Myth of Orpheus and Eurydice

According to Greek mythology, Orpheus and Eurydice they were two lovers who fell deeply in love.

Orpheus was the son of Calliope, muse of Greek mythology, and the god Apollo. He inherited from his father a lyre that, when played by his hands, made such an enveloping sound that everyone was attracted by his magic, from the birds in the sky to the trees planted in the earth.

even the wild animals they calmed down in front of the song emitted by the musical instrument that practically hypnotized such beasts.

Orpheus and Eurydice

Hymenaeus, god of marriages, sealed the love of Orpheus and Eurydice, but was unable to make this relationship successful.

Eurydice, when trying to escape the harassment of Aristeus, runs away and stumbles upon a serpent that bites the girl and, shortly thereafter, she dies.

Dissatisfied with the death of his beloved, Orpheus goes after Eurydice in the realm of the dead. Playing his lyre, he manages to make Charon, boatman from

hades, god of the dead, take him to the underworld.

Its sweet song hypnotizes Cerberus, the monstrous three-headed dog that guards the entrance to the world of the dead.

In front of Hades, he continues to play to the point of moving the god of the underworld and his wife, persephone, who helps him convince Hades to release Eurydice.

However, such a goal would only be fulfilled if Orpheus pledged not to look at his beloved until he reached the world of the living.

He crosses difficult passages without looking at his beloved. When he was almost reaching the final destination, he looks back to make sure that Eurydice had managed to keep up with him.

At that moment, his beloved lets out one last scream and returns to the dead condition. Prevented from accompanying his wife to the realm of the dead, Orpheus despairs.

He turns into a person taken by anguish and starts to reject all the girls who approached him.

Tired of not being noticed, the maenads, nymphs who follow Dionysus, decide to kill Orpheus. After his body was thrown into the Ebro River, he was buried on Mount Olympus. In the realm of the dead, Orpheus is reunited with his beloved.

In the place where his body was buried, legend has it that nightingales sing more delicately. The maenads, responsible for his death, were punished by the gods that turned them into rocks and oaks.

Learn more at:

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