Eurydice (/jʊəˈrɪdɪsiː/; Ancient Greek: Εὐρυδίκη 'wide justice') was a character in Greek mythology and the Auloniad wife of Orpheus, whom Orpheus tried to bring back from the dead with his enchanting music.

Etymology

Several meanings for the name Eurydice have been proposed such as "true judgement"^[1] or "profound judgement" from the Greek: eur dike.^[2] Fulgentius, a mythographer of the late 5th to early 6th century AD, gave the latter etymological meaning.^[2] Adriana Cavarero, in the book Relating Narratives: Storytelling and Selfhood, wrote that "the etymology of Eurydice seems rather to indicate, in the term eurus, a vastness of space or power, which, joining to dike [and thus deiknumi, to show], designates her as 'the one who judges with breadth' or, perhaps, 'she who shows herself amply.'"^[3]

In some accounts, she was instead called Agriope, which means "savage face."^[4]

Mythology

Marriage to Orpheus, death and afterlife

Eurydice was the Auloniad wife of musician Orpheus,^[5][6][7] who loved her dearly; on their wedding day, he played joyful songs as his bride danced through the meadow. One day, Aristaeus saw and pursued Eurydice, who stepped on a viper, was bitten, and died instantly. Distraught, Orpheus played and sang so mournfully that all the nymphs and deities wept and told him to travel to the Underworld to retrieve her, which he gladly did. After his music softened the hearts of Hades and Persephone, his singing so sweet that even the Erinyes wept, he was allowed to take her back to the world of the living. In another version, Orpheus played his lyre to put Cerberus, the guardian of Hades, to sleep, after which Eurydice was allowed to return with Orpheus to the world of the living. Either way, the condition was attached that he must walk in front of her and not look back until both had reached the upper world. Soon, he began to doubt that she was there, suspecting that Hades had deceived him. Just as he reached the portals of Hades and daylight, he turned around to gaze on her face, and because Eurydice had not yet crossed the threshold, she vanished back into the Underworld. When Orpheus was later killed by the Maenads at the orders of Dionysus, his soul ended up in the Underworld, where he was reunited with Eurydice.^[8][7]

The story in this form belongs to the time of Virgil, who first introduces the name of Aristaeus and the tragic outcome.^[9] Other ancient sources, however, speak of Orpheus's visit to the underworld in a more negative light; according to Phaedrus in Plato's Symposium,^[10] the infernal deities only "presented an apparition" of Eurydice to him. Plato's representation of Orpheus is that of a coward; instead of choosing to die to be with the one he loved, he mocked the deities by trying to go to Hades to get her back alive. Since his love was not "true"—meaning he was not willing to die for it—he was punished by the deities, first by giving him only the apparition of his former wife in the underworld and then by being killed by women.^[10]

The story of Eurydice may be a late addition to the Orpheus myths. In particular, the name Eurudike ('she whose justice extends widely') recalls cult-titles attached to Persephone. The myth may have been derived from another Orpheus legend in which he travels to Tartarus and charms the goddess Hecate.^{[11][clarification needed]}

Eurydice's story has many strong universal cultural parallels, from the Japanese myth of Izanagi and Izanami, the Mayan myth of Itzamna and Ixchel, and the Indian myth of Savitri and Satyavan. While often compared to the Akkadian/Sumerian myth of Inanna's descent to the underworld, that tale is actually a parallel for Persephone's kidnapping by Hades because both "Inanna's Descent" and Persephone's kidnapping are cultural explanations for the changing seasons.^[12] The biblical story of Lot's wife, who was turned into a pillar of salt because she looked back at the town she was fleeing, is "often compared to the story of Orpheus and his wife Eurydice."^[13]

Cultural depictions

The story of Orpheus and Eurydice has been depicted in a number of works by artists, including Titian, Peter Paul Rubens, Nicolas Poussin, and Corot.^[14] More recently, the story has been depicted by Bracha Ettinger, whose series, Eurydice, was exhibited in the Pompidou Centre (Face à l'Histoire, 1996); the Stedelijk Museum, Amsterdam (Kabinet, 1997), and The Royal Museum of Fine Arts, Antwerp (Gorge(l), 2007). The story has inspired ample writings in the fields of ethics, aesthetics, art, and feminist theory. In the game Hades (2020), the aftermath of the tale of Orpheus and Eurydice is told throughout a playthrough of the game.

