The Story of Orpheus

(Retold by MTB.)

[Note: At certain times in their careers, Bob Dylan & Jim Morrison resembled/merged with Orpheus. But the closest fit for Orpheus from that generation of poet-songwriters is in my opinion Jimi Hendrix.]


Orpheus was a poet & musician, specifically a lyre-player, who lived in Ancient Thrace, which is 'above' Greece, to the north & east, lying mainly in modern Bulgaria. In those days to be a poet was also to be a musician because poets sang their poems to their own musical accompaniment. They were like the minstrels in the Middle Ages. They would set their poems to traditional tunes, or make up new ones on the traditional patterns, & they would also recite traditional poems about gods & heroes & adventures which had been created who knows where who knows when. Orpheus has a reputation as being one of the greatest poets ever, before or since: an exemplar to all other poets or would-be poets. The power of his music was also extraordinary. When he played his lyre in the forests of Thrace & on its mountain sides, all the birds & the wild beasts who heard him would gather & listen in rapt amazement. He could also make inanimate objects such as rocks move with the power of his music. Orpheus, as poets in those days were, was also a historian in a way, a reciter of the folk tales of the region, & a prophet. He was skilled in all the metrical forms, whether modern or ancient, & knew all the lineages of kings & poets. He knew all the modes of music. He used to tune his lyre down a semi-tone from the pitch that was customary, which made the strings more resonant. People also had reason to fear his contempt: especially the powerful who were unjust, & the wealthy who oppressed the poor; because Orpheus hated injustice & he could satirize them in a deadly manner.

Orpheus was beholden to no one. He travelled around Thrace at his pleasure, singing his songs & making up new ones. He took hospitality wherever he could find it, & it was almost always gladly extended, because of his great reputation. Orpheus was not particularly handsome by any means, but he had an expression & a look in his eye - he had piercing blue-grey eyes - which was immediately attractive, not to say fascinating. That was even before he began to sing & play. When he did, it was wonderful, surpassing anything his hearers had heard before, or ever would again.

Orpheus met & fell in love with a woman called Eurydice. She had long straight brown hair which showed red & gold tints in the sunlight, & brown eyes which could glow with the tender light of love, or flash with anger, for she was not to be trifled with. She was one of the most beautiful, intelligent & marvellous women in the whole world, & she loved Orpheus equally in return as he loved her. The mutuality of their love was as perfect as anything ever can be in this world, & they made a very fitting pair. Eurydice was a huge source of inspiration to her lover.

One awful day Eurydice was bitten by a snake as she went through the forest, & to Orpheus' horror she sickened & died that very day. He was so grief-stricken that he refused to accept the loss of her as final, & determined to go to the Underworld to get her back. He went to a certain fissure in some rocks that he knew was an entrance to the Underworld, went down in it & travelled on until he reached the River Styx, which is the boundary of that realm. Here, an unheard-of thing, he charmed with his music the surly & immovable Charon, the ferryman of the Dead, to take him over the river. So he entered the realm of Hades, Lord of the Underworld. Here he was welcomed by Hades at his court, & he played & sang for that god as he had never played & sung in his life before: if you had heard it, you would think such skill was impossible: it was his longing for Eurydice that inspired him.

"Your playing & singing have charmed me exceedingly," said Hades when it was over. "I can see that everything I have heard about your skill is true. Your performance was a fitting tribute to my Power. What can I give you in return ?"

Orpheus did not hesitate, but said boldly:

"Give me back Eurydice !"

"That I will do," said Hades. "However, although my power is immense, there are some decrees of the Fates that bind even the immortal gods. Take Eurydice with my blessing, but as you travel back to the Land of the Living you must observe the following conditions: she must walk behind you all the way, & you must not, under any circumstances, look back at her. If you do, she will dissolve & return here to the Land of the Dead forever, beyond the power of anyone, even me, to release her. So the Fates decree."

"Very well," said Orpheus, "I will do as you say."

& so he set off back to the Land of the Living, well assured that Eurydice was indeed behind him because he could hear her moving. They travelled on & on until they were walking up the slope which led to the fissure by which Orpheus had first descended. The end was in sight. He would indeed have his beloved Eurydice back ! Then, in a cursed moment - I do not know what caused it, whether Eurydice stumbled & cried out, or whether in his joy Orpheus forgot the injunction of the Fates which Hades had told him - Orpheus did look back, & looked fully at the beautiful Eurydice: whereupon to his despair she did indeed dissolve, & returned beyond his or anyone's reach to the Land of the Dead forevermore. The look of hopeless appeal & sadness on her face as she did so was unbearable. Orpheus had no choice but to return to the Land of the Living alone & heart-broken: his grief fifty times worse than it had been before because her loss was irreparable & brought about by his own folly.

Orpheus continued to roam through Thrace as he had always done, but he did not suffer his grief for long because he soon met his end, & in the following way. At that time groups of women would gather together & engage in ecstatic rites sacred to the god Dionysos. They were called Maenads & they would range over mountain sides & wild places in a frenzy while they were possessed by the god. If they came upon a wild deer or another creature they would tear it to pieces. Just such a band of Maenads came upon Orpheus by the banks of a river, & they tore him to pieces as if he had been a wild animal. His flesh & bone they scattered around them, but the head they put in the river, where it remained upright: & it floated away, prophesying & singing all the while. So that was how the renowned Orpheus met his death.