Orpheus is considered an important figure in ancient Greek religion and mythology. His important standing is due to being known as both a demigod by birth and a Greek hero from his escapades as one of Jason’s Argonauts along with his survival of the underworld. Orpheus was an excellent musician, able to bend even the gods themselves to his will by playing his lyre due to his teaching in the fine arts. Orpheus was given his famous golden lyre by Apollo, the god of music. Apollo himself then taught the boy to play while he was attempting to court Orpheus’s aunt Thaleia, one of the muses. He was later trained by his mother Calliope in the art of the poetic verse. These teachings, along with his lifestyle as a prince of Thrace, allowed his talents …show more content…
Though they were married in the most joyous of occasions, tragedy found a way to strike the lovers. Immediately after their wedding, his bride, Eurydice, went out into a field being struck by a viper that caused her to die. Devastated, Orpheus began to play a somber and desolate tune. So full of sorrow was this tune, that it caused even Hades to cry tears of stone. After a perilous journey through the Underworld, Orpheus confronted the god of the dead as a living mortal and, by reasoning through song, was able to convince the king of the damned to allow the resurrection of his wife. However, Hades kept one condition; Orpheus could not turn around to gaze upon the face of his bride until they had returned to the world of the living. One behind the other, they began the long trek back through the Great Doors of Hades into the light. Rising from the Underworld, and enlightened by the prospect of life returning to his one and only love, he turned to meet her glance. Unfortunately, she had not yet made it to the surface, and the deal was broken. Orpheus ran after her only to see her life vanish into the abyss for a second, permanent time. The god of the dead would not show the same mercy to Orpheus