So, while I am waiting on the release date of Gods of IMAGO (August 15, 2023), I’m currently processing, throwing stuff in the stew temporarily called IMAGO III. And, man, the myth of Orpheus going down to the underworld to rescue his dead beloved Eurydice – this myth has a tremendous hold on me.
It goes like this: There once was a man so gifted in music and song that the natural world would stop and listen to him sing/play. He fell in love with the beautiful Eurydice. On the day of their marriage she is bit by vipers on the heel and dies. Orpheus is so broken, that he goes to the underworld to get her back. He sings before the god of the dead (Hades) and so moves him with his song that he makes a deal with Orpheus – “You may bring her back to the world of the living, on one condition: she will follow behind you, and you cannot look back until you both reach the light of the living.” They flee, and just before Orpheus is in the daylight, he doubts the bargain and looks behind him – Eurydice disappears forever.
So powerful is this ancient greek myth that every conceivable art form has been adapted to capture the tragic beauty. From Neil Gaiman’s graphic novel The Sandman Vol. 6 to Jacque Offenbach’s French Opera “Orpheus in the Underworld.” The latest adaptation is a brilliant musical Hadestown. This is a must listen. A broadway musical that won the Tony in 2018. COVID hit, everything shut down, but not this powerful interpretation of myth. When the world opened back up, “”Hadestown” opened to a national tour.
There is something so powerful and thought provoking – in the myth of Orpheus – that every generation and every human (past and present) must retell it. It’s the terror and finality of death, the hope of resurrection, the power of love.
Oh, and IMAGO III… well, I think this writer has already added Orpheus and Eurydice to the stew.
As always, let me know your thoughts. Any myths that move you? Why do you think myths do that to us?
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Thanks for reading
Greg Belliveau 