ORPHEUS AND EURYDICE MYTH
Melchior Lechter: Orfeo (Orpheus), 1896 |
river god and the muse Calliope.
Alexandre-Auguste Hirsch:
Teaching Orpheus Calliope, 1865
|
In some myth versions (like Pindar) he is
the son of Apollo and Calliope. Known
as a talented singer and musician, Orpheus
the son of Apollo and Calliope. Known
as a talented singer and musician, Orpheus
owed his talent to his beloved Apollo
Apollo |
who gifted him with a golden lyre
with which it was possible to tame wild
animals, encourage trees to dance,
with which it was possible to tame wild
animals, encourage trees to dance,
move rocks, and even change
the course of rivers.
Orpheus Singing to Animals and Trees |
Orpheus was also involved in the
campaign of the Argonauts,
using his music to calm the waves and
helping the rowers maneuver their ship.
Maria Theresa Joly: Orpheus and Eurydice in the Underworld |
Chagall: Orpheus and Eurydice |
THE GREEK MYTH OF
INFORMATION FROM:
HISTORICAL LOVE STORIES
AT A GLANCE
AT A GLANCE
Setting: Ancient Greece
BACKGROUND OF THE STORY
A traveling and adventurous lyre player,
Orpheus
falls in love with Eurydice
Fredric Leighton: Orpheus And Eurydice |
at first sight. They are soon married and
Moved by grief,
Orpheus traverses
the Underworld
Gustave Moreau: Orpheus at the Tomb of Eurydice |
Guido Schmitt: Orpheus |
Jan Brueghel the Elder: Orpheus in the Underworld |
Dante Gabriel Rossetti: Proserpine |
to release Eurydice.
Marc Chagall: Myth of Orpheus, 1977 |
Orpheus, a wandering musician
highly regarded in the ancient world,
crosses paths with Eurydice on
a gorgeous Mediterranean day.
highly regarded in the ancient world,
a gorgeous Mediterranean day.
Nicolas Poussin: Landscape with Orpheus and Eurydice |
Her stunning eyes grab hold of his heart
Rebecca Guay: Eurydice Before Death |
and the two young lovers
Hugh Adam Crawford: The Wooing of Eurydice, 1949 |
Louis Ducis: Orpheus and Euridice and Dibulade, 1826 |
are soon married -
Maurice Denis: Orpheus and Eurydice, 1910 |
of the god of marriage, Hymen,
who is present at the ceremony.
Shortly after the wedding, Eurydice goes
for a walk with her friends in the forest
and runs into trouble.
Eurydice Tapestry Wall Hanging
|
Depending on which version of the myth
you are reading, she is chased by a wicked
shepherd or satyr (pipe player)
The venom courses through
her veins and kills her, leaving Orpheus
distraught when he finds the body.
Edward Burne-Jones:
Orpheus and Eurydice, 1870
|
Maurice Denis: Eurydice |
Alexander Golovin: Euryice's Tomb,
Stage Design for the Opera by Gluck Orpheus and Eurydice
|
Stricken with immense sorrow,
Pascal Adolphe Jean Dagnan-
Bouveret: Orpheus's Sorrow
|
Orpheus begins playing the lyre
Henri Martin: Orpheus |
and singing songs of heartbreak
to get through the pain.
According to the legend, the gods and
nymphs cried along with him,
Charles Jalabert: Orpheus Serenades the Nymphs of the Forest, 1853 |
Konstantinos Maleas: Orpheus |
then convinced him to travel
Nils Asplund: Orpheus in the Underworld, 1914 |
into the Underworld
Pieter Fris: Orpheus and Eurydice in the Underworld, 1652 |
to negotiate with Hades for Eurydice's release.
Orpheus agrees, descending into the pit
with all the skill he
could muster.
could muster.
Giovanni Demin:
Orpheus Enters the Underworld
to Free Eurydice
|
As he walks along, singing and strumming,
the entire realm comes to a halt. His
Charon , the Ferryman of the Underworld |
the dead across the river Styx
into the Underworld.
Bonaventura Genelli: Orpheus in the Underworld, 1850
(Orpheus Playing for Charon)
|
Charon agreed to take Orpheus across the
river, even though he was not dead. Cerberus,
Sebald Beham: Hercules Capturing Cerberus, 1545 |
stops pushing his rock uphill and the
souls of the dead (and monsters)
souls of the dead (and monsters)
Manuscrit Enluminé: Orpheus Charming the Monsters of the Underworld, 1300-1349 |
are silenced by the
sound of his composition.
