Orpheus
A son of Oeger and the Muse Calliope.
Some suppose him to be the son of Apollo.
He received a lyre from Apollo, or, according to some, from Mercury, on which he played in such a masterly manner that the melodious sounds caused rivers to cease to flow, and savage beasts to forget their wildness. He married Eurydice, who died from the bite of a serpent. Orpheus felt her death acutely, and to recover her he visited the infernal regions. Pluto, the king of the infernal regions, was enraptured with the strains of music from the lyre of Orpheus; and, according to the poets, the wheel of Ixion stopped, the stone of Sisyphus stood still, Tantalus forgot his burning thirst, and even the Furies relented, so fascinating were the sounds extracted from the lyre. Pluto was moved by the sorrow of Orpheus, and consented to restore Eurydice to him, provided he forbore to look behind him till he had reached the extremity of his domain. Orpheus agreed to this, but forgot his promise, and turned round to look at Eurydice, who instantly vanished from his sight. After this he separated himself from the society of mankind, and the Thracian women, whom he had offended by his coldness, attacked him while they celebrated the orgies of Bacchus, and after they had torn his body to pieces they threw his head into the Hebrus. Mr. Wiffen, in a translation from the Spanish of Garcilaso de la Vega, thus beautifully alludes to the strains of Orpheus : "Had I the sweet resounding lyre, Whose voice could in a moment chain The howling wind's ungovern'd ire And movement of the raging main, On savage hill the leopard rein, The lion's fiery soul entrance, And lead along, with golden tones, The fascinated trees and stones, In voluntary dance."