Editing Zagreus (section)

=== The anthropogony ===

Most sources make no mention of what happened to the Titans after the murder of Dionysus. In the standard account of the Titans, given in Hesiod's ''[[Theogony]]'' (which does not mention Dionysus), after being overthrown by Zeus and the other Olympian gods, in the ten-year-long [[Titanomachy]], the Titans are imprisoned in [[Tartarus]].<ref>[[Hesiod]], ''Theogony'' [https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Hes.+Th.+627 630&ndash;721].</ref> This might seem to preclude any subsequent story of the Titans killing Dionysus,<ref>West 1983, p. 164; Spineto, [https://books.google.com/books?id=jpIJ64a5alUC&pg=PA34 p. 34].</ref> and perhaps in an attempt to reconcile this standard account with the Dionysus Zagreus myth, according to Arnobius and Nonnus, the Titans end up imprisoned by Zeus in Tartarus, as punishment for their murder of Dionysus.<ref>[[Arnobius]], ''Adversus Gentes'' [https://archive.org/stream/thesevenbooksofa00arnouoft#page/n269/mode/2up 5.19 (p. 242)] [= Orphic fr. 318 VII (I p. 261) Bernabé = [https://archive.org/stream/orphicorumfragme00orphuoft#page/110/mode/2up fr. 34 Kern]]; [[Nonnus]], ''[[Dionysiaca]]'' [https://archive.org/stream/dionysiaca01nonnuoft#page/228/mode/2up 6.206&ndash;210].</ref>

However, according to one source, from the fate of the Titans came a momentous event, the birth of humankind. Commonly presented as a part of the myth of the dismembered Dionysus Zagreus, is an Orphic anthropogony, that is, an Orphic account of the origin of human beings. According to this widely held view, as punishment for the crime of the ''sparagmos'', Zeus struck the Titans with his [[thunderbolt]], and from the remains of the destroyed Titans humankind was born, which resulted in a human inheritance of ancestral guilt, for this original sin of the Titans, and by some accounts "formed the basis for an Orphic doctrine of the divinity of man."<ref>Linforth, [https://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/pt?id=mdp.39015008294699;view=1up;seq=333  pp. 307&ndash;308]; Spineto, [https://books.google.com/books?id=jpIJ64a5alUC&pg=PA34 p. 34]. For presentations of the myth which include the anthropogony, see Dodds, [https://books.google.com/books?id=Lz7LNak21AQC&pg=PA155 pp. 155–156]; West 1983, pp. 74–75, 140, 164–166; Guthrie, [https://books.google.com/books?id=-C6wNyrxUO8C&pg=PA83 p. 83]; Burkert, pp. 297–298; March, [https://archive.org/stream/March.Jenny_Cassells.Dictionary.of.Classical.Mythology#page/n787/mode/2up s.v. Zagreus, p. 788]; Parker 2002, [https://books.google.com/books?id=dsOEAgAAQBAJ&pg=PA495 pp. 495–496]; Morford, p. 313.</ref> However, when and to what extent there existed any Orphic tradition which included these elements is the subject of open debate.<ref>See Meisner, chapter 6; Spineto [https://books.google.com/books?id=jpIJ64a5alUC&pg=PA37 pp. 37–39]; Edmonds [https://repository.brynmawr.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1000&context=arch_pubs 1999], 2008, 2013 chapter 9; Bernabé 2002, 2003; Parker [http://bmcr.brynmawr.edu/2014/2014-07-13.html 2014].</ref>

