Orpheus and Eurydice Flashcards
Summary of Ovid’s Version of Orpheus and Eurydice Myth
Orpheus and Eurydice got married. Eurydice died due to a snake bite. Orpheus goes to the underworld and uses his song to convince Hades and Persephone to give Eurydice another chance. Orpheus and Eurydice then follow the path back to the living world, but Orpheus cannot look back. He looks back because of his love for her. He faced much grief, and then went back to loving guys. Orpheus dies in the hands of the Maenads and dies still singing. He in the end he is able to be with Eurydice.
Summary of Virgil’s Version of Orpheus and Eurydice Myth
The narrator tells the story of a man who loses his hive of bees but finds a quasi-magical way to get them back.
Eurydice tries to escape him and ends up dying. Orpheus goes to the underworld to get her back and uses his song to do so. He can get Eurydice back, but he cannot look back when going back up. Orpheus looks back due to madness, and Eurydice goes back to the underworld. He feels grief and will ultimately die due to the Maenads killing him, and cries out for Eurydice until his last breath.
What does the Styx river represents?
River of hatred
What does the Lethe river represents?
Forgetfulness
What does the Phthegethon river represents?
Fire
What does the Cocytos river represents?
Lamentation
What does the Acheron river represents?
Pain
Who is Sisyphus?
Trickster
Tried to depose his brother
Revealed a secret of Zeus
Tried to bind Death
Punishment: Forced to spend eternity rolling a rock uphill
Who is Ixion?
Murderer, killed his father-in-law- first mythical act of kin-killing
Punishment: Bound to a turning wheel for eternity
Who is Tantalus?
Revealed divine secrets
Tried to trick gods into eating his child, Pelops
Punishment: eternally hungry and thirsty, with water and food forever just out of reach
Who are the Danaids?
King Danaus had 50 daughter, who were forced to marry their 50 cousins
49 of them killed their bridegrooms on the wedding night
Punishment: Forced to forever fill leaky buckets
Who is Cerberus
Three-headed dog, protector of Tartarus
Who is Charon?
Ferryman who takes the dead across the river into Hades
What is Tartarus?
Worst part of the underworld
What are the Fields of Asphodel?
Part of the underworld for regular folks
What are the Elysium/Islands of the Blessed?
Part of the underworld dedicated for special people/heroes
Why did Virgil and Ovid both include the Orpheus myth in their poetry?
The myth of Orpheus allows both poets to write about the power of poetry and love, even against death…
And even against imperial regimes: Hades is a tyrant (or emperor), who rules a huge realm containing different provinces, and will eventually get everyone and everything under his power – just like the Roman Empire
Why does Virgil’s Orpheus look back?
Due to a sudden madness (furor)
