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Orpheus played with his lyre a song so heartbreaking that even Hades himself was moved to compassion. The god told Orpheus that he could take Eurydice back with him, but under one condition: she would have to follow behind him while walking out from the caves of the underworld, and he could not turn to look at her as they walked.
In ancient Greek religion, The Gaze of Orpheus is derived from the antiquarian Greek myth of Orpheus and Eurydice.In the story of Orpheus, the poet descends to the underworld to retrieve his wife, Eurydice from premature death, only on Hades’ and Persephone's condition that he does not look at her during the process.
The katabasis of Orpheus in book 10 is the last major inclusion of the theme by Ovid in the Metamorphoses. Orpheus is distraught by the death of his wife, Eurydice . He enters the Underworld through the Spartan Gates and visits Dis and Proserpina to beg for the return of his bride.
More directly, the story of Orpheus is similar to the ancient Greek tales of Persephone captured by Hades and similar stories of Adonis captive in the underworld. However, the developed form of the Orpheus myth was entwined with the Orphic mystery cults and, later in Rome, with the development of Mithraism and the cult of Sol Invictus .
He is best known for his book The Arts of Orpheus (1941), in which he analysed a large number of sources for Orphism and Orphic literature. His work is noted for its thoroughly sceptical approach to the evidence, attempting to the repudiate the notions of a coherent Orphism put forward by earlier scholars. [ 2 ]
Where Orpheus nearly manages to retrieve Eurydice from Hades, the Hell or underworld of classical mythology, Lúthien rescues Beren three times – from Sauron's fortress-prison of Tol-in-Gaurhoth, involving singing; from Morgoth's Angband, with the Silmaril; and by getting Mandos to restore both of them to life.
This episode tells how Hades came to this position, why he was so feared, and what the Greeks thought awaited them after death. It also contains the myths of Persephone , Sisyphus , and Orpheus . In the Christian New Testament, which was written in Greek, Jesus defeats "Hades" (per the original Greek text).
Distraught, Orpheus travels to the Underworld to negotiate with Hades and the gods to free Eurydice. After Orpheus sings a depressing song, Hades, the god of the Underworld, agrees to let Eurydice return with Orpheus as long as Eurydice follows Orpheus from behind, and he does not look back at her. If he does, she must stay in the Underworld.