THE MYTH OF ORPHEUS AND EURYDICE IN WESTERN LITERATURE by MARK OWEN LEE, C.S.B. B.A., University of Toronto, 1953 M.A., University of Toronto, 1957 A THESIS SUBMITTED IN PARTIAL FULFILMENT OF THE REQUIREMENTS FOR THE DEGREE OF DOCTOR OP PHILOSOPHY in the Department of- Classics We accept this thesis as conforming to the required standard THE UNIVERSITY OF BRITISH COLUMBIA September, i960 In presenting this thesis in partial fulfilment of the requirements for an advanced degree at the University of British Columbia, I agree that the Library shall make it freely available for reference and study. I further agree that permission for extensive copying of this thesis for scholarly purposes may be granted by the Head of my Department or by his representatives. It is understood that copying or publication of this thesis for financial gain shall not be allowed without my written permission. Department of The University of British Columbia Vancouver 8, Canada. ©he Pttttrerstt^ of ^riitsl} (Eolimtbta FACULTY OF GRADUATE STUDIES PROGRAMME OF THE FINAL ORAL EXAMINATION FOR THE DEGREE OF DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY of MARK OWEN LEE, C.S.B. B.A. University of Toronto, 1953 M.A. University of Toronto, 1957 S.T.B. University of Toronto, 1957 WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 21, 1960 AT 3:00 P.M. IN ROOM 256, BUCHANAN BUILDING COMMITTEE IN CHARGE DEAN G. M. SHRUM, Chairman M. F. MCGREGOR G. B. RIDDEHOUGH W. L. GRANT P. C. F. GUTHRIE C. W. J. ELIOT B. SAVERY G. W. MARQUIS A. E. BIRNEY External Examiner: T. G. ROSENMEYER University of Washington THE MYTH OF ORPHEUS AND EURYDICE IN WESTERN Myth sometimes evolves art-forms in which to express itself: LITERATURE Politian's Orfeo, a secular subject, which used music to tell its story, is seen to be the forerunner of the opera (Chapter IV); later, the ABSTRACT myth of Orpheus and Eurydice evolved the opera, in the works of the Florentine Camerata and Monteverdi, and served as the pattern This dissertion traces the course of the myth of Orpheus and for its reform, in Gluck (Chapter V). Eurydice in classical and later Western literature. Three particulars about myth serve to unify the discussion: myth evolves in literature; While the myth has meant something different to every age, its meaning changes through the ages; some myths evolve art- there is a uniformity in its tradition: poets have always availed forms in which to express themselves. themselves of one or more of its three themes—the victory of death over life, the civilizing power of music, the problem of Myth evolves in literature: Chapter I examines the twenty-one human emotion and its control. references to or treatments of the myth of Orpheus and Eurydice in Greek and Roman authors, and attempts to show that the tradi• tional story of Orpheus' backward glance and the second loss of Eurydice is a Hellenistic development of a story originally connected BIOGRAPHICAL NOTES with Orphic mysteries. The fully developed myth is seen to com• bine elements of myth, legend and folklore. Greek History .. M. F. McGregor The meaning of myth changes through the ages: in the classical period (Chapter II), the separate themes in the myth of Orpheus and Classical Archaeology C. W. J. Eliot Eurydice, themes of death, music and love (stemming from the Herodotus and Thucydides . M. F. McGregor mythical, legendary and folk elements, respectively), are stated in Greek Lyric Poetry the Culex; but Orpheus for this age is primarily a great civilizing G. B. Riddehough influence, and this is the context in which Virgil places him in the Tacitus . P. C. F. Guthrie Georgics. In the Middle Ages (Chapter III), the myth is allegorized Aesthetics B. Savery in Boethius and romanticized in the Middle English poem Sir Orfeo. In the Renaissance (Chapter IV), Orpheus is once more a symbol of the civilizing force, and the descent to Hades, though often alluded to, is less important than other myths in the Orpheus- PUBLICATION cycle. The Orpheus bequeathed to literature by the opera (Chapter Cincinnati, 1958 V) is more human and fallible, and in the Romantic age (Chapter The New Saint Basil Hymnal, (associate editor) VI) this figure is gradually fused with the mystical Orphic poet, so that the contemporary Orpheus of Rilke and Cocteau (Chapter VII) is again a symbol, but of man in his role of artist, seeking to communicate with another world. ABSTRACT This dissertation traces the course of the myth of Orpheus and Eurydice in classical and later Western lit• erature. Three particulars about myth serve to unify the discussion: myth evolves in literature; its meaning changes through the ages; some myths evolve art-forms in which to express themselves. Myth evolves in literature: Chapter I examines the twenty-one references to or treatments of the myth