The 2019 romantic film Portrait of a Lady on Fire uses the myth of Orpheus and Eurydice as an effective motif throughout. The play deals more with memory and the act of remembering and forgetting. Sarah Ruhl’s 2003 play Eurydice tells the same story, though in a vaguely contemporary setting, and from the perspective of Eurydice herself. Orpheus is tempted and looks back before they reach the exit, losing Eurydice, who is pulled back into the underworld. Hades allows Orpheus to lead Eurydice out of the underworld, but proclaims that he must not look back until they have both reached the surface. Orpheus uses his music to make his case to Hades and Persephone, rulers of the underworld, though it is mainly by Persephone’s intervention that Hades acquiesces. Orpheus’ grief causes him to travel to the underworld to bring her back. In the ancient myth, she is bitten by a viper on her wedding day, and dies immediately. Not as much is known about Eurydice, Orpheus’ wife. They revere Dionysus and Persephone, who also both journeyed to, and – importantly – returned from the underworld. Orpheus is also known as a prophet in the Orphic mysteries which were inspired by him. He is often depicted playing the lyre in mosaics and calling animals to him. Ancient poets venerated him and his skill to “allure the trees, the savage animals, and even the insensate rocks, to follow him”, according to Ovid’s Metamorphoses ( bk. In Greek mythology, Orpheus is the son of Calliope, the muse of eloquence and epic poetry, and alternately either the god Apollo or the Thracian king Oeagrus.

Orpheus is a musician who dreams of a better world, while Eurydice is more practical, becoming frustrated when Orpheus’ music doesn’t pay for desperately-needed food and firewood.Īnd so Eurydice accepts Hades’ shady offer of a job in his city…. The god Hermes is the show’s narrator, as well as Orpheus’ foster father. The Fates see everything and comment to the audience like a Greek chorus. There are few jobs or food, and the only possible promise of such things is in a mystical city below the ground called Hadestown, run by the god Hades and reluctantly visited by his wife Persephone. It is set in a post-apocalyptic, American Great Depression-era setting. The 2019 Broadway musical Hadestown by Anais Mitchell retells the myth of Orpheus and Eurydice. The strength of these relationships is powerful in and of itself it shows that love is worth doing something solely on faith. Though the myth of Orpheus and Eurydice is tragic, in a way it echoes Hades and Persephone’s story. Orpheus is one of the best-known mythological musicians, while Hades and Persephone serve as rulers of the Greek afterlife. The myth of Eurydice and Orpheus and the relationship between Hades and Persephone are commonly referenced in Greek mythology, as well as retold in other mediums.

Specific myths have been adapted more than others. Greek mythology has captured people’s interest for centuries, in stories and art of all kinds, including oral tradition, theater, poetry, novels, and more.

Eurydice hades town