The only ancient source to explicitly connect the ''sparagmos'' and the anthropogony is the 6th century AD [[Neoplatonism|Neoplatonist]] [[Olympiodorus the Younger|Olympiodorus]], who, as part of an argument against committing suicide, states that to take one's life is "forbidden" because human bodies have a divine Dionysiac element within them. He explains that, in the Orphic tradition, after the Titans dismember and eat Dionysus, Zeus, out of anger, "strikes them with his thunderbolts, and the soot of the vapors that rise from them becomes the matter from which men are created", meaning that, because the Titans ate the flesh of Dionysus, humans are a part of Dionysus, and so suicide is "forbidden because our bodies belong to Dionysus".<ref>Meisner, pp. 248&ndash;9; Edmonds 1999, [https://repository.brynmawr.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1000&context=arch_pubs#page=8 p. 40]; Olympiodorus, ''In Plato Phaedon'' 1.3 (Westerink 1976, pp. 40&ndash;3) [= Orphic fr. 320 I Bernabé (I p. 262) = [https://archive.org/stream/orphicorumfragme00orphuoft#page/238/mode/2up fr. 220 Kern]]; Spineto [https://books.google.com/books?id=jpIJ64a5alUC&pg=PA34 p. 34]; Burkert, p. 463 n. 15; West 1983, pp. 164–165; Linforth, [https://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/pt?id=mdp.39015008294699;view=1up;seq=352 pp. 326 ff.]. According to Meisner, p. 249, "[b]ecause Olympiodorus is the only ancient source who mentions th[e] Dionysiac nature [of humans], scholars have questioned whether he preserves an authentic element of the Orphic narrative or adds his own innovation". Linforth, [https://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/pt?id=mdp.39015008294699&view=1up&seq=356 p. 330] states that he invents this element to provide support for his argument against suicide, while Brisson, p. 494 similarly sees this argument on the basis of the Dionysiac nature of humankind as "very original" (''argument très original''). Edmonds 2009, [https://repository.brynmawr.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1078&context=classics_pubs#page=18 p. 530] goes further, arguing that the connection of the ''sparagmos'' and the anthropogony in the passage is Olympiodorus' "innovation", created "to make particular points within his argument". However at least for the Neoplatonists, like Olympiodorus, humankind, being metaphorically the descendants  of both the Titans and Dionysus, have both a Titanic and a Dionysiac nature, and thus, as Henrichs, p. 61, describes it,  "carry the seeds of primordial violence as well as a divine spark in their genes".</ref>

The 2nd century AD biographer and essayist [[Plutarch]], does make a connection between the ''sparagmos'' and a subsequent punishment of the Titans, but makes no mention of the anthropogony, or Orpheus, or Orphism. In his essay ''On the Eating of Flesh'', Plutarch writes of "stories told about the sufferings and dismemberment of Dionysus and the outrageous assaults of the Titans upon him, and their punishment and blasting by thunderbolt after they had tasted his blood".<ref>[[Plutarch]], ''On the Eating of Flesh'' [https://www.loebclassics.com/view/plutarch-eating_flesh/1957/pb_LCL406.559.xml 1.996 C] [= Orphic fr. 313 I Bernabé (I p. 226)]; Linforth, [https://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/pt?id=mdp.39015008294699;view=1up;seq=360 pp. 334 ff.]; Edmonds 1999, [https://repository.brynmawr.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1000&context=arch_pubs#page=12 pp. 44–47]. Plutarch goes on to mention "that faculty in us which is unreasonable and disordered and violent, and does not come from the gods, but from evil spirits, [which] the ancients gave the name Titans", which Bernabé 2008, pp. 594&ndash;5 sees as evidence that he is referring to the anthropogony. Edmonds 2013, pp. 334&ndash;45, however, sees this as an "allegorical interpretation" used to "bolster the credibility of the argument he has been making about the perils of eating flesh".</ref>

