Ritual Texts for the Afterlife: Orpheus and the Bacchic Gold Tablets

Since the authors' masterful analysis of the mysterious, eschatological texts written on thin gold foil and recovered from graves more discoveries of these obscure texts have been made. Providing a unique source of information about what some Greeks believed regarding the fate that awaited them after death, and how they could influence it, the texts, dating from the late fifth century BCE to the second century CE, have been part of the scholarly debate on Greek afterlife beliefs since the end of the nineteenth century. This new edition of Ritual Texts for the Afterlife incorporates all of the new scholarship undertaken since the first edition and includes translations of the new texts and reassessment of the existing ones in light of modern scholarship. After providing the Greek texts and translations the authors analyze their role in the mystery cult of Dionysus, and present an outline of the myths concerning the origins of humanity and of the sacred texts that the Greeks ascribed to Orpheus. With related ancient texts appended in an English translation, Ritual Texts for the Afterliferemains essential to the study of ancient Greek religion.