This myth can be categorized into a narrative text, narrative text
consist legend, myth, fairytale, fictional story and such stuff. Of course
every narrative text consist Orientation, Complication, Resolution,
Re-Orientation. Orientation is the beginning of the story, usually answers
5W+1H (What? When? Where? Who? Why? How?) but orientation is not really the
thing we have to seek here because clearly through the writing of Orpheus and
Eurydice, the orientation is not so clear and couldn’t really answers those
5W1H, but there is an introduction in there, like Apollo and Muse are the
parents of Orpheus, and first paragraph showed the real talent of Orpheus, how
he amazed all creatures not just humans.
Just like the title of this papers “Personal Analysis of Tragical
Complication and Re-Orientation on Greek Mythology : Orpheus and Eurydice”,
meaning I am going to talk about the major lines : Complication and
Re-Orientation. But still I’m going to talk about the Resolution too.
In the Complication, we see that there’s a shepherd named
Aristaeus who fell in love to Eurydice, clearly a married women, but before
that, according to many versions I’ve read about Orpheus and Eurydice, some
versions tells that Aristaeus is the son of Apollo while Orpheus is also the
son of Apollo, so.. they’re brother?, and some other versions tells that
Aristeaus is a minor god while we all can see here that Apollo is a ‘big’ god,
but I am using ‘shepherd’ according to several blogs to describe Aristaeus so
it wouldn’t be so complicated, and reading that Aristaeus chase Eurydice that
she runs to the woods, it makes the readers think that he was going to ‘rape’
her because any women in shock who ran from a guy who literally likes her is
like escaping from a sexual abuse or harrassment. Anyway, while escaping from
that shepherd, Eurydice stepped on a venomous snake that bit her leg, of course
she died slowly but instantly, meaning dying with no chance to live because
until now, a cure for people or animals who got poison inside their body
because of bitten by venomous things is not founded yet, moreover back then
during the greek gods still exist. She literally died already when Orpheus
found her, how saddened he was seeing his own wife with no soul laying inside a
woods. Afterwards, of course he buried her properly and maybe with some praying
and sad songs, he continuously sing with his lyre a song or maybe an instrument
that made the mortals feel sorry for him so deeply.
In the Resolution, we see these fairies whose a friend to Eurydice
when she was still alive, they approach Orpheus and suggest him to pick his
lovely wife up back to the world where she can be a real mortal again, not just
a soul, Orpheus with desperately accept their suggestion and ask where and how
can he pick her up? The fairies told him that she might be in the Hades, now I
am going to tell about Hades, Hades is an underworld, there might be heaven or
hell there but it definitely is a world of dead, dead mortals’ souls are being
kept there, and there’s the ruler of the underworld, the king of the dead, they
called it. The way to it is through a cave, some versions said that no mortals
could enter Hades alive but Orpheus could do so because of the power that god
Apollo gave him since Apollo is his own father. When he finally enters Hades, I
don’t know much about the full experience he had there, but he persuade the
king of the dead to allow him bringing his wife back to the the world above the
underworld (the world of living, the world that we are living now), since
Orpheus is a really talented musician with his lyre and beautiful voice, the
king of the dead is convinced enough after Orpheus played a really beautiful
music for him, so the king allowed Orpheus to bring his wife Eurydice back
home. Some versions said Orpheus is promised that Eurydice followed him while
he walks out of the Hades through river, ravine, and cave, so many obstacles
according to what I’ve read.
In the Complication again, It is easy to bring Eurydice back
actually, Orpheus is just not allowed to look back at her who followed him, but
since he hears no footsteps, he looks back and saw her, but she is being pulled
back to the underworld while he tried to hold her upper body from being taken
back there, he screams, she screams knowing that that would be the last time
they met. Once Eurydice is gone, Orpheus tried to cross the river inside the
cave which led to the Hades but it’s gone, it’s just gone as if nothing ever
happened there, it’s the cause of him breaking the condition, he shall not look
back while he walks back to the world above but he did anyway, he looked back
and lose everything. He is truly saddened and I might say that that is the huge
depression, the real huge depression, he swore to himself not to be in love to
anyone besides his beloved lover and wife Eurydice.
This one could be a complication to end everything or maybe it is
the re-orientation, but well let’s get started, Orpheus is a very loyal person
to his deceased wife, many women of Thrace in love to him and asked him to sing
a song for them so they could dance for him but he refused, all he think about
is only his wife to dance for him, so those crazy women got angry and tearing
his body to pieces and threw his head with the lyre to the river, how sadistic.
Now this one is the real re-orientation, could be a happy ending
if the Hades is actually hell or heaven. Surely we know that Orpheus died
already and his soul is taken to the underworld where he reunited with his
beloved wife again, once and forever. While his head with the lyre flow to the
river led to the island of Orpheus’ hometown Lesvos where Orpheus’ mother Muse
Calliope found his head and lyre then gave him a proper burial ceremony. The
end.
The Conclusion? Be careful when you ran away from someone and try
not to stepped on a snake, you don’t know if the snake is venomous or nah. But
I’m serious, and try not to break any conditions if you really want to achieve
that is only happened once in a lifetime. Be loyal even if your lover died
already because you know.. that your lover is waiting you there in the
afterlife and hoping that your love lasts forever even if you got killed for
your loyalty.
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