The Fateful Love Of Orpheus And Eurydice Story Moral/Summary

Long ago, in mythological Greece, there was an extremely talented music player named Orpheus. He is the son of Apollo, the god of the sun, music, poetry, and the nymph Calliope. He lives in Thrace, in the northeastern part of Greece.

Orpheus has a beautiful voice that charms everyone who hears it. Apollo gave his son a lyre and taught him how to play it. He quickly learned and played more beautifully than his father.

Whenever Orpheus would play his lyre, no god or mortal could resist his music. The rocks and trees would move near him when he played.

He is also famously known for voyaging to Colchis in the Argonautic expedition with Jason and his fellow Argonauts and stealing the golden fleece. He played his music and was able to put the sleepless dragon, the guardian of the golden thread, so Jason managed to get the wool.

Orpheus also saved his fellow Argonauts from the Sirens with his music. The sirens are strange female-like creatures that seduce and kill men with their alluring voices.

In the story, one fine day, Orpheus wanders into the woods and plays his lyre when he sees a beautiful nymph named Eurydice. She heard Orpheus’s music and was captivated by the music. Orpheus was also fascinated with the beauty of Eurydice and loved her at first sight.

Something tugged the heat of the two, and they soon felt dearly in love. They could not get enough of each other, so they decided to marry.

Hymenaios, the god of marriage, blessed their union. However, at that moment, Hymenaios prophesized that their marriage would not last for years.

Eurydice was a nymph with an uncontested beauty, and her beauty was apparent to more than just Orpheus: Aristaeus, a shepherd who despised Orpheus and wanted Eurydice for his own.

So, he hid in the bushes and waited for the couple to pass by. Seeing the two approaching, he quickly jumped to attach Orpheus and snatch Eurydice.

But Orpheus quickly grabbed Eurydice’s hand and ran away. Aristaeus chased them and kept running, but Eurydice stepped into a venomous snake, and it bit her.

Aristaeus knows there is no chance of survival, so he abandons the two. Eurydice, on the other hand, Orpheus was unable to save her, so she died from the venom of the snake and descended to the Underworld.

Without Eurydice, Orpheus wasn’t the same person as before. He no longer enjoyed music and playing his lyre. So, he begged his father, Apollo, to help him retrieve his wife in the Underworld.

In the Underworld, he managed to charm Cerberus with his music. Then he passed through ghosts and souls of unknown people and presented himself to the god of the Underworld, Hades, and his wife, Persephone.

Orpheus started playing his music, and everyone in the Underworld, even the cold heart of Hades, melted because of his melody. He convinced Hades and Persephone to return him to his wife with his beautiful song.

Hades insisted that he could take Eurydice under one condition; Eurydice would follow him in walking out to the light from the Underworld, but he would not look back at her before both came out to the light. But if Orpheus looks back, Eurydice will remain in the Underworld forever.

Orpheus was delighted and thanked Hades for she now had a chance to have his wife as an ordinary woman again by his side. So, he started walking to ascend to the world.

Orpheus managed to remain calm at first, but he could not hear the steps of Eurydice. He thought that Hades was fooling him.

The thing is, Eurydice was really at his back as a shadow waiting to come to light and be an ordinary woman again.

As the first beam of light touched his face, he quickly looked back to Eurydice, a shadow standing in the dark. He tried to hug his wife, but he instantly realized his mistake.

He was standing in the light or the world of the living, but Eurydice was still standing in the dark side or the world of the dead. So, Eurydice once again descended into the Underworld and lived there forever.

Orpheus tried to return to the Underworld, but he could not enter anymore. Many said that with his loss, he started playing mourning music with his lyre so he could reunite with Eurydice in the Underworld.