Greek Myths

    Orpheus was not just any ordinary man. He was the son of the god Apollo and the Muse of music, Calliope. His father gave him a magical lyre when he was just a young boy and taught him to play sweet music upon it. By the time he was a young man, he played his instrument so perfectly that the heart of every man, woman, and child filled with warmth when they heard him. When the wild animals heard his music, they gathered around him in a circle; when the tree listened, their leaves grew faster; the flowers turned their heads toward the sound; even the hard rock became softer when Orpheus played.
    The gods themselves loved Orpheus' playing and sent a beautiful woman called Eurydice to him to be his wife. Orpheus loved Eurydice more than anything in the world, more than riches, more than music, more than himself. But Orpheus and Eurydice's marriage was not a lucky one. Not long after their marriage, Eurydice was wandering in the fields, singing, and dancing, when she was seen by a lonely man called Aristaeus. Aristaeus was amazed with Eurydice's beauty and was determined to have her. He followed her through the fields with the hope of catching her. When Eurydice saw him, she was filled with fear and ran away as fast as she could. Because she was not watching where she was going, she stepped on a snake in the grass. The snake bit her, and she died.
    When Orpheus found her body, he begged the god's to let her live, but his cries were not heard. For days he cried beside her body, not eating or sleeping. Finally, Orpheus decided to go down into Hades 'the land of the dead' and find his wife. He asked Apollo, his father, to tell him where the entrance into Hades was, and Apollo led him to a cave on the side of a great cliff. Smoke poured out of the mouth of the cave and terrible screams could be heard from inside, but Orpheus' love for Eurydice, and his determination to find her, were so great that he was not afraid.
    He entered into the cave and instantly the light of the world outside disappeared. Great crowds of ghosts surrounded him as he walked down the long staircase into the center of Hades. They whispered terrible words that Orpheus could not understand. A normal man would have been killed quickly on entering Hades, but Orpheus had his lyre and played such sweet music that the guards of the underworld let him pass.
    After many hours the stairs finally ended and Orpheus arrived in the center of Hades. The god of Hades sat in his great chair with his wife, and Orpheus bowed before them. Orpheus then began to play his lyre and sing:
    "Great gods of the under-world,
    to whom all men must one day come,
    please hear my words,
    for they are true and from my deepest heart.
    I have not come to spy on your secrets,
    or to test my strength against the monsters of this world.
    I have come to find my wife,
    who was taken from me too early by the bite of a snake.
    I have come here for love.
    Love, the most powerful of the gods of the men
    who live on the earth, and, I believe,
    a powerful god here as well.
    I beg you, great gods who have the greatest power,
    please return my wife to me and let her live again.
    All men will come to you in time,
    and Orpheus and Eurydice will both return to serve you.
    But let her live again,
    just for the time of a common life on earth,
    so that she can stand by my side.
    If you will not do this,
    I cannot return alone;
    I will stay here in the under-world."
    As he sang these words and played his lyre, all the ghosts of Hades cried great tears. Then for the first time, it is said, the king of Hades himself let a single tear fall from his eye. Orpheus moved quickly and caught the tear and held it in his hand. The god then said, "You have moved my heart, Orpheus, and I will give you what you ask. You may take your wife out of Hades on one condition: You must walk up the stairs out of Hades and not turn back to look at her or this world. Not until you have arrived back in the world of the living can you turn around. If you wish to see your wife, just look into my tear that you now hold in your hand and you will see her, like in a mirror, behind you."
    Orpheus began the long walk up the stairs, all the while holding the god's single tear up in front of him to see his wife behind him. In the tear he saw Eurydice following behind him as best she could. Her foot still hurt from the snake bite, and she walked slowly and silently. The stairs were dark and high, and Eurydice often slipped because her hurt foot. Each time she slipped, Orpheus wished to run to her, but knew he could not. They walked an hour, and a terrible thought appeared in Orpheus' head. "What if Hades has tricked me into leaving the land of the dead, and Eurydice is not really behind me?"
    This thought became bigger and bigger inside of  Orpheus' head, until he could not think of anything else. He called out to Eurydice, begging her to answer him, but heard no reply. in truth, Eurydice was calling to him loudly, but the dead made no sound to the living. Finally Orpheus could not bear it any longer and took a quick look behind him. The moment he did this, many servants of Hades flew down and grasped Eurydice. As they pulled her back into Hades, Orpheus ran up to her and grasped her hand. They touched each other one last time before she was pulled away.
    Eurydice looked at her husband with deep love and did not blame him for hist impatience for how could she be angry at his desire to see her? "Goodbye, my love," she said, "a final goodbye." She then disappeared into the darkness.
    Suddenly Orpheus found himself back in the light of the world. The entrance to the cave was covered with large rocks that he could not move. He begged the gods to let him back into Hades to try one more time, but he received no answer. He sat at the cave entrance for three days and nights, without food or water. He then played his lyre and sang a song so sad that everything that heard it felt that their heart would break. The wild animals could not bear to hear a song so sad and begged him to stop. Orpheus refused, and the animals, crazy with sadness, attacked him and pulled him into hundreds of tiny pieces.
    His spirit, free from his body, fell happily into Hades where he sought out his Eurydice and held her in his arms. They still walk together happily in Hades, his playing the lyre and her singing, and Orpheus may look at her as much as he wishes, without fear of her disappearing from his arms.