Comments

• Haley

  I think that it is interesting that in almost all of the greek myths, someone has to be killed, be it man or god. It is weird to me that even though Hades told Orpheus not to look back, he did any way. You would think that if someone with as much power as hades told you to do something, you would do it. I think that it is just something that we have to accept; when someone is more powerful than you, you need to listen to them.

  9/15/2009 7:15:13 PM
• Justin Allison

  The feeling of losing his wife drove him into the Underworld because he loves her so much and she doesn't want her to be gone forever.

  9/15/2009 7:32:00 PM
• Kyleigh

  Wow, this story was tragic... First the guy, Orpheus, looses his wife (after just getting together with her) then after travling all the way to the underworld, singing a heartrenching song, that brings Hades to his knees, he gets her back... YAAAAY! nope nevermind, on his way out of the underworld he looks at her and she dies again. He lives a horrbile life yada yada yada. Depressing.... All he had to do was keep his eyes off the girl for a little while,and he blows it, hey man no one's that good looking.
  

  9/15/2009 8:55:50 PM
• Cummings

  Haley - it seems like there is something unique to us humans - we question ideas of "might makes right" and scheme, plot and undermine those who claim authority over us. Are we alone in that characteristic, or do we always cave to power?

  9/15/2009 10:57:29 PM
• Cummings

  Kyleigh -
  What is the trait Orpheus is missing? Some say its a virtue . . .

  9/15/2009 10:58:07 PM
• Shavanna

  This is a very sad myth, but I think it teaches a couple of very important lessons. One is that if someone dies you really just have to accept the fact that they are dead, and that in some very sad way it was their fate to die. I think it's funny how when the Lord of the Underworld told him not to look back, he looked back. It reminds me of when we were kids, we would do exactly the opposite of what our parents told us (at least that's what I did). We did that because we wanted to rebel against a higher power just to prove that we could do what we wanted. In some ways it's very similar to what Orpheus did, he rebelled against a higher power. Like Haley said he didn't listen to Hades even though he knew he had power and control over him. That's the other lesson is that sometimes we just have to accept that there will always be someone who is more powerful than you and that you just need to listen to them.

  9/16/2009 11:50:26 AM
• Lexie Churan

  It seems that in some of these Greek myths someone is always trying to get back what was taken away from him/her(i.e. Orpheus's wife), or that is trying to make up for something one has lost. He had loved his wife so much that he was willing to go to the underworld to seek the "deathless gods" in attemps to bring her back to life. However, he does what the gods had instructed him NOT to do, he looks back to try to see his wife. Therefore, he looses her once again. What some need to accept is that once someone/something is taken away, it is gone for good and in attempts to get it back, it could just mess the situation up more...

  9/16/2009 1:00:56 PM
• Cummings

  Good Lexie!

  9/16/2009 1:23:27 PM
• Gabi

  In every myth, there is always someone who doesn't do as they're told which brings them to their fate. In this case, Orpheus looks back at his wife when he was specifically told not to, losing his her a second time. Everyone loses people that they love. It's all part of life and I think that he needs to face the facts and move on. I understand that he loved her very much but why go through the heartache again. The least he could have done was waited until he got past the gate to look at her.

  9/16/2009 3:47:08 PM
• Austin V

  After reading this myth I was wondering, did Hades possibly know what the outcome of giving Orpheus his wife back? Did he know that she would not get to return to life completely? I think it would make sense if he did, seeing how he is the god of the underworld. Which is generaly not due to being nice, but instead because he is spitefull and cruel.

  9/16/2009 5:35:35 PM
• Cummings

  Gabi seems to be onto something. Knowing these myths were socially normative stories, perhaps "facing facts and moving" is a practical lesson to learn.

  9/16/2009 6:29:46 PM
• Cummings

  Austin - think back to the Hades / Zeus / Poseidon story - the one where they receive gifts for freeing the Cylopes. Was the temperament of Hades the rationale for his gift? For his taking over the Underworld? It is curious to me that Hades is associated with cruelty, evil, etc, although he really was a helpful brother. I wonder if there is a link between his placement in the underworld and his having been eaten by Cronos (unlike Poseidon or Zeus) . . .

  9/16/2009 6:33:39 PM
• Grace Riccobene

  I think part of it is also that humans always want what they cant have and we have trouble letting go of things like your favorite stuffed annimal when you are growing up or your bottle. You never want to let it go. Orpheus may have missed his wife but his wife wouldnt want him to live the rest of his life in missory. She would have wanted him to move on and live the rest of his life happy and make the most of it. When his wife died he should have relized that and done what would have make his wife happy which is him living a happy life because most of the time all you want for you loved ones is for them to be happy even when your not there.

