The Power of Myth

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The Power of Myth

"Why is Eurydice such a bitch?" was the comment asked of me during a lesson on the poem "Eurydice" by H.D. "Doesn't she realize that Orpheus loves her and is only trying to rescue her? Why is she so harsh to him?" It was during a unit on mythology that the students were reading H.D's poetryówe had recently completed the small "Orpheus and Eurydice" blurb in Edith Hamilton's Mythology when I came across H.D's effort and decided to introduce it to my students. We had previously explored the roles of women in several contextsóhistorically and religiously. Now we encountered the first female speaker who activated the Greek myth with her strong, powerful language.

Initially, I wanted the students to engage in a comparison of Hamilton's and H.D's female figures. The myth of Orpheus and Eurydice is one I have instructed in the past, and is relatively brief. Orpheus had a gift of music with which he used to enrapture his young bride, Eurydice. Upon their wedding day, Eurydice suffered a deadly bite from a serpent and subsequently died, thus leaving Orpheus in despair. He descended into the Underworld in order to "rescue" his wife and return her to the upper world. He seduced Hades (the god of the Underworld) and Hades' wife Persephone with the music and was therefore allowed to bring Eