Legend Of Orpheus Comparison - 787 Words

Throughout Opera’s long history, the myth of Orpheus has been one of the genre’s most recognized stories. Many operas have been based on the Greek legend of Orpheus. The legend of Orpheus tells a story of the demigod musician whose songs conquer Hades itself with their beauty. The use of music in the Greek legend serves the same purpose, as music does in operas, to show the power of music, and how it can change emotions, and how intertwined music and love is. This tale of love, a love so strong it can overcome death, shows how true passion can bring music to life. The Operas show that music is able to soften any heart and overcome any obstacle. Out of all the Operas composed based on the Orpheus legend, there are two that stand out the†¦show more content†¦When Benedetto Handel advised Gluck that his works had not pleased the public he traveled to Paris where he was very much influenced by the operas of Jean Philippe Rameau. From 1755 to 1761 he was in Vienna, where he began reforming opera along the more dramatic lines suggested in â€Å"Marcello’s Teatro alla moda.† Gluck composed his piece Orfeo ed Euridice in 1762. In the legend, Orpheus is considered the greatest musician to have ever lived. He was the son of the God Apollo, the god of the son, music, truth and prophecy. According to the story, Orpheus’ wife Euridice was unfortunately bitten by a snake and killed while trying to escape from Aristaeus, a Shepard, who was overcome by her beauty and was pursuing her through the woods. When Orpheus learned of Euridice’s death he was grief stricken and sang, he sang a tune so beautiful it deeply touched everything, living and not living, in all the world and the heavens above. He descended into Hades, and when he played his song, even managed to melt Hades cold heart. He was told that he told take Euridice, but only on one condition, he could not look upon her until they were out of the underworld. As foreshadowed, Orpheus could not resist looking back before they had fully escaped the underworld, and he lost her forever along with meeting his own death soon after. Both operas replace the tragedy of the original myth with something more suiting and cheerful. In L’Orfeo, the opera ends with Orpheus beingShow MoreRelated The Symposium: A Philosophers Guide To Love Essay2101 Words   |  9 Pagesones love for their mate is the value of their life. Comparisons between the fates of Achilles and Orpheus are brought up to emphasize his point. As we learn from the legend of Achilles, a man was rewarded for the value he put on his friends life. Achilles sacrificed his own life in an attempt to obtain revenge for his friend. For this act Achilles was rewarded and seen as a hero. Yet on the opposite side of the spectrum we learn of Orpheus who was punished for his selfishness in that he wouldRead MorePostmodernism in Literature5514 Words   |  23 PagesPostmodernist fiction writers. He is occasionally listed as a Postmodernist though he started writing in the 1920s. The influence of his experiments with metafiction and magical realism was not fully realized until the postmodern period.[2] Comparisons with modernist literature Both modern and postmodern literature represent a break from 19th century realism, in which a story was told from an objective or omniscient point of view. In character development, both modern and postmodern literatureRead MoreAlexander the Great Essay13163 Words   |  53 Pagesand Philip II and according to some legends and oracles Alexander has divine origins: Zeus and Olympias. Alexander was born at Pella in Macedonia in late July of 356 BC, on the same day on which the famous Temple of Artemis at Ephesus was destroyed by fire. His father, Philip II of Macedon, was a brilliant ruler and strategist. His mother was Olympias, princess of Epirus, daughter of King Neoptolemus. Olympias was initiated into the cults of Dionysus and Orpheus. She was often jealous, vindictive