In book X of the Metamorphoses, Ovid recounts the Greek myth of Orpheus and Eurydice. It is the well-known story of a Thracian poet, Orpheus, who travels to the underworld to seek the return of his new bride, Eurydice, who had been bitten by a snake and died on their wedding day. Carried away in tears by Orpheus' song in favor of his return, the king and queen of the underworld agree to free Eurydice. However, her reprieve depends on the condition that Orpheus does not look at her until they are completely out of the underworld. Orpheus does not meet this condition and, turning around, Eurydice falls “in the same place from which she came”. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on “Why Violent Video Games Should Not Be Banned”? Get an original essay In his version, Ovid does not offer much description of Eurydice's character. She is only what Orpheus aspires to be; she is his inaccessible desire. In fact, her second chance at life is seen as "the gift that was given" to Orpheus, not as a gift to herself. Ovid apparently expects the reader to ignore all of Eurydice's possible wishes and desires for herself and instead focus on how her loss affects Orpheus alone. The reader of Ovid's version is given a rare insight into Eurydice's thoughts as she dies a second time. At this point, Ovide states that she “did not press any complaint against her husband. What to complain about, except that she had been loved.” This insight into Eurydice's thoughts is not intended to provide much revelation about her character, but rather to justify Orpheus' descent into the underworld. Her thoughts serve to both verify Orpheus's strong love for her and eliminate any potential guilt on his part for causing her second death. His strong love for her brought him to the underworld in the first place; as Ovid seems to claim, we cannot judge him guilty for this. And how can he be held responsible, when the victim himself does not even feel like a victim? Eurydic's thoughts allow Ovid's audience to infer that she had accepted her death and was therefore not angry that a chance to live again had been lost. However, this deduction only raises the following question: if she had truly accepted her death, what feelings did she have at the idea of ​​Orpheus bringing her back to life? Was she opposed? Or perhaps her death was so complete that she was already forever numb to the events around her and, had her husband not turned, she would have existed in a "zombie" state even in his second life. The reader might infer that Ovid's failure, or perhaps refusal, to develop the character of Eurydice to the same extent as that of Orpheus indicates that he believes that the female perspective is unimportant . The reader might also infer that this hypothetical belief of Ovid reflects the time in which Ovid was writing. Greek culture was most likely dominated by men; women's thoughts and feelings were not essential. Although this conclusion is easy to draw, it is more likely that Ovid omits Eurydice's voice, not because she is a woman, but because she is simply a symbol of loss. The central theme of Ovid's tale is the obsession with what is impossible to obtain. or lost. Eurydice is only that of Orpheus; it is not necessary to expose his own thoughts for Ovid to demonstrate that the Maenads' eventual murder of Orpheus is directly caused by his excessive obsession. (Orpheus's great love for his wife led him to continually lament her loss. He never slept with another woman, which angered the female Maenads, who greatly desiredsleep with him. The offense infuriated them to the point that they then tore his body from limb and threw his head on the island of Lesbos, where he continued to sing.) While Orpheus' quest to find his wife was justified, his inability to overcome his loss, after this failed quest, the dangers of excessive obsession were therefore not excused. In her poems "Orpheus (1)", "Eurydice" and "Orpheus (2)", Margaret Atwood tells a version of this myth that includes the perceptions of Eurydice. . In her translation, Atwood comments on the conditions of life and death and the notion of love in each of these areas. She gives Eurydice a voice to achieve this. She does not directly lend a voice to Orpheus, but uses the voices of Eurydice and Hermes (who in this version retrieves Eurydice for Orpheus and accompanies him on his journey out of the underworld) to convey Orpheus' thoughts. In Atwood's version, Eurydice does not choose to return to life, but does so out of loyalty to her husband. She said to Orpheus: “I was obedient, but numb, like a sleeping arm; going back to time was not my choice. » She continues: “before your eyes you held fixed the image of what you wanted me to become: to live again. It was this hope that made me follow.” The words “what you wanted” insinuate that this was not what Eurydice wanted; she didn't want to live again. The reader is again confronted with Eurydice's state of contentment in the face of death when Hermes speaks to her. Her confirmation of her desire to remain dead suggests that this is not only due to her numbness, but also to her desire to avoid the negative aspects of life: "You would have preferred to continue to feel nothing, the emptiness and the silence ; the stagnant peace of the deepest sea, which is easier than the noise and flesh of the surface." In Atwood's version, the world of the living is presented in negative terms. Eurydice describes this world as "the green light that had grown fangs and killed me." During the journey back to this world, his body begins to return to physical form. This physical state is not described as pleasant: "I already had. dirt on my hands and I was thirsty". By announcing to Eurydice that Orpheus has come to take her back, Hermes suggests that his previous life was unpleasant. He tells her that Orpheus offers him "a promise: that things will be. different up there than they were last time.” However, it is not just the idea of ​​living that prevents Eurydice from wanting to return. not true: Eurydice speaks of his love for her as constraining: “You had your old leash with you, you could call it love. » Orpheus's love is not true because he does not really love her, but rather the person he wishes her to be. Orpheus cannot conceive that Eurydice is more than his physical body. He identifies his personality with his past physical self and without the presence of this body he does not know it; How could he truly love someone he doesn't even know? Hermes provides an even clearer description of the conditions of Orpheus's love. "He says he sings to you because he loves you, not as you are now [...] He wants you to be what he calls real [...] His love is not something what he can do if you are not there."Hermes clearly emphasizes that Orpheus's love depends on the physical. Remember that even Eurydice said to Orpheus, “you maintained the image of what you wanted me to become.” Not only is Orpheus incapable of loving her without being able to look at her, but he also needs her to look exactly as she did when she was alive. Only in her previous body can she represent the person Orpheus believes himself to be. Atwood uses Eurydice's death experience..