Other sources have been taken as evidence for the anthropogony having been part of the story before Olympiodorus.<ref>See, for example, Chrysanthou, p. 112; Bernabé 2002, p. 413; Meisner, p. 249.</ref> The 5th-century AD Neoplatonist [[Proclus]] writes that, according to Orpheus, there were three races of humans, the last of which is the "Titanic race", which "Zeus formed [{{lang|grc|συστήσασθα}}] from the limbs of the Titans".<ref>Meisner, p. 269; Graf and Johnston, pp. 88&ndash;90; [[Proclus]], in [[Plato]]'s ''[[Republic (Plato)|Republic]]'' 2.74.26&ndash;75.12 [= Orphic fr. 320 II Bernabé (I pp. 262&ndash;3) = [https://archive.org/details/orphicorumfragme00orphuoft/page/186/mode/2up?view=theater fr. 140 Kern]].</ref> Proclus also refers to the "mythical chastisement of the Titans and the generation of all mortal living beings out of them" told by Orpheus,<ref>Chrysanthou, pp. 96&ndash;7; [[Proclus]], in [[Plato]]'s ''[[Republic (Plato)|Republic]]'' 2.338.10&ndash;339.9 [= Orphic fr. 338 I Bernabé (I pp. 278&ndash;9) = [https://archive.org/details/orphicorumfragme00orphuoft/page/240/mode/2up?view=theater fr. 224 Kern]].</ref> connecting the birth of mankind with the punishment of the Titans, though it is unclear whether this punishment comes after the dismemberment of Dionysus or the Hesiodic Titanomachy.<ref>According to Edmonds 1999, p. 41 n. 14, "this tale of punishment is more likely to be the result of the Titanomachy rather than the murder of Dionysus", while Bernabé 2002, p. 407 argues that the punishment follows the death of Dionysus because the Titans are confined to Tartarus after the Titanomachy.</ref> [[Damascius]], after mentioning the Titans' "plot against Dionysus",<ref>[[Damascius]], in [[Plato]]'s ''[[Phaedo]]'', 1.4&ndash;5 (Westerink 1977, pp. 30, 31). At 1.4, Damascius refers to Dionysus being "divided", and at 1.6 states that "[t]heir punishment consists in the checking of their dividing activities".</ref> recounts that "lightning-bolts, shackles, [and] descents into various lower regions" are the three punishments which it has been said the Titans suffered,<ref>Chrysanthou, p. 106; Edmonds 2013, p. 373; [[Damascius]], in [[Plato]]'s ''[[Phaedo]]'' 1.7 (Westerink 1977, pp. 32&ndash;3) [= Orphic fr. 178 IV Bernabé (pp. 161&ndash;2)]; see also Bernabé 2002, p. 407.</ref> and then states that humans are "created from the fragments of the Titans", and "their dead bodies" have "become men themselves".<ref>[[Damascius]], in [[Plato]]'s ''[[Phaedo]]'' 1.8 (Westerink 1977, pp. 32, 33) [= Orphic fr. 320 IV Bernabé (p. 263)]; see also Meisner, p. 271.</ref> Passages from earlier sources have also been interpreted as referring to this idea: the 1st century AD writer [[Dio Chrysostom]] writes that humans are "of the blood of the Titans",<ref>[[Dio Chrysostom]], ''Orations'' [https://www.loebclassics.com/view/dio_chrysostom-discourses_30_charidemus/1939/pb_LCL339.409.xml 30.10 (pp. 408, 409)] [= Orphic fr. 320 VII Bernabé (p. 263)]. Linforth, [https://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/pt?id=mdp.39015008294699&view=1up&seq=360 p. 334] states that he finds "no hint of the myth of the dismemberment" in this passage, while Edmonds 2013, p. 370 claims that it "cannot refer to the murder of Dionysus Zagreus", and that the "context of the Titanomachy" is "clear". Bernabé 2002, pp. 410&ndash;2, however, claims that "the entire phraseology of the fragment is very characteristic of Orphism" (''toute la phraséologie du fragment est très caractéristique de l'orphisme''), and argues that for the passage to not refer to the Orphic story would require the existence of a separate, non-Orphic myth in which men are created from the Titans' blood.</ref> while the ''[[Orphic Hymns]]'' call the Titans the "ancestors of our fathers".<ref>''[[Orphic Hymn]] to the [[Titans]]'' (37), 2 (Athanassakis and Wolkow, [https://archive.org/details/isbn_9780891301196/page/32/mode/2up?view=theater p. 33]; Quandt, p. 29) [= Orphic fr. 320 X Bernabé (I p. 264)]. On whether this passage refers to the anthropogony, see Morand, pp. 216&ndash;7; Ricciardelli, pp. 381&ndash;3.</ref>

