Orpheus and Eurydice

The ancient Greek myth of Orpheus and Eurydice goes back at least to the 6th century BCE; however, its story is today known mainly from the work of two Roman writers, Virgil and Ovid. Virgil included it in the last book of his Georgics, which he wrote between 37 and 30 BCE. Ovid included an expanded version in Books 10 and 11 of his Metamorphoses, written circa 8 CE. 

The myth has been enduringly popular and has been told and retold in literature, art, and music across the ages, from ancient times to the present. In opera, Monteverdi’s Orfeo (1607) and Gluck’s Orfeo ed Euridice (1762) are based on the story, as is Offenbach’s comic operetta Orpheus in the Underworld (1858). In the 21st century, Euridice (2003), a play by Sarah Rule that tells the story from Eurydice’s point of view, was adapted into an opera in 2020 by composer Matthew Aucoin. 

In literature, the unknown author of the medieval narrative poem Sir Orfeo adapted the myth, among other sources, giving it a happy ending. In “Orpheus. Eurydice. Hermes.” (1907), by renowned 20th-century Austrian poet Rainer Maria Rilke, Eurydice has adapted to being in Hades and registers no anguish at the failure of Orpheus’s mission. Orpheus Descending, a play by American dramatist Tennessee Williams, appeared in 1957; Orfeu Negro (Black Orpheus [1959]), a celebrated film directed by French filmmaker Marcel Camus, sets the story in an impoverished neighborhood in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. 

Other artistic interpretations include the painting Orpheus and Eurydice (c. 1508) by famed Italian Renaissance artist Titian, and the sculpture of the same name by 19th century French sculptor Auguste Rodin (1893). More recent adaptations also feature the myth, such as the video game Don’t Look Back, created by Irish video game developer Terry Cavanagh in 2009, and the musical Hadestown, by Anaïs Mitchell, which premiered on Broadway in 2019. 

The many adaptations show that the themes of the myth remain compelling, such as The Power of Music, The Strength and Vulnerability of Love, and the Fate and the Will of the Gods. 

The versions used in this study guide are Virgil’s Georgics, translated by Peter Fallon (Oxford University Press, 2006), and Ovid’s Metamorphoses, translated by A. D. Melville (Oxford University Press, 1986).

Plot Summary

Orpheus is a talented minstrel who charms all of nature with his music. He marries Eurydice, but she is bitten by a snake and dies. Grief-stricken, Orpheus descends to the realm of the dead and convinces Hades, the god of the underworld, to allow him to take Eurydice back to the surface with him. Hades agrees, on one condition: Eurydice must walk behind Orpheus, and he must not turn and look at her until they reach the upper world. Orpheus leads Eurydice to the entrance of the underworld without turning, but eventually he cannot resist. He looks around and sees Eurydice, who quickly fades away. Orpheus tries to reenter Hades, but the way back is now barred. He mourns Eurydice and is eventually killed by a mob of women.