Jules Machard: Orpheus in the Underworld, 1865 |
When he reaches Hades and Persephone,
King and Queen of the Underworld,
Giulio Romano: Orpheus and Eurydice Before Pluto and Proserpina
|
Orpheus happily says yes and begins leading his
love back along the trail to the upper world.
love back along the trail to the upper world.
Henry Brown: Eurydice Recedes Into the Underworld |
He wandered, a lost and broken man,
only playing his music for the animals,
only playing his music for the animals,
Johann Lorenz Day: Orpheus Moving Stones and Animals by His Songs, 1764 |
and shunning all human contact wishing
only for his own demise so that he may be
reunited with his lost love in the Underworld.
One morning, Orpheus made his way to
the oracle of Dionysus to make his
daily devotion to the rising sun.
daily devotion to the rising sun.
Simon Vouet: Apollo |
It was there he was in set upon by a
drunken and reveling pack of Bacchantes,
drunken and reveling pack of Bacchantes,
furious at the sight of him
for daring to worship his God
at the sacred site of their
devoted God, Dionysus.
devoted God, Dionysus.
Caroline Street Art:
|
In a frenzy of madness, lust, and intoxication
they tore the poor Orpheus to pieces,
Ferraresischer Meister Der Tod des Orpheus, 1470 -1490 |
Albrecht Dürer:
Der Tod des Orpheus, 1494
|
ending his misery for all time.
His head was torn from his body,
and his magical lyre,
and his magical lyre,
both tossed into the river
where they floated,
where they floated,
still singing and playing the mournful tunes
he had played in his sad life, all the way to
the sea. Eventually they washed ashore
Gustave Courtois |
Left-Odion Redon: Head of Orpheus, 1881
Middle-Jean Delville: Orpheus, 1893
and his head
Odilon Redon: Orphee |
(The Muses found all his body parts
and put them back together again
for burial in Pieria, Orpheus'
birthplace, except for his head)
birthplace, except for his head)
was buried, a shrine built on the burial
spot located on the island of Lesbos.
Gustave Moreau: Thracian Girl Carrying the Head of Orpheus on His Lyre ,
(Left-right) in 1865 , 1865, 1875
(Left-right) in 1865 , 1865, 1875
Only then, did the mournful
song of Orpheus cease.
His lyre was carried
back to Mount Olympus
back to Mount Olympus
among the constellations.
Orpheus returned to the Underworld,
where he was finally reunited with His
lost love, Eurydice.
There are obvious elements of romance in
this famous love story: deep love causes
one to do anything - including literally going
through hell - to get the other back, as an
example. For the Greeks, this tragedy is
largely seen as a cautionary tale about the
inability to control passion, as Orpheus
wheels around to see Eurydice before
making sure she is on the surface.
Eduard Kasparides: Orphée et Eurydice |
Only a brief pause would have
guaranteed him a full life with her. One
well-known philosopher, in Particular,
took a different view: Plato
called Orpheus a coward, saying that, if
he truly loved Eurydice, he would have
died to be with her instead of attempting
to circumvent the natural order.
guaranteed him a full life with her. One
well-known philosopher, in Particular,
took a different view: Plato
called Orpheus a coward, saying that, if
he truly loved Eurydice, he would have
died to be with her instead of attempting
to circumvent the natural order.
Inna Orlik: Orpheus and Eurydice |
ORPHEUS AND EURYDICE
IN ANIMATION
A Retelling of the Classic Greek Myth
In Music and Animation
Grand Canonical
University of California, Berkeley, 2008
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OyQIOZKsNmU
http://www.abc.net.au/arts/wingedsandals/storytime/orpheus.htm
http://www.abc.net.au/arts/wingedsandals/storytime/orpheus.htm
Orpheus with his lute made trees
And the mountain tops that freeze
Bow themselves when he did sing:
To his music plants and flowers
Ever sprung; as sun and showers
There had made a lasting spring.
Every thing that heard him play,
Even the billows of the sea,
Hung their heads and then lay by.
In sweet music is such art,
Killing care and grief of heart
Fall asleep, or hearing, die.
