Greek Mythology 101: The Captivating Story of Eurydice and Orpheus

He was an artist at heart. He understood how to sing emotions and give people goosebumps.

Through his music, he could light the hearts of many and reach the depth of their soul. His name was Orpheus.

Orpheus was a hopeless romantic. He fell in love with Eurydice, a beautiful young nymph.

The day of their wedding came. Orpheus was wearing a white robe, holding the lyre he used to create music. Eurydice wore a beautiful blue dress. Eurydice started to walk toward Orpheus, and they looked at each other with fascination until she fell to the ground; a snake bit her.

The darkness of the underworld welcomed Eurydice.

For the following weeks, Orpheus was devastated. Drowning in despair, he only found a way to get himself alive again. He was determined to search for Eurydice in the underworld.

The power of trust

When Orpheus arrived in the underworld, he began to play music on his lyre. His music was so moving that the guardian dogs slept, and he was taken by Charon, a ferry captain, through the River Sixt to meet the rulers of the underworlds, Persephone and Hades.

Orpheus began to sing about his love for Eurydice. He begged Hades and Persephone to bring her again to earth. They agreed but with one condition. As he climbed out of the underworld to make his wish come true, he couldn’t look behind him to see if Eurydice was following him. If he did, she would return to the land of the deaths.

While climbing, Orpheus doubted if Eurydice was behind him. He couldn’t feel her presence nor her footsteps.

Finally, he couldn’t control himself anymore. He looked behind him, and Eurydice fell into the underworld again. He tried to rescue her, but Hades and Persephone refused his entry for breaking their trust.

On earth, Orpheus sat every day on a rock to sing sad songs about love. He promised himself he would never love a woman again.

The Maenads, a group of women who served the god Dionysus, were filled with anger and jealousy after realizing how a man like Orpheus couldn’t love them.

The shame and madness of feeling empty without exterior love caused them to take the awful decision of destroying Orpheus.

The underworld took Orpheus. He reencountered himself with the eyes of her beloved Eurydice; they made love again and held hands, walking along the Sixth River. Finally, he found peace in the inferno.

This history shows us that without trust, many things can go broke.

Trying to be in control and controlling your partner could make you lose them in a blink of an eye. Love and suffering are one the same coins.

Love is a universal feeling. A song or a poem could turn the light of many hearts or bring a soul’s tears out in the world.