Orpheus and Eurydice
Power Point by:
Jacey L.
Sharnese W.
Jacob D.
Carrie O.
Orpheus
• greatest of all human musicians
• played the lyre
• had been married Eurydice
• mother is Calliope
• father is either Oeagrus of
Thrace or greek god Apollo
Eurydice
• married to Orpheus
• forest nymph
• died from snake bite
• decended to Hades
Apollo
• son of Zeus and Leto
• God of music
• maybe father of Orpheus
• leader of the muses
Hades
• brother of Zeus
• lord of the underworld
• god of wealth
• wife is Persephone
Maenads
• followers of the gods of the
vines
• woman sacred to dionysus
• able to perform miracles
• killed Orpheus for disputed
reasons
Persephone
• Goddess of the underworld
• Goddess of the harvest
• daughter of Zeus and Demeter
• in underworld 1/3 of the year
THE STORY
Metaphysical Function
• Orpheus goes to the underworld.
- how people relate to the unknown and teaches
how the underworld is concidered real enough
that orpheus could go to it.
• Orpheus was the son of Apollo, the god of music.
- humans relationship to the gods and explains
how humans and Gods can interact directly as
well as spiritually.
Cosmological Function
• A viper stung Eurydice and she died
- humans relationship to nature (man vs. nature).
Explains how human life can be determined by nature.
• When Orpheus would play his lyre the rocks, trees and
animals would come closer to him
-it explains humans relationship with the physical
universe (things we can touch, see, smell, hear, taste).
Sociological Function
• Orpheus marries Eurydice.
-it explains humans relationship to each other. how
they should interact in groups/relationships.
• A band of Maenads killed Orpheus tearing him
limb from limb
-humans reactions to each other that can result in
the loss of one's life (man vs. man).
Psychological Function
• Orpheus's grief was overwhelming when Eurydice died
-explains how society expects people to deal with
problems and everyday occurrances.
• Orpheus needed to look back to be sure that Eurydice
was behind him
-its shows how humans are curious and give in to
temptations. (man vs. self)
Allusions
• Christoph Willibald Gluck- "Orphee et Eurydice" (music)
• Orpheus (film)
• Robert Southey, Thalaba the Destroyer, 1801 (literature)
o "...Did Thracian shepherd by the grave
o Of Orpheus hear a sweeter melody..."
• Orpheus and Euridice
by George Frederick Watts (art)
Sources
http://www.vcu.edu/engweb/webtexts/eurydice/eurydicemyth.html
http://www.carnaval.com/bulgaria/orpheus_and_eurydice.htm
http://www.designlessbetter.com/blogless/wp-content/uploads/2008/12/orpheus.jpg
http://www.jrank.org/cultures/pages/6025/Orpheus.html
http://encyclopedia.farlex.com/Euridice
http://www.aphoenixreborn.com/Categories/Myth/photos/Euridice.jpg
http://www.pantheon.org/articles/a/apollo.html
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Apollo
http://www.pantheon.org/areas/gallery/mythology/europe/greek/apollo3.gif
http://www.greekmythology.com/Olympians/Hades/hades.html
http://www.glogster.com/media/2/6/18/17/6181763.jpg
http://www.maicar.com/GML/MAENADS.html
http://spells-witchcraft.org/images/Maenads.jpg
http://www.pantheon.org/articles/p/persephone.html
http://www.1greeneye.net/panthea/uploaded_images/persephone-blog-729600.jpg
http://myths.suite101.com/article.cfm/the_story_of_orpheus_and_eurydice
http://www.paleothea.com/Myths/Orpheus.html
http://www.angelfire.com/realm/shades/demons/orpheus.htm
http://www.victorianweb.org/painting/watts/paintings/pnp26.jpg
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wjtcguzYuZs
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Orpheus_(film)
http://shslboyd.pbworks.com/f/Orpheus+and+Eurydice.pdf