Orpheus, the best musician of ancient Greece, was the son of Apollo and of the muse of singing, poetry and eloquence, Calliope.
The melodies that came from his lyre were so beautiful that not only human beings were enchanted on hearing them, but also the flowers and trees were said to dance to the music, and it even tamed the wildest beasts.
One day he met the cheery nymph Eurydice, who on hearing Orpheus’ heavenly music, fell head over heels in love. In fact both of them fell in love and Eurydice’s love filled Orpheus’ heart as much as his music.
Unfortunately, while Eurydice was out walking in the countryside she stepped on a poisonous snake which bit her on the foot, causing the death of the young nymph, whose spirit descended into the kingdom of the dead, the underworld.
Orpheus was so devastated and sad that he couldn’t even find any comfort in his music, nor sense to life, if he couldn’t share it with Eurydice, so he decided that he would rescue her from the kingdom of the dead.
After a long trek, Orpheus arrived at the River Styx, which separates the world of the living from the world of the dead, where he came across the boatman Charon whose job was to take the dead to the other side of the river, and he said to Orpheus, “I’m sorry but the living cannot go to this kingdom.”
So Orpheus started to play his lyre and sing such a sad song that Charon became engrossed in its beauty, taking pity on Orpheus’ sorrow and taking him to the other side of the river.
There awaited Cerberus, a three-headed dog that guarded the gates of the underworld. But Orpheus, with his music, tamed the beast and was able to enter the kingdom of the dead.
So he descended to where the throne of Hades and Persephone, the gods of the underworld, was and begged them to let him take Eurydice back to the world of the living with him.
He expressed himself to the gods with such a heartbreaking song that he managed to soften their hearts and they replied, “ Your story has moved us, Orpheus, and we will allow you to abandon our kingdom with your wife, but on one condition, listen well mortal man; while you are in the underworld you mustn’t look back to see your loved one, you can only look at her when you have reached the world of the living. You must go ahead and she will follow you. If you turn back to look at her, her spirit will stay here forever.”
But when Orpheus finally crossed the threshold of the underworld, he suddenly doubted whether it was all a trick and he thought it wasn’t his wife who was following him. Instinctively, Orpheus looked back and had time to see the face of his beloved Eurydice, but the nymph still hadn’t crossed the threshold of the underworld, as she still had one foot there, so her figure immediately vanished and disappeared into the most absolute darkness.
