Several meanings for the nameEurydice have been proposed such as "true judgment"[1] or "profound judgment" from theGreek:eur dike.[2]Fulgentius, a mythographer of the late 5th to early 6th century AD, gave the latter etymological meaning.[2] Adriana Cavarero, in the bookRelating Narratives: Storytelling and Selfhood, wrote that "the etymology of Eurydice seems rather to indicate, in the termeurus, a vastness of space or power, which, joining todike [and thusdeiknumi, to show], designates her as 'the one who judges with breadth' or, perhaps, 'she who shows herself amply.'"[3]
Eurydice was the wife of musicianOrpheus, who loved her dearly; on their wedding day, he played joyful songs as his bride danced through the meadow. One day,Aristaeus saw and pursued Eurydice, who stepped on aviper, was bitten, and died thereafter. Distraught, Orpheus played and sang so mournfully that all the nymphs and deities wept and told him to travel to theUnderworld to retrieve her, which he gladly did. After his music softened the hearts ofHades andPersephone, his singing so sweet that even theErinyes wept, he was allowed to take her back to the world of the living. In another version, Orpheus played his lyre to putCerberus, the guardian of Hades, to sleep, after which Eurydice was allowed to return with Orpheus to the world of the living. Either way, the condition was attached that he must walk in front of her andnot look back until both had reached theupper world. Soon, he began to doubt that she was there, suspecting that Hades had deceived him. Just as he reached the portals ofHades and daylight, he turned around to gaze on her face, and because Eurydice had not yet crossed the threshold, she vanished back into the Underworld. When Orpheus was later killed by theMaenads at the orders ofDionysus, his soul ended up in the Underworld, where he was reunited with Eurydice.[4][5]
The story in this form belongs to the time ofVirgil, who first introduces the name ofAristaeus and thetragic outcome.[6] Other ancient sources, however, speak of Orpheus's visit to the underworld in a more negative light; according to Phaedrus inPlato'sSymposium,[7] the infernal deities only "presented an apparition" of Eurydice to him. Plato's representation of Orpheus is that of a coward; instead of choosing to die to be with the one he loved, he mocked the deities by trying to go to Hades to get her back alive. Since his love was not "true"—meaning he was not willing to die for it—he was punished by the deities, first by giving him only the apparition of his former wife in the underworld and then by being killed by women.[7]
The story of Eurydice may be a late addition to the Orpheus myths. In particular, the nameEurudike ('she whose justice extends widely') recalls cult-titles attached toPersephone. The myth may have been derived from another Orpheus legend in which he travels toTartarus and charms the goddessHecate.[8][clarification needed]
Eurydice's story has many strong universal cultural parallels, from theJapanese myth ofIzanagi andIzanami, theMayan myth ofItzamna andIxchel, and theIndian myth ofSavitri and Satyavan. While often compared to theAkkadian/Sumerian myth ofInanna's descent to the underworld, that tale is actually a parallel for Persephone's kidnapping by Hades because both "Inanna's Descent" and Persephone's kidnapping are cultural explanations for the changing seasons.[9] The biblical story ofLot's wife, who was turned into a pillar of salt because she looked back at the town she was fleeing, is "often compared to the story of Orpheus and his wife Eurydice."[10]
Statue of Eurydice atSchönbrunn Palace; note the snake biting her foot
The story of Orpheus and Eurydice has been depicted in a number of works by artists, includingTitian,Peter Paul Rubens,Nicolas Poussin, andCorot.[11] More recently, the story has been depicted byBracha Ettinger, whose series,Eurydice, was exhibited in thePompidou Centre (Face à l'Histoire, 1996); theStedelijk Museum, Amsterdam (Kabinet, 1997), and The Royal Museum of Fine Arts, Antwerp (Gorge(l), 2007). The story has inspired ample writings in the fields of ethics, aesthetics, art, andfeminist theory. In the gameHades (2020), the aftermath of the tale of Orpheus and Eurydice is told throughout a playthrough of the game.
