The Orpheus

and Eurydice:
A Tragic Love
Story
Orpheus
Orpheus, ancient Greek legendary hero endowed with
superhuman musical skills. He became the patron of a
religious movement based on sacred writings said to be his
own. Traditionally, Orpheus was the son of a muse (probably
Calliope, the patron of epic poetry) and Oeagrus, a king of
Thrace (other versions give Apollo). Orpheus had a divinely
gifted voice that could charm everyone who heard it. When he
was presented first the lyre as a boy, he had it mastered in no
time at all. The myth says that no God or mortal could resist
his music and even the rocks and trees would move
themselves to be near him.
Eurydice
Eurydice was a dryad or tree nymph. She
was the wife of Orpheus who died from
snake bite.
The story of Orpheus and Eurydice is one of the
most beautiful and sad in Greek mythology. In the
story, Orpheus, the greatest poet, and musician in
history tries to reclaim his wife, Eurydice, who
has passed away.

To saved his loved one, Orpheus will travel to the

underworld and back.
How far would you go for
love?
The story begins when Orpheus fell in
loved with a nymph named Eurydice.
Something inexplicable tugged the hearts
of the two young people and soon they felt
dearly in love, unable to spend a single
moment apart. After awhile, they decided
to get married.
The wedding day dawned bright and clear.
Hymenaios, the god of marriage, blessed their
marriage and then a great feast followed. The
sorroundings were filled with laughter and gaiety.
Soon the shadows grew large, signaling an end to
the revelry that had lasted much of the day and the
wedding guests all took leave of the newly-weds,
who were still sitting hand-in-hand and starry
eyed. They soon both realized that it was time
they were on their way and departed for home.
The snake-bite
However, things would soon change and grief would
ensue happiness. There was one man who was
despising Orpheus and desired Eurydice for his own.
Aristaeus, a shepherd, had plotted a plan to conquer the
beautiful nymph. And there he was, waiting in the
bushes for the young couple to pass by. Seeing that the
lovers were approaching, he intended to jump on them
and kill Orpheus. As the shepherd made his move,
Orpheus grabbed Eurydice by the hand and started
running pell-mell through the forest.
The chase was long and Aristaeus showed no signs of giving
up or slowing down. On and on they ran and suddenly,
Orpheus felt Eurydice stumble and fall, her hand slipping
from his grasp. Unable to comprehend what had just
happened, he rushed to her side but stopped short in dismay,
for his eyes perceived the deathly pallor that suffused her
cheeks. Looking around, he saw no trace of the shepherd for
Aristaeus had witnessed the event and had left. Few steps
away, Eurydice had stepped on a nest of snakes and had been
bitten by a deadly viper. Knowing that there was no chance
to survival, Aristaeus had abandoned his try, cursing his luck
and Orpheus.
A supernatural plan

After the death of his beloved wife,

Orpheus was no more the same carefree
person he used to be. His life without
Eurydice seemed endless and could do
nothing more than grief for her. This is
when he had a great but crazy idea, he
decided to go to the underworld and try
to get his wife back. Apollo, his father,
would talk to Hades, the god of the
Underworld, to accept him and hear his
plea.
Armed with his weapons, the lyre and voice,
Orpheus approached Hades and demanded entry
into the underworld. None challenging him.
Standing in front of the rulers of the dead,
Orpheus said why he was there, in a voice both
mellifluous and disquieting. He played his lyre
and sang out to king Hades and Queen Persephone
that Eurydice was returned to him. Not even the
most stone-hearted of people of Gods could have
neglected the hurt in his voice.
Hades openly wept, Persephones’s heart melted and even
Cerberus, the gigantic three-headed hound guarding the
entry to the underworld, covered his many ears with his
paws and howled in despair. The voice of Orpheus was so
moving that Hades promised to this desperate man that
Eurydice would follow him to the upper world, the world
of the living. However, he warned Orpheus that for no
reason must he look back while his wife was still in the
dark, for that would undo everything he hoped for. He
should wait for Eurydice to get into the light before he
looked at her.
With great faith in his heart and joy in his song,
Orpheus began his journey out of the underworld, joyful
that he would once again be reunited with his love. As
Orpheus was reaching the exit of the underworld, he
could hear the footfalls of his wife approaching him. He
wanted to turn around and hug her immediately but
managed to control his feelings. As his was approaching
the exit, his heart was beating faster and faster. The
moment he stepped on the world of the living, he turned
his head to hug his wife. Unfortunately, he got only a
glimpse of Eurydice before she was once again drawn
back into the underworld.
When Orpheus turned his head, Eurydice was
still in the dark, she hadn’t seen the sun and,
as Hades had waned Orpheus, his sweet wife
was drowned back to the dark world of the
dead. Waves of anguish and despair swept
over him and shuddering with grief he
approached the underworld again but this
time, he was denied entry, the gates were
standing shut and god Hermes, sent by Zeus,
wouldn’t let him in.
Moral Lesson:

This myth teaches us patience and trust not

only in ourselves but also in the people we
love.