~ William Shakespeare ~
Henri Martin: Orpheus in a Wood |
BY MARGARET ATWOOD
http://www.poetryfoundation.org/bio/margaret-atwood |
You walked in front of me,
pulling me back out
to the green light that had once
grown fangs and killed me.
pulling me back out
to the green light that had once
grown fangs and killed me.
By then I was used to silence.
Though something stretched between us
like a whisper, like a rope:
my former name,
drawn tight.
You had your old leash
with you, love you might call it,
and your flesh voice.
Before your eyes you held steady
the image of what you wanted
me to become: living again.
It was this hope of yours
that kept me following.
I was your hallucination, listening
and floral, and you were singing me:
already new skin was forming on me
within the luminous misty shroud
of my other body; already
there was dirt on my hands
and I was thirsty.
I could only see the outline
of your head and shoulders,
black against the cave mouth,
and so could not see your face
at all, when you turned
and called to me because you had
already lost me. The last
I saw of you was a dark oval.
Though I knew how this failure
would hurt you, I had to fold
like a gray moth and let go.
Pierre-Amedee Marcel BERONNEAU: Orpheus in the Underworld |
ORPHEUS STORY TOLD
ORPHEUS STORY TOLD
IN LITHOGRAPH VIGNETTES
Orpheus in the Underworld, Folk Art 19th Century |
ORPHEUS IN ART
Mosaique Romaine: Orphee Enchante les Animaux |
Angelo Poliziano Fabula:
Singing Orpheus, 1483
|
Orpheus with Animals, Catacomb of Domitilla |
Orpheus Mosaic, Berlin |
https://gozarte.files.wordpress.com/2011/12/mosaico-de-orfeo1.jpg |
Mosaic Orpheus |
https://www.pinterest.com/pin/436638126347407539/ |
Mosaic: Orpheus Taming Wild Animals, 194 AD |
Roman Mosaic Orpheus Surrounded by Animals, Palermo |
Orpheus and the Animals
Jacopo of Saddler: Early Renaissance Painting |
Etude Music Magazine: Orpheus and his Lyre, June 1928 |
John Macallan Swan: Orpheus |
Orphee Charmont les Animauxe, 17th Century |
Hans Leu the Younger: Orpheus und die Tiere |
Regius: Engraving for Ovid's Metamorphoses |
Roelandt Savery: Orpheus with Beasts and Birds |
Poliziano, Ambrogini: Orphee Charmant les Animaux Gravure |
Inglese: 17th Century |
Orpheus with Animals (Design for a Tapestry) |
Utrecht School: Orpheus Charming the Animals |
Jacob Hoefnagel: Orpheus Charming the Animals |
Gustave Surand: Orpheus Charming the Animals |
Gustave Surand: Orpheus Charming the Animals |
Giuseppe Cades : Orphee Charmant les Animaux, 1780 |
Domenico Brandi: Orphee Charming the Animals with his Lyre, 18th Century |
Charles Joseph Natoire |
Jan the Elder Bruegal: Orpheus and the Animals |
Virgil Solis: Orpheus and Animals, 1563 Engraving |
Francois Boucher: Orphee Charmant les Animaux |
Orpheus Charming the Animals, 17th Century Silk Embroidery |
Nicolas de Bruyn: Orpheus Charming the Animals, 1652 Engraving |
Jacob Savery: Orpheus Charming the Animals, 1567 |
Francesco Bassano the Younger XVI: Orpheus Charming the Animals |
Left-D'Aulaire's Book of Greek Myths: Orpheus
Right- Carole Hénaff: Orfeo
Orpheus Enchants Trees and Animals with his Lyre |
Alessandro Varotari (The Padovanino):
Orpheus, Early 17th Century
|
Ludovico Seitz: Orpheus Charms the Beasts, ca 1865 |
Roman Mural: Orpheus, c. 1st Century AD |
http://thehouseofvines.com/2013/08/04/music-from-the-land-of-the-mousai/ |
Greek Vase: Orfeo
|
Giovanni Bellini: Orpheus |
Anita Ree: Orpheus mit den Tieren |
Giulio Vittini:
Orphée aux Enfers
|
Johann Baptist Rudolf: Orpheus with the Animals |
Vesonius Primus:
Orpheus, Wall Painting
|
Snyders, Frans: Orfeo y los Animales, 17th Century |
Francois Chauveau: Orpheus Playing Among Animals
From Ovid's Metamorphoses
|
George de Forest Brush: Orpheus, 1890 |
Orpheus and Lyre / Violin
Marcello Provencal : Orpheus, 1618 |
Cesare Gennari:
Orpheus (Depicted with a Violin) 17th C.
