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[[File: Orpheus four.jpg|200px|thumb|left| Gold tablets with Orphic inscriptions]]

==The religion of Orphism==

A large amount of poem, treatise, oracles, hymns, and religious works came to be attributed to Orpheus. By at least the 6th century BC, there was a cult dedicated to the great musician, this was not uncommon. At some point a whole religion developed based on the alleged prophecies and teachings of Orpheus, these were spread by itinerant priests. Many believe that Orphism, as it is known by modern scholars, was a reform of the cult of Dionysus. Thracian and Pythagorean influences have also been identified on the religion. Orphism taught its followers to live an ascetic life and to abstain from eating meat and to eschew all forms of violence. Some has seen similarities between Orphism and Buddhism and Jainism. A set of rites and ceremonies played a very important role in Orphism. These led eventually to the famous Orphic Mysteries. This was a Mystery Religion where initiates were given secret knowledge to the initiates. There are only a few sources on the religion which did not have a coherent set of doctrines. It appears that during the rituals that the descent of Orpheus into the underworld and his dismemberment and death were re-enacted. It has been suggested that these rites originated in the Dionysian Mysteries. Orphism taught that the uninitiated would be doomed to be reincarnated and suffer while the initiated would go to a Blessed afterlife with heroes such as Orpheus and Eurydice<ref>Guthrie, William Keith. Orpheus and Greek religion: a study of the Orphic movement (Princeton, Princeton University Press, 1993), pp. 125-145</ref>. Evidence communities forming around Orphic texts and rituals have been found from Southern Italy to the Crimea. In many parts of Greece and elsewhere, Orphic shrines were often believed to have oracles, that could foretell the future.