Orpheus and Eurydice (Cyclopedia of Literary Characters)
At a glance:
- Type of Work: Short fiction
- Type of Plot: Mythic
- Time of Work: Remote antiquity
- Setting: Thrace and the Underworld
- Genres: Long fiction, Mythological literature
- Subjects: Love or romance, Music or musicians, Obsession, Death or dying, Gods or goddesses, Greek or Roman times, Greece or Greek people, Underworld or Hades
- Locales: Greece, ancient, Underworld, Hades, Thrace, ancient
Characters Discussed
Orpheus (OHR-fee-uhs), the son of Apollo and the Muse Calliope. His father teaches him to play the lyre so that all nature stops to listen to his music. He goes to the Underworld to redeem the shade of his dead wife, Eurydice. His wish to have her returned to him is granted, providing he does not look back until he has left the Underworld. He does look back, however, and Eurydice disappears. Later, Orpheus is killed by a group of Thracian maidens in a Bacchic frenzy. Upon his death, he joins Eurydice in the Underworld.
Apollo (uh-POL-oh), a god and...
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