This is the story of The Death of Orpheus from Book 11 of Ovid's Metamorphoses. To start off I suggest reading my context essay to familiarize yourself with the story, and then continuing on to my actual translation. I will include my context essay below, as well as in the Essays section.
Context Essay
The Death of Orpheus comes right after the story of Atalanta and right before The Transformation of the Maenads. The story is also preceded by Orpheus and Eurydice; which comes in book 10. Atalanta is a virgin huntress, unwilling to marry, and loved by the hero Meleager. She then visits an oracle to ask who she should marry, and she is told to avoid marriage at all costs. However, she does not obey the oracle’s foretellings, for she ended up marrying Hippomenes, son of the Arcadian Amphidamas. The story of Maenadas, coming after Orpheus’, tells us of the punishment given to the women responsible for his demise. Lyaeus, the god, strapped down the Thracian women who had sinned as he mourned the loss of Orpheus. After strapping them down, he turned the women into oak to gain revenge. Another important predecessor to my story is that of Orpheus and Eurydice in book 10. It gives more background on his life before death where he married and fell in love with Eurydice. She later died from a snake bite, and he travelled down to Hades to retrieve her. He was able to win over Pluto with the power of his lyre, but he was instructed to not turn to look at her as the exited the underworld, which he failed to follow and the two were never reunited. These stories work together to set up my project on The Death of Orpheus; which goes into detail about the the Thracian women tearing him apart due to their jealousy. The women are in disbelief that he has not expressed any interest in them, so they begin to attack him with spears and stones. At first, Orpheus is able to fend off their attacks with the power of his music, but he eventually is unable to keep up his destruction and is killed. One of the most impactful parts of the story is the mourning of him we see from wildlife around him, which illustrates his deep connection with nature.
The Death of Orpheus comes right after the story of Atalanta and right before The Transformation of the Maenads. The story is also preceded by Orpheus and Eurydice; which comes in book 10. Atalanta is a virgin huntress, unwilling to marry, and loved by the hero Meleager. She then visits an oracle to ask who she should marry, and she is told to avoid marriage at all costs. However, she does not obey the oracle’s foretellings, for she ended up marrying Hippomenes, son of the Arcadian Amphidamas. The story of Maenadas, coming after Orpheus’, tells us of the punishment given to the women responsible for his demise. Lyaeus, the god, strapped down the Thracian women who had sinned as he mourned the loss of Orpheus. After strapping them down, he turned the women into oak to gain revenge. Another important predecessor to my story is that of Orpheus and Eurydice in book 10. It gives more background on his life before death where he married and fell in love with Eurydice. She later died from a snake bite, and he travelled down to Hades to retrieve her. He was able to win over Pluto with the power of his lyre, but he was instructed to not turn to look at her as the exited the underworld, which he failed to follow and the two were never reunited. These stories work together to set up my project on The Death of Orpheus; which goes into detail about the the Thracian women tearing him apart due to their jealousy. The women are in disbelief that he has not expressed any interest in them, so they begin to attack him with spears and stones. At first, Orpheus is able to fend off their attacks with the power of his music, but he eventually is unable to keep up his destruction and is killed. One of the most impactful parts of the story is the mourning of him we see from wildlife around him, which illustrates his deep connection with nature.