The legend "Orpheus and Eurydice" is considered one of the classic stories about eternal love. The lover did not have the strength and perseverance to bring his wife out of the Kingdom of the Dead, than he doomed himself to wandering and mental anguish. But, if you think about it, this myth is not only about a feeling over which time has no power, the legend also teaches others what the Hellenes tried to tell.
Orpheus and Eurydice - who is it?
Who are Orpheus and Eurydice? According to Greek legend, this is a couple in love, whose feelings were so strong that the husband ventured to go down to the Kingdom of Death for his wife and begged for the right to take the deceased back to the living. But failed to fulfill the requirement of God underworld Aida and lost his wife forever. This doomed himself to spiritual wanderings. But he did not refuse a rare gift to give joy with his music, and this conquered the lord of the dead, begging for the life of Eurydice.
Who is Orpheus?
Who is Orpheus Ancient Greece? He was the most famous musician of his time, the personification of the mighty power of art, his gift to play the lyre conquered the world. There are 3 versions about the origin of the singer:
- Son of the river god Eagra and the muse Calliope.
- Heir of Oeager and Clio.
- Child of the god Apollo and Calliope.
Apollo gave the young man a lyre of gold, her music made animals tame, made plants and mountains move. An unusual gift helped Orpheus become the winner in playing the kithara in the funerary games according to Pelius. Helped the Argonauts find a fleece of gold. Among his famous deeds:
- discovered the mysterious ceremonies of the god Dionysus;
- built the temple of Cora Sotera in Sparta.
Who is Orpheus in mythology? Legends immortalized him as the only daredevil who, for the sake of his beloved, dared to descend into the Kingdom of the Dead, and even managed to beg for her life. About death legendary singer several versions survive:
- He was killed by Thracian women for not allowing them to take part in the mysteries.
- Struck by lightning.
- Dionysus turned it into the constellation of the Kneeling One.
Who is Eurydice?
Eurydice is the beloved of Orpheus, a forest nymph, according to some versions, the daughter of the god Apollo. The singer, known for his gift, passionately fell in love with her, and the girl reciprocated. They got married, but happiness did not last long. About the death of a beauty in literary works Hellenes survived 2 versions:
- She died from a snake bite when she danced with her friends.
- She stepped on a viper, running away from the god Aristaeus pursuing her.
Myths of Ancient Greece - Orpheus and Eurydice
The myth of Orpheus and Eurydice tells that when his beloved wife died, the singer decided to go down to the underworld and ask to return his beloved. Having been refused, he tried to express his pain by playing the harp, and so impressed Hades and Persephone that they allowed him to take the girl. But they set a condition: do not turn around until it comes to the surface. Orpheus failed to fulfill the agreement, already at the exit he looked at his wife, and she again sank into the world of shadows. All my earthly life the singer yearned for his beloved, and after his death he reunited with her. Only then did Orpheus and Eurydice become inseparable.
What does the myth of Orpheus and Eurydice teach?
Researchers are sure that the legend of Orpheus and Eurydice has more deep meaning than just Touching story about love. The singer's mistake and Hades' decision are interpreted as:
- The manifestation of the eternal guilt of a person in front of his dead loved ones.
- A mocking joke of the gods, who knew that the singer would not fulfill the condition.
- The statement that between the living and the dead there is a barrier that no one can overcome.
- Even the power of love and art cannot overcome death.
- A talented person is always doomed to loneliness.
The story of Orpheus and Eurydice also has a philosophical interpretation:
- The singer finds a wife due to the fact that he is very close to the secrets of nature, the sky, the universe.
- The disappearance of Eurydice is akin to the appearance of a guiding star in a person's life, which points the way and disappears when the goal is almost reached.
- Even after the death of a loved one, a feeling serves to create new masterpieces that the world needs.
The beautiful love story of the ancient Greek youth Orpheus, the son of the god Apollo, and the beautiful nymph Eurydice still awes in the hearts of people. Legend has it that Orpheus had a special talent. He perfectly mastered the game on the lyre, and his works made the stones move towards the sound of enchanting melodies.
