Orp h eu s an d Eu ryd ice A nd Oth er S mall Poems (an excerpt)
Orp h eu s an d E u ryd ice & Oth er S mall Poems P u b lis h ed by Illyria B ooks at S cribd illy riabooks @ gmai l.com tex t co p y r ig ht © 2010 S imon E H alliday D y av o ls k i B r idge, copyright © 2008 Evgeni D in ev , an d us ed under C reative C ommons A ttribution 2.0 Or p h eu s an d Eurydice, copyright © 2006 Linda S u tto n , an d u s ed by kind permis s ion of the ar tis t, at w ww .lindas utton.co m A ll o th er imag es are reproductions of original wo r k s an d are believed to be in the public d o main in the C anada, U nited S tates of A mer ica, and the U nited K ingdom
I llu s tration s C o v er : O r p h eus and Eurydice, relief, A rno B r eker , 1 9 4 4 I n tr o d u ctio n : Thracian G irl C arrying the H ead o f O r p h eu s o n H is Lyre, oil on canvas , G u s tav e M o r eau, 1865 I n tr o d u ctio n : The D eath of O rpheus , pen and in k d r aw in g , A lbrecht Dürer, 1494 I n tr o d u ctio n : Eurydice mourante (Eurydice d y in g ) , mar b le, C harles -F rançois Lebœ uf, ( als o k n ow n as N anteuil), 1822 C h ap ter 1 : D y alovs ki B ridge, photograph, Ev g en i D in ev , 2007 C h ap ter 2 : O r p heus and Eurydice, oil on can v as , Eu g en e Delacroix, 1862 C h ap ter 3 : O r p heus and Eurydice, w atercolor an d g o ld - leaf o n paper, Linda S utton, 2006
I n trodu ction To f in d a s o u l- mate. To love. J oy des troyed by r an d o m v io len ce. To come w ithin, literal ly, a s in g le s tep o f r edemption. To los e all.
Th is s to r y is o ld, and it is not a happy one in an y en d in g . O r pheus , alone in later years , s in g s o n in s ad nes s . H is voice is undiminis hed, its cap acity to inflame raw emotion unchanged an d h e d ies , a r apine victim of nymphs , his b o d y to r n as u n der in their lus t. H is head is cas t in to a r iv er. I t is th e b eau ty and pathos of the preamble to h is death co n cerns us here. The tale can be to ld s imp ly . O r p h eu s is th e s on of A pollo, or perhaps O eag r u s a k in g of Thrace, by C alliope, the M u s e o f h er o ic poetry w ho w as know n for the b eau ty o f h er v oice. Eurydice is an oak nymph, a d r y ad o r sp ir it of the tree, and perhaps als o th e d au g h ter o f Apollo. O rpheus carries divine b lo o d in h is v eins , but he is not a god. O r p h eu s f alls in love w ith Eurydice. The n y mp h d ies af ter a viper bites her ankle and d es cen d s immedi ate ly to H ades . O rpheus f o llo w s h er an d through the beauty o f his lamen t p er s u ad es the lady of hell, P ers ephone, to allo w Eu r y d ice to return to the s unlight. P er s ep h o n e s tates a s ingle condition: O rpheus may lead Eu r y d ice from H ades , but if he looks
b ack to h er b ef ore they emerge to the living w o r ld , ev en ju s t once, Eurydice w ill be taken b ack w ith o u t any appeal. O r p h eu s ag r ees , and leads his lover from the p it. S tep p in g to the upper world, Orpheus g lan ces b ack . The lover’s eyes meet. The co v en an t is b r o ken, P ers ephone’s w arning is r ealized , an d Eurydice is draw n back dow n. Th e s to r y h as ins pired artis ts from C las s ical G r eece to p r es ent times . The earlies t know n r ef er en ce is in Onom aklyton O r phēn (‘O rpheus o f F amo u s N ame’) by the G reek poet Ibycus ( c. 6 th C en tu r y B .C .). A lthough Homer makes n o men tio n o r Orpheus , A pollonius of R hodes ( 3 r d C en tu r y B .C .) places him as harpis t to J as o n in Ar g o n autica . O rpheus s aves the A r g o n au ts f r o m the S irens by drow n ing out th eir allu r in g s ongs w ith his lovelier mus ic. N early tw o th o us and years later the A merican p lay w r ig h t Ten es s ee Willia ms references the my th in h is co n temporary play O r pheus D es cen d in g . Th e G r eek s r ev ered O rpheus as chief amongs t p o ets an d mu s icians . The figure is often d ep icted w ith a lyre, the gift of the god H er mes . Th e s tory of the tw o lovers firs t f o u n d its tr ag ic form in V irgil’s G eor gics (c.
