![]() In Hades – the underworld of the Greek religion – Orpheus managed to go through the three-headed guardian-hound Cerberus by enchanting him with his music. He then took his lyre and went to claim her back from the dead. He understood that without her, life on earth was meaningless and decided that he was ready to do whatever it takes for his beloved. Orpheus Visits The Underworld Orpheus in the Underworld, Frans Francken, 1st half of the 17th century, Museum of Fine Arts, Nimes, via KIK-IRPA.Īfter Eurydice’s death, Orpheus was devastated. “Soothing his love-pain with the hollow shell, Thee his sweet wife on the lone shore alone, Thee when day dawned and when it died he sang.” (VIrgil, Georgics) ![]() In both versions the result was the same, Eurydice was dead and Orpheus had lost his soulmate. In Ovid’s version, Eurydice was bit by the snake after recklessly dancing with other nymphs in the woods while celebrating her wedding. The nymph ran into the forest, where a venomous snake bit her. A minor god named Aristaeus attacked Orpheus and attempted to snatch Eurydice right after the wedding. According to Virgil’s Georgics, this great beauty did not go unnoticed. However, at this moment of pure bliss, Hymenaios prophesized that happiness had an expiration date.Įurydice’s Death Aristaeus chasing Eurydice bitten by the snake, illustration from a copy of Ovid’s Metamorphoses, 1493-4, via Bibliothèque Nationale de France.Įurydice was a nymph of uncontested beauty. They were so madly in love that soon they got married by the Hymenaios, the god of marriage himself. Orpheus played his lyre while his wife danced and the two of them led a happy life. The story begins when Orpheus fell in love with a nymph called Eurydice. Orpheus And Eurydice Fall In Love Orpheus and Eurydice, Nicolas Poussin, ca. In another version of the story, the women killed Orpheus because he only acknowledged Apollo as his god. Some Thracian female followers of Dionysus enchanted by his music and enraged by his rejection, tore him to pieces with their bare hands during one of the orgiastic Dionysian mysteries. According to a version of the story, he had stopped taking women as lovers, possibly because he was sworn to Eurydice. One of the most disturbing stories in Greek literature is Orpheus’ death. According to a story, he saved the argonauts from certain death when he covered the voices of the deadly sirens with the sound of his lyre. Orpheus is also found as a companion of Jason in the Argonautica adventure. It was also said that his music could calm even the wildest beasts and control animals and inanimate objects like rocks or rivers. Orpheus was said to have learned the lyre from Apollo but to have surpassed his teacher. The muse Calliope was commonly referred to as his mother, although the ancient authors did not agree on the matter. Orpheus was the son of the Thracian King Oeagrus or, as Pindar wrote, of the sun-god Apollo. His worship, called Orphism, included mystical rites which influenced the development of the Greek religion and the Pythagoreans.
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