Mythology Today: Exploring The Eurydice Myth's Impact on Opera Through The Ages

Playbill: The myth of Orpheus and Eurydice has captivated imaginations for millennia. Orpheus, the archetypical musician, marries Eurydice, who then dies (from a snake bite, in most versions) on their wedding day. Orpheus mourns so movingly that the gods allow him to descend into the Underworld and lead the shade of Eurydice back to the world of the living. There is—as so often in myth—one catch: Orpheus must not speak to Eurydice, or even look back at her, until they have completely emerged from the Underworld, or else he will lose her forever.