Orpheus and Eurydice (a greek myth)

Many were the singers who, in the early days, went through the world, telling to men
the stories of the gods, telling of their wars and their births. Of all these wanderers
none was so famous as Orpheus, who had gone with the Argonauts; none could tell
truer things about the gods, for he himself was half divine.
But a great grief came to Orpheus, a grief that stopped his singing and his playing upon
the lyre. His young wife, Eurydice, was taken from him. One day, walking in the garden,
she was bitten on the heel by a serpent, and straightaway she went down to the world
of the dead.
Then everything in this world was dark and bitter for the musician Orpheus; sleep would
not come to him, and for him food had no taste. Then Orpheus said: « I will do that
which no mortal has ever done before; I will do that which even the immortals might
shrink from doing: I will go down into the world of the dead, and I will bring back my
bride, Eurydice, to the living and to the light. »
Then Orpheus went on his journey to the valley of Acherusia, which goes down, down
into the world of the dead. He would never have found his way to that valley if the trees
had not shown him the true path. For as he went along Orpheus played upon his lyre
and sang, and the trees heard his song and they were moved by his grief, and with
their arms and their heads they showed him the way to the deep, deep valley of
Acherusia.
Down, down by winding roads through that deepest and most shadowy of all valleys
Orpheus went. He came at last to the great gate that opens upon the world of the dead.
And the silent guards who keep watch there for the rulers of the dead were frightened
when they saw a living being, and they would not let Orpheus approach the gate.
But the singer, knowing the reason for their fear, said: « I am not Heracles come again
to drag up from the world of the dead your three-headed dog, Cerberus. I am Orpheus,
and all that my hands can do is to make music upon my lyre. »
And then he took the lyre in his hands and played upon it. As he played, the silent
watchers gathered around him, leaving the gate unguarded. And as he played, the
rulers of the dead came forth, Hades and Persephone, and listened to the words of the
living man.
« The cause of my coming through the dark and fearful ways, » sang Orpheus, « is to
strive to gain a fairer fate for Eurydice, my bride. All that is above must come down to
you at last, O rulers of the eternal domain. But before her time has Eurydice been
brought here. I have desired strength to endure her loss, but I cannot endure it. And I
come before you, Hades and Persephone, brought here by Love. »
When Orpheus said the name of Love, Persephone, the Queen of the Dead, bowed her
young head, and bearded Hades, the King, bowed his head also. Persephone
remembered how Demeter, her mother, had sought her all through the world, and she
remembered the touch of her mother’s tears upon her face. And Hades remembered
how his love for Persephone had led him to carry her away from the valley in the upper
world where she had been gathering flowers. He and Persephone bowed their heads and
stood aside, and Orpheus went through the gate and came among the dead.
Still upon his lyre he played. Tantalus — who, for his crimes, had been condemned to
stand up to his neck in water and yet never be able to assuage his thirst — Tantalus
heard, and for a while did not strive to put his lips toward the water that ever flowed
away from him; Sisyphus — who had been condemned to roll up a hill a stone that ever
rolled back — Sisyphus heard the music that Orpheus played, and for a while he sat still
upon his stone. And even those Dread Ones who bring to the dead the memories of all
their crimes and all their faults, even the Furies had their cheeks wet with tears.
In the throng of the newly arrived dead Orpheus saw Eurydice. She looked upon her
husband, but she had not the power to approach him. But slowly she came when Hades
called her. Then with joy Orpheus took her hands.
The privilege would be granted them that no mortal and his dead bride had ever been
given before — to leave, both together, the underworld, and to abide for a time in the
world of the living. One condition there would be: that on their way up through the
valley of Acherusia Orpheus should never look back.
They went through the gate and came among the watchers around the portals. These
showed them the path that went up through the valley of Acherusia. That way they
went, Orpheus and Eurydice, he going before her.
Up and up through the darkened ways they went, Orpheus knowing that Eurydice was
behind him but never looking back upon her. But as he went, his heart was filled with
things of which he greatly desired to sing — how the trees were blossoming in the
garden she had left; how the water was sparkling in the fountain; how the doors of the
house stood open; and how they, sitting together, would watch the sunlight on the
laurel bushes. All these things were in his heart to tell her, she who came behind him,
silent and unseen.
And now they were nearing the place where the valley of Acherusia opened on the world
of the living. Orpheus looked on the blue of the sky. A white-winged bird flew by.
Orpheus turned around and cried, « O Eurydice, look upon the world that I have won you
back to! »
He turned to say this to her. He looked upon her long dark hair and pale face. He held
out his arms to clasp her. But in that instant she slipped back into the depths of the
valley. And all he heard spoken was a single word, « Farewell! » Long, long had it taken
Eurydice to climb so far, but in the moment of his turning around she had fallen back to
her place among the dead.
Down through the valley of Acherusia Orpheus went again. Once more he came before
the watchers of the gate. But now he was neither looked at nor listened to, and,
hopeless, he had to return to the world of the living.
The birds were his friends now, and the trees and the stones. The birds flew around him
and mourned with him; the trees and stones often followed him, moved by the music of
his lyre. But a savage band slew Orpheus and threw his severed head and his lyre into
the River Hebrus. It is said by the poets that, while they floated in midstream, the lyre
gave out some mournful notes, and the head of Orpheus answered the notes with song.
And now that he was no longer to be counted with the living, Orpheus went down to the
world of the dead, not going now by that steep path through the valley of Acherusia but
descending straightaway. The silent watchers let him pass, and he went among the
dead and saw his Eurydice in the throng. Again they were together, Orpheus and
Eurydice, and as they went through the place that King Hades ruled over, they had no
fear of looking back, one upon the other.

(adapted from The Golden Fleece and the Heroes Who Lived Before Achilles by Padraic
Colum; original text in the public domain)