es . ▁There ▁are ▁indic ations ▁that ▁Pl ato ▁was ▁familiar ▁with ▁some ▁version ▁of ▁the ▁Or ph ic ▁the og ony . ▁A ▁silence ▁would ▁have ▁been ▁expected ▁about ▁religious ▁r ites ▁and ▁belief s , ▁however , ▁and ▁that ▁nature ▁of ▁the ▁culture ▁would ▁not ▁have ▁been ▁reported ▁by ▁members ▁of ▁the ▁society ▁while ▁the ▁belief s ▁were ▁held . ▁After ▁they ▁ceased ▁to ▁become ▁religious ▁belief s , ▁few ▁would ▁have ▁known ▁the ▁r ites ▁and ▁rit uals . ▁All us ions ▁often ▁existed , ▁however , ▁to ▁aspects ▁that ▁were ▁quite ▁public . ▁ ▁Im ages ▁existed ▁on ▁pot tery ▁and ▁religious ▁art work ▁that ▁were ▁interpreted ▁and ▁more ▁likely , ▁mis inter pre ted ▁in ▁many ▁diverse ▁myth s ▁and ▁tales . ▁A ▁few ▁fragments ▁of ▁these ▁works ▁surv ive ▁in ▁quot ations ▁by ▁Ne op lat on ist ▁philosoph ers ▁and ▁recently ▁un ear th ed ▁pap yrus ▁scra ps . ▁One ▁of ▁these ▁scra ps , ▁the ▁Der ven i ▁Pap yrus ▁now ▁proves ▁that ▁at ▁least ▁in ▁the ▁fifth ▁century   BC ▁a ▁the og onic - cos m og onic ▁poem ▁of ▁Or phe us ▁was ▁in ▁existence . ▁ ▁The ▁first ▁philosoph ical ▁cosm olog ists ▁react ed ▁against , ▁or ▁sometimes ▁built ▁upon , ▁popular ▁myth ical ▁conception s ▁that ▁had ▁existed ▁in ▁the ▁Greek ▁world ▁for ▁some ▁time . ▁Some ▁of ▁these ▁popular ▁conception s ▁can ▁be ▁g lean ed ▁from ▁the ▁poetry ▁of ▁H omer ▁and ▁H es iod .