Compare And Contrast Orpheus And Eurydice

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Myths are sacred stories that reflect a certain community’s attitudes and beliefs towards a certain topic. In the context of Greek Mythology, students and historians can gain a deeper insight into Greek traditions and rituals. Through Greek myths incorporating the themes of marriage and death, it is clear that The Greeks hold the belief that love is the most powerful force in the world. Even with the undeniable power of the universality of death, love still prevails. In the myths of Orpheus and Eurydice, Admetus and Alcestis, and Pyramus and Thisbe; the theme of love is shown time and time again to overcome the power of death.

In the myth of Orpheus and Eurydice, Orpheus’ love for his wife was so strong that it gave him the ability to accomplish
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Both lovers come from opposing families that forbid them to meet. The lovers communicate through a crack in a wall between their houses and fall madly in love. One night they decide to meet by the white mulberry tree. Thisbe leaves her home wearing a vail and sees a lion with blood in its mouth. She flees and drops her vail which the lion tears apart. Pyramus leaves his house and sees the bloodied vail. He assumes that Thisbe has been killed. Struck with grief, in traditional culture, he places the handle of the sword into the ground and falls onto the blade, killing himself. Thisbe returns to find the body and uses the sword to kill herself too. In honor of their love and their tragic end, the mulberries on the tree became purple for the rest of eternity. The vail in this myth comes to represent many different things. At first, it represents the secrecy that they forged their love. After the veil is destroyed, it comes to represent a traditional mourning veil for both of the lover's mourn the loss of each other. In traditional greek culture, views were worn for both weddings and funerals. The view serves to cover the face in both events in a way of acknowledging the power of both events. The sword can be seen as a reference to the hierarchical masculinity in greek society. However most of the meaning comes from how it is inserted. …show more content…
In a competition, set forth by King Pelias, potential suitors compete to be the first one to yoke a lion to a chariot in order to win King Pelias' daughter's hand in marriage. With help from Apollo, Admetus is able to complete the task and wins Alcestis hand in marriage. During the wedding ceremony, Admetus forgets to make a sacrifice to Artemis which results in Artemis turning his bed turning into a pile of snakes in an attempt to kill him. After Apollo gets the fates drunk, they agree that anyone can sacrifice themselves in order to save Admetus. Alcestis volunteers to take Admetus' place, but is saved by Heracles for showing amazing hospitality. Hospitality is a high, if no the highest held virtue of The Greeks. In this myth, true love is equated with hospitality. By doing this, the myth depicts the power of love and how it can change almost any circumstance. Although death is this powerful force, it is no match for the power of

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