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.
Art Essay
This piece of art reflects the moment immediately following the death of Orpheus as he is surrounded by all of the sinning Thracian women. One of the first things I noticed in this piece was the lyre in his hand in the bottom of the picture. While it appears to still be in his hand, I believe that it is meant to be depicted as on the ground and out of his possession. I believe this is an important detail due to the symbolization between Orpheus and his lyre in the story and his legacy. It is depicting the fact that it protected him throughout the attacks of the women until it could no longer, and as a result it fell out of his hand and left him defenseless. One possible difference between the original story and the art is the leopard like figure on the left edge of the image. It appears to be preying upon Orpheus and to be on the side of the attacking women. I find this to be inaccurate with the original story, for nature is shown to be on the side of Orpheus and saddened by his death. An interesting fact that I did not picture from just the reading is the depiction of the women themselves. Based off of just the reading and their brutal description of killing Orpheus, I would have pictured them in a less graceful state. However, that is apparently not the case according to this artwork, for almost all the women appear to be in a graceful manner. This is more than likely just a common theme among the artist’s work, and not actually an accurate depiction of the nature of the women. When it comes to the use of color the only thing that stands out for me is the one woman shown in the front right. She is unlike all the other women who are wearing white or no clothing at all. This difference in color of clothing might be what differentiates her as the leader of the pack who has some form of control over the others. In conclusion, this work does a good job of capturing the tragic moment of Orpheus’ death with some interesting adaptations by the artist.
Rhetorical Analysis
One thing that can always play a role with the impact of any given Ovid story is the meter of the poem, and this impact is no different in this story. Orpheus’ death is described in a classic three part story beginning with the context and building of tension, climax, and ending with poetic description or analysis of the event. The beginning context in the story is mostly matched up with slower meter, for there is really no excitement going on. The beginning describes Orpheus and his impact on his surroundings as well as the Thracian women’s appearance. What I find to be intriguing about the meter of the poem is what comes between the climax and the final stage of the story. The climax is the part of the story where we see Orpheus’ death actually occur. While we knew it was going to happen, based on the title giving away the plot of the story, it still does occur in a dramatic and artistic fashion. As expected, we see an increase in the tempo of the meter at this moment due to all of the action taking place. Unlike some of Ovid’s other work, his death is immediately followed by a feeling of sadness. The birds, serpents, and the rest of the wild animals are showing sorrow for his death, and this is reflected perfectly in the meter. His death brings on the mourning by the nature around him and brings out a much slower paced meter for a short period of time; similar to the mourning period some people observe when a loved one is lost in real life. Because the transition from the climax of the story to the mourning period occurs so fast, the meter also changes from rapid to slow in the matter of one line. I find this aspect of the story to be interesting because it is unlike most of the other work I have read from Ovid. The climax and sorrowful parts of the story do not usually come and go so quickly, so there is normally a gradual build up of change for meter, unlike what we see in this poem.