Orpheus

American  

[awr-fee-uhs, -fyoos] / ˈɔr fi əs, -fyus /

noun

1. Greek Legend. a poet and musician, a son of Calliope, who followed his dead wife, Eurydice, to the underworld. By charming Hades, he obtained permission to lead her away, provided he did not look back at her until they returned to earth. But at the last moment he looked, and she was lost to him forever.

2. (italics) a ballet (1947) with music by Stravinsky and choreography by Balanchine.

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Orpheus British  

/ ˈɔːfɪəs, -fjuːs /

noun

1. Greek myth a poet and lyre-player credited with the authorship of the poems forming the basis of Orphism. He married Eurydice and sought her in Hades after her death. He failed to win her back and was killed by a band of bacchantes

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Other Word Forms

• Orphean adjective

Example Sentences

She is currently starring in the West End production of hit musical Hadestown, which tells a version of ancient Greek myth Orpheus, and is due to end her run as goddess Persephone in January.

From BBC

I’m not just talking about Orpheus retrieving Eurydice, Dante’s “Inferno” and Virgil’s “Aeneid.”

From Los Angeles Times

In what turns out to be a striking reminder of Wilson, Kosky employs acclaimed German actress Angela Winkler in the spoken role of Orpheus, who functions as a narrator for the opera.

From Los Angeles Times

There’s dread in the hoodoo mysticism that blues voices like Sammie’s have — voices with the power, like Orpheus, to unite the living and the dead.

From Los Angeles Times

Other highlights include opera incorporating circus performers for a fusion of music and acrobatics in Orpheus And Eurydice, and Breaking Bach - where hip-hop meets 18th-century period instruments.

From BBC