  9/16/2009 7:28:13 PM
• Gregorio Trost

  To relate to Orpheus, I would be pretty courious to look back and see whats behind me too. To me atleast, it's human nature. Though, I also realized that the story connects to another story, the story of Sodom and Gomorrah, which is an Old Testament story. Ironic how this as well as the story of Prometheus both strongly relate to other biblical tales...

  9/16/2009 8:15:47 PM
• Gregorio Trost

  To comment on what Austin V said: It's interesting you mentioned "I think it would make sense if he did, seeing how he is the god of the underworld. Which is generaly not due to being nice, but instead because he is spitefull and cruel." If I'm right, in Greek Mythology, you didn't have a choice whether you could go to heaven or hell? That is an Abrahamic religious based idea were good= heaven and "spitefull and cruel"= hell. I researched Hades, and found out that he and the house of hades (hell) are actually both nuetral places, and that Erinyes was the punisher of wrong doers after their death. So Hades being cruel or not had nothing to do with his relationship with what we persieve as "hell", but actually there was no "hell" to begin with.

  9/16/2009 8:34:06 PM
• Nikki

  Orpheus has my sympathy for the first event that occurred, his wife getting bitten by the snake. However the second time that it happened it was Orpheus' fault, and he deserved it 100%. He should have realized that he was getting a once in a lifetime second shot, and he was not careful nor responsible, therefore he deserved the consequence he recieved.
  The fact that Orpheus tried again, and blew it, may just make the pain of losing his wife more intense. If you think about it, he lost his wife once, and just before getting the opportunity to be with her once again, he ruined it. If he would have just accepted the fact that a person's fate is uncontrollable, and when an event occurs it is unchangeable, he could have lessened the amount of pain.

  9/16/2009 8:54:26 PM
• Cummings

  Gregorio - you might take time to tell us about Sodom and Gomorrah - maybe not the entire story, but the part you see as related to this.
  
  And strong research on the Hades bit.

  9/16/2009 9:04:32 PM
• Misha

  Sometimes the gift of persuasion works against us. Rather than dealing with a problem or our emotions we tend to connive our way around the issue. Had Orpheus not been able to persuade Hades to give his wife life again he would not have to have gone through the process of losing her again. If Hades had denied him his wife then I believe he would have simply given up and moved on. I understand that everyone deals with the grieving process differently but this is just really sad! He was still grieving till his death; in fact his death was a result of his grief!
  
  Also I noticed many similarities between this myth and the book Gilgamesh. In both stories the main character had recently lost a loved one. He then goes on a journey in the hope of regaining his loved ones life. In Gilgamesh, he begins to just flat out annoy people with his constant overwhelming guilt. If he had just accepted the death of his friend and not had been selfish by leaving his kingdom to pursue the revival of Enkidu (his dead best friend) I think he would have been a lot happier with his life and found a new best friend. Similarly, if Orpheus had excepted his wife’s death he would have had a much more fulfilling life and maybe even found a new wife or love.
  
  When someone dies you like to look back all the great things that they did in their life time. Well, not much can be said about this guy considering that he wasted his whole life in a state of depression. And he was grieving over something that befell him do to his amazing power of persuasion.

  9/16/2009 9:10:13 PM
• BEN SPENCER

  ok. so i noticed the serpent come up in this myth as well. He is an "evil being" and killed Orpheus' wife. in Adam and Eve he told eve to eat the apple, another mischievous action. It seems like the serpent is a symbol for wrongful and evil acts.

  9/16/2009 9:12:37 PM
• Cummings

  Yes Misha! The Epic of Gilgamesh does resonate with these themes of loss, journey and grieving. Perhaps there is a universality in these tales.

  9/16/2009 10:47:16 PM
• Cummings

  I wonder if Orpheus' profession (a muse / musician) plays on the theme of the story in any way.

  9/16/2009 10:48:28 PM
• Abby

  i agree with haley that humans are always killed off n these myths. I think that it is because we are so weak and insignificant compared to gods. In this myth we see that every single person must eventually die, and not matter how hard you try, you can't bring them back. Orpheus sat and waited for 7 month without food! i think that that can be taken as both a literal sense and that "food" is another word for life. Orpheus went on living without life for 7 months before he died. After his wife died he never lived again.

  9/17/2009 4:03:49 PM
• Timothy "Mit" Edwards

  Haley, Gods are immortal. I think there is some significance in Orpheus loosing his love not once but TWICE

  9/17/2009 6:37:12 PM
• Timothy "Mit" Edwards

  Also Orpheus kinda looks like Orphan. I think that might have some significance.

  9/17/2009 6:37:53 PM
• Stanzyk man

  Well, personaly i dont believe its that tragic of a story, i think of it more as a fairy tail. A man falls in love losses her then at the end gets the love of his life back, for irenity(not sure how to spell that). But when i read this, it reminded me of a Fairy Tail story.

  9/17/2009 6:56:12 PM
• Stanzyk man

  Ya, Ben in many storys and mythic storys like Adam and Eve and stuff, the serpent is looked upon not just an evil being but many call it Satin.

