A Night With… Orpheus: Art, Nature, and the Fight for Eternity

Join us for the new session of our discussion series “A Night With…”, where we dive into timeless myths and their universal messages.
Following our last session, where we explored the duality of Apollinian & Dionysiac, this the time to delve into the journey of Orhpeus.

What to expect:

• I will open the meetup with a short introduction to Orpheus’ myth and share (or suggest) a few possible interpretations and connections.
• After that, the floor is yours! Bring your thoughts, reflections, and any links you see between this myth and other domains, e.g. literature, art, philosophy, psychology, history or even your own creative work.
• If you’re an artist and your work resonates with the divine twins' story, feel free to share it with the group.

Before the event:
Take 5 minutes to read the quick snippet of Orpheus’ myth (provided below👇🏽) and think of:

• A book, artwork, or personal reflection that relates to her story.
• Any modern parallels or insights you’d like to discuss.

This is a space for open dialogue, creativity, and shared exploration.

### 🫧The story of Orpheus in Brief

🎼Orpheus is the legendary poet–musician of Greek myth, famous for playing the lyre so beautifully that animals, trees, and even stones were said to be moved by his song.

He marries Eurydice, a nymph (or mortal woman in some versions), and their happiness is brief: Eurydice dies suddenly, most commonly after being bitten by a snake while fleeing danger or wandering in the fields.
Stricken with grief, Orpheus refuses to accept her death.
He descends alive into the Underworld to bring her back. There, his music softens the hearts of the rulers of the dead, Hades and Persephone.

Moved by his devotion and the power of his art, they agree to release Eurydice, on one condition: Orpheus must lead her upward to the world of the living without looking back at her until they have both reached the surface.
Orpheus begins the ascent, hearing her footsteps behind him but unable to see her. Near the exit, at the threshold between darkness and daylight, doubt and longing overwhelm him. He turns to look. In that instant Eurydice is lost again, fading back into the Underworld, unreachable. Orpheus tries to follow, but the passage is closed to the living; he is forced to return alone.

After this second loss, Orpheus withdraws from love and society.

In many versions, he is eventually killed violently (most famously torn apart by maenads). Even then, the myth insists that his song persists: his severed head and lyre continue to “sing” as they drift downstream, and the lyre is later placed among the stars as a constellation.

📃📜Principal ancient sources:

• Plato, Symposium
• Apollonius Rhodius, Argonautica
• Virgil, Georgics
• Ovid, Metamorphoses
• Pausanias, Description of Greece
• Hyginus, Astronomica

| |
| --- |
|