Orpheus

Orpheus In the Metamorphoses of Ovid, Orpheus, madly devoted to his wife, Eurydice, goes into hell, and pleads for the chance to see her again. Shortly after their wedding, Orpheus’ wife steps on a snake whose venom kills her. This deeply upsets Orpheus who feels that seeing his wife again will soothe his soul. Orpheus’ request to see his wife occurs in the form of a song to the kings of the dead. As he begins his song, he explains that his true intentions are to see Eurydice, not the same as many of those before him. He adds that although he tried to live without her, but his love for her had made it impossible for him to stay away. Unsure whether the Gods of the underworld could symphathize with his submission to Love, he explains that “within the upper world, he has much fame”(326) and hopes that the God of love “has gained renown”(326) in the underworld. The “he” that Orpheus refers to is Love. He argues that Love is too powerful to resist, as he begs for the gods to “restore the life”(326) of his beloved wife. Orpheus accepts wife, orpheus, love, underworld, eurydice, gods, world, upper, until, song, point, orpheus’, lived, back, again, yet, undying, time, though, taken, stay, seeing, opportunity, nor, must, just, home, himself, furies, explains, death, approached, another, allowed, yours