, he can easily accept the Orphic idea that they willdwell with the gods, but in a version a little toned down, in the sensethat the souls do not turn into gods themselves. In Rep.1, however, hetries to discredit those who argue that it is possible to avoidpunishment exclusively by ritual means, on the grounds that such a

comfortable scheme would not contribute to the creation of goodcitizens. Consequently, it seems more appropriate to ridicule theirproposed destiny as perpetual drunkards.

Regarding the eschatologies created by Plato himself, there is areference in Gorg.2 to a happiness free of evil, and in Rep.2 to the factthat they will get what they deserve. Phaed.2 contains the mostimportant innovation, the idea that the souls of the philosophers livefree from their bodies, which avoids the imagery that tends toconceive the souls as some other form of bodies. Ax. adds to the locusamoenus an array of cultivated entertainments (almost aristocratic),including dance, music and philosophical discussions; in this respect itis closer to the scenario presented by Pindar than to Orphic accounts.

In terms of punishments, Gorg.1 and Rep.1 make use of the Orphicmotif of carrying water in a sieve, and both Phaed.1 and Rep.1 of lyingin mud. It is clear that, according to Orphic beliefs, the condemnation ofsouls is not restricted to transmigration but may also entail a series ofpunishments in the Underworld at the end of each incarnate life.354Plato also refers to punishments in his visions of the Beyond: in Gorg.2he describes Hades as a sort of jail in which souls are tormented, inPhaed.2 his emphasis shifts to the sorrowful wandering of the soulwhich fails to reach the realm of happiness, and in Rep.2 he mentionscertain sufferings without specifying them. The most vividdescription of postmortem suffering is to be found in the Ax., where the

354Cf. Procl. in Pl. Remp. II 173.12 Kroll (OF346), who mentions underground placesand prisons over there.


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mythical topoi concerning infamous sinners are, nevertheless, alsoincluded, with the addition of the Furies with torches and the attack of

some beasts.Somewhat at odds with the main scheme is the presence, in

Phaed.2 and Ax., of daimoneswho inspire or guide the souls, an idea thatseems to coincide with one of the tenets of the Derveni commentator.We also find references both in Phaed.2 and Rep. 2 to meeting placeswhere the souls hold conversations.

Aside from this, it seems worthwhile to remark upon therequirements which determine whether the soul is assiged to the

dwelling place of the good or the wicked. According to the Orphics, themeans to achieve a better destiny are to be found in the way of life,355which not only imposes taboos concerning food, such as a vegetariandiet, or clothing, such as the prohibition of wearing any woollen cloths,but also entails ritual obligations, such as celebration of the teletai, andbehaviour which is based upon of vague idea of justice. Hence, in Gorg.1and Phaed.1, the precondition for obtaining a good place in theNetherworld is initiation. Plato, once more, transposes356 this ritualprecondition to an initiation based on moral character, and, as such, inPhaed.1 he arrives at the conclusion that the initiated is thephilosopher. In Rep.1, despite alluding to the Orphics, he mentions thegood in opposition to the impious and unjust; in Meno 81b, heproclaims the need to live life in the holiest possible manner, as theindispensable corollary of the theory of the metempsychosis, and in hispresentations of infernal eschatology, he always refers to goodness and

justice as prerequisites for the souls attaining blessedness.Finally, Plato differs from the Orphics on the subject of why to

acquire knowledge about the destiny of the soul. The only aim ofOrphics is salvation. As such, knowledge of the souls destiny is only themeans of getting information on the necessary procedures to achieve

355Mentioned in Pl. Leg.782c (OF625) as \]*1+D;E[9;+.356 The term transposition is coined by Auguste Dis, Autour de Platon, II (Paris:

Gabriel Beauchesne, 1927), 432ff., followed by Frutiger 1930; cf. also the remarks byAlberto Bernab, Lme aprs la mort : modles orphiques et transpositionplatonicienne, In tudes platoniciennes IV, Les puissances de lme selon Platon, ed. J.Francois Pradeau (Paris: Les Belles Lettres, 2007a), 41-44.


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this aim. For this reason, the stress is put on the passwords, rights,taboos and experiences, and not on knowledge. By contrast, Platosmotivations for dealing with the destiny of the soul are various. The adhoc nature of the Platonic myths allows for variation in his mythiceschatology, according to the purposes for which the myth is used:Phaed.2 is, above all, a consolatio to the disciples, in which Socratesconsiders the question of why souls, according to their degree ofperfection, end up living incarcerated in a mortal body; in Rep.2, it hasfirst and foremost a political aim; namely, to create good citizens and tochallenge the belief that souls can enjoy privileges in the Netherworld

exclusively on the basis of ritual, independently of their behaviour; inGorg. 2, Plato uses the myth to denounce the dangers of Sophisticphilosophy for social morals, and in the Meno the Orphic tale supportsthe theory of reminiscence. In sum, Plato, unlike the Orphics, putsreligious beliefs into the service of deeper philosophical purposes.Despite the different interests that the eschatological landscapes servein each of the works, there is no doubt that they do coincide and, eventhough they do not configure a coherent system, they certainly presentnumerous points in common within the general framework of thephilosophers theory.


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