Orpheus was the son of Calliope and either Oeagrus or
Apollo. He was the greatest musician and poet of Greek myth, whose songs could
charm wild beasts and coax even rocks and trees into movement. He was one of
the Argonauts, and when the Argo had to pass the island of the Sirens, it was
Orpheus' music which prevented the crew from being lured to destruction.
When Orpheus' wife, Eurydice, was killed by the bite of a
serpent, he went down to the underworld to bring her back. His songs were so
beautiful that Hades finally agreed to allow Eurydice to return to the world of
the living. However, Orpheus had to meet one condition: he must not look back
as he was conducting her to the surface. Just before the pair reached the upper
world, Orpheus looked back, and Eurydice slipped back into the netherworld once
again.
Orpheus was inconsolable at this second loss of his wife. He
spurned the company of women and kept apart from ordinary human activities. A
group of Ciconian Maenads, female devotees of Dionysus, came upon him one day
as he sat singing beneath a tree. They attacked him, throwing rocks, branches,
and anything else that came to hand. However, Orpheus' music was so beautiful
that it charmed even inanimate objects, and the missiles refused to strike him.
Finally, the Maenads' attacked him with their own hands, and tore him to
pieces. Orpheus' head floated down the river, still singing, and came to rest
on the isle of Lesbos.
Not exactly a child's story, but I do have memories of my mother telling me this when I was much younger. I love it. Everything about the myth excites me. I draw great inspiration from Orpheus because of his great tenacity and the lengths he is willing to go through to reclaim a love.
In my own life I've gone through a great reclaiming with my art. For a while I was in a strange jaded mindset. I'm not sure exactly what made me so against art, However, I'd like to exclaim to everyone reading this, how happy I am that I've found my way back to art.
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