In the myth, Orpheus and Eurydice are deeply in love, even after the tragic day when Eurydice is killed by a viper. Her soul is immediately sent to the underworld. For most every other character in Greek mythology, this would be the end of the story. However, Orpheus is so deeply in love with her that he vows to find a way to bring her back out of the underworld, which essentially breaks the very rules of death.

Hades, the lord of the underworld, is a merciless god. He is not sympathetic to the emotional pleas of humans, but he is just. He doesn’t allow souls to leave the underworld and return to the realm of the living, because it wouldn’t be fair: death is death. However, Orpheus’s love for Eurydice drives him to find a way through the underworld to bring her back. He goes further than nearly any other character in Greek mythology, so deep is his love for his wife.

Orpheus’s mastery of the lyre is the means by which he is able to make his way through the underworld to find his wife and gain the chance to bring her back with him. Because he plays so soothingly, he is able to lull Cerberus—the three-headed dog that guards the gates to the underworld—to sleep so that he can sneak into the realm of the dead. He plays so sweetly that even Hades relents and agrees to let Orpheus take Eurydice back to the realm of the living. While he is not ultimately successful, this is because Orpheus fails to do exactly as he is told—not because of a change in Hades. The god's heart has been swayed by the beautiful melodies of Orpheus, which move even trees, rocks, and animals to deep emotion.

When Hades relents and allows Orpheus to take Eurydice from the underworld, the god introduces one stipulation into the agreement: Orpheus is to lead the way out, but he is not allowed to turn and look back at Eurydice until both of them are completely out of the underworld. Orpheus navigates back to the surface but is unable to hear Eurydice’s footsteps behind him because she is still a ghost (and will not be human again until setting foot on the surface). Because of this, Orpheus grows nervous, unable to trust Hades to keep his word and doubting that his wife is truly following him.

Unfortunately, just as they are nearing the surface, Orpheus turns back to make sure that Eurydice is behind him. Thus, because Orpheus went against Hades’s stipulation, Eurydice is pulled back into the underworld forever. Orpheus is left to return to the upper world alone, where he plays melancholy songs and is ultimately torn apart by frenzied worshippers of Bacchus. He and Eurydice are reunited after Orpheus dies, but had he been able to trust the gods and his wife, he and Eurydice might have been able to live a full, happy life together.