The great singer Orpheus, the son of the river god Eager and the muse Calliope, lived in distant Thrace. Orpheus' wife was the beautiful nymph Eurydice. The singer Orpheus loved her dearly. But Orpheus did not enjoy a happy life with his wife for long. One day, soon after the wedding, the beautiful Eurydice was picking spring flowers in a green valley with her young playful nymph friends. Eurydice did not notice the snake in the thick grass and stepped on it. The snake bit Orpheus's young wife in the leg. Eurydice screamed loudly and fell into the arms of her friends who ran up. Eurydice turned pale and her eyes closed. The snake's venom ended her life. Eurydice's friends were horrified and their mournful cry was heard far away. Orpheus heard him. He hurries to the valley and there he sees the cold corpse of his dearly beloved wife. Orpheus fell into despair. He could not come to terms with this loss. He mourned his Eurydice for a long time, and all nature cried, hearing his sad singing.
Finally, Orpheus decided to descend into the dark kingdom of the souls of the dead in order to beg the Lord Hades and his wife Persephone to return his wife to him. Through the gloomy cave of Tenara, Orpheus descended to the banks of the sacred river Styx.
Orpheus stands on the banks of the Styx. How can he cross to the other side, to where the dark kingdom of Lord Hades is located? The shadows of the dead crowd around Orpheus. Their groans are barely audible, like the rustle of falling leaves in the forest in late autumn. Then the splash of oars was heard in the distance. This is the approaching boat of the carrier of the souls of the dead, Charon. Charon moored to the shore. Orpheus asks to transport him along with the souls to the other side, but the stern Charon refused him. No matter how Orpheus prays to him, he still hears one answer from Charon - “no!”
Then Orpheus struck the strings of his golden cithara, and the sounds of its strings spread in a wide wave along the shore of the gloomy Styx. Orpheus charmed Charon with his music; He listens to Orpheus playing, leaning on his oar. To the sound of music, Orpheus entered the boat, Charon pushed it away from the shore with an oar, and the boat sailed through the gloomy waters of the Styx. Charon transported Orpheus. He got out of the boat and, playing the golden cithara, walked through the dark kingdom of the souls of the dead to the throne of the god Hades, surrounded by souls who had flocked to the sounds of his cithara.
Playing the cithara, Orpheus approached the throne of Hades and bowed before him. He struck the strings of the cithara harder and began to sing; he sang about his love for Eurydice and how happy his life was with her on the bright, clear days of spring. But the days of happiness quickly passed. Eurydice died. Orpheus sang about his grief, about the torment of broken love, about his longing for the dead. The entire kingdom of Hades listened to the singing of Orpheus, everyone was enchanted by his song. The god Hades listened to Orpheus with his head bowed on his chest. Leaning her head against her husband’s shoulder, Persephone listened to the song; Tears of sadness trembled on her eyelashes. Fascinated by the sounds of the song, Tantalus forgot the hunger and thirst that tormented him. Sisyphus stopped his hard, fruitless work, sat down on the stone that was rolling up the mountain, and thought deeply, deeply. Enchanted by the singing, the Danaids stood, they forgot about their bottomless vessel. The formidable three-faced goddess Hecate herself covered herself with her hands so that the tears in her eyes could not be seen. Tears glistened in the eyes of Erinyes, who knew no pity; even Orpheus touched them with his song. But now the strings of the golden cithara sound ever quieter, the song of Orpheus becomes quieter, and it froze, like a barely audible sigh of sadness.
Deep silence reigned all around. The god Hades interrupted this silence and asked Orpheus why he came to his kingdom, what he wanted to ask him for. Hades swore an unbreakable oath of the gods - by the waters of the River Styx - that he would fulfill the request of the wondrous singer. This is how Orpheus answered Hades:
- Oh, mighty lord Hades, you accept all of us mortals into your kingdom when the days of our lives end. I did not come here to look at the horrors that fill your kingdom, not to lead away, like Hercules, the guardian of your kingdom - the three-headed Kerberus. I came here to beg you to release my Eurydice back to earth. Bring her back to life; you see how I suffer for her! Think, lord, if they took away your wife Persephone from you, you too would suffer. You don’t return Eurydice forever. She will return again to your kingdom. Our life is short, Lord Hades. Oh, let Eurydice experience the joys of life, because she came to your kingdom so young!
The god Hades thought and finally answered Orpheus:
- Okay, Orpheus! I will return Eurydice to you. Lead her back to life, to the light of the sun. But you must fulfill one condition: you will go forward following the god Hermes, he will lead you, and Eurydice will follow you. But while traveling through the underworld, you should not look back. Remember! You look back, and Eurydice will immediately leave you and return forever to my kingdom.
Orpheus agreed to everything. He is in a hurry to go back as soon as possible. Quick as a thought, Hermes brought the shadow of Eurydice. Orpheus looks at her with delight. Orpheus wants to hug the shadow of Eurydice, but the god Hermes stopped him, saying:
- Orpheus, you are only hugging a shadow. Let's go quickly; our path is difficult.
We hit the road. Hermes walks ahead, followed by Orpheus, and behind him the shadow of Eurydice. They quickly passed the kingdom of Hades. Charon ferried them across the Styx in his boat. Here is the path that leads to the surface of the earth. The path is difficult. The path rises steeply, and it is all cluttered with stones. There is deep twilight all around. The figure of Hermes walking ahead is slightly visible in them. But then a light appeared far ahead. This is the way out. It seemed like everything was brighter all around. If Orpheus had turned around, he would have seen Eurydice. Is she following him? Didn't she remain in the complete darkness of the kingdom of the souls of the dead? Maybe she fell behind, because the path is so difficult! Eurydice fell behind and will be doomed to wander forever in the darkness. Orpheus slows down and listens. I can't hear anything. How can the steps of an ethereal shadow be heard? Orpheus becomes increasingly worried about Eurydice. More and more often he stops. Everything is brighter all around. Now Orpheus would clearly see the shadow of his wife. Finally, forgetting everything, he stopped and turned around. Almost next to him he saw the shadow of Eurydice. Orpheus extended his hands to her, but further, further the shadow - and drowned in darkness. Orpheus stood as if petrified, overcome with despair. He had to endure the secondary death of Eurydice, and he himself was the culprit of this second death.
Orpheus stood for a long time. It seemed as if life had left him; it looked like a marble statue standing there. Finally, Orpheus moved, took a step, then another, and walked back to the shores of the gloomy Styx. He decided to return to the throne of Hades again, again begging him to return Eurydice. But old Charon did not take him across the Styx in his fragile boat, Orpheus begged him in vain - the prayers of the inexorable singer Charon were not touched. For seven days and nights sad Orpheus sat on the banks of the Styx, shedding tears of sorrow, forgetting about food, about everything, lamenting the gods of the dark kingdom of the souls of the dead. Only on the eighth day did he decide to leave the banks of the Styx and return to Thrace.
Translated from Russian · original on wisdomlib.ru