Orpheus in
the Underworld
Upon entering
the realm of the dead, even Hades & Persephone were softened enough by his music to hear his appeal & granted his
wish to recover Eurydice on one condition
- that he didn’t look back at her until they had reached the upper air and escaped the domain of the underworld.
So
off they went traveling back into the world of light. As they neared the end
of the journey with light
visible at the end of the passage, Orpheus looked back to make certain his wife was following. As he looked lovingly at
her beautiful countenance, she turned
into midst and vanished back into the house of Hades. He tried to follow her again but his time nothing he did would allow his return
into the Underworld.
Orpheus
became a lost soul with such grief that he became a recluse and avoided the company of all, especially that of women. However the
Maenads soon bore him a grudge
for his neglect of their company. One day they found Orpheus insensible & attempted to kill him. The javelins and stones hurled at
him lost all power once within range
of his lyre so they got creative. The Maenads raised a scream and made enough noise to drown out the sound of his lyre allowing
the missiles to reach him; soon
he was badly wounded. The tore him apart limb for limb and lobbed his head
& lyre into the river
Hebrus and everything floated away. The Muses gathered up his body parts and gave them a respectable burial. There is
a happy ending though – Orpheus,
now being dead, got to spend eternity with Eurydice in the realm of
Hades…
His
lyre was placed in the heavens out of respect by Zeus as the constellation Lyra