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It was the perfect wedding, 
the guests thought.

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The groom was Orpheus,
the greatest of all poets and musicians.

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The bride Eurydice, a wood nymph.

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Anyone could tell the couple 
was truly and deeply in love.

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Suddenly, Eurydice stumbled, 
then fell to the ground.

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By the time Orpheus reached her side,
she was dead,

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and the snake that had bitten 
her was slithering away through the grass.

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Following Eurydice’s funeral,

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Orpheus was overcome with a grief 
the human world could not contain,

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and so he decided he would journey 
to the land of the dead,

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a place from which no living creature 
had ever returned, to rescue his beloved.

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When Orpheus reached the gates of the
underworld, he began to strum his lyre.

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The music was so beautiful that Cerberus,
the three-headed dog who guards the dead,

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lay down as Orpheus passed.

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Charon, the ferry captain who charged 
dead souls to cross the River Styx,

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was so moved by the music that he brought 
Orpheus across free of charge.

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When Orpheus entered 
the palace of Hades and Persephone,

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the king and queen of the dead,

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he began to sing.

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He sang of his love for Eurydice, 
and said she had been taken away too soon.

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The day would come when she, 
like all living creatures,

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dwelled in the land of the
dead for all eternity,

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so couldn’t Hades grant 
her just a few more years on Earth?

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In the moment after Orpheus finished, 
all hell stood still.

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Sisyphus no longer rolled his rock
up the hill.

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Tantalus did not reach for the water 
he would never be allowed to drink.

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Even the Furies, 
the demonic goddesses of vengeance, wept.

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Hades and Persephone granted
Orpheus’s plea, but on one condition.

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As he climbed back out of the underworld,

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he must not turn around to see 
if Eurydice was following behind him.

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If he did, she would return
to the land of the dead forever.

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Orpheus began to climb.

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With each step,

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he worried more and more 
about whether Eurydice was behind him.

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He heard nothing—
where were her footsteps?

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Finally, just before he stepped out 
of the underworld

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and into the bright light of day,

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he gave into temptation.

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Orpheus tried to return to the underworld,
but was refused entry.

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Separated from Eurydice,

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Orpheus swore never
to love another woman again.

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Instead, he sat in a grove of trees 
and sang songs of lovers.

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There was Ganymede, the beautiful boy 
who Zeus made drink-bearer to the gods.

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There was Myrrah, who loved her father 
and was punished for it,

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and Pygmalion, who sculpted 
his ideal woman out of ivory,

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then prayed to Venus 
until she came to life.

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And there was Venus herself,

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whose beautiful Adonis 
was killed by a wild boar.

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It was as if Orpheus’s own love and loss

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had allowed him to see into 
the hearts of gods and people everywhere.

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For some, however, poetry was not enough.

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A group of wild women called the Maenads

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could not bear the thought that a poet 
who sang so beautifully of love

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would not love them.

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Their jealousy drove them to a frenzy 
and they destroyed poor Orpheus.

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The birds, nature’s singers, 
mourned Orpheus,

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as did the rivers, 
who made music as they babbled.

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The world had lost two great souls.

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Orpheus and Eurydice had loved each other 
so deeply that when they were separated,

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Orpheus had understood 
the pain and joys of lovers everywhere,

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and a new art form, 
the love poem, was born.

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While the world wept, Orpheus found peace,
and his other half, in the underworld.

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There, to this day, he walks with Eurydice
along the banks of the River Styx.

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Sometimes, they stroll side by side;

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sometimes, she is in front;

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and sometimes, he takes the lead, turning 
to look back at her as often as he likes.