  9/17/2009 6:58:36 PM
• Justin Helman

  I agree with steven because the story is very cliched were as there is a goal by the main character, doesn't achieve it at first, but eventually lives happily ever after.

  9/17/2009 7:26:20 PM
• Justin Helman

  *except he doesn't really live happily ever after because he blows it in the end... but if he didn't look at her than it would be cliche

  9/17/2009 7:31:11 PM
• Justin Helman

  Also I agree with Haley and noticed that it seems in every myth somebody dies, and more times than not its man because in the myths he appear naive and ignorant in a way.

  9/17/2009 7:33:24 PM
• Cummings

  Really, A fairy tale? But he's dead . . .

  9/17/2009 7:50:25 PM
• Nikki Keller

  Yes, but he gets to live with his wife forever in the Underworld, all that should matter is that he gets to be with the love of his life (or death, haha).

  9/17/2009 8:34:23 PM
• Kayla

  I agree with Kyleigh. I also think that there has to be a good reason for looking at his wife when he was not suppose to, i mean it wasn't that hard not to! Maybe deep down out of his conscience he didn't want her to survive. I don't know because if he really loved her then he would of done what he was told.

  9/17/2009 8:43:15 PM
• Olivia

  This story reminds me of Gilgamesh how he was told not to look at his wife, and how Gilgamesh was told not to lose the plant our he would lose Enkidu.

  9/17/2009 9:07:00 PM
• Gregorio Trost

  k, i'm fuzzy on the entire story of sodom and gamorrah, but at the end, angels worn a guy named Lot and his family to NOT LOOK BACK no matter what while they are fleeing this town. Well, the wife LOOKS BACK. Her PUNISHMENT was turning into a pillar of salt. That is the ending to the biblical story of sodom and gamorrah. (Yah, a pillar of salt! What a way to go.)

  9/17/2009 9:15:43 PM
• Haley

  Tim: your right, i guess i dont mean killed in the literal sense, just put down.
  Mr Cummings: No, i don't think we are the only ones who plot against higher powers. Animals, for instance, will still try to steal food even if they are told not to (just like orpheus looks athis wife when he is told not to). I believe that most people will do things for power, unless they are very, very happy with their lives. Our whole world revolves around power struggles. Without any concept of power there would not be many of the things we have today. No one would strive to do better in life than other people so they can get paid more and have more power. even our everyday lives revolve around power . . . Oh and Fairy Tales can have sad ending, and even if Orpheus does die, it is still a cliche ending because we all knew he or someone else would make a mistake and then die.

  9/17/2009 9:25:31 PM
• Victoria

  Well i think that this was super tragic and unfair... geez poor Orpheus. Also he was about to get the love of his life back, but he did exactly the opposite of what he was told to do and looked back. He shouldnt have done thatno matter how tempting it is. When you do something your not supposed to do bad things will come out of it. I think the story is saying to accept the things you cant change, like death. Also its saying to resist temptation.

  9/17/2009 9:37:50 PM
• Paige

  Mr. cummings. going back to you question due to austin's question, is Hades so mean or thought of as so mean because he didn't get the cool prize? It's all about winning back the populatity he never had when he got the lame paper bag? So is he being mean or cruel or harsh so poeple and Gods have to look up to him and struggle to get his blessing to visit others in the underworld?

  9/17/2009 9:51:16 PM
• Lawrence R

  even in death he's with his love. i think its not really a fary tale, but more of a romeo and juliet kind of story.

  9/17/2009 9:55:37 PM
• Cummings

  Paige - I guess I wonder if there are any stories in Greek myth that show Hades to be a mean fellow. In the first story, he gets the worst reward - there is no mention of him being mean, cruel or vengeful. Even with Orpheus he seems fair. The idea / association of Hades with evil seems to be added by us as modern readers - or can anyone find a myth that shows him to be evil?
  
  This is an important discussion point.

  9/17/2009 10:43:10 PM
• Emily G

  I totaly agree with gabby and a few others and while i was reading over a few other comments it clicked in my mind that idk if this is right but maybe since the myths/stories are so repetitive persay that they keep making the same mistake by not listening... well if we were made in the gods' images then maybe its saying that we keep messing up over the same mistake and we dont ever really learn from it....

  9/17/2009 11:35:03 PM
• Emily G

  wait! i dont know if this is the same story as gregorio's but in the bible idk where srry it talkes about umm.... uuuug i totaly for get who but a man and his wife and family i think im srry its late lol had to leave the city they had lived in thier whole life and God tells them not to look back or they will turn into something i forget again i am srry and like freeze i think so the man i think it is abraham idk it sounds right but i may be wrong keeps reminding everyone not to look back but then his wife does and she is forever left there in that exact spot frozen.... =)

  9/17/2009 11:39:04 PM