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Delahoyde & Hughes
Orpheus
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Orpheus and Eurydice:
Orpheus' wife Eurydice is bitten in the ankle by a serpent and dies.
Orpheus journeys to hell. As Orpheus sings his request, all those
miseries of the underworld we saw in Virgil's Aeneid stop:
Ixion's wheel stops spinning, the vulture stops chewing on Tityos'
liver, Tantalus stops trying to reach food and water, and so on. "And
Tantalus forgot the fleeing water, / Ixion's wheel was tranced; the
Danaids / Laid down their urns; the vultures left their feast, / And
Sisyphus sat rapt upon his stone" (226). What does it mean that "Hell"
stops in the underworld when Orpheus sings?
Orpheus respectfully requests of Pluto a "loan": his wife back until
she's older -- after all, we all will end up here in the underworld
sooner or later anyway.
Ovid's tale of Orpheus' journey to the Underworld, the realm of Hades,
provides a beginning place from which to consider the changing constructs
of the afterlife in mythology. It is possible to view the changing images
of the underworld by looking at the iconography of hell and the devil.
See the Orpheus discussion of Hell.
Cyparissus:
A sacred deer is fond of the youth Cyparissus. Cyparissus rides the
deer about and they have happy picnics together, until Cyparissus
accidentally shoots the deer. He wants to die himself, and in order
that he might lament forever, Apollo turns him into a cypress tree,
a tree of mourning (229).
Ganymede:
Orpheus sings the brief tale of Ganymede, beloved by Jove and so carried
off by Jove's eagle incarnation to serve him nectar (239).
Apollo and Hyacinthus:
Pygmalion:
An angry Venus invents whores. Pygmalion turns away from such vile
humanity, sculpts an ivory woman, and falls in love with it. Venus
grants it life. This story serves as the prototype for My Fair
Lady, Mannequin, and other Svengali tales.
Cinyras and Myrrha:
Ovid warns the squeamish away from this story, especially encouraging
fathers and daughters to skip over it, thereby drawing more lurid
attention to it. Cinyras and Myrrha are father and daughter, and Myrrha
harbors incestuous impulses towards daddy, which she rationalizes with
references to various animal practices (235). She even curses geography
for the cultural taboo. Daddy's pleased when she claims to want a husband
exactly like him. After Myrrha prepares to hang herself, her nurse finally
realizes why she is mooning all the time and, when mom is busy with the
festival of Ceres, helps Myrrha to daddy's bed. She revisits night after
night until Cinyras calls for some light and turns homicidal. She flees,
pregnant, and turns into a myrrh tree. Her son is Adonis.
Adonis:
We hear that Venus hunts a bit. She is accidentally grazed by one
of Cupid's arrows and falls in love with Adonis. To keep him from
endangering himself hunting, she tells him the following story.
Atalanta:
Atalanta is not interested in getting married, especially to any man
who cannot outrun her. Losers receive death. Hippomenes scoffs at first
but sees her and is struck by her beauty. During the race he throws
golden apples farther and farther off course, which Atalanta fetches;
thus he is able to win the race, and her.
Back to Adonis:
Venus warns Adonis off hunting, especially lions. But Adonis doesn't
listen and one day is gored in the groin by a wild boar. He dies and
turns into the anemone flower, which blooms early and fades fast.
One of the classic myths that appeals to writers and directors of art
films is the story of Orpheus. Some see Orpheus as the archetypal artist
-- and not simply because his music made even the mountains sway and the
trees strain to hear it. The journey of Orpheus to the Underworld could
be considered an allegory for the artistic process. Like Orpheus, the
poet or artist descends to the darkest depths of the soul and stares
death in the face. And like Orpheus, the artist who gives in to his or
her doubts will lose everything.
Orpheus' request is granted with a catch in the form of folklore's "one
forbidden thing" motif: as he and Eurydice exit, he is not to look back
at her. Of course, he's worried about her, and on the way out he does
look back. She's gone forever in a "double death" (226). He tries to
get back down, but is not allowed, and so lives in misery.
Another youth, Hyacinthus, oils up with Apollo for a discus-throwing
competition. He catches one on the rebound in the face and dies, becoming
the hyacinth.
Ovid Index
Orpheus: Roman Mythology