Traki
The most amazing and typical
feature of the Thracians’ religion was their belief in the soul’s
immortality. There have been found hundreds of sanctuaries, but the official
history still argues about whom they were worshipping there. There’s
no literature left behind from them and all conclusions made about their culture
are based on foreign sources. But all of them agree on the point that their
culture was significantly different from all of the surrounding, e.g. the
ancient Greeks’.
Herodotus says: “The Thracians are the most numerous and prominent people
after the Indian nation. If they were warlike, they would have ruled the world.”
Posedonius: “The Thracians don’t use any living beings, even their
cattle, for food, because they were so pious. They ate honey, milk and cheese
and lived peacefully.
Demosten: “There’s no violence or murder between the Thracians.
Strabon confirms this adding an important point: “Orpheus taught Thracians
not to kill.”
Plato said something interesting:
“I met a Thracian doctor who believed in the soul’s immortality
and he explained: “You cannot even start to cure the eyes without curing
the body, but you cannot even start to cure the body without curing the soul.
The reason why you, Greeks cannot cure so many diseases is that you don’t
know anything about the soul and therefore you cannot heal the body at all.”
That was Zamoxius’ physician.” Then Plato explained later the
Thracian method of curing and emphasized that there were always conjuring
songs along with it.
But again, “Orpheus taught them all that.”
Who is Orpheus?