A GREEK MYTH…A TRAGEDY!

(You will see the meaning of some words in the end of this article so please read that!)

Here’s a summary of one of the Greek Myths that I read about the other day. It was about
the great musician, Orpheus and his wife, Eurydice. It was a love story that ended up as a
tragedy…

There was once a man who was a very good musician. He was loved by everyone. He had a
melodious voice and could play any musical instrument. He was really considered very talented
by everyone. He loved a woman whom he married later on. One day when he was out, his wife
went to their garden. She was picking some flowers as usual and then suddenly she was bitten
by a poisonous snake. She fell down instantly and from that spot she died instantly. When the
man came home, he was surprised because he could not find his wife. He looked everywhere
and found her lying on the grass. She was already dead. He cried and grieved. He regretted that
he was not there to protect her.

The Gods and Goddesses knew about his grief and told him that he can still get his wife back as
long as he will follow what they tell him to do. The man quickly prepared for his journey. He talked
to them. They told him that he can go to the Underworld and take her soul back to her body. But
in order to do that, you must first tame the three-headed dog, Cerberus that guards its gates.
After that you can already look for your wife’s soul but you must remember not to look at her while
you’re still in the darkness because if you do, she would disappear for-ever.

He knew what he had to do and decided to go to the Underworld. He brought his lyre and when
he was on the gate of the Underworld, he saw the three headed dog and played his lyre. The dog
quickly fell asleep and he seized that moment to go inside and look for the soul of his wife. He
was lucky enough to find it and was able to bring her back. While they were walking, only a few
miles away from the light, He could not resist looking at her. He thought that she has finally
stepped into the light but sadly, she hasn’t so when he looked back, she disappeared for all
eternity. He came back to the world of the living as a broken man. He was never complete again.

WORDS TO REMEMBER:

• Myths - popular belief or tradition that has grown up around something or someone; a traditional
story of historical events that serves to unfold part of the world view of a people or explain a
practice, belief, or natural phenomenon. (Mythology is the myths dealing with the gods,
demigods, and legendary heroes of a particular people!)
• Tragedy - a medieval narrative poem or tale typically describing the downfall of a great man;
having a sorrowful or disastrous conclusion and also a disastrous event.
• Musician - a composer, conductor, or performer of music.
• Gods - the being perfect in power, wisdom, and goodness who is worshipped as creator and ruler
of the universe. (Goddess - a female god)
• Grief – sorrow, usually felt when someone dies or something important got lost
• Underworld - the place of departed souls. The land of the dead. Also called Hades.
• Cerberus - a 3-headed dog that in Greek mythology guards the entrance to Hades.
• Lyre - a stringed instrument of the harp class having an approximately U-shaped frame and used
by the ancient Greeks especially to accompany song and recitation.
• Seized – to get or to take by force.
• Resist – to go against.
• Eternity - infinite time.