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

And she sings most of the Orpheus music from Gluck’s opera: I wish a complete recording, with equally sensitive artists taking on the roles of Eurydice and Amor, could have been put together.

From The Wall Street Journal • Feb. 2, 2026

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 • Mar. 13, 2025

Like Icarus soaring toward the heavens, like Orpheus sneaking a peek over his shoulder, so too did the Hawk Tuah Girl test the Gods of the Zynternet with her own hubris by launching a cryptocurrency.

From Slate • Dec. 20, 2024

Orpheus is helped along the way by Dionysus, who likes humans and has decided that this is the project he needs to improve his own life.

From Los Angeles Times • Aug. 29, 2024

Orpheus, a professional architect, remodeled their house, designed and built a separate studio for Marian, and dammed up a small brook to make a swimming hole.

From "The Voice That Challenged a Nation: Marian Anderson and the Struggle for Equal Rights" by Russell Freedman