FLOWER WISH ( JD GF )

Ch. 19 ~ LOVE

Story from the book will always not have a happy endings but despite what their ending is. LOVE is always the main character.

~Orpheus and Eurydice~

The story of Orpheus and Eurydice is the ultimate tragic love story and one of the most famous Greek myths that inspired many painters, such as Peter Paul Rubens and Nicolas Poussin.

Orpheus, talented at playing music while Eurydice, a beautiful and shy wood nymph.

Orpheus had a divinely gifted voice that could charm everyone who heard it. When he was presented first the lyre as a boy, he had it mastered in no time at all. The myth says that no god or mortal could resist his music and even the rocks and trees would move themselves to be near him.

Orpheus and Eurydice got a Love at first sight when they attented gathering of humans and beasts. Orpheus has his eyes fell on a wood nymph. The girl was called Eurydice, She had been drawn to Orpheus enamored by his voice and such was the spell of beauty in music and appearance that neither could cast their eyes off each other. Something inexplicable tugged the hearts of the two young people and soon they felt dearly in love, unable to spend a single moment apart. After a while, they decided to get married.

They have a wonderful wedding banquet. However, things would soon change and grief would ensue happiness. There was one man who was despising Orpheus and desired Eurydice for his own.

He planned to kill Orpheus and took Eurydice from him. After a long Chase to kill Orpheus and to snatch the woman he desires. Eurydice had stepped on a nest of snakes and had been bitten by a deadly viper. Knowing that there was no chance of survival, Aristaeus had abandoned his try, cursing his luck and Orpheus.

After the death of his beloved wife, Orpheus was no more the same carefree person he used to be. His life without Eurydice seemed endless and could do nothing more than grief for her.

So he had a crazy Idea. He decided to go to Underworld and try to get his wife back. Apollo, his father, would talk to Hades, the god of the Underworld, to accept him and hear his plea.

Not even the most stone-hearted of people or Gods could have neglected the hurt in his voice.

The voice of Orpheus was so moving that Hades promised to this desperate man that Eurydice would follow him to the Upper World, the world of the living. However, he warned Orpheus that for no reason must he look back while his wife was still in the dark, for that would undo everything he hoped for. He should wait for Eurydice to get into the light before he looked at her.

With great faith in his heart and joy in his song, Orpheus began his journey out of the underworld, joyful that he would once again be reunited with his love.

Orpheus was reaching the exit of the Underworld, he could hear the footfalls of his wife approaching him. He wanted to turn around and hug her immediately but managed to control his feelings. As his was approaching the exit, his heart was beating faster and faster. The moment he stepped on the world of the living, he turned his head to hug his wife. Unfortunately, he got only a glimpse of Eurydice before she was once again drawn back into the underworld.

When Orpheus turned his head, Eurydice was still in the dark, she hadn't seen the sun and as Hades had warned Orpheus, his sweet wife was drowned back to the dark world of the dead. Waves of anguish and despair swept over him and shuddering with grief he approached the Underworld again but this time, he was denied entry, the gates were standing shut and god Hermes, sent by Zeus, wouldn't let him in.

From then on, the heart-broken musician was wandering disoriented, day after day, night after night, in total despair. He could find no consolation in anything. His misfortune tormented him, forcing him to abstain from contact with any other woman and slowly but surely he found himself shunning their company completely. His songs were no more joyful but extremely sad. His only comfort was to lay on a huge rock and feel the caress of the breeze, his only vision were the open skies.