ABSTRACT
Two generations before the Trojan War, Orpheus was born at the sacred foot of Mount Olympus to Calliope, the wise Muse of epic poetry with the beautiful voice. He travelled to foreign lands at a young age and when he returned he had a lyre, a gift from his father, the god Apollo. He became the most celebrated musician, poet, and prophet of ancient Greece, enchanting wild beasts and trees alike. According to Aeschylus and Euripides, his lyrical powers were such that he was capable even of charming the stones.
Orpheus loved Eurydice, who was a girl born to wood nymphs. He was loved by her above every mortal creature. While nature was preparing their harmonious union, a small serpent bit the nymph and she died and descended to the Underworld. For Orpheus, it was the end of the world he knew.
Orpheus wandered far and wide and reached the Underworld with nothing but his lyre as his only weapon. His songs were so soothing to the souls in the Underworld that the god Hades finally yielded and agreed to allow Orpheus to return to the light with his beloved. There was, however, one condition: that Eurydice should not see Orpheus’ face, only his back, on their return to the light. Just before the pair reached the upper world of the living, Orpheus turned to look upon the shadow that was following him. Immediately, Eurydice changed back into what she had been: unrecognizable and invisible.
Orpheus was inconsolable at this second loss of his beloved. He turned harsh toward life and could not endure paying homage to the gods. Over time, his hair whitened and he returned to his homeland Thrace, and no one ever heard him grieve again over death. Except after he was ripped to shreds by frenzied women for never loving again, his severed head would lament and sing wildly about grief. His singing filled the valleys and oceans with mournful sounds that had never been heard before or since. No one on Mount Olympus ever forgot Orpheus or his hymns. The spirit of the prophet-musician ran in the blood of the Greeks and other seafaring peoples everywhere who longed for Eros and feared Thanatos.