2 9 B . C . ) w h er e A ris taeus (read O rpheus ) ch as es Eu r y d ice after s he is bitten by a s erpent w ith th e s u b s eq uent unfolding tragedy. Th e p en alty o f ‘looking back’ is a meme that h as liv ed in many cultures . Lot and his w ife ar e g iv en th is w arning in the s tory of S odom ( G enes is 1 9 : 1 7). The B rothers ’ G rimm Häns el u n d G r etel ( 1 8 12) repeats the caution. This tale may h av e its origins in European folklore f r o m as ear ly as the 13th century. O u ts id e o f C lass ical and J udeo-C hris tian tr ad itio n s , th e O rphic myth finds parallels in th e J ap an es e legend of deity Izanagi and his w if e ( an d s is ter). Izanami dies in childbirth an d en ter s Y o mi, the underw orld. Izanagi d es cen d s to Yo mi to fetch her back. In this r eco u n tin g th e caution has a different co n s eq u en ce: looking back, Izanagi perceives h is w if e as h id eous and deformed and s he, in tu r n , is sh amed and s o tries to kill him. A n o th er (G r eek ) vers ion has a darker s ide and n o t to th e cr ed it of the protagonis t. I n Plato’s S ym p o s iu m , P h aedrus sugges ts that O rpheus f ear ed to jo in h is beloved w ife in death, and imp io u s ly s o u g ht to revers e the natural order b y b r in g in g h er back from H ades . The mo ck in g g o d s punis hed the cow ardly O rpheus :
Eu r yd ice ap p ears only as a s pecter and O r p h eu s d ies v iolently at the hands of women.
J u s t as O r p h eus ’ mus ic delighted the s ens es , h e is as s o ciated w ith phys ical pass ion. B ut u n d er s tan d in g of love and pas s ion are ch an g in g th in g s .
Th e G r eek s d r ew a dis tinction betw een er os an d a g a p e. I n Plato’s Sym pos ium the s tudents o f S o cr ates d is cuss the nature of love and co n clu d e th at p hys ical attract ion is not a r eq u ir emen t o f love – hence can be ‘platonic’. A r is to tle d ev eloped the idea of philia , ‘ v ir tu o u s lo v e’ . Stor ge repres ents another form o f lo v e – th at o f ‘loving accept ance’. Th e G r eek s o f the C las s ical and Archaic p er io d lik ely s aw the heteros exual and h o mo s ex u al d o mains as cons is tently pres ent w ith o u t co n f lict in an individual. M ale men to r s h ip b etw een er as tes and er om enos ( o ld er an d a y o unger man) w as cons idered accep tab le, p er haps even a requis ite of social n o r m. I n mo d er n times this as pect of ancient G r eek s o ciety is often ignored and, at the leas t, its d is in teres ted dis cuss ion is co mp lic ated b y contemporary moral s tandards . I t is co n v en tio nal to pres ent the love of O r p h eu s an d Eurydice as erotic. B ut in ter p r et atio n of Orpheus ’ s exuality has s o metimes b een ambiguous . A lbrecht D ürer’s 1 4 9 4 w o o d cu t of the D eath of Orpheus has an u n o bv io u s b u t telling detail, on a ribbon attach ed to a tr ee. It bears the legend ‘O rfeus d er ers t p us er an’ (O rpheus the firs t s odomite). Th e w o r d p us er an w as probably intended in a
d er o g ato r y ( as oppos ed to factual) s ens e. (The w o r d s till ex is ts in Eas tern Europe as a p ejo r ativ e; th e A merican poet A llen G ins berg w as f amo u s ly des cribed by the C zech co mmu n is t p o lice as a buz er ant when he v is ited P r ag u e in 1965). Dürer’s draw ing is p er h ap s an o r thodox s tatement, “the deviant ( ar tis t) w h o d es erves his inevitabl e fate at the h an d o f v ir tu e” and expres s ed in a s imilarly in f lamm ato r y manner. Th e ir o n y , o f cours e, is that in Ovid’s M eta m o r p h o s es (c. 8 A .D .) O rpheus is s lain by en r ag ed B acch ic revelers precis ely becaus e he w ill n o t s u r r en der to their licentious demands . D ü r er w as lik ely familiar w ith S ocrates . H is g o d f ath er w as a leading printer- publis her and N u r emb u r g h ad extens ive trade contact w ith I taly at a time w hen the influence of clas s ical an tiq u ity o n th e Italian R enais s ance w as p as s in g in tu r n to the Northern (and G erman) R en ais s an ce. D ürer’s woodcut may carry a s u b tle mes s ag e. Eurydice w as a dryad, a n y mp h o f th e o ak. O rpheus is s how n beaten w ith s tav es , an d at the left of the picture is an o ak sap lin g . Th e main tree is pos s ibly oak too. D id D ü r er w is h to convey that, des pite the cr u d e leg en d o n the ribbon, and the young
