Sunlight and Storms

The Tragedy of Orpheus and Eurydice

First there was Orpheus,
the son of Apollo with his lyre and his voice,
a voice that entranced all.
Then there was Eurydice,
a woman filled with such beauty and grace that she danced with Nymphs,
and attracted the musician until the two fell in love.

At one of these dances, she suffered the bite of a snake,
it was then that Thanatos took her away to meet Charon beyond that world.
Orpheus allowed his grief to lead him to Hades,
from there he played his lyre for Hades and Persephone.

The rulers of the underworld granted Orpheus his one wish,
to take Eurydice back to the land of the living.
There was one condition,
she would have to follow Orpheus from behind and he could not look back to check if she was following.

Orpheus was elated and began to leave the underworld.
But then the doubt set in.
He could not hear her footsteps,
so how was he to know that she was following,
that the gods had not tricked him.

Orpheus had been so close when the doubt was too much and he turned back.
His heart shattered as he saw Eurydice's shade fade back into the underworld.

Orpheus tried to return twice,
but one cannot return to the realm of Hades more than once while still alive.
So he sang a song of mourning,
becoming cursed to sing that for the rest of eternity,
while the Muses casted his lyre into the sky,
where it became a constellation.