of Orpheus and Eurydice in Greek and Roman authors, and attempts to show that the traditional story of Orpheus' backward glance and the second loss of Eurydice is a Hellenistic development of a story originally connected with Orphic mysteries. The fully developed myth is seen to combine elements of myth, legend and folklore. The meaning of myth changes through the ages: in the classical period (Chapter II), the separate themes in the myth of Orpheus and Eurydice, themes of death, music and love (stemming from the mythical, legendary and folk elements, respectively), are stated in the Culex; but Orpheus for this age is primarily a great civilizing influence, and this is the context in which Virgil places him in the Georgics. In the Middle Ages (Chapter III), the myth is allegorized in o 1 Boethius and romanticized in the Middle English poem Sir Orfeo. In the Renaissance (Chapter IV), Orpheus is once more a symbol of the civilizing force, and the descent to Hades, though often alluded to, is less important than other myths in the Orpheus-cycle. The Orpheus bequeathed to literature by the opera (Chapter V) is more human and fall• ible, and in the Romantic age (Chapter VI) this figure is gradually fused with the mystical Orphic poet, so that the contemporary Orpheus of Rilke and Cocteau (Chapter VII) is again a symbol, but of man in his role of artist, seeking to communicate with another world. Myth sometimes evolves art-forms in which to express itself; Politian's Orfeo, a secular subject which used music to tell its story, is seen to be the forerunner of the opera (Chapter IV); later, the myth of Orpheus and Eurydice evolved the opera, in the works of the Florentine Camerata and Monteverdi, and served as the pattern for its reform, in Gluck (Chapter V). While the myth has meant something different to every age, there is a uniformity in its tradition: poets have always availed themselves of one or more of its three themes - the victory of death over life, the civilizing power of music, the problem of human emotion and its control. iii ORPHEUS IN THE NUCLEAR AGE Why the fascination of stage, screen, radio and television with the Orpheus legend? Is it a symptom of nuclear-age psychology? This has always been among the best known of the Greek myths, but since the war its attraction seems to have become obsessive. It keeps cropping up in settings as diverse as playwright Anouilh's French railway junction and movie director Marcel Camus' carnival in Rio. Orpheus, whose lute charms even the trees, is incon• solable at the death of his Euridice; he goes down into Hades and, with his music, softens the flinty hearts of the infernal powers; they allow her to return to earth, but on the condition that she shall walk behind him and he shall not look back; he cannot resist the yearning to see the beloved face again; he turns - only to see her recede among the shades .. A poignantly simple little story of love and death - or something more? Is it perhaps that it grates on the nerve-ends of man in the nuclear shadow? He,, like Orpheus, is dealing with a vast, dark and malevolent power and trying to control it. He, like Orpheus, is a lonely individual groping his way through a world iv suddenly become unfamiliar and insecure. He, like Orpheus, knows that the decision of that world can be irrevocable. He dare not look back. - Editorial, The Vancouver Sun December 8, 1959. V FOREWORD At the end of his exhaustive article on Orpheus in Pauly-Wissowa1s Real-Encyclopadie, Konrat Ziegler promised: Uber Orpheus in der Literatur, bildenen Kunst und Musik des Mittelalters, der Renaissance und der Neuzeit werde ich in der Antike handeln. In 1950 the study finally appeared, but as a brief entry in the generally inaccessible Festschrift Otto Schmitt. Other than this,, there appears to be no attempt to collect and assess the literary treatments of the myth of Orpheus and Eurydice in the West. The need for such a study was voiced by Walther Rehm: Es fehlt der Forschung bislang noch die Dar- stellung, die das Orpheus-Symbol durch die spatantiken, christlichen Jahrhunderte durchverf olgt. Sie musste die-bald einsetzende Allegorese des Symbols ausein- anderlegen... die Unwandlung des Orpheus In der mittel- alterlichen Dichtung beleuchten und dann vor alien von der eigentumlichen Neugeburt sprechen, die die Gestalt des Orpheus nicht zufallig gerade im Reich des Gesangs und der Tone,- in der dramatisch- musikalischen Form der Oper gefunden hat. The myth, in one form or another. Is more alive today than ever before. I began to write this thesis in Vancouver at the close of its 1959 summer festival, the central event of which was Gluck's opera Orfeo ed Euridice; at the same time, the rival Canadian festival in Stratford, Ontario, was pre• senting Offenbach's Orpheus in the Underworld.