Film and literature

• Sir Orfeo, a Middle English Romance poem from the late 13th or early 14th century, inspired by the Orpheus and Eurydice tale
• "Orpheus. Eurydice. Hermes." (1904), a poem retelling the journey from the underworld by Rainer Maria Rilke
• "Eurydice" (1917), a feminist retelling of the myth from the perspective of Eurydice, written by modernist poet H.D.
• Orphée (1950), directed by Jean Cocteau
• Orfeu Negro (1959), an adaptation of the classic myth filmed in Brazil by Marcel Camus
• Evrydiki BA 2O37 (1975), directed by Nikos Nikolaidis.
• "Eurydice" (1999), a poem that retells the traditional myth through a feminist lens by British poet Carol Ann Duffy in her book The World's Wife
• Portrait of a Lady on Fire (2019) written and directed by Céline Sciamma uses the myth of Orpheus and Eurydice as an allegory for the relationship depicted in the film, and proposes an alternate explanation for why Orpheus turned to look.^[15]

Operas and stage productions

The myth has been retold in operas by Jacopo Peri, Monteverdi, Charpentier, Gluck, Yevstigney Fomin, Harrison Birtwistle, and Matthew Aucoin.

• Euridice (1600), an opera by Jacopo Peri, the first genuine opera whose music survives to this day^[16]
• Orfeo ed Euridice, an opera by Christoph Willibald Gluck^[17]
• L'Orfeo (1607), by Claudio Monteverdi, widely regarded as the first operatic masterwork^[18]
• La Descente d'Orphée aux enfers H.488 (1686), opera by Marc-Antoine Charpentier
• Orphée descendant aux enfers H.471 (1683), cantata by Marc-Antoine Charpentier
• Le Retour d’Euridice aux enfers (1717) by Charles Piroye
• Orphée (1926), a play written by Jean Cocteau
• Eurydice (1941), a play by Jean Anouilh
• Orpheus Descending (1957), by American playwright Tennessee Williams.
• Orfeo ed Euridice (1996), a new production of Gluck's opera by choreographer Mark Morris and the Handel and Haydn Society conducted by Christopher Hogwood.^[19]
• Eurydice (2003), a play by Sarah Ruhl, later made into an opera by Matthew Aucoin in 2020.^[20][21]
• Orpheus and Eurydice: A Myth Underground (2011), a theatre production written by Molly Davies with music by James Johnston, Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds for the National Youth Theatre at the Old Vic Tunnels, directed by James Dacre
• Hadestown (2010), an ensemble album by Anaïs Mitchell, featuring Mitchell as Eurydice, Justin Vernon as Orpheus and Ani DiFranco among others, retelling the myth as a 'folk opera' in a post-apocalyptic Depression era America. The album inspired a Broadway musical of the same name, which opened in 2019. Featuring Eva Noblezada as Eurydice and Reeve Carney as Orpheus ^[22][23]

Science and geography

• Eurydice Peninsula in Antarctica is named after Eurydice.
• A species of Australian lizard, Ctenotus eurydice, is named after Eurydice.^[24]
• A species of snake native to Papua New Guinea, Gerrhopilus eurydice, is named after Eurydice.^[25]
• An asteroid 75 Eurydike is named after Eurydice.

Video games

• The platform game Don't Look Back created by Terry Cavanagh follows a modernized version of the legend of Orpheus and Eurydice.
• In Hades, a rogue-like game developed by Supergiant Games, Eurydice is a character who resides in Asphodel.^[26][27] Her appearance is that of an oak nymph, and she has an afro composed of tree branches".^[28] The player, Zagreus, is given the option of reuniting Eurydice and Orpheus after meeting them.^[29][27]