ch ild f leein g th e s cene, an educated pers on w o u ld ig n o r e the homophobic polemic g u es s in g th at the actuality of the picture was d r aw n f r o m Ph aedrus ’ argument, namely, that O r p h eu s b etr ay ed his beloved by cow ardice an d so r eceiv ed his jus t rew ard from w omen ( Eu r y d ice’ s d r yad kin?). Lik ew is e, an ambiguity appears in a 1944 r elief . M u ch o f A rno B reker’s w ork w as d es tr o y ed b y th e A llies during the late 1940s in th eir d r iv e f or denazific ation of G ermany. B r eker h ims elf w as eventual ly exonerated of activ e ly s u p p o r ting H itler’s regime, although f in ed in 1 9 4 8 as a fellow - traveler. H is O r p h eu s an d Eurydice echoes a N ational S o cialis t th eme whils t perhaps s editious ly d is p u tin g it. O n f ir s t ex amina tion the relief appears a celeb r at io n o f the A ryan ideal. O rpheus is ath let ic, b r o ad - shouldered and long of limb an d Eu r y d ice a s econdary figure of maidenly v ir tu e. S h e lo o ks dow n in modes ty and her h an d is ex ten d ed in s upplication to h er mate. F o r all th is , th e depiction is remarkably elemen tal, s ens uous even. The N azis ’ attempts to co n tr o l n as cent s exuality in the young th r o u g h th e H itler Jugend , D euts ches Jungvolk
an d Bu n d D eu ts cher Mädel are w ell know n. M emb er s h ip w as compuls ory, though often in ef fici en tly enforced, and teenagers w ere s tr ictly seg r eg ated by sex in organization and activ i ty . I n r eactio n to this s tultifying conformity, ‘ p ir ate g an g s ’ appeared in urban areas in the late th ir ti es an d early forties . Eventual ly they w er e cr imin a liz ed by the regime, and a number o f ch ild r en w er e judicially murdered by w ay of ex amp le. F ew ‘crimina l’ acts w ere ever co mmit ted o th er than ass embly w ith the o p p os ite s ex , s moking, lis tening to jazz and s u ch activ i ties as have fas cinated hormoner id d en teen ag er s s ince times immemor ial. In late 1 9 4 4 B r ek er w ould have been w ell aw are o f th is an d p r o bably als o knew that members o f th e Ed elw eis s Pir ates gang had been p u b licly h an g ed by the G es tapo in C ologne ( ab o u t 3 5 miles from B reker’s hometow n, Wu p p er tal) . S o w as th is w as B reker’s s edition: a depiction o f y o u th as v ib rant creatures ? If so, the choice o f th e O r p h ic myth becomes obvious : the celeb r at io n o f s ong, mus ic, and phys icali ty; th e n eg atio n o f a repres s ively s terile culture.
A n d p er h ap s th is is the pow er of the Orphic my th . Th e s to r y is timeles s . It can be p r es en ted in an y era, in any form, put to any u s e … an d w e unders tand.
l.
At D yavols k i B rid ge
Th e s u n lit h ills conceal a vale in Thrace w h ere w an d er ed once a Mus e's child. I n th is v ale an d near a river' s bridge I s lep t th r o u g h dus k to w ake much late, o n ce b ab b lin g sunlit pools now dark, th r eat in f es ted , s hadow gloamed.
Th r ou g h mo ss éd arch mis t poured. C atar act ed h o r ror ‘comes to s hore, o ' er r o ck , o ' er eddy, o' er river flow . B lan k et- clo ak ed and clos e w rapped ' round, I d ared n ’ t lo o k nor bare the brooking thought o f w h at was th ere, or not.