“Trust is very important in relationships. If

we can’t trust the ones we love then we might
then lose them forever.”
 The Story of
Arachne and
Athena:
Everything you
need to know
Arachne
This ancient region was once home to a beautiful maiden
named Arachne. She was a young Lydian woman,
daughter of a famous textile dyer called Idmon. When
she was a tiny girl she learned to weave and immediately
her talent showed, even as a novice. As she grew, she
kept practicing and working on her craft for years.
Arachne was such a talented and dedicated weaver that
she invented linen. She could weave so well that the
images on her fabrics were so perfect, people thought
they were real.
Athena
Identified by the Romans with Minerva. In
Greek religion, she was the city protectress,
goddess of war, handicraft, and practical
reason. She was one of the most intelligent
and wisest of the greek gods. Her special
powers include the ability to invent useful
items and crafts.
Myth
One fateful day, a nymph seeking to compliment
Arachne on her weaving, suggested that the
goddess Athena herself had taught Arachne to spin
and weave. Outraged at the suggestion, Arachne
immediately scorned the suggestion, boasting “Let
Athena try her skill with mine; if beaten I will pay
the penalty.”
Misfortune was with Arachne that day, for the goddess was
near enough to overhear. Unhappy, but not yet angry, the
goddess changed her appearance to that of an old crone
wrinkled and hunchbacked. She approach Arachne and
offered some advice. “I hope you shall not despise my
counsel. Challenge your fellow mortals as you will, but do not
compete with the goddess. On the contrary, I advise you to ask
her forgiveness for what you have said, and as she is merciful
perhaps she may forgive you.” Arachne belittled the crone’s
advice and told her to keep her counsel. “ I am not afraid of
the goddess,” she proclaimed to those gathered near, Let her
try her skill, if she so dare venture.”
Such a direct challenge could not go unanswered
by Athena. How dare this mortal speak so of a
goddess’s talents, what guts she had to challenge
an Olympian? The old woman disguise was
dropped and Athena in all her glory stood before
the crowd. All but Arachne bowed low or knelt on
one knee. “She came.” Was all that Athena said to
the weaver. No further conversation was needed.
The challenge was issued and accepted. The
looms were quickly set up for the contest.
The Contest
Both masters of their craft, the goddess and the women worked with
a furious speed, passing the shuttle through the threads with a hurried
haste. Athenas’s weaving took shape first. She wove images of
herself and Poseidon in the contest for Athens. The work was
incredibly detailed. It seemed almost a though Poseidon had just
struck the earth and the salt water was gushing from its depths.
Athena’s olive tree seemed to be growing along the outside of the
weave. In the center Athena wove terrible images of the mortals who
had dared to challenge the gods- Icarus falling to the earth,
Salmoneus’ eternal torment in Hades, and others still. The watchers
shrank back from her tapestry.
The tapestry of Arachne was no less pointed in its subject. She wove
the terrible mistakes and failings of the gods. Her tapestry was filled
with the exploits of Zeus. Leda caressed the swan in which Zeus had
concealed himself, and the feathers seemed to moved in an imaginary
breeze. Europa was clinging to the bull as Zeus propelled them to
Crete. The waves tossed her to and fro, while the bull remained
unconcerned. Other stories were woven into the thread storybook,
from Midas clutching his golden daughter Phaeton’s fatal flight in his
Father’s, Apollo’s Chariot. Athena saw what Arachne was weaving
and ceased her own work in rage. The sheer impiety and arrogance of
the woman struck deep at Athena, who took her shuttle and rent apart
Arachne’s tapestry.
She then thrust her hand to Arachnes’s head and
filled her with guilt and shame. Mortified,
Arachne fled her workshop and the contest.
The Punishment
Later that day, Athena would come across Arachne’s
body, hanging by a rope from a tree. Athena stopped,
looking closely at the woman. Something akin to pity
stirred in her heart. Her tapestry had been well woven.
Almost impusively, Athena struck the woman’s head
once more. “Live!” she cried, “Guilty woman! And that
you shall preserve the memory of this lesson, continue
to hang, both you had your descendants, to all future
times,” With that, Arachne’s from shrunk and changed
to that of a spider.
Moral Lesson
You should never tempt the power of Gods. It is
similar to the concept of respecting your elders; the
god were more powerful than the Greeks and were
expected to respect that.

You should never boast or brag that you are better

than others. If you do, there will be negative
consequences for you.