Musaeus
Orphic · mortal · Orphic traditional religion; continuing · mortal
Musaeus is the man the Orphic Hymns are addressed to. The proem has Orpheus speaking to him — learn these rites, sacrifice like this — which frames the whole collection as instruction passed from master to pupil. Poems circulated under his name as they did under Orpheus's, and the tradition cannot decide whether he was Orpheus's disciple or his son. His name means 'of the Muses', which is a job description, and that is part of why he stays out of focus: he is the figure the tradition needs in order to have someone to hand itself to.
Domains
- poetry
- mystery initiation
Relations
- student of: Orpheus
Sources
- Orphic Hymns, the proem 'To Musaeus'.
- Reference treatment of Musaeus among the legendary poets of the Orphic tradition.