Tw o w r aith s ap proached. M y ey es mis to ok. T'w as one. S tay ! I cr y . H alt there and farther no t! Th o u g h th e ap p arition s tands , I flinch, f ear f lo o d s my thought, my heart, my limbs . S tay I s aid an d s tay he did a w ild s tay in g s tare now fixed on me, s u ch I n ev er s aw s o s eeming los t of hope. S tr ick en ey es . Lyre acros s his ches t. F in g er s s p r ead agains t the s trings . S lack d r ib b lin g mouth, un-voiced. Ey es lo o k in g b ack. For w hat? N o th in g ’ s in th e s w irl. Wh at’ s imag in ed there? A dream? M y an s w er co mes upon a note. I t ech o es ‘ n eath the bridge, b u ild in g b an k to bank and up the s lopes , p u r ely , co n s tan t as he s ings : “h er Or p h eu s I am, her O rpheus I am,” I k n ew th is s to ry too, and w ell.
ll.
T h e D eath of E u ryd ice
A t d aw n h is lip s drew in her breath, her hair, th ick b o d y - s cented s trands , his hands ab o ut h er h ip s , laying s w eating- s till before th e o v er - w ar mth of morn' force them apart, th en b ar ely to u ching backs for cool, u n lin k th eir an kles , pres cient of this day.
B e war n ed ! F ew s tories go this bad. Eu r yd ice , n ear - w ed, mads pretty in the rus h. A s er p en t s p its agains t her heel. S till r ap t s till f rom O rpheus' kis s s he falls an d ’ s b o u r n e to bow ers ' mos s y bed to fail, las t lin g er in g w his pers un-allow ed by death. N ear d aw n w er e tw o entw ined, b ef o r e th e n o o n jus t one. I t h ap p en s q u ick as oft a dying is ; n o time f o r k iss -fluted fare- thee-w ells o r ev en time to s ave or savor f alter in g b eats , or fix the ' membrance o f a lo v er 's b r eath upon the lips . N o . S h e g o es and hars hly quick. N o w Or p h eu s s ees all life unmas ked. S u n lit an d mu r m’ring s treams perhaps , k in d ly n o . S p aw n' s eaten here by frog, s h e b y h er o n , egg by rat, feral cat an d v io len tly to man, whos e s is ter' s fate is lik ely r ap e b es ide a brook. Th is is h ell amongs t the bloom and grow . S p r in g ' s w ar mth is cruel and feeds th e f eas t o f u n r es traint, that s tands w ith o u t th e p laus e that mortal things can b e u n d o n e, redone, or taken back. H e lif ts h is ly r e to make it w eep.
lll. Of Her O f th o u g h ts . Eurydice' s w ere alw ays kind. S h e b r o u g h t co ol w ater to the s enile lis ten ed w ith a s mile his lonely loons an d p os ied s cented flow ers as her gift. To 'P h eo s h e’ d admit her cares an d so h er h an d w as on his heart.
O f s elf . ' P h eo looked at moments w h en h er th o u g hts w ere s omew here els e. Wer e s h e n o t the s ame in- s elf he' d judge in h ow s h e s miled or frow ned or s tooped, b u t sh e was co ns tant in hers elf, h is s u ito r ' s tes t ere- long put by. O f g r ace. Wh en ' P heo s aw the girl o n ce ch as e a s tartled faw n, n u t b r ow n tw o limbs matching four, leap in g , r each ing, hoofs s napping, s lapping s o les u p o n th e grass , s he felled the b eas t to mer ely p u ll a hurting thorn. O f ey es . Eu r y dice' s would change, o n e mo men t h u e of s pume and w inter s ea, n ex t s h een o f s pring-dew ed mos s , th en au tu mn - d ow n flecked gold by light. C lear g azed , o r bed utter w hite thes e eyes ' g r ew b lack w h en 'P heo' s by. O f min g led b r eath. Eurydice drank w ine in mead o w s p ly ing her' s to ' P heo' s kis s . A k is s , a lick o f sour breath and wet ripe lips , each ' s k in d n es s cas t as ide for lus t; in s tin ct o f d es ire, all w ithin that breath, b r eas t, f lan k and sw elling mound.
Th is w as an excerpt from Orp h eu s an d E u ryd ice an d Oth er Small Poems
