Contrasting the Black Orpheus Film and the Greek Myth of Orpheus

The skeleton character in the film Black Orpheus is Death, who personifies the immortal concept of death which eventually claims Eurydice before her time and kills her. This character is very important to this movie, which offered a modern day update of the myth (a legend or story used to explain things such as nature or aspects of gods) of Orpheus when this film was initially created in 1959 (No author, 1958), because he serves as the antagonist. An antagonist is an adversary. It is due to the pursuit and the machinations of the skeleton character that Eurydice even travels to Brazil. And, it is due to the skeleton character's relentless pursuit that Eurydice is eventually destroyed by Orpheus, although she compromises her safety by hanging from a power line in order to escape from Death.

Uncertainties from the past on an individual can create an impact that lasts longer than what seems to be reasonable and can resurface in life by a more powerful experience which triggers the memory. In the story A Few Notes for Orpheus, Gus feels disturbed by his own father’s inability to show that he cares, despite having a daughter himself. He further expresses his views when his daughter Cathy met him for the first time, where he showed obvious jealousy towards his father’s attitude towards his daughter. The events that happen in the story later reveals his cold attitude towards his daughter due to the lack of love he received from his father. This could be seen as ironic because he overlooks some of the key evidence which leads to his

In the process him trying to escape the doctors, Orpheus finds a scarf stuck in the elevator that he believes belongs to Eurydice. Upon finding this, he races up stairs in an attempt to meet her when the elevator doors open. Once he reaches the point where the elevator stops, he is very disappointed at what he sees. To his dismay, the woman he has been chasing up numerous of stairs is not Eurydice. At this point of the scene, I believe that Orpheus is traveling through the second river of the underworld, Acheron, which is the river of woe. Orpheus is in such despair when he realizes that the woman on the elevator is not Eurydice. His body language as he walks from the hospital is full of wretchedness. Benedito reaches out and holds his lifeless hand in support.

Sarah Ruhl’s play, Eurydice, is a devastating story battling love, grief, life, and death. Although it is set during the 1950’s, the play manages to encompass the ancient Greek myth of Eurydice and Orpheus. The three most evident themes of this play are recurring death, fleeting happiness, and the power of love. The main conflict in this play is ultimately about the painful choice that comes with death; this is often caused by the King of the Underworld. One of the most impressive parts of this play is the ability to change the way the play is perceived through design.

The intro of Mythology and You states, “we can choose to face the challenges in our daily lives with determination, courage, and thoughtfulness.” Orpheus experienced a crisis that cut into his life and could have faced it with determination, courage, and thoughtfulness, but instead, he starts to doubt that the woman Hades gave him was his lover and turned around and looks at Eurydice. Hades

Denise Levertov is the poet who wrote “The Blue Rim Memory” and “A Tree Telling of Orpheus,” in which she portrays a theme of morals and religious beliefs though post modernism, anachronism, and liberalism. Levertov was born in llford, United Kingdom and later moved to Massachusetts where she taught in universities such Brandeis University, MIT and Tufts University. Levertov wrote “The Blue Rim Memory” and “In the Land of Shinar” which brought her the fame and enabled her to begin her pilgrimage journey towards the deep spiritual, personal, and political understanding .

For instance, while Orpheus is beginning to doubt himself on the journey, he feels “unable to weep”, yet still cries for the “loss of human hope” (75,76). This shows how the author uses contradictory statements to show conflicting ideas. These ideas represent Orpheus’ internal battle in his mind. This also expresses how Milosz carefully used Orpheus’s growing paranoia and doubt to create an atmosphere of delusion and growing tension. Additionally, after Orpheus looks behind himself and loses Eurydice, he begins to hear everything “[cry] to him: Eurydice” (87). This demonstrates how the loss of Orpheus’ love affects him so deeply that his reality starts to slowly fall apart. This also shows how Milosz creates this world of resonating silence that is suddenly overrun with sound now that Eurydice in gone. This dreamlike scenario in Orpheus’ mind supports the idea of his psychosis. Eventually, Orpheus’ internal conflicts and persistent uncertainty lead to his loss of grasp on what is

