My thesis has been generally in flux through the semester, but I am finally starting to settle on a central question/argument and method of supporting it. My work will be centered on the Orphic Hymns, and specifically how they invoke all-powerful, immaterial deities by constructing them in material bodies. How does corporeal metaphor communicate divinity? Why and how are the divine constructed in gendered bodies? The hymns present deities that seem to exist in bodies, but these bodies are not subject to any of the limitations and binaries that restrict the human body.
The hymns make use of such surprising, beautiful, and at times mystifying language; they are unlike any other Greek that I’ve read. There is a palpable tension throughout the collection between specific bodily descriptions and very vague, abstract epithets. There is so much to think and wonder about, and so much beautiful poetry to analyze. I’m really intrigued by how the hymns create divine bodies, and I don’t think that this is addressed enough, or really at all, in the existing literature about the Hymns.
My thesis will use two main methodological frameworks. First of all, I will be using polythetic categories, a way of building categories that assesses a range of cues that may indicate belonging to a category rather than a single defining feature. I will argue that both bodies and gender are polythetic categories. Secondly, I intend to apply Pascal Boyer’s theory about templates in the cognitive study of religion. This framework, at its most basic, argues that humans construct their divine as conforming to a “human” template, but with important “counter-ontological violations” that distinctly separate them from humanity. These two frameworks will allow me to think about what signals gendered bodies, but also why and how these hymns use bodies at all to construct their divine.
The most important evidence that I will use are the Orphic Hymns themselves. I intend for much of the thesis to be a close reading of individual hymns. Of the 87 hymns, there are at least ten that I have already highlighted as worth investigating, and although a close reading of the entire collection is beyond the scope of this thesis, I hope to at least read and consider each hymn. I have found a lot of parallels between the portrayal of the divine in other Orphic texts (specifically the Derveni Papyrus), as well as in other schools of thought. I’ve noticed a lot of Gnostic parallels, specifically with the Apocryphon of John, as well as (Neo)Platonic influences, specifically in Plato’s Timaeus and Porphyry’s On images. Although I don’t have the space to fully compare all of these texts to the Hymns, I hope to at least document the similarities and influences between these schools of thought with regard to the depiction and conception of the divine. I will pair close reading with the necessary theory about the construction of bodies, and in particular gendered bodies. I am working on developing an outline of how I will go through the hymns, but at this point I think that my sections/chapters will be divided by the individual hymn, and intertwine a close reading with secondary scholarship and my theoretical framework. I would like to investigate both how corporeality is harnessed within individual hymns, but also how it works over the scope of the corpus.
As far as secondary sources are concerned, I am using the (few) authoritative texts on the Hymns as my baseline. This includes Morand’s Études sur les hymnes orphiques, Fayant’s Hymnes Orphiques commentary and translation, and Ricciardelli’s Inni Orfici. For more generalized secondary sources, I’m using Edmonds’ Redefining Ancient Orphism for a grounding in all things Orphism. I have also used Johnston’s The Story of Myth as a baseline for how myths are created and transmitted. I am also starting to work with Holmes’ The Symptom and the Subject, an investigation into physical bodies (mostly in Homer), and Petridou’s Divine Epiphany in Greek Literature and Culture, which investigates moments of divine epiphany (appearance). I am most interested in her sections on anthropomorphic epiphany. I am working on getting a background on ancient gender and bodies, but I’m still working on compiling a bibliography that will help with that.
I’ve worked closely with Prof. Edmonds on this topic, and although he will take a backseat on advising this project, I’ll continue to get his help and input. I met with Prof. Farmer about my general topic, and I intend to reach out again soon. If I decide to think a bit about Gnostic sources, I’ll also consult Prof. McGuire in the Religion department. I’ve also talked through my ideas with Prof. Romano and Prof. Shirazi, and I am excited to continue working with both of them!
