Orpheus & Eurydice: Love, Interest & Obsession - Essay Sample

Introduction

Orpheus and Eurydice myth is a Greek myth about love, interest and obsession. God Apollo was the father of Orpheus who gave him the lyre and also taught him how to play it. He played it to perfection, and even the father got surprised. The author emphasizes that; the music was too sweet that nothing including friends and enemies could repel his music and the melody (Kummerling-Meibauer 291). The myth shows adorable love, affection, and treasure on one another and how Orpheus cherished every moment spent with Eurydice, his beautiful lover. The author emphasizes much on the death of Eurydice after being bitten by the snake and descending to the underworld and how the obsession made Orpheus to follow her to the underworld with hopes that both would ascend back to the world of the living. It is worth noting that the paper aims to contemporize the myth to the modern society.

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Orpheus found himself in unconditional love with Eurydice, the pretty girl. The two got into marriage and lived happily for years, after sometimes as Eurydice walked in the forest and got scared when the shepherd started chasing her of her beauty (Kummerling-Meibauer 295). The snake bit Eurydice, died and descended to the underworld. Orpheus spent his time in grief, sang his lyre with a melody that moved everything on the world. He was advised by his father to descend to the Hades to meet his loving wife. Orpheus started playing his melody, and Hades gave him chance to take Eurydice but was under one condition of not looking back until Eurydice was out of the cave. He looked back, and he was stroked back to the underworld forever (Kummerling-Meibauer 299). He died, but his head was saved to sing forever with the enchanting melodies perpetually.

The story portrays the origin of love from the ancient to the twenty-first century, and this love is today practiced by the youth in almost every community in the world. The origin of love can be related to the tales of Ovid and Virgil. The two had a contrary opinion about love and their minds set were completely antagonizing. Virgil was an introvert who had problems when it comes to social life and the knowledge of interacting with people in society. He accepted love but treated it differently; he suggested that people should not engage in courtship for long and that the bachelors should marry while the unmarried girls should also get married saying that adultery should be a criminal offence (Solodow 112). On the other hand, Ovid in contrary to Virgil school of thoughts was an extrovert who has no problem in social life. He encouraged love among people, and he could not see any crime in courtship.

Modern love is also shown in the American romantic novel of a sweet and beautiful girl called Cinderella. Her mother and father died, and she was left with her stepmothers who worsen her life. Her love with the prince became unconditional when her godmother came to her rescue dressing her sweet for the Royal ball (Koppy 77). It is worth noting that, pure love in the society is shown when the prince walked to every girl in the community try to fit the slippers and ultimately came only to fit Cinderella. This is the true picture of the ancient love that exists today in our society.

Conclusion

In conclusion, the Greek myth of Orpheus and Eurydice stipulate the origin of modern love practiced today by every community. True love existed as from a long time, thus from the ancient time to the twenty-first century. Many tales and stories in the world have talked about love including the tales of Ovid and Virgil of Roman love. The two talked on both personal love and the sacrifice for community and the family. Love is affection; love is an obsession and love is a treasure of someone that your heart has passion for. Due to its complex nature, love should not be treated as a criminal offence in any way.

Works Cited

Koppy, Kate Christine Moore. "Cinderella and other fairy tales as secular scripture in contemporary America and Russia." 2015, pp. 77-97.

Kummerling-Meibauer, Bettina. "Orpheus and Eurydice: Reception of a Classical Myth in International Children's Literature." Our Mythical Childhood... The Classics and Literature for Children and Young Adults. BRILL, 2016, pp. 291-306.

Solodow, Joseph B. The world of Ovid's Metamorphoses. UNC Press Books, 2014. pp. 112-135.