Saint Seiya (1985): in the Hades Chapter of Saint Seiya, the Silver Saint Lyra Orpheus pleads with Hades to resurrect his beloved Eurydice. Moved by Orpheus’ divine music, Hades grants his wish under one strict condition: neither of them may look back until they have fully crossed into the world of the living. As they reach the very edge between the Underworld and the surface, Orpheus—overwhelmed with emotion—breaks the rule and looks back to check on Eurydice. Instantly, she is turned into a half-stone figure, trapped once again in the Underworld and unable to return. Stricken by guilt and love, Orpheus chooses to remain with her in the Underworld. It is later revealed that this entire event was a scheme devised byPandora, Hades' most trusted servant. Her goal was to ensure Orpheus stayed in the Underworld, stripping him of his allegiance toAthena’s Saints Army and bending him to Hades’ will.
"Eurydice" (1999), a poem that retells the traditional myth through a feminist lens by British poetCarol Ann Duffy in her bookThe World's Wife
Portrait of a Lady on Fire (2019) written and directed byCéline Sciamma uses the myth of Orpheus and Eurydice as an allegory for the relationship depicted in the film, and proposes an alternate explanation for why Orpheus turned to look[12]
Kaos (2024) is a modern-day adaptation of Greek mythology. Eurydice ("Riddy") no longer loves her husband Orpheus. She is killed and is unable to journey through the Underworld because Orpheus took the traditional coin intended to pay her passage. With Dionysus' help, Orpheus travels to the Underworld and despite her reluctance, Riddy returns to the living world with him to fulfil her role in the downfall of Zeus. The series was cancelled by Netflix after one season.
InHades, arogue-like game developed bySupergiant Games, Eurydice is a character who resides inAsphodel.[23][24] Her appearance is that of an oak nymph, and she has an afro composed of tree branches".[25] The player,Zagreus, is given the option of reuniting Eurydice and Orpheus after meeting them.[26][24]
^Stevens, John (1986).Words and Music in the Middle Ages: Song, Narrative, Dance and Drama, 1050-1350. Cambridge [Cambridgeshire]: Cambridge University Press. p. 397.ISBN0-521-24507-9.OCLC12724249.
^abFriedman, John Block (2000).Orpheus in the Middle Ages (1st ed.). Syracuse, N.Y.: Syracuse University Press. p. 89.ISBN0-8156-2825-0.OCLC42690124.Fulgentius provided the first and most widely imitated etymological interpretation of the legend in hisMitologiae, a reference work which undertook to describe and explain the chief figures of Greco-Roman myth. He derived the name Orpheus fromoraia phone, "that is, best voice," and Eurydice fromeur dice, or "profound judgement." [...] By seeing in the names of his characters certain abstract qualities, Fulgentius was able to make Orpheus and Eurydice stand for those qualities.
^Cavarero, Adriana (2014).Relating Narratives : Storytelling and Selfhood. Hoboken: Taylor and Francis. p. 104.ISBN978-1-317-83528-8.OCLC871224431.
^Impelluso, Lucia (2002).Gods and heroes in art. Stefano Zuffi, Thomas Michael Hartmann. Los Angeles: J. Paul Getty Museum. pp. 91–92.ISBN0-89236-702-4.OCLC50447697.
^Lee, M. Owen. 1996.Virgil as Orpheus: A Study of the Georgics. Albany: State University of New York Press. p. 9.
Graves, Robert,The Greek Myths: The Complete and Definitive Edition. Penguin Books Limited. 2017.ISBN978-0-241-98338-6,024198338X
Pollock, Griselda. 2009. "Orphée et Eurydice: le temps/l'éspace/le regard traumatique." InGuerre et paix des sexes, edited byJ. Kristeva, et al. Hachette.
—— "Abandoned at the Mouth of Hell." InLooking Back to the Future. G&B Arts.ISBN90-5701-132-8.