Earlier allusions to the myth possibly occur in the works of the poet [[Pindar]], [[Plato]], and Plato's student [[Xenocrates]]. A fragment from a poem, presumed to be by Pindar, mentions Persephone accepting "requital for ancient wrong", from the dead, which might be a reference to humans' inherited responsibility for the Titans' killing of Dionysus.<ref>[[Pindar]], fr. 133 Bergk, apud [[Plato]], ''[[Meno]]'' [https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Perseus%3Atext%3A1999.01.0178%3Atext%3DMeno%3Asection%3D81b 81bc] [= fr. 127 Bowra]. This interpretation, first proposed by [[H. J. Rose]], is discussed by Linforth, [https://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/pt?id=mdp.39015008294699;view=1up;seq=371 pp. 345–350], who while raising several objections and giving other possible explanations, concludes by saying "but after all, and in spite of these objections, one must acknowledge that there is a high degree of probability in Rose's interpretation." Others have agreed: Dodds, pp. 155–156, says the line is "most naturally explained as referring to human responsibility for the slaying of Dionysus", Burkert, p. 298, says this "ancient grief" of Persephone "can only be the death of her child Dionysos"; Parker 2002, [https://books.google.com/books?id=dsOEAgAAQBAJ&pg=PA496 p. 496] says "No myth is known which really explains the allusion except that of the murder of Persephone's son Dionysus by man's ancestors". However, West 1983, p. 110 n. 82, Seaford, pp. 7–8, who sees "difficulties" in Rose's interpretation", and Edmonds 1999, [https://repository.brynmawr.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1000&context=arch_pubs#page=15 pp. 47–49], who rejects Rose's reading, all offer different interpretations. For a discussion of this fragment and its "competing interpretations" see Meisner, p. 244&ndash;245.</ref> Plato, in presenting a succession of stages whereby, because of excessive liberty, men degenerate from reverence for the law, to lawlessness, describes the last stage where "men display and reproduce the character of the Titans of story".<ref>[[Plato]], ''[[Laws (dialogue)|Laws]]'' [http://data.perseus.org/citations/urn:cts:greekLit:tlg0059.tlg034.perseus-eng1:3.701 3.701bc] [= Orphic fr. 37 I Bernabé (I pp. 53&ndash;4) = [https://archive.org/stream/orphicorumfragme00orphuoft#page/84/mode/2up fr. 9 Kern]].</ref> This Platonic passage is often taken as referring to the anthropogony, however, whether men are supposed by Plato to "display and reproduce" this lawless character because of their Titanic heritage, or by simple imitation, is unclear.<ref>Linforth, [https://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/pt?id=mdp.39015008294699;view=1up;seq=365 pp. 339–345]; Edmonds 1999, [https://repository.brynmawr.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1000&context=arch_pubs#page=11 pp. 43–44]; Edmonds 2013, pp. 326–334; Meisner, p. 245.</ref> Xenocrates' reference to the Titans (and perhaps Dionysus) to explain Plato's use of the word "custody" (''φρούρα''), has also been seen as possible evidence of a pre-Hellenistic date for the myth.<ref>[[Xenocrates]], [https://archive.org/stream/bub_gb_gp0YAAAAMAAJ#page/n179/mode/2up fr. 20 Heinze] [= [[Damascius]], ''In Phaedo'' 1.2]; Linforth, [https://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/pt?id=mdp.39015008294699;view=1up;seq=363 pp. 337–339]; Dodds, p. 156; West 1983, pp. 21–22; Burkert, p. 298; Edmonds 1999, [https://repository.brynmawr.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1000&context=arch_pubs#page=14 p. 46]; Parker 2002, [https://books.google.com/books?id=dsOEAgAAQBAJ&pg=PA496 p. 496]</ref>