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Orphic   /ˈɔrfɪk/   Listen
Orphic

adjective
1.
Ascribed to Orpheus or characteristic of ideas in works ascribed to Orpheus.
2.
Having an import not apparent to the senses nor obvious to the intelligence; beyond ordinary understanding.  Synonyms: mysterious, mystic, mystical, occult, secret.  "The mystical style of Blake" , "Occult lore" , "The secret learning of the ancients"






WordNet 3.0 © 2010 Princeton University








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"Orphic" Quotes from Famous Books



... that the fashion of making favourites of boys was introduced into Greece from Crete, for Malthusian reasons said Aristotle (Pol. ii. 10), attributing it to Minos. Herodotus, however, knew far better, having discovered (ii. c. 80) that the Orphic and Bacchic rites were originally Egyptian. But the Father of History was a traveller and an annalist rather than an archaeologist and he tripped in the following passage (i. c. 135), "As soon as they (the Persians) hear of any luxury, they instantly make it their own, and hence, among ...
— The Book of the Thousand Nights and a Night, Volume 10 • Richard F. Burton

... were civilised: by witchery of the Orphic fiddle-bow, and Euterpean rhythm; by the Graces, by the Smiles! Thermidorian Deputies are there in those soirees; Editor Freron, Orateur du Peuple; Barras, who has known other dances than the Carmagnole. Grim Generals of the Republic are there; in enormous horse-collar ...
— The French Revolution • Thomas Carlyle

... under the influence of the School of Alexandria, endeavored in general to make their doctrines harmonize with the traditions of Greece; and thence came, in the doctrines of the Therapeuts, as stated by Philo, the many analogies between the Pythagorean and Orphic ideas, on one side, and those of Judaism on the other: while the Jews of Palestine, having less communication with Greece, or contemning its teachings, rather imbibed the Oriental doctrines, which they drank ...
— Morals and Dogma of the Ancient and Accepted Scottish Rite of Freemasonry • Albert Pike

... worn out with hard service, nor yet indulging in feasting and wine-drinking, as though that were the end and reward of his military achievements; like that life of eternal drunkenness which Plato sneers at the Orphic school for promising to their ...
— Plutarch's Lives, Volume II • Aubrey Stewart & George Long

... the day of seers and "Orphic" utterances; the air was fall of the enthusiasm of humanity and thick with philanthropic projects and plans for the regeneration of the universe. The figure of the wild-eyed, long-haired reformer—the man with ...
— Initial Studies in American Letters • Henry A. Beers

... shall only say that they are by their nature plainly, like the last, meant as preservatives against unseen malarias or contagions, possible or impossible. He assists every month with his children at the mysteries of the Orphic priests; and finally, whenever he sees an epileptic patient, he spits in his own bosom to avert the ...
— Scientific Essays and Lectures • Charles Kingsley



Words linked to "Orphic" :   mystical, Orpheus, mysterious, esoteric



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