Orpheus and Eurydice , By Artist Anselm Feuerbach (1829–1880)

 

Orpheus and Eurydice
by Anselm Feuerbach 
 1869

Orpheus, the singer, resided in Thrace in northern Greece. He had a tremendous ability for music, and his popularity spread across the Greek nation. Eurydice fell in love with him because of the music. She eventually married him. Their joy, however, was fleeting. She left her spouse and went into the wilderness. A snake curled around her leg and stung her. Eurydice screamed in agony and fright and collapsed on the grass. Orpheus rushed to his wife after hearing her pleading scream from afar. But when he saw the big black wings flashing through the trees, he knew it was Death carrying Eurydice to the underworld.

Orpheus and Eurydice , by Artist Anselm Feuerbach
source : https://sammlung.belvedere.at/objects/735/orpheus-und-eurydike

Orpheus was overcome with sadness. He abandoned everybody and spent days alone trekking through the woods, singing his heart out. And the force of these gloomy melodies was so strong that the trees abandoned their positions and surrounded the singer. Animals emerged from their burrows, birds fled their nests, and stones became closer. Everyone heard his longing for his lover, and Orpheus determined to visit the realm of the dead himself.

Orpheus sailed down the Styx, passing unknown people's spirits and souls. When he played his lyre, he melted Hades' heart. Orpheus was instructed by Hades that he might take Eurydice with him on one condition: she would accompany him out of the underworld's cave, but he should not look at her before she left the realm of the dead, or he would lose her forever.

Orpheus was overjoyed, thinking it would be a simple chore for someone as patient as himself; he thanked the gods and returned to the world. However, after failing to hear Eurydice's steps, he began to suspect that the gods had duped him. Eurydice was truly behind him, but like a shadow, she needed to return to the light in order to reclaim her complete femininity. Orpheus lost hope only a few feet from the exit and turned to see Eurydice behind him, but her shadow was hurled back into the realm of the dead, now forever.

Orpheus attempted to return to Hades, but a person cannot enter Hades twice while still alive. According to many versions of the tale, Orpheus started to sing a mournful song to his lyre, pleading for death so that he may eternally be with Eurydice. He is eventually slain by the animals that rip him apart. Another account has Zeus striking him with lightning because he was afraid Orpheus would divulge the mysteries of the underworld to the humans.