Once he met the marvelous Eurydice, and love took possession of his heart. They got married, but their happiness was short-lived. While walking through the forest, Eurydice was bitten by a snake. The young man did not have time to help his beloved. He could only watch as death takes her on its wings to the realm of the dead.
Life without Eurydice had no meaning for Orpheus. He gave up music and singing, giving his heart to the pain. Time passed, but the young man did not get any easier. And then he decided to go to the kingdom of the dead in order to persuade Hades to let Eurydice go. The young man was even willing to stay there if the god of the underworld refused his request.
For a long time Orpheus was looking for a way to the kingdom of the dead, until he ended up in deep cave. Here he found a brook that flowed into the river Styx. The black waters of the Styx washed the domain of Hades, where Eurydice was.
Arriving on the banks of the Styx, Orpheus began to wait for Charon, the carriers of dead souls. Finally he saw the boat. She swam to shore and souls of the dead filled it up. Orpheus also hurried to take a place in it, but the carrier did not let him in. The living have no place in Hades. And then Orpheus took the kithara in his hands and sang. His voice was so full of anguish that the waters of the Styx calmed down, and Charon was imbued with the pain of the musician and took him with him.
All the way, Orpheus sang and played the cithara until the boat reached the shores of the kingdom of the dead. Way forward the young man was full of chilling horror and encounters with monsters. But he overcame everything and approached the god Hades with a song. Bowing to him, Orpheus sang about his unhappy love and melted the hearts of the gods with his talent. Hades was so fascinated by the young man's music that he decided to fulfill his every wish. Orpheus wanted only one thing - that Eurydice would become alive again.
Hades decided to fulfill the promise, but with one condition: the lovers could meet only when they were among living people. Until this moment, Eurydice will follow her husband as a shadow, who should never look back. Otherwise, the girl will forever remain in the kingdom of Hades.
And now Orpheus has already overcome the kingdom of the dead, crossed the Styx - there is very little distance left to the world of the living. IN last moment he decided to look around and make sure that the shadow of Eurydice was really following him. As soon as he extended his hand to her, the girl disappeared.
Mad with grief, Orpheus decided to once again ask Hades to return his beloved. But no matter how much he stood on the banks of the Styx, Charon never sailed. The young man had to return to the world of living people alone. But the rest of his life was filled with longing for Eurydice. He walked the world and composed songs, telling about his beautiful wife and tragic love.
So says the ancient Greek legend, in which music became a vessel for sincere and lively emotions.
Once upon a time lived in Thrace famous singer and a musician, his name was Orpheus. So skillfully he could play the lyre and sing unusually beautiful songs that Apollo heard him, descended from Olympus and gave him his golden lyre. With this lyre, the art of Orpheus became truly divine - birds subsided to his singing and wild animals bowed their heads, and remained standing after the end of the song.
Rumors about the greatest musician spread throughout Greece, someone even said that Apollo himself was the father of Orpheus, but still his father was the river god Eagr, and his mother was the muse Calliope. He wandered a lot around the world, was in Egypt, where he improved his skills, he was among the Argonauts when they went on a campaign for the Golden Fleece, until he met his beloved, the beautiful dryad Eurydice.
Listen carefully to what I say. Your loved one will follow you by herself, but you must not look back until you are out in the sunlight. Turn around and ruin her, you can never meet again.
The singer headed away from dark kingdom, rejoicing in his luck, Kerberos dutifully let him pass by the decree of Hades. The way back took half the time, only now Orpheus did not hear the steps of his beloved behind him. With each step, more and more, he doubted that Hades had not deceived him. A bright point appeared in the distance - the exit from the cave, but the singer was tormented by doubts.
Unable to resist any longer, Orpheus turned around. He saw Eurydice for a moment, she looked sadly and melted away like a morning mist. Screaming in despair great musician rushed back.
For a long time he wandered along the banks of the Acheron River, trying to find Charon's pier, where they set off for last way the souls of the dead, but could not find it and Eurydice was forever lost to him. Orpheus returned to earth, but since then no one has heard a single merry song from him, only his lyre could now cry.
Orpheus and Eurydice
At the same time in Thrace lived great singer Orpheus. When he picked up his sonorous lyre and began to pluck its strings, everything around him froze, as if waiting for an extraordinary miracle. And this miracle came, as soon as the first sounds of his divine voice were heard.
