Send the link below via email or IMCopy
Present to your audienceStart remote presentation
- Invited audience members will follow you as you navigate and present
- People invited to a presentation do not need a Prezi account
- This link expires 10 minutes after you close the presentation
- A maximum of 30 users can follow your presentation
- Learn more about this feature in our knowledge base article
Do you really want to delete this prezi?
Neither you, nor the coeditors you shared it with will be able to recover it again.
Make your likes visible on Facebook?
Connect your Facebook account to Prezi and let your likes appear on your timeline.
You can change this under Settings & Account at any time.
Transcript of Orpheus
The nine muse
Calliope, the inspiration of poets and musicians, was the mother of Orpheus. She gave to her son a remarkable talent for music.
Orpheus played his lyre so sweetly that he charmed all things on Earth. Men and women forgot their cares when gathered around him to listen. Wild beasts lay down as they gathered around him as if they were tame. Even rocks and trees followed him, and the rivers changed their direction to hear him play.
Orpheus and Eurydice
Orpheus loved a young woman named Eurydice, and when they were married, they looked forward to many years of happiness together. But soon after, Eurydice stepped on a poisonous snake and died.
Zeus and Mnemosyne
There were nine goddesses called muse, born out of Zeus and a titan named Mnemosyne. Each muse presided over a different art or science
The nine muses were assigned into specific artistic spheres: Calliope, epic poetry; Kleio, history; Ourania, astronomy; Thaleia, comedy; Melpomene, tragedy; Polyhymnia, religious hymns; Erato, erotic poetry; Euterpe, lyric poetry; and Terpsikhore, choral song and dance.
Orpheus roamed the earth, singing sad melodies to try to overcome his grief. He longed for Eurydice so deeply that he decided to follow her to the underworld and try to bring her back to earth.
Orpheus climbed into a cave and through a dark passage that led to the underworld. When he reached the river Styx, he plucked his lyre and the fierce three headed dog who guarded the gates, Cerberus, heard the sweet music and lay still to let him pass.
Orpheus continued to play his lyre tenderly as he made his way to through the gloomy underworld. Sisyphus, who had been condemned to roll uphill forever, stopped his fruitless work to listen. Tantalus, who had been sentenced to stand in a pool of receding water, stopped trying to quench his thirst. And even the wheel to which Ixion was tied as punishment stopped turning for a moment.
At last, Orpheus came to the palace of Hades and Persephone, the King and Queen of the underworld. Before they could order him to leave, Orpheus began his song, pleading for Eurydice.
When Hades heard Orpheus song, he began to weep. Cold Persephone was so moved that, for the first time in all her months in the underworld, her heart melted.
Hades and Persephone felt the sadness of Orpheus so they summoned Eurydice, and the two lovers clasped each other and turned to leave. "Wait!" Hades said to Orpheus. "Eurydice is yours to take back to the earth on one condition.". Hades made a condition that Eurydice must follow Orpheus, and he must not look back at her until they're back on earth again.
Orpheus and eurydice left the underworld and made their way through the passage that led to the upper world. At last they've reached the cave where Orpheus had descended.
Orpheus could see the daylight and called to Eurydice "We're almost there". But Eurydice had not heard him, so she didn't answer. Orpheus turned to make sure that she's still following him. He caught one last glimpse of her arm and she disappeared, swallowed by darkness.
Orpheus tried to follow her but this time the gods would not allow it. He sang his sad songs to the trees and longed for the time when he too would die and reunited with his beloved Eurydice in the underworld.
THANK YOU FOR LISTENING.
HOPE YOU'VE UNDERSTAND THE STORY OF ORPHEUS.