|
Gerrit van Honthors: Orpheus c. 1614-16 |
Caravaggio: Orpheus |
Konstantinos Parthenis:
|
Domenico Frilli Crosses: Early 17th Century |
Lovis Corinth: Orphée, 1908 |
Pasquale Abbatiello: Orpheus |
Vase à Grec Figures Rouges: Orphée Jouant de la Lyre |
Nicolas Poussin |
Jean Delville:
Orpheus in the Underworld
|
Manuscrit Enluminé: Charming the Animals at the Sound of the Harp |
Franz Cauzig:
The Lament of Orpheus
|
Orpheus Playing for
Hades and Persephone
Jonas Donat: Orpheus Asks Hades and Persephone to Release Eurydice, 1819 |
Jean Restout: The Music-Orpheus in the Underworld Reclaiming Eurydice, 1763 |
Jacquesson Louis de la Chevreuse: Orpheus in the Underworld, 1865 |
Henri Regnault: Orphée aux Enfers |
Virgil Solis: Orpheus and Pluto |
Henryk Siemiradzki : Orpheus in the Underworld |
Lancrenon: Orphee |
Serangeli Gioacchino : Orphée Suppliant |
http://www.culture.gouv.fr/public/mistral/joconde_fr?ACTION=CHERCHER&FIELD_1=REF&VALUE_1=50350231299 |
Giulio Romano:
Orpheus Pleading for the Life of his Beloved Eurydice
|
Jacopo of Saddler: Orpheus Before Pluto in the Underworld |
The Underworld
Roelandt Savery: Orpheus in the Underworld |
Stage Design: Orpheus (CH Graun), 18th Century |
John Martin: The Fallen Angels Entering Pandemonium, from Paradise Lost |
Cor Van nelis Poelenburgh: Vision of Hell |
Orpheus Leading Eurydice
Out of the Underworld
http://www.visionaryartexhibition.com/archaic-visions/eleusis-orpheus-inanna-animus-as-helpful-guides-in-female-mythic-spaces |
Charles Monnet |
Orpheus |
Jacopo Vignali: Orpheus Leads Eurydice from Hades |
John Roddam Spencer Stanhope: Orpheus and Eurydice on the Banks of the Styx, 1878 |
Pep Montserrat: Orfeo |
Jean-Baptiste Poncet: Orphée et Eurydice Revenant des Enferts |
A German Porcelain Plaque Mythological:
Orpheus Leading Eurydice Out of the Underworld,
Late 19th Century
|
Sergey Panasenko-Mikhalkin: Orpheus and Eurydice |
Friedrich Rehberg:
Orpheus and Eurydice, 1812
|
Roman Fresco: Orpheus Leading Eurydice |
Orpheus Losing
Eurydice Forever
Eurydice Forever
Manuel Orazi: Orpheus
|
Christian Gottlieb Kratzenstein: Orpheus and Eurydice, 1806 |
Emily Balivet: Orpheus and Eurydice |
Michel Martin Drolling: Orpheus and Eurydice, 1820 |
Illustration to Christine de Pizan's collected works:
Orpheus and Eurydice, 1411-12
Orpheus, Fatally Looks Back at Eurydice
|
Gaetano Gandolfi |
Pep Montserrat: Orpheus |
Pep Montserrat: Orpheus |
Daniel O'Neill: Orpheus |
Pierre Lacour: Orpheus Loses Eurydice, 1805 |
The Legend of Orpheus and Eurydice |
Edward Burne-Jones |
Friedrich Brentel: Orpheus in Hades, 1643 |
Myth of Orpheus and Eurydice |
Friedrich Heinrich Fuger: Orpheus and Eurydice in Hades |
Arno Breker: The Myth of Orpheo and Eurydice |
Education Encyclopaedia Britannica |
A Book of Myths:
Orpheus: "Swiftly he turned and found his wife behind him."