Orpheus sang - and the storms subsided, people became affectionate and attentive to each other, even the gods listened to him with delight. Orpheus sang many different beautiful songs. But best of all he got songs about love. He sang them to his Eurydice.
Orpheus passionately loved his young wife, the beautiful Eurydice. Eurydice also loved Orpheus very much. There were no happier people on earth than this young couple. But their happiness did not last long.
Once Eurydice was walking with her friends, young nymphs, in the forest. They ran and frolicked, picked flowers. Eurydice did not notice that a poisonous snake lurked in the green thick grass, and accidentally stepped on it. The snake stung the beautiful wife of Orpheus. She cried out loudly, and when the frightened nymphs ran up to her, Eurydice was already dying. The nymphs screamed and cried so loudly that Orpheus heard them from afar and realized that something terrible had happened.
When he, alarmed, ran to the meadow, his young wife already dead lay on the green grass.
Orpheus turned black from grief, he could neither eat nor drink, and now he sang very rarely. And when he sang, he poured out his melancholy and sadness in sad melodies. Orpheus suffered for a long time, lonely and homeless. And finally he decided to go to the realm of the dead to beg Hades and Persephone to return his beloved Eurydice to him.
He came to the Peloponnese and there, through a gloomy crevice, he descended into the underworld, to the place where the sacred river Styx flowed.
Orpheus stands on the banks of the Styx and does not know how to cross him to the other side. Around him, the shadows of the dead flicker, their mournful moans sound a quiet rustle. Suddenly, the boat of Charon, the carrier of the souls of dead people, appeared on the river, and now he came for the next souls, and did not have time to moor to the shore, when Orpheus rushed to him and began to ask him to take him with him. But Charon is stern and adamant, and no matter how much Orpheus begged him, he resolutely answered that he would never take him with him, because where he takes the souls, there is no place for the living.
Desperate Orpheus struck the strings of the cithara and sang. The enchanting sounds of his voice reverberated throughout the gloomy dungeon, and, like butterflies, the souls of the dead flocked to him. Charon also listened, leaning thoughtfully on the oar. Continuing to sing, Orpheus entered Charon's boat, and the enchanted carrier pushed his boat away from the shore.
That's how they arrived in the realm of the dead. Playing on his golden cithara, Orpheus approached the throne of Hades. He bowed to the great Hades and his beautiful wife and sang. Orpheus sang about his ardent love for Eurydice, about how happy they were on the bright earth. He spoke in his song about the grief that overtook him with the departure of Eurydice, about his longing and sadness.
Having bowed her head on her chest, Hades listened to Orpheus, the beautiful Persephone clung to her husband's shoulder and fell silent, enchanted. Everything froze in realm of the dead. Tantalus forgot about his pangs of hunger and thirst, Sisyphus stopped his useless work, he sat down on a stone, which he continuously rolled up the mountain, and thought. The Danaids also left their bottomless vessel and, without moving, listened to Orpheus.
But now the sounds of the golden cithara are heard more and more quietly, and the voice of Orpheus also subsides. But for a long time no one breaks the deep enchanted silence. Finally, Hades raised his head and looked at the young man:
- What brought you to my kingdom, where only the souls of the dead live and where there is no place for the living? he asked him.
Hades swore by the greatest oath - the sacred waters of Styx, that he would fulfill any request of the marvelous singer.
“O mighty lord Hades, you accept us all when the days of our lives end,” Orpheus began his request, “I came to you not to see the horrors that fill your kingdom, and I didn’t come for that, to take away your dog, the three-headed Cerberus, as Hercules did. I have come to beg you to let go back to earth, my wife, my Eurydice. You see how I love her and suffer for her. Imagine, Vladyka, if your wife Persephone were taken away from you. After all, you would suffer endlessly.
Hades nodded his head, agreeing with the young man, and began to listen to him even more carefully. And Orpheus continued:
“Give me back my Eurydice, almighty lord. She won't be gone forever. Anyway, we will all come to you. Our life is so short. But Eurydice did not even have time to enjoy the happiness of life. She is still so young.
