Orpheus and Eurydice by Unknown
The tale of Orpheus and Eurydice is a poignant narrative from ancient mythology that explores themes of love, loss, and the power of music. Orpheus, known as the son of Apollo and the Muse Calliope, is gifted with extraordinary musical talent, enchanting all who hear him, including nature itself. The story unfolds tragically when Eurydice, Orpheus's beloved wife, dies from a snake bite shortly after their wedding, plunging him into deep sorrow. In his grief, Orpheus descends into the Underworld, where he uses his music to plead with Hades and Proserpine for Eurydice’s return. They agree to her release on the condition that Orpheus must not look back at her until they reach the surface. Unfortunately, consumed by doubt, he turns back too soon, causing Eurydice to vanish forever.
Orpheus's subsequent despair leads to his violent demise at the hands of Thracian maidens, who are incited by their jealousy and grief. Even in death, his spirit and music endure, symbolizing the enduring bond of love that transcends mortality. This myth has inspired countless interpretations in literature, art, and music, making it a significant cultural touchstone that resonates with themes of yearning and the ineffable nature of love.
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Orpheus and Eurydice by Unknown
First published: Unknown
Type of work: Short fiction
Type of plot: Mythic
Time of plot: Antiquity
Locale: Thrace and the Underworld
Principal characters
Orpheus , a musicianEurydice , his wife
The Story:
Orpheus, son of Apollo and the Muse Calliope, grows up in Thrace, a land long noted for the purity and richness of its divine gift of song. His father presents him with a lyre and teaches him to play it. So lovely are the songs of Orpheus that the wild beasts follow him when he plays, and even the trees, the rocks, and the hills gather near him. It is said his music softens the composition of stones.
Orpheus charms Eurydice with his music, but Hymen brings no happy omens to their wedding. His torch smokes so that tears come to their eyes. Passionately in love with his wife, Orpheus becomes mad with grief when Eurydice dies. Fleeing from a shepherd who desires her, she steps upon a snake and dies from its bite.
Heartbroken, Orpheus wanders over the hills composing and singing melancholy songs of memory for the lost Eurydice. Finally he descends into the Underworld and makes his way past the sentries by means of his music. Approaching the throne of Proserpine and Hades, he sings a lovely song in which he says that love brings him to the Underworld. He complains that Eurydice was taken from him before her time and if they will not release her, he will not leave Hades. Proserpine and Hades cannot resist his pleas. They agree to set Eurydice free if Orpheus will promise not to look upon her until they safely reach the Upperworld.
The music of Orpheus is so tender that even the ghosts shed tears. Tantalus forgets his search for water; Ixion’s wheel stops; the vulture stops feeding on the giant’s liver; the daughters of Danaus stop drawing water; and Sisyphus himself stops to listen. Tears stream from the eyes of the Furies. Eurydice then appears, limping. The two walk the long and dismal passageway to the Upperworld, and Orpheus does not look back toward Eurydice. At last, forgetting his vow, he turns, and, as they reach out their arms to embrace, Eurydice disappears.
Orpheus tries to follow her, but the stern ferryman refuses him passage across the River Styx. Declining food and drink, he sits by the River Strymon and sings his twice-felt grief. As he sings his melancholy songs, so sad that oaks move and tigers grieve, a group of Thracian maidens attempt to console him, but he repulses them. One day, while they are observing the sacred rites of Bacchus, they begin to stone him. At first, the stones fall without harm when they come within the sound of the lyre. As the frenzy of the maidens increases, however, their shouting drowns out the notes of the lyre so that it no longer protects Orpheus. Soon he is covered with blood.
Then the savage women tear his limbs from his body and hurl his head and his lyre into the river. Both continue singing sad songs as they float downstream. The fragments of Orpheus’s body are buried at Libethra, and it is said that nightingales sang more sweetly over his grave than in any other part of Greece. Jupiter makes his lyre a constellation of stars in the heavens. Orpheus joins Eurydice in the Underworld, and there, happy at last, they wander through the fields together.
Bibliography
Anouilh, Jean. Eurydice and Medée. Edited by E. Freeman. New York: Blackwell, 1984. A modern analysis of the Orpheus and Eurydice story and the story of Medea as dramatized by modern writers. Compares the two women as opposites, while exploring the loss of love as it relates to one’s view of the world.
Cotterell, Arthur. The Macmillan Illustrated Encyclopedia of Myths and Legends. New York: Macmillan, 1989. Associates Orpheus with the doctrines of Orphism, a mystery cult derived from Orpheus’s poetry to his lost love, Eurydice.
Detienne, Marcel. The Writing of Orpheus: Greek Myth in Cultural Context. Translated by Janet Lloyd. Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press, 2003. Detienne analyzes writings ascribed to Orpheus, demonstrating how these works provide an understanding of ancient Greek philosophy and of Greek and Roman mythology.
Graf, Fritz, and Sarah Iles Johnston. Ritual Texts for the Afterlife: Orpheus and the Bacchic Gold Tablets. New York: Routledge, 2007. In ancient Greece, initiates of the Dionysus Bacchus mysteries possessed gold tablets that offered them information about the afterlife; these tablets relied heavily on the myths ascribed to Orpheus. Graf and Johnston translate the tablets, analyze their role in the mysteries of Dionysus, and describe the Orphic myths and sacred texts about the origins of humanity.
Graves, Robert. The Greek Myths. New York: Penguin Books, 1960. Reprint. Combined ed. New York: Penguin Books, 1992. Graves retells the story of Orpheus, father of music, and his beloved Eurydice, who dies and is held in the Underworld. Orpheus is seen both as a hero and as one who spreads the culture of music throughout the world.
Guthrie, W. K. C. Orpheus and Greek Religion: A Study of the Orphic Movement. Princeton, N.J.: Princeton University Press, 1993. Analyzes Orpheus and Dionysus as the catalysts for the Orphic religion. Places emphasis on the mysteries of the cult and their attraction for women.
Warden, John, ed. Orpheus: The Metamorphoses of a Myth. Buffalo, N.Y.: University of Toronto Press, 1982. A good analysis of the uses to which ancient Greek, Roman, and modern Western European poets, playwrights, musicians, and composers have put the Orpheus legend. Includes a look at the songs of Orpheus compared to the songs of Christ. Since Orpheus, like Christ, was killed as a sacrifice, the mythic implications of the two stories are of major significance.