The Tragic Tale of Orpheus and Eurydice

Did you know that Orpheus was considered the founder of Orphism, an ancient Greek mystery cult that believed in reincarnation? Hello and welcome to World History Encyclopedia. My name is Kelly and today's video is all about the figure from Greek mythology who made the gods of the underworld cry with his music. Today we are looking at the tragic story of Orpheus and Eurydice. Don't forget the easiest way to support us is by giving this video a thumbs up, subscribing to our channel and hitting that bell icon for notifications so you don't miss out on any new uploads. World History Encyclopedia is a non-profit organisation and you can find us on Patreon, a brilliant site where you can support our work and receive exclusive benefits in return. Your support helps us create videos twice a week, so make sure to check it out via the pop up in the top corner of the screen or via the Patreon link down below. Orpheus is a famous figure from Greek mythology, well known for both his talents with the lyre and kithra, and the tragic story of his wife, the wood nymph Eurydice. His musical talents could charm wild animals, it could stop streams and trees would move closer to hear his beautiful singing. It makes sense that Orpheus would be so blessed in musical talent, as his mother was the muse Calliope, and his father was Apollo, the god of music, and it was from Apollo that he learnt his incredible musical skills. As with most Greek myths, Orpheus had numerous tales associated with him from different authors in the Greek and Roman world, so he is also considered the son of the mortal king Oagris of Thrace, the region the Greeks believed the lyre came from. Orpheus is mentioned in numerous texts, and was a popular figure in ancient art from mosaics to pottery, but despite being one of the heroic Argonauts on Jason's quest to find the Golden Fleece, he isn't mentioned in either of the epic works featuring many heroes, the Iliad and the Odyssey of Homer, which led to Aristotle to claim he must not have existed. On the Argo, Orpheus made himself very useful not only by keeping the crew entertained, but by keeping time for the rowers, calming the seas with his singing, and charming the terrible sirens who were known to tempt sailors to a watery death. Unsurprisingly, in art, Orpheus is often depicted with his lyre or cithara, and is sometimes depicted in Thracian dress. Unlike most figures from myth who are very solidly mythological, the ancient Greeks were quite divided over the figure of Orpheus, whether he existed or not, mainly due to Aristotle's claim. He is, though, central to the religious movement of Orphism, a mystery cult informed by the god Dionysus, and said to be founded by Orpheus, and there are surviving texts, including the well-known Orphic hymns that adherents of Orphism recited or sung to purify their souls and find release from the cycle of reincarnation. These works tell a different story for the origins of humanity than the one from Hesiod's Theogony. According to Orphism, Hera convinces the Titans to kill and eat Dionysus, the son of Zeus. And for this, they're punished, and Zeus strikes them down, bringing Dionysus back to life. When Dionysus is reborn, humans spring from the ashes of the Titans. Orphism claimed that humans were divine entities from the spark of Dionysus, trapped in material form from the ashes of the Titans, and needed to free themselves of material entrapment through purification rites known only to the initiated. Through these rites, they were freed from the cycle of death and rebirth. They identified with Orpheus because he, like Dionysus, had descended to the underworld and returned to life. The Orphic hymns seem to have been thought to help one in that same sort of transformation, from material death to spiritual life. And as Orpheus composed the hymns, he was regarded as the founder of Orphism. Orpheus is better known today for the story of his descent and return from the underworld. In Pseudo-Apollodorus' The Library of Greek Mythology, we get a very condensed version of the life of Orpheus, and another version in the Roman Virgil's Georgics. But the most detailed survives to us from the Roman poet Ovid, who lived during the reign of the first Roman emperor, Augustus. Ovid begins his tale of the marriage of Orpheus and Eurydice, sometimes referred to as Agriope, both very much in love, with Orpheus calling for the god of marriage, Hymenaeus, to bless his wedding. This proved of no use, however, for the wedding was ill-omened. After they were married, Eurydice took a stroll with her naiad attendants, and she was bitten on the ankle by a poisonous snake and died. Orpheus was distraught, unable to live without her, and was determined to bring her back from the underworld. He passed the river Styx by charming the boatman Charon, then he charmed the three-headed dog Cerberus, until he came to the king and queen of the underworld. Before the rulers of the shadowy realm, Orpheus plucked the strings of his lyre and sang. He sang for his love for Eurydice, her premature death, and his desire to get her back, declaring that if Eurydice couldn't be released, then he would stay in the underworld. His music did what had never been done before. It stopped the torture in Tartarus, even just for one moment. Tantalus stopped clutching at the food just out of his reach, Ixion's wheel stopped turning, Sisyphus sat on his boulder, and the Daniads dropped their urns. Even the Furies wept real tears for the very first time. Such was the power of Orpheus' song. The king and queen of the underworld, Hades and Persephone, knew they couldn't refuse him after such a moving appeal, and so they summoned Eurydice. Orpheus was told he could take her back to the land of the living, but on one condition, that he walk in front of her and never look back until he had returned to the world above. Orpheus, of course, agreed, and so the two began their walk up to earth. They walked up and up until they were so close that Orpheus could see a light. But he worried that Eurydice had fallen behind, or that Hades had tricked him, and in his desperation, he turned and looked at her. As he looked at her, she sank back into the dark, stretching her arms out to him, grasping at only air. Orpheus tried to return to the underworld for her, but he was denied entrance, and Charon pushed him away from the banks of the Styx. In despair, Orpheus sat there for weeks without eating anything, being kept alive by his tears and his grief. When he finally got up, he roamed the forests and mountains of Thrace, swearing off the love of women, despite the many women wanting Orpheus, even after they were rejected by him. Orpheus played his music in the forests, which attracted birds and beasts to him. Rocks followed behind him, and he sang of boys loved by the gods and girls driven to a frenzy by love. But the Maenads, the female followers of the god Dionysus, were unhappy that Orpheus rejected them. They threw things at him, including an ivy-tipped spear, which caused Orpheus to bruise, but didn't draw blood. The Maenads moved to stones and threw them at the singer, but the music was enough to stop the stones, and so they fell at his feet. The women were relentless, though, and continued in their frenzied assault. Eventually, the cacophony being made by the Maenads drowned out the sound of Orpheus' music, and at last the stone struck home and became stained with blood. The crazed followers of Dionysus attacked the animals under the spell of Orpheus' music, before turning to the singer with blood-stained hands and murdered him. His followers mourned the loss of Orpheus. The trees shed their leaves, the birds were full of sorrow, and the rivers were swollen with tears. The limbs of Orpheus lay scattered, and his head and lyre were thrown into the river Hebrus. In one version of the tale, his head ended up in Lesbos, where the Muses buried it and built a shrine on top. In others, his head became an oracle of Apollo, but was buried by Apollo after he got tired of the competition between his other oracles. Ovid ends this sad tale with Orpheus' shade in the underworld, reunited in the Elysium fields with his wife, where they strolled together, either side by side or one before the other, but now Orpheus knew it was safe to turn and look back. What do you think the story of Orpheus and Eurydice means? Let us know in the comments below. 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