Dante's Heart
Re-tellings of the Orpheus Myth
Alexandra H. Olsen
In 1935, RCA issued a 45 rpm record called “Pan the Piper” intended to
introduce the instruments of the orchestra to children. The narrator was
Orpheus, and the record began as follows:
I am Orpheus, my friends,
Musician and poet from Thrace.
And since you inquire,
Why, this is my lyre;
Its music can charm the wild beasts,
Move a rock or a tree from its place.(1)
When one reads Virgil’s Georgics,(2) Ovid’s Metamorphoses,(3) or a modern
book of classical myths, one learns that the story of Orpheus is a sad one,
narrating how he married the beautiful nymph Eurydice, who died on their
wedding day.
The version in Virgil’s Georgics resonates with references to earlier classical
works; for example, “Orpheus’ descent to Hades borrows details from
Odysseus’ encounter with the world of the dead” and his “attempt to embrace
the shade of Eurydice closely follows Achilles’ attempt to embrace the shade
of Patrocles.”(4) Desperate to be reunited with his beloved, Orpheus begged
the king and queen of the Underworld to return Eurydice to him, and they
agreed on condition that he not look back at her until they were completely out
of the Underworld. Overcome by love, Orpheus looked back and saw Eurydice
Page 1 Page 2 Endnotes
Alexandra H. Olsen
In 1935, RCA issued a 45 rpm record called “Pan the Piper” intended to
introduce the instruments of the orchestra to children. The narrator was
Orpheus, and the record began as follows:
I am Orpheus, my friends,
Musician and poet from Thrace.
And since you inquire,
Why, this is my lyre;
Its music can charm the wild beasts,
Move a rock or a tree from its place.(1)
When one reads Virgil’s Georgics,(2) Ovid’s Metamorphoses,(3) or a modern
book of classical myths, one learns that the story of Orpheus is a sad one,
narrating how he married the beautiful nymph Eurydice, who died on their
wedding day.
The version in Virgil’s Georgics resonates with references to earlier classical
works; for example, “Orpheus’ descent to Hades borrows details from
Odysseus’ encounter with the world of the dead” and his “attempt to embrace
the shade of Eurydice closely follows Achilles’ attempt to embrace the shade
of Patrocles.”(4) Desperate to be reunited with his beloved, Orpheus begged
the king and queen of the Underworld to return Eurydice to him, and they
agreed on condition that he not look back at her until they were completely out
of the Underworld. Overcome by love, Orpheus looked back and saw Eurydice
Page 1 Page 2 Endnotes
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