![]() The torch he bore spluttered and smoked, causing everyone to cough. His presence at his half-brother’s wedding was natural and a great compliment, but for some reason – jealousy perhaps – Hymen failed to bless the union. Our words ‘hymen’ and ‘hymenal’ also derive from him. A minor deity of song (he gave us the word ‘hymn’) Hymen served as one of the Erotes, (the young men in the love god Eros’s retinue) with a special responsibility for weddings and the marriage bed. ![]() ![]() But a strange and uncomfortable incident clouded the happy event in the minds of many who witnessed it.Īmong the guests was Orpheus’s half-brother Hymen, a son of Apollo and the Muse Urania. Each of the other sisters also delighted the guests with examples of their own particular art. Thalia entertained with comedy sketches Terpsichore led the dances. For now, all we need to know if that the gods rewarded Orpheus for his bravery and loyalty in this adventure with the gift of love, in the shape of the beautiful Eurydice.Īs might be imagined, the wedding was quite an affair. So great was his fame that when Jason gathered a crew for the Argo and his quest for the Golden Fleece, he knew he had to have Orpheus on board. He played for the love of music and his songs celebrated the beauty of the world and the glory of love. His character matched the sweetness of his playing and singing. Instead he spent his days mastering his craft, charming the birds of the air and beasts of the field, causing the branches of the trees to bend down and listen to his lyre and the fishes to jump and bubble with joy at his soft, seductive strains. Unlike Marsyas, who may have been his stepbrother, Orpheus did not boast about his prowess, nor did he make the mistake of challenging his divine father to a competition. Soon the prodigy’s skill at the instrument exceeded even that of his father, the god of music. In any case young Orpheus romped with his mother and eight Muse aunts on Mount Parnassus and it was there that the doting Apollo presented his son with a golden lyre, which he personally taught him to play. But Apollo was believed to be Orpheus’s father too, and Orpheus was quite a favourite of the god. Calliope, Beautiful Voice, the Muse of Epic Poetry, was Orpheus’s mother by a mortal, the Thracian king Oeagrus. Here we come to a theme that repeats in many variations in this Age of Heroes. It is agreed who his mother was but there is less certainty about his father. Hermes invented the lyre, Apollo improved upon it, but Orpheus perfected it. Rivers themselves diverted their courses to hear him. It was said that his pure voice and matchless playing could charm the beasts of the field, the fishes of the sea, the birds of the air and even the insensate rocks and waters. During his lifetime his fame spread around the Mediterranean and beyond. Orpheus was the Cole Porter, the Shakespeare, the Lennon and McCartney, the Adele, Prince, Luciano Pavarotti, Lady Gaga and Kendrick Lamar of the ancient world, the acknowledged sweet-singing master of words and music. ![]() Orpheus was the Mozart of the ancient world. ![]()
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