Cultural Mythology: Myth, culture, and consciousness

No boundary line

"Music is a higher revelation than all wisdom and philosphy. Music is the electrical soil in which the spirit lives, thinks and invents." Ludwig van Beethoven 

Orpheus was a poet and a musician. He was the "father of songs," the son of the Muse, and a student of Apollo, the god of music. Through his music, Orpheus was able to charm, inspire, and move every being. Even the waves danced to his tune.

We'd be remiss not to dwell for a moment on this crucial detail. I have no original insight into the significance of his talent but offer up the following words from others who have tried to express the mystery of music, and its source in what I call "soul."

" Music is the art which is most nigh to tears and memory. Oscar Wilde

"After silence, that which comes nearest to expressing the inexpressible is music." Alduos Huxley

"Music gives soul to the universe, wings to the mind, flight to the imagination, and charm and gaiety to life and to everything." Plato

"Music takes us out of the actual and whispers to us dim secrets that startle our wonder as to who we are, and for what, and whereto." Ralph Waldo Emerson

"Without music, life would be an error." Friedrich Nietzsche

"Music is well said to be the speech of angels; in fact, nothing among the utterances allowed to man is felt to be so divine. It brings us near to the infinite." Thomas Carlyle

"The whole problem can be stated quite simply by asking, 'Is there a meaning to music?' My answer would be, 'Yes.' And 'Can you state in so many words what the meaning is?' My answer to that would be, 'No.'" Aaron Copland

"I think I should have no other mortal wants, if I could always have plenty of music. It seems to infuse strength into my limbs and ideas into my brain. Life seems to go on without effort, when I am filled with music." George Eliot

"When I hear music, I fear no danger. I am invulnerable. I see no foe. I am related to the earliest times, and to the latest." Henry David Thoreau

"Music is your own experience, your own thoughts, your wisdom. If you don't live it, it won't come out of your horn. They teach you there's a boundary line to music. But, man, there's no boundary line to art." Charlie Parker

"Do you know that our soul is composed of harmony?" Leonardo DaVinci

"There are two means of refuge from the miseries of life: music and cats." Albert Schweitzer

True love

The myth of Orpheus and Eurydice revolves around their deep love for each other. They were supremely happy together and when Eurydice dies, so suddenly and so young, Orpheus cannot bear to live without her. Guided by his love for his wife, and armed with his extraordinary music, Orpheus undertakes the perilous journey to the Underworld and pleads his case before Persephone and Hades. When he kneels before them and asks Hades to lend Eurdyice to him just a little while longer, my heart aches.I know that longing, don't you? The longing to go back to happier times, to turn back the tide, to escape, just this once, from the inevitable. Have you ever reached deep into the well of your sincerity and made a solemn vow to gods or a fate or the great unknown that you swear that you'll never (fill in the blank) or always (fill in the blank) if only, if only, he/she/it will grant you this one wish? If only everything could be right again?

I have. But is this love? Plato thought that Orpheus was a fool and a coward. A fool to try to negotiate with the inevitable and a coward for not joining his beloved in the Underworld. His love wasn't deep enough for that sacrifice. The theme of whom is willing to die for whom appears in other stories from Greek mythology. They thought, as many of us do, that being willing to die for your spouse or children or friend was the ultimate statement of loyalty and devotion. But even this sacrifice may contain a kernel of resistance don't you think, to the hard truth? Paradoxically perhaps, extreme courage and fear may mingle.

In the last story, the myth of Persephone and the Homeric Hymn to Demeter, we concluded that transformation is the rule and that profound change will involve loss. We like to connect this process to a vision of something better, happier, more successful or satisfying. We like to imagine that suffering always leads to a reward or has meaning beyond the common fact of its occurrence. But Orpheus doesn't go on to enjoy much of anything after he loses his wife. In fact, in the most common ending he gets torn apart by angry women. It's not heroic or glorious. But it is life.

Hadestown by Anais Mitchell

If you want to treat yourself to a gorgeous, provocative re-working of the myth of Eurydice and Orpheus, check out The Folk Opera "Hadestown" by Anais Mitchell. I'm wild about it. Bought my copy from Ani DiFranco, one of her collaborators, at Righteous Babe Records.

 

Orpheus and Eurydice Part 2 of 2

It was a long, long walk down, down into the gloomy realm of the dead. The air was cold and dry. Nothing stirred. There was no sign of life.

Finally Orpheus came to the river Styx, the river of hatred, upon which the Gods made their most solemn oaths. When Charon the ferryman saw Orpheus he held up his hand. “You may not cross,” he said. “This is not a ride for the living. Go back to the sun-lit world where you belong and wait until our lord summons you. That day will come soon enough, you can rest assured.”

Orpheus began to sing. He sang of Eurydice’s beauty, her sweetness, and their love. He sang of his grief. As he sang, he got onto the boat and Charon silently poled them both across the dark waters. The ferryman may have felt a flush of warmth in the cavity that once held his heart.

When the ferry reached the far bank, Cerberus, the three-headed hound of hell, was waiting. It was said that Cerberus  wagged his tail in greeting at those meant to arrive on this shadowy shore. He might even nuzzle your bloodless hand. But he was vicious to all interlopers. Cerberus snapped his strong jaws at Orpheus and lashed his tail. But Orpheus’s sweet voice could subdue every form of wildness and it calmed the savage dog. In a few moments Cereberus lay down and rested his three heavy heads on his paws.

Orpheus walked on, plucking a simple melody and humming softly to bolster his courage.  Phantom forms, the dim images of the dead, came near and shuffled along behind him, listening,  hearts full of yearning.

At last Orpheus came to the shadowy hall where Hades and his Queen Persephone sat on their mighty thrones. Here they gave orders, received offerings, welcomed the new arrivals, and oversaw the final judgment of all souls.

