story of orpheus

Orpheus was from Thrace (northeastern Greece), and famous as the most skilled musician of all time, but the primary story involving him is a tragic one, concerning his trip the Underworld. 

On the very day of his wedding to his beloved Eurydice, she was accosted by one of the guests, and while fleeing, she was bitten by a poisonous snake, the scene of the first image here, by Renaissance artist Jacopo dell Sellaio. Orpheus was determined to bring his wife back, and embarked on a journey to the Underworld to make his appeal to Hades. This is seen here by three different artists: first by Jan Bruegel (the younger, the same artist who did the Aeneas in the Underworld above), then a Baroque version by Francois Perrier, with Orpheus' instrument looking like a modern violin, rather than his traditional lyre, and the third by Jules Machard from 1865

The next two paintings show Orpheus, now having to live with his failure, having removed himself to the forests of his homeland Thrace, to play his music for the animals. The first version is from the Baroque period by Roelandt Savery; the other, by Briton Riviere from 1874, has been called 'Apollo playing the lute', but it most closely corresponds to the theme of Orpheus entertaining the beasts; it is unclear whether the title was given to it by the artist himself or someone else who made the assumption.

(ME:  I'M STUCK IN UNDERLINE FONT!

Anyway....  This next part here directly resonates with the story of the death of St Blaise.  Both were betrayed by his own government, (although here these people are followers of Dionysus), both decapitated.

The final chapter of the story of Orpheus is also tragic; after losing Eurydice (twice), Orpheus vowed he would never have anything to do with women again (some said he became the first homosexual). But this vow against women offended the Maenads, the followers of Dionysus, who went into a frenzy and attacked Orpheus. After he was killed, they shredded his body to bits and cast them into the sea, but his head floated to an island where it was found still able to speak and sing; it was set up in a shrine where it continued to function as an oracle, until the day Apollo arrived and commanded it to be silent.