|
Christian Gottlieb Kratzenstein:
|
Giorgio de Chirico: The Lassitude d'Orphee, 1970 |
Giorgio de Chirico: Sketch for the Curtain of 'Orpheus'
by Claudio Monteverdi, 1949 (Detail)
|
Leon Bakst:
Orpheus Costume from the Ballet
|
Eugene Delacroix: Spring-Orpheus and Eurydice, 1862 |
Lindstrand:
Orpheus in Paradise, Art Deco Tapestry
|
ORPHEUS MYTH LINKS
Examples of the
Orpheus and Eurydice Theme
Used in Classical Music
Caccini/Peri
L 'EURIDICE
Original Version (Complete)
Jacopo Peri and Giulio Caccini, Composers
John Walter Hill, Director
Performed with Period Instruments
This was the earliest surviving opera, in its original version,
as it was premiered in Florence on October 6, 1600,
Music contributed to the first performance by both
Jacopo Peri and Giulio Caccini, as in this recording,
Both composers each went on to complete their
published versions of the whole work afterward.
Jacopo Peri (1561-1633) |
Jacopo Peri
EURIDICE (1600)
Christoph Willibald Gluck
(1714-1787)
|
Christoph Willibald Gluck
ORFEO ED EURIDICI (1762)
Orfeo ed Euridici
All of these operas above were essentially a retelling
to music of all or part of the original myth.
Franz Liszt (1811-1886) |
Franz Liszt
ORPHEUS (1854)
Symphonic Poem
Jacques Offenbach
(1819-1880)
|
Jacques Offenbach
ORPHEUS IN THE
UNDERWORLD (1858)
Highlights of Orpheus in the Underworld
English National Opera, 1999
Georges Auric (1899-1983) |
Georges Auric
ORPHEE SUITE
(1949)
Film Soundtrack Music
By Jean Cocteau
Adriano, Conductor
Slovak Radio Symphony Orchestra
1. Main Title
2. Orpheus and the Princess
3. In Zone I
4. Looking for the Princess
5. Orpheus and Eurydice
6. In Zone II - Final
Philip Glass (1937) |
Philip Glass
FOR PIANO
THE ORPHEE SUITE
FOR PIANO
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1dZjHO3dKVM
THE ORPHEE SUITE
FOR PIANO
V. Return to Orphée's House
THE ORPHEE SUITE
FOR PIANO
VII. Orphée's Bedroom-Reprise
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7aLG2C4xQTg
Based on 1950 film by Jean Cocteau
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RuLgh1HjPwY
ORPHEUS AND EURYDICE
READER'S THEATER
LESSON PLANS
https://www.google.com/webhp?sourceid=chrome-
instant&ion=1&espv=2&ie=UTF-8#safe=active&q=Orpheus+in+the+Underworld+Lesson+Plans
http://prv.mfah.org/twa/main.asp
http://www.candlewick.com/book_files/0763634034.btg.1.pdf
http://www.mythweb.com/teachers/tips/tips.html
https://daretodifferentiate.wikispaces.com/file/view/Tiered+Lesson+Plan+-+Mythology.doc
http://wjhs.johnston.k12.nc.us/common/pages/DisplayFile.aspx?itemId=3732105
http://88.198.249.35/preview/bBMhOixZOXskXdKVXM_Hs0TE0OSczA2hpa_rxBbBLuc,/
Orpheus-A-Greek-Myth-Reader-s-Theatre-Script.html? Query = Orpheus-in-the-Underworld
VII. Orphée's Bedroom-Reprise
Based on 1950 film by Jean Cocteau
THE TESTIMENT OF ORPHEUS
READER'S THEATER
https://www.google.com/webhp?sourceid=chrome-
instant&ion=1&espv=2&ie=UTF-8#safe=active&q=Orpheus+in+the+Underworld+Lesson+Plans
http://prv.mfah.org/twa/main.asp
http://www.candlewick.com/book_files/0763634034.btg.1.pdf
http://www.mythweb.com/teachers/tips/tips.html
https://daretodifferentiate.wikispaces.com/file/view/Tiered+Lesson+Plan+-+Mythology.doc
http://wjhs.johnston.k12.nc.us/common/pages/DisplayFile.aspx?itemId=3732105
http://88.198.249.35/preview/bBMhOixZOXskXdKVXM_Hs0TE0OSczA2hpa_rxBbBLuc,/
Orpheus-A-Greek-Myth-Reader-s-Theatre-Script.html? Query = Orpheus-in-the-Underworld
Marc Chagall |