ORPHEUS
Alice Low
There were nine goddesses called Muses. Born out of Zeus and a Titan
named Mnemosyne, each muse presided over a different art or science.
Calliope, one of these sisters, was the inspiration of poets and musicians.
She was the mother of Orpheus (a mortal because his father was one) and gave to
her son a remarkable talent for music.
Orpheus played his lyre so sweetly that he charmed all things on earth. Men
and women forgot their cares when gathered around him to listen. Wild beasts lay
down as they gathered around him as if they were tame, entranced by his soothing
notes. Even rocks and trees followed him, and the rivers changed their direction to
hear him play.
Orpheus loved a young woman named Eurydice, and when they were
married, they looked forward to many years of happiness together. But soon after,
Eurydice stepped on a poisonous snake and died.
Orpheus roamed the earth, singing sad melodies to try to overcome his grief.
But it was no use. He longed for Eurydice so deeply that he decided to follow her
to the underworld. He said to himself, “No mortal has ever been there before, but I
must try to bring back my beloved Eurydice. I will charm Persephone and Hades
with my music and win Eurydice’s release.”
He climbed into a cave and through a dark passage that led to the
underworld. When he reached the river Styx, he plucked his lyre again, and
Cerberus, the fierce three headed dog who guarded the gates, heard the sweet
music and lay still to let him pass.
Orpheus continued to play his lyre tenderly as he made his way through the
gloomy underworld. The ghosts cried when they heard his sad music. Sisyphus,
who had been condemned to roll uphill forever, stopped his fruitless work to listen.
Tantalus, who had been sentenced to stand in a pool of receding water, stopped
trying to quench his thirst. And even the wheel to which Ixion was tied as
punishment stopped turning for one moment.
At last Orpheus came to the palace of Hades and Persephone, King and
Queen of the underworld. Before they could order him to leave, he began his
gentle song, pleading for Eurydice.
When stern Hades heard Orpheus’ song, he began to weep. Cold Persephone
was so moved that, for the first time in all her months in the underworld, her heart
melted.
“Oh, please, my husband,” she said to Hades, “let Eurydice be reunited with
Orpheus.”
And Hades replied, “I, too, feel the sadness of Orpheus. I cannot refuse
him.”
They summoned Eurydice, and the two lovers clasped each other and turned
to leave. What words can be used to describe Orpheus’ gift?
“Wait!” said Hades to Orpheus. “Eurydice is yours to take back to earth on
one condition.”
“What is that?” asked Orpheus
“She must follow you, and you must not look back at her until you are on
earth again.”
“I understand,” said Orpheus, “and I am forever grateful.”
Orpheus and Eurydice left the underworld and made their way through the
dark passage that led to the upper world. At last they reached the cave through
which Orpheus had descended.
“I can see daylight ahead” called Orpheus to Eurydice. “We are almost
there.” But Eurydice had not heard him, and so she did not answer.
Orpheus turned to make sure that she was still following him. He caught
one last glimpse of her arms stretched out to him. And then she disappeared,
swallowed by darkness.
“Farewell,” he heard her cry as she was carried back to the underworld.
Orpheus tried to follow her, but this time the gods would not allow it. And
so he wandered the earth alone. He sang his sad songs to the trees and longed for
the time when he, too, would die and be reunited with his beloved Eurydice in the
underworld.
