the.com/eurydice
the woman who died twice because her husband couldn't resist one glance backward.
means in greek myth, orpheus's wife, killed by a snakebite, whom he almost rescued from the underworld by music alone.
from from greek eurydike, wide justice, first sung by classical poets and later fixed by virgil and ovid, where orpheus charms hades with his lyre and wins her return on one condition: walk out without looking back. he looks back. she vanishes for good.
name meaningeurydike literally translates to wide justice
death causesnakebite while fleeing an unwanted suitor
earliest versionssome ancient sources skip the backward glance entirely
rilke's takehis poem casts her as relieved, not devastated
for instance
virgil's georgics — gives the first full backward-glance tragedy, 29 bce
gluck's orfeo ed euridice — 1762 opera that made the myth a stage staple
sarah ruhl's eurydice — 2003 play retelling it from her point of view entirely
hadestown — tony winning 2019 musical, anais mitchell's folk retelling