Hades thought for a bit, and then says to Orpheus:
- All right, Orpheus! I will return your Eurydice to you. But you will have to fulfill one of my conditions. Hermes will lead you back, you will follow him, and Eurydice will follow you. You will go out into the bright land, and Eurydice will remain with you, but only if you never look back all the time of your journey and to the very threshold of your house. Remember well! As soon as you look back - and Eurydice will disappear, she will return here and remain forever in the realm of the dead.
Orpheus accepted Hades' condition with joy. And then the quick Hermes brought the shadow of Eurydice. A happy young man rushed to her, wanted to hug her. But his hands closed in the void, and Hermes stopped the young man:
- Do not hurry, Orpheus, - he said, - because you are hugging the shadow. Let's get out of here soon. We have a very difficult road ahead of us.
And the fleet-footed god quickly headed for the exit.
Without a moment's hesitation, Orpheus rushed after him. And then the shadow of Eurydice glided inaudibly.
For a long time they walked like this through a gloomy dungeon. Heavy groans were heard around, here and there ethereal shadows flickered, and they kept walking and walking. Finally they came to the Styx, and Charon moved them to the other side. It was already brighter here, and a bright ray of sunlight was breaking through a crevice far ahead. But it was not yet close to him, and the narrow path became steeper and steeper, huge stones cluttered it. The figure of Hermes walking in front was barely visible.
Orpheus was anxious in his soul. Is Eurydice following him? After all, she is so weak and helpless, how can she overcome such difficult road? Or maybe she was already lost and now her lonely soul wanders somewhere in the darkness?
It has already become lighter around, soon they will come to the crevice and get out to the ground, to sunlight. Orpheus slows down and listens. Something is not heard behind the steps of Eurydice. But an incorporeal shadow does not walk, but glides silently. Orpheus did not think about this. Now he walks very slowly, stops at every step. Anxiety grips his heart.
“If Eurydice does not follow, then why should I return to earth alone,” he thinks, “and if Eurydice is lost, then we must not waste time, again go to Hades and ask him to find the lost Eurydice.
Orpheus forgot about everything and turned back. Almost next to him, he saw the shadow of Eurydice, stretched out his hands to her. But with a soft moan, she recoiled from him and slowly faded into the darkness.
The unfortunate Orpheus froze in horror, only now he realized that now he had lost his Eurydice forever. And he is to blame for this. His soul does not want to come to terms with such terrible loss. Orpheus quickly ran back. Would Hades not understand him? Will Persephone really remain deaf to his requests? He will beg them again, now in last time, return Eurydice to him.
The shore of the Styx is already here, and the boat of Charon is waiting for new souls. Orpheus rushed to the carrier, but no matter how much he begged him, Charon did not agree to take him a second time to the kingdom of the dead.
For seven days and seven nights the inconsolable young man sat on the banks of the Styx, and finally on the eighth day he got up and sadly wandered towards the exit.
Four years have passed since Orpheus lost his Eurydice for the second time and forever. Most beautiful girls The Thraces wanted to evoke his love, but Orpheus did not need any of them. He still loved his Eurydice and was faithful to her. The girls were angry with Orpheus and once on the feast of Dionysus they threw stones at him. Orpheus died, and his soul flew to Hades. Finally, she united there forever with the soul of Eurydice. Their light shadows flutter over the underworld. And now Orpheus can look back as much as he wants: the shadow of Eurydice is always next to him and never disappears.
Orpheus is one of the most mysterious figures in world history, about which there is very little information that can be called reliable, but at the same time there are a lot of myths, fairy tales, and legends. It's hard to imagine today world history and culture without Greek temples, without classical examples of sculpture, without Pythagoras and Plato, without Heraclitus and Hesiod, without Aeschylus and Euripides. In all this are the roots of what we now call science, art, and culture in general. If we turn to the origins, then all World culture based on Greek culture, the impulse to development that Orpheus brought: these are the canons of art, the laws of architecture, the laws of music, etc. Orpheus appears at a very difficult time for the history of Greece: people plunged into a semi-wild state, the cult of physical strength, the cult of Bacchus, the most base and gross manifestations.
