Why Did Orpheus Look Back? The Myth of Orpheus and Eurydice Explained

Orpheus charmed the gods of the dead with music, then lost Eurydice with one glance. Why he turned, how the ancients judged him, and how it ends.

In the best-known version of the myth, Orpheus looked back out of eagerness. Hades and Persephone let him lead his dead wife Eurydice out of the underworld on one condition, that he walk ahead and not look back until both of them had reached the upper world; the moment he himself stepped into daylight he turned to see her, forgetting that she had not yet crossed, and she vanished for the second time, forever. Ancient writers did not all tell it the same way, and some judged him harshly. Here is the story and the different ways it has been read.

Who was Orpheus?

Orpheus was a legendary bard, musician and prophet from Thrace, the region north of Greece. His music could charm all living things and even stones. The poet Pindar called him "the father of songs" and made him the son of the Thracian king Oeagrus and the Muse Calliope. It was said that Hermes invented the lyre but Orpheus perfected it. The poet Simonides wrote that his songs could charm birds, fish and wild animals, make trees and rocks dance, and even change the course of rivers.

Interestingly, Homer and Hesiod never mention him. The earliest known reference is a two-word fragment by the sixth-century BC poet Ibycus: "Orpheus famous-of-name". Most ancient writers believed he had been a real person who lived generations before Homer, though Aristotle, according to Cicero, did not believe he existed at all.

Orpheus and the Sirens

Before the famous love story, Orpheus sailed with Jason and the Argonauts in search of the Golden Fleece. The centaur Chiron had told Jason that without Orpheus they would never get past the Sirens, whose beautiful singing lured sailors onto the rocks. When the ship came near, Orpheus took his lyre and played music that was louder and more beautiful than theirs, drowning out the deadly song. Music, in his story, is a kind of power that can defeat other powers.

How did Eurydice die?

Versions differ. In one, Eurydice was walking in tall grass at her wedding when a satyr attacked her; trying to escape, she fell into a nest of vipers and was bitten on the heel. In the Roman poet Virgil's version, she was fleeing a man named Aristaeus when the snake bit her, while Ovid says she was dancing with water nymphs on her wedding day. Either way, Orpheus found her body and played songs so sad that all the nymphs and gods wept. On their advice he went down to the underworld to bring her back.

The journey into the underworld

Orpheus was one of the very few Greek heroes who went to the underworld and returned. His music had power even over Hades. His songs softened the hearts of Hades and his queen Persephone, and they agreed to let Eurydice follow him back to the world of the living, with the one famous condition.

So why did he look back?

The usual answer is love and impatience. He had come so far, and at the last step he could not bear not knowing whether she was really behind him. In the version above, his mistake is almost technical: he turned as soon as he reached the light himself, forgetting that the rule applied until both of them were out. That small slip is what makes the story so painful. Nothing defeats him except his own longing.

Ancient writers did not all see him as a romantic hero, however. In Plato's Symposium, the speaker Phaedrus says the gods only showed Orpheus a phantom of Eurydice, because he was a coward: instead of dying to be with the woman he loved, he tried to enter the underworld alive. As further punishment, Plato says, he was later killed by women. The tragic, look-back ending we know best took shape in the time of Virgil.

Scholars also think Eurydice herself may be a late addition. Euripides and Plato mention Orpheus's journey to recover his wife without giving her name, one poet called her Agriope, and her name first appears in literature in a poem from the first century BC.

How did Orpheus die?

The story does not end happily. According to the myth, Orpheus died at the hands of the maenads, the wild female followers of the god Dionysus, who grew tired of his endless mourning for Eurydice. Other ancient accounts tell it differently; the geographer Strabo, for example, describes him as a mortal musician who was attacked by people who suspected him of plotting.

Why does the myth still matter?

For the Greeks, Orpheus was also the founder of the "Orphic" mysteries, a religious movement, and many poems were credited to him, including the surviving Orphic Hymns. As the model of the inspired singer, he has appeared in countless poems, operas, films and paintings. The story also gives us a simple idea that people still recognize: you can lose what you love by checking too soon. "Don't look back" has become a phrase about trust, grief and letting go.

Learn with Orpheus: English phrases

Phrase	Meaning	Example
don't look back	don't worry about the past	Once you decide, don't look back.
to go to hell and back	to go through a terrible experience	He went to hell and back for her.
music to my ears	very welcome news	Her voice was music to his ears.
at the last minute	just before it is too late	He turned at the last minute.
to lose someone for good	to lose someone forever	He lost Eurydice for good.

Try this: Write three sentences about a time you were impatient, using "at the last minute" and "don't look back".