Homework Question on The Story of Orpheus and Eurydice
- Write a well-developed and well-supported 350-word essay on the roles of love and/or desire in Ovid’s version of the “The Story of Orpheus and Eurydice.”
- Explain how love and/or desire are defined and expressed in the myth.
- You may want to use portions of Plato’s Symposium to define your terms.
- As you develop your argument, consider why Orpheus disobeys his orders and glances back to Eurydice.
- Be sure to support your argument with evidence from the text in the form of direct quotations and paraphrase.
Homework Answer on The Story of Orpheus and Eurydice
Love and desire are two important aspects that are depicted in the above story. A close relationship exists between desire and love. In one of the works of Plato known as Symposium, the relationship between love and desire is clearly stated. Plato notes that love is manifested in two different ways. One of the form being a desire which is unhealthy and a different form being a healthy desire. These two forms are exhibited in this story. Eurydice gets bitten by the snake immediately after getting married to Orpheus.
The two seem to be deeply in love. After Eurydice dies, Orpheus goes to Hades to rescue Eurydice. The desire in Eurydice is quite strong that even Cerberus, the three-headed dog manning the gate allows Orpheus entry into the underworld. Orpheus desire drives the following statement.
How Cerberus at my approach retir’d.
My wife alone I seek; for her lov’d sake
These terrors I support, this journey take.
She, luckless wandring, or by fate mis-led.
It is the healthy form of love that drives Orpheus to search for Eurydice in the underworld.