Orpheus and Eurydice

Cultural

In classical mythology, Orpheus was a great musician, and Eurydice was his wife. The music of Orpheus was so beautiful that it could calm the wildest animal and even make stones rise up and follow. When Eurydice died, Orpheus went to the underworld, played his lyre for Hades, ruler of the dead, and asked that Eurydice be sent back to Earth. The god was so moved that he agreed to let her return, on one condition: that Orpheus go ahead of her and not look back until they had reached the Earth again. Orpheus led Eurydice up, but at the last moment, when he had come out of the underworld and she was about to leave it, he could resist no longer and turned to look at her. She vanished, and he had lost her forever. He spent the rest of his days wandering about, playing his lyre, and singing. In the end, he was torn to pieces by crazed followers of Bacchus, the god of wine.

Example Sentences

Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.

Exploring themes of climate change to a New Orleans jazz- and American folk-laden soundtrack, “Hadestown” — a retelling of the Greek myths of Hades and Persephone, as well as Orpheus and Eurydice — will open just as New York transitions out of the harsh winter.

From Los Angeles Times

The 1959 film “Black Orpheus” — which retold the myth of Orpheus and Eurydice in the context of 1950s Rio de Janeiro and featured a largely Brazilian cast — won the international feature award at the 32nd Academy Awards as the French submission and was helmed by French director Marcel Camus.

From Los Angeles Times

Other highlights include opera incorporating circus performers for a fusion of music and acrobatics in Orpheus And Eurydice, and Breaking Bach - where hip-hop meets 18th-century period instruments.

From BBC

The actor and singer star enters Broadway’s “Hadestown,” the brooding 2019 Tony Award-winning musical about the underworld, which intertwines the myths of Orpheus and Eurydice and Hades and Persephone.

From Seattle Times

We may know their story’s ending, but that doesn’t make this tale of young lovers Orpheus and Eurydice any less heartbreaking.

From Seattle Times

Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023