Orpheus, Eurydice and Aristaeus Flashcards
What could he do, where go, his wife twice taken from him ?
What lament would move Death now ? What deities hear his song ?
Cold she was voyaging now over the Stygian stream.
Month after month, they say, for seven months alone
He wept beneath a crag high up by the lonely waters
Of Strymon, and under the icecold stars poured out his dirge
That charmed the tigers and made the oak trees follow him.
As a nightingale he sang that sorrowing under a poplar’s
Shade laments the young she has lost, whom a heartless ploughman
Has noticed and dragged from the nest unfledged; and the nightingale
Weeps all night, on a branch repeating the piteous song,
Loading the acres around with the burden of her lament.
No love, no marriage could turn his mind away from grief:
Alone through Arctic ice, through the snows of Tanais, over
Frostbound Riphaean plateaux
Bounty of Death
.
Where did the passage originate from?
Virgil, the Georgics 4.450-503
Why was The Georgics written?
At the request of Vergil’s patron, Maecenas, to bolster the Emperor’s agricultural policy. It was important for the Roman nation that farming is seen as an important occupation for the soldiers returning.
Who is Proteus?
Prophetic old man of the sea and shepherd of the sea’s flocks.
Who is Aristaeus?
Son of Apollo and Cyrene, he was a minor god who was credited for discovering many arts and bee-keeping. Called the protector of herdsmen and hunters.
Who is Orpheus?
He was a musician, poet and prophet. He is the son of the king of Thrace Oeagrus and the muse Cailiope.
He was called the best musician and poet of all, as he had Apollo teach him how to perfect the lyre.
What happened in the myth?
Aristaeus gained a liking for Eurydice, Orpheus’ wife, and began chasing her. She stepped on a snake which instantly killed her. As punishment, his bees were killed.
Aristaeus consults his mother, Cyrene for advice, who told him to approach the seer Proteus. Proteus tells him the story
