Orphism

Part of speech: noun

Definitions

1. An ancient Greek religious cult involving secret rites and teachings attributed to the poet Orpheus ; a twentieth-century art movement that used non-representational forms and bold colors to evoke emotion and spirituality
2. A mystery religion of ancient Greece centered on rituals and doctrines supposedly founded by Orpheus ; an early modern artistic style emphasizing abstract composition and chromatic effects independent of recognizable subjects
3. An ancient Greek mystery tradition with initiatory practices and beliefs linked to the legendary musician Orpheus ; a contemporary avant-garde movement in visual art that prioritized pure color and abstraction over depiction of the material world

Etymology: Orphism takes its name from Orpheus, the legendary Greek singer whose music could move stones and tame beasts, and who went down to the underworld to bring back his dead wife Eurydice. The "-ism" ending, from Greek "-ismos" through Latin and French, turns a person's name into a label for a doctrine or movement, so the word simply means "the thing associated with Orpheus." The word's best-known use is in painting. In 1912 the French poet Guillaume Apollinaire coined "orphisme" to describe the work of artists such as Robert Delaunay, whose brightly coloured, rhythmic canvases seemed to him as musical as song. Apollinaire chose Orpheus because the singer was the mythic figure of harmony and lyric art, and the new painting was being described in terms of music rather than objects.

Synonyms: orphic poetry, orphic tradition