From Zwierlein-Diehl (1969), Tafeln 63.345Horizontally striped Sardinian onyx. Light brown, white, dark brown. Two narrow black stripes.
1.8cm x 1.10cm x 0.21cm
Early third c. bce
A line at the base. A bearded man stands slightly bent over a head that rises upward and faces him. He holds a diptych in his hands on which he writes the wise utterances of the head. A chlamys (a short oblong mantle) that reaches down to the top of his knees frames the composition. Very slender proportions, long legs. Both heads have short hair that is drawn to the sides from a part in the middle. Their lips stand relatively wide apart, and are engraved in small lines. The addressee of the oracle repeats the words of the rising head as he writes. (My translation of Zwierlein-Diehl, 1969, p.137)
Other examples of gemstones with similar engraving exist (Furtwaengler, 1900, pls. 20, 53 and 22, 3) in which the head is most often represented as having been cleaved from a body that is not depicted. There is some consensus that the head in these engravings belongs to Orpheus (See Furtwaengler, 1900, ad loc.).
The story of Orpheus is essentially that of a renowned and magical bard, associated with the cult of Dionysus, who is violently dismembered by a band of Thracian women who are jealous of his affections. His limbs and trunk are devoured by birds and beasts, but his head remains and retains its musical and prophetic powers.
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