Orpheus and Eurydice
Orpheus would lose his beloved wife Eurydice to death not once, but twice.
Orpheus was taught music, and given a marvellous lyre, by Apollo himself. He out-sang even the Sirens, and so brought Jason and the crew of the Argo to safety. But the love of his life was Eurydice, and he lost her - twice.
ORPHEUS settled in Thessaly, where he married Eurydice, and taught the people the art of music.
One day, Eurydice was bitten by a venomous snake, and died. Determined never to be parted from her, Orpheus set out for the abode of the dead.
Such sweetness was in Orpheus’s lyre, that Cerberus, the monstrous guard-dog of the Underworld, let him pass. His melodies brought tears even to the eyes of Hades, and at last Persephone, who kept watch over the shades of women, allowed him to lead Eurydice back to the land of the living.
The goddess had made them promise not to look back, until they were free of Hades’s realm, and Orpheus was as good as his word. The instant he reached the sunlit world, he turned to take Eurydice in his arms - but she, lagging behind, was still in the realm of shadows. Even as she reached out to him, she vanished from his sight for ever.