At this moment, and this was about 5 thousand years ago, the figure of a man appears, whom legends called the son of Apollo, blinding his physical and spiritual beauty. Orpheus - his name is translated as "healing with light" ("aur" - light, "rfe" - to heal). In myths, he is told about him as the son of Apollo, from whom he receives his instrument, a 7-string lyre, to which he subsequently added 2 more strings, making it an instrument of 9 muses. (muses as nine perfect forces of the soul, leading along the path and with the help of which this path can be passed. According to another version, he was the son of the king of Thrace and the muse Calliope, the muse of epic and heroic poetry. According to myths, Orpheus participated in the journey of the Argonauts for the Golden Fleece, helping out your friends during trials.
One of the most famous myths- the myth of the love of Orpheus and Eurydice. Beloved of Orpheus, Eurydice dies, her soul goes to the underworld to Hades, and Orpheus, driven by the power of love for his beloved, descends after her. But when the goal had already seemed to have been achieved, and he was supposed to connect with Eurydice, he was overcome by doubts. Orpheus turns around and loses his beloved great love unites them only in heaven. Eurydice represents the divine soul of Orpheus, with whom he unites after death.
Orpheus continues the struggle against the lunar cults, against the cult of Bacchus, he dies torn to pieces by the Bacchantes. The myth also says that the head of Orpheus prophesied for some time, and it was one of the most ancient oracles of Greece. Orpheus sacrifices himself and dies, but before death he accomplished the work that he must accomplish: he brings light to people, heals with light, brings an impulse for new religion and new culture. new culture and religion, the revival of Greece is born in the hardest struggle. At the moment when the rough reigned physical strength, comes the one who brings the religion of purity, beautiful asceticism, the religion of high ethics and morality, which served as a counterbalance.
The teachings and religion of the Orphics brought the most beautiful hymns, through which the priests conveyed the grains of Orpheus's wisdom, the doctrine of the Muses, helping people through their sacraments, discover new powers in themselves. Homer, Hesiod and Heraclitus relied on the teachings of Orpheus, Pythagoras became a follower of the Orphic religion, who became the founder of the Pythagorean school as a revival of the Orphic religion in a new capacity. Thanks to Orpheus, the mysteries are again reborn in Greece - in the two centers of Eleusis and Delphi.
Eleusis or "the place where the goddess came" is associated with the myth of Demeter and Persephone. The essence of the Eleusinian mysteries in the mysteries of purification and rebirth, they were based on the passage of the soul through trials.
Another component of the religion of Orpheus is the mysteries at Delphi. Delphi, as a combination of Dionysus and Apollo, represented the harmony of opposites that the Orphic religion carried in itself. Apollo, characterizing the order, the proportionality of everything, gives the basic laws and principles for the construction of everything, the construction of cities, temples. And Dionysus as back side, as a deity of constant change, constant overcoming of all emerging obstacles. The Dionysian principle in a person is a constant inexhaustible enthusiasm, which makes it possible to constantly move, strive for something new, and the Apollonian principle strives at the same time for harmony, clarity and proportion. These two beginnings were united in the Delphic temple. The holidays that took place in it were associated with the combination of these two principles. In this temple, soothsayers speak on behalf of Apollo Delphic oracle- Pythia.
Orpheus brought the doctrine of the muses, the nine powers human soul, which appear in the form of 9 most beautiful muses. Each of them has its own component as a principle, like notes in divine music. Muse of history Clio, muse oratory and hymns Polyhymnia, the muse of comedy and tragedy Thalia and Melpomene, the muse of music Euterpe, the muse of the vault of heaven Urania, the muse of the divine dance Terpsichore, the muse of love Erato, and the muse of heroic poetry.
The teaching of Orpheus is the teaching of light, purity and great boundless love, it was received by all mankind, and every person inherited part of the light of Orpheus. This is a gift from the gods that lives in the soul of each of us. And through him everything can be comprehended: both the powers of the soul hidden within, and Apollo and Dionysus, divine harmony wonderful music. Maybe this is what will give a person a feeling of real life, filled with inspiration and the light of love.
The myth of Eurydice and Orpheus
IN Greek myths Orpheus finds Eurydice and with the power of his love even touches the heart of the lord of hell Hades, who allows him to bring Eurydice out of the underworld, but on the condition that if he looks back and looks at her before Eurydice comes out into the light of day, he will lose her forever. And in the drama, Orpheus loses Eurydice, cannot stand and look at her, she disappears and his whole remaining life passes in hopeless grief.