Black Orpheus like its original is a tale of love two people who meant for eachother, but in the end death takes one away from the other. A marble Greek bas relief explodes to reveal black men dancing the samba to drums in a favela. Eurydice arrives in Rio de Janeiro, and takes a trolley driven by Orfeu . He is engaged to Mira, but Orfeu is

When Orpheus is being done inside the novel, an actor plays his part: “And as though the singer had been waiting for this cue…he chose this moment to stagger grotesquely to the footlights, his arms and legs splayed out under his antique robe, and fall down in the middle of the property sheepfold” (201). In this case, the actor playing Orpheus can be seen as the actual Orpheus in the myth because he goes to do what he loves, acting, even though it is risky for him because it is assumed that he is sick with the plague. Although the actor does die from the plague, he still went to dangerous lengths to achieve his passion, like Orpheus actually does in the myth when he goes to retrieve Eurydice. In addition, the reader can now see that Orpheus and Eurydice represent all of the couples throughout the novel, and is able to see examples earlier in the novel of characters going against extreme conditions, and the possibility of death because of circumstances against their will, to be with their love. An example of this is when the town is first closed off, because citizens are not allowed to leave, only come in, and only one person does decide to enter: “At the height of the epidemic we saw only one case in which natural emotions overcame the fear of death in a particularly painful form…The two were old Dr. Castel and his wife...But this

Often depicted as swift and youthful, Hermes was believed to be responsible for guiding departed souls to the underworld. The name 'Hermes' literally means 'boundary marker.' In fact, in ancient Athens, many boundary markers (usually just stone piles) were decorated by a bust of Hermes.

The story of Orpheus and Eurydice can entertain many readers. In this case, it can also teach a valuable lesson about controlling your temptations. When Orpheus, a skilled musician, went down to the underworld to save his wife, Eurydice, he made

The tale of Oedipus and his prophecy has intrigued not only the citizens of Greece in the ancient times, but also people all over the world for several generations. Most notable about the play was its peculiar structure, causing the audience to think analytically about the outcomes of Oedipus’ actions and how it compares with Aristotle’s beliefs. Another way that the people have examined the drama is by looking at the paradoxes (such as the confrontation of Tiresias and Oedipus), symbols (such as the Sphinx), and morals that has affected their perceptions by the end of the play. Nonetheless, the most important aspect is how relevant the story is and how it has influenced modern ideas like that of Freud and other people of today.

The myth of Eurydice is a sad story in which two lovers are separated by death. After his love dies, Orpheus journeys into the underworld to retrieve her, but instead loses her for good. Playwright Sarah Ruhl takes the myth of Eurydice and attempts to transform this sad tale into a more light-hearted story. However, despite humorous lines and actions throughout the play, the melancholy situation of the actual tale overwhelms any comicality present. Although meant to be funny, Sarah Ruhl's “Eurydice” can be seen as a modernized tragedy about two lovers who are separated forever by a twist of fate.

I thoroughly enjoyed your reflection on the perspectives of death between two different but similar cultures of the Romans and Greeks. Orpheus's skill of music playing a fansating dynamic within his own story. The journey to the underworld is easy, yet it's the act of coming back up that makes someone a hero. I consider Orpheus a hero because he did not use brute strength or weapon training to work his way through the Underworld, he used his mystical musical skills. Also the motif of not being to look back when walking away is a common and intersting one. You can assume once they are given that stimpulation, there is going to a not so favorable ending! Nice reflection. I enjoyed reading

This passage "fits" the novel because it helps add to the plot line. For instance, Orpheus was devoted after his wife's passing. Therefore, he was determined to go to the Underground world or also called the world of death, and try to convince the ruler of Hades (ruler of the dead) to bring his wife, Eurydice, back to life. With Orpheus is a mortal amongst the great gods who inherit musical talent, he sang his heart out to the Gods of the dead and stole the hearts of their evil souls. They eventually became hypnotized by his angel like voice and granted his wishes. Unfortunately, his wife banished through his eyes after the Gods strictly told him not to look back at his wife until they were above the ground of the Death world. The novels read,"Then he turned to her her. It was too soon... She had slipped back into the darkness. All he heard was one faint word,"farewell," (142). After this happened, Orpheus tried to go back to the second world, but they refused to let him entrance again because he was a mortal who've already passed through their world. The importance of this passage in the novel's message is that when you love someone so much, never let them go because one day they could vanish from your life