When he saw Orpheus Hades said, “Who are you and how did you get down here? Someone will have hell to pay for this!”

Orpheus knelt down on trembling legs before the pair. “I seek my wife,” he said. “She stepped upon a viper and was killed in her youth, long before her rightful time. I love her dearly and cannot go on without her, try as I might. Love has won.”

Then Orpheus started to sing. He sang about the meadows and the moment he first saw his bride. He sang about her smile and the sweet scent of her hair. And he sang about his grief, about what it is like to suddenly be alone, in a desolate world reduced to mists and shadows, without purpose or meaning or hope or love. Without love, the force that makes the world go round.

His haunting song filled the great hall and echoed throughout the underworld.  Sisyphus sat down on his stone. Tantalos forgot hunger and thirst. The Furies were awe-struck and the judges of the dead wept. Everyone who heard the song was deeply moved. Some say the great queen even shed a tear and that Hades himself had to turn his face away lest he betray the contents of his heart.

Orpheus’s song was complete and the last note hung in the air. “We all shall take this way,” he said, “Our final home is here; the great and mighty, the small and pitiful, the virtuous and the evil. This is the end for all that is mortal… for me, and for Eurydice. I ask you only this great lord: lend her to me for awhile longer.”

Hades was silent. Persephone took his hand and squeezed it ever so slightly, her eyes on the face of Orpheus. Perhaps she could still hear his melody echoing in her heart. “You may have your wife” Hades said at last, “on one condition. You will go first and she will follow behind. You must not turn around. You must not look back until you are both above ground in the bright light of the sun or she will fall back into the depths once again, for good. At these words Eurydice emerged from the dark depths of the hall and Orpheus wept at the sight of her sweet face.

The two lovers set off at once with Orpheus in the lead and the pale Eurydice following behind. Several times he thought he heard her stumble--their upward path was dark and steep. But he dared not look. The pair trudged along in unbroken silence through the mists. It was a very long way and after a while it seemed to Orpheus that he heard and sensed nothing from the woman following. No one, Orpheus knew, returned from the Underworld. Hades was not known for his mercy. Was it possible that he had been duped? What if, what if, Eurydice his beloved, was not walking behind him after all?

Orpheus thought he could just make out the first glimmers of sunlight ahead. The end of the journey was so near and yet he could not bear it if he had come all this way alone. Doubt seized his heart and squeezed it, filled it, until he had to turn so slightly… just a quick glance over his shoulder to be sure…

“Orpheus, I love you,” cried Eurydice as he reached out to grab her arm, to clasp her to him. But she slipped beyond his grasp into the abyss and was gone. Some say that he tried to find his back into the depths again, to make another plea. But it was no use. Orpheus lived out the rest of his days with only the memory of Eurydice.

(Painting by George Frederick Watts RA (1817-1904)),

Orpheus and Eurydice Part 1 of 2

A story is like a river. You can wade into the flow at any point and emerge at another, upstream or down. The river of story is different every time you dive in. And who is to say which drop of water is the first, or the last?

When did this story of Orpheus and Eurydice begin? Was it the day that Orpheus and Eurydice first met? Or maybe the moment Orpheus sang his first song and charmed every being within the sound of his voice. With the invention of the lyre perhaps, or the birth of Calliope, the Muse of epic poetry, whom many say was Orpheus’s mother.

Orpheus was the most famous poet and musician who ever lived. He was called the “father of songs” and it was said that although the god Hermes invented the lyre, Orpheus perfected it. When Orpheus lifted up his voice, flocks of birds flew about over his head and the fish leaped high from the dark-blue sea. His songs set the trees and stones in motion. He grew up in Pieria, the land of the Muses, and some say that Apollo, the god of music (who first put the lyre into human hands), was his teacher.

Orpheus was one of the Argonauts, who rowed with Jason and the other Greek heroes on the fleet ship Argo to the land of Colchis, to steal the Golden Fleece. They were successful. But on their way home the men passed near the Sirens. Those man-eating harpies were horrible to look at but they had silver tongues and sang golden honey melodies. The Siren’s song was bewitching and no one who heard it could resist coming fatally close. But when the ship Argo approached the Sirens perched on their sharp rocks, Orpheus also sang, loudly and more beautifully. His glorious music drowned out the Siren’s call. Orpheus brought the Argo and its crew through safely.

When he returned from this journey, Orpheus settled in Thessaly. There he met the enchanting Eurydice. She was an oak nymph, graceful and slender as a sapling. She had a beautiful face and lovelier heart. Orpheus loved her deeply and she was equally enamoured of Orpheus.

They were a happy couple without a care or need in the world. On the day that they were married, Orpheus sang joyful songs to his bride while she danced through the meadows full of flowers. The birds joined in and the trees bowed down their branches and showered them with sweet fruit. But not long after, some say it was on their very wedding day, the beautiful Eurydice was accosted by a lusty satyr. Her love was solely for her husband and the young woman ran away through the tall grass.

She didn’t see the viper until it struck on her the heel. The poison sped quickly to her heart. Within moments, Eurydice was dead.

Friends found the body in the tall grass. At first Orpheus did not believe them, could not believe them, would not believe them. But when he saw his beloved still and cold he understood that he was now alone. Eurydice was gone. Orpheus sat down and wept. He lamented and played such sad and mournful songs that the nymphs urged him to follow her, to go down into the underworld. “Appeal to Persephone and her lord.” they counseled, “surely your music will melt their hearts.”

Orpheus picked up his lyre, a faint glimmer of hope in his heart. He went to a deep cave, a crack in the earth that was known to be one of the ways down.

(Painting by Jean-Baptiste Corot)