In fact, the end of this story is different. Yes, great heavenly love Orpheus aroused compassion in the heart of Hades. But he does not lose Eurydice. The heart of the underworld denotes the sacraments. Orpheus finds Eurydice, because he is approaching the mysteries of heaven, the mysteries of Nature, the secret. And every time he tries to look at her, Eurydice runs away from him - like the Star of the Magi appears to show the way, and then disappears to wait for the person to reach the distances that she showed him.
Eurydice goes to heaven and inspires Orpheus from heaven. And every time when Orpheus, through his beautiful music, inspired, approaches the sky, he meets Eurydice. If he is too attached to the earth, Eurydice cannot sink so low, and this is the reason for their separation. The closer he is to heaven, the closer he is to Eurydice.
Orpheus about Eurydice
At this time, the Bacchantes had already begun to bewitch Eurydice with their charms, trying to seize her will.
Attracted by some vague premonition to the valley of Hekate, I once walked among the thick grasses of the meadow and terror reigned all around. dark forests visited by bacchae. saw Eurydice. She walked slowly, not seeing me, heading towards the cave. Eurydice stopped, indecisive, and then resumed her way, as if impelled by magical power, closer and closer to the mouth of hell. But I discerned the sleeping sky in her eyes. I called her, I took her by the hand, I called out to her: “Eurydice! Where are you going? As if awakened from a dream, she let out a cry of horror and, freed from the spell, fell on my chest. And then the Divine Eros conquered us, we exchanged glances, so Eurydice - Orpheus became spouses forever.
But the Bacchantes did not reconcile themselves, and one day one of them offered Eurydice a cup of wine, promising that if she drinks it, the science of magical herbs and love drinks will be revealed to her. Eurydice, in a fit of curiosity, drank it and fell down, as if struck by lightning. The cup contained a deadly poison.
When I saw the body of Eurydice burned at the stake, when the last traces of her living flesh had disappeared, I asked myself: where is her soul? And I went in inexpressible despair. I wandered all over Greece. I prayed to the priests of Samothrace to summon her soul. I searched for this soul in the bowels of the earth and everywhere I could penetrate, but in vain. In the end, I came to the Trophonian cave.
There, the priests lead the brave visitor through a fissure to fiery lakes that boil in the bowels of the earth and show him what is happening in these bowels. Penetrating to the end and seeing what no mouth should utter, I returned to the cave and fell into Sopor. During this dream, Eurydice appeared to me and said: “For my sake, you were not afraid of hell, you were looking for me among the dead. I heard your voice, I came. I live on the edge of both worlds and cry just like you. If you want to free me, save Greece and give her light. And then my wings will be returned to me, and I will rise to the luminaries, and you will find me again in the bright region of the Gods. Until then, I must wander in the kingdom of darkness, disturbing and mournful ... "
Three times I wanted to grab her, three times she disappeared from my arms. I heard a sound like a broken string, and then a voice, faint as a breath, sad as a farewell kiss, whispered, “Orpheus!!”
At that sound, I woke up. This name, given to me by her soul, transformed my whole being. I felt the sacred thrill of infinite desire and the power of superhuman love penetrate me. A living Eurydice would give me the bliss of happiness, a dead Eurydice would lead me to the truth. Out of love for her, I put on linen garments and achieved great initiation and the life of an ascetic. Out of love for her, I penetrated the secrets of magic and the depths of divine science; out of love for her, I passed through the caves of Samothrace, through the wells of the Pyramids, and through the tombs of Egypt. I penetrated into the bowels of the earth to find life in it. And on the other side of life, I saw the edges of the worlds, I saw souls, luminous spheres, the ether of the Gods. The earth opened before me its abysses, and the sky its flaming temples. I plucked the secret science from under the veils of mummies. The priests of Isis and Osiris revealed their secrets to me. They only had their Gods, I had Eros. By his power I penetrated the verbs of Hermes and Zoroaster; by its power I uttered the verb of Jupiter and Apollo!
E. Shure "Great Initiates"
