PLOT
EXPOSITION/INTRODUCTION:
There were nine goddesses called Muses. Born out of Zeus and a Titaness
named Mnemosyne, each muse presided over a different art or science.
Calliope, one of these sisters, was the inspiration of poets and musicians.
She was the mother of Orpheus (a mortal his father was and 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, entranced by his soothing notes. Even rocks and
trees followed him, and the rivers changed their direction to hear him play.
CONFLICT:
Orpheus loved a young woman named Eurydice, and when they were married,
they looked forward to many yend happiness together. But soon after,
Eurydice stepped on a poisonous snake and died. Orpheus roamed the earth,
singing sad melodies to try to overcome his grief. But It was no use. He
longed for Eurydice so deeply that he decided to follow her to the
underworld. He said to himself, "No mortal has ever been there before, but
I must try to bring back my beloved Eurydice. I will charm Persephone and
Hades with my music and win Eurydice's release."
CLIMAX
He climbed into a cave and through a dark passage that led to the
underworld. When he reached the river Styx, he plucked his lyre again, and
Cerberus, the fierce three headed dog who guarded the gates, heard the
sweet music and lay still to let him pass. Orpheus continued to play his lyre
tenderly as he made his way through the gloomy underworld. The ghosts
cried when they heard his sad music. Sisyphus, who had been condemned to
roll a rock uphill forever, stopped his fruitless work to listen. 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 one moment. At last Orpheus came to the palace of Hades and
Persephone, King and Queen of the underworld. Before they could order him
to leave, he began his gente song. pleading for Eurydice.
FALLING ACTION:
When stern 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. "Oh, please, my husband," she said to Hades, "let Eurydice
be reunited with Orpheus." And Hades replied, "I, too, feel the sadness of
Orpheus. I cannot refuse him." They summoned Eurydice, and the two lovers
clasped each other and turned to leave. "Wait!" said Hades to Orpheus.
"Eurydice is yours to take back to earth on one condition." "What is that?"
asked Orpheus again." "She must follow you, and you must not look back at
her until you are on earth "I understand," said Orpheus, "and I am forever
grateful."
RESOLUTION/ENDING
Orpheus and Eurydice left the underworld and made their way through the
dark passage that led to the upper world. At last they reached the cave
through which Orpheus had descended. "I can see daylight ahead" called
Orpheus to Eurydice. "We are almost there." But Eurydice had not heard
him, and so she did not answer. Orpheus turned to make sure that she was
still following him. He caught one last glimpse of her arms stretched out to
him. And then she disappeared, swallowed by darkness. "Farewell," he heard
her cry as she was carried back to the underworld. Orpheus tried to follow
her, but this time the gods would not allow it. And so he wandered the earth
alone. He sang his sad songs to the trees and longed for the time when he,
too, would die and be reunited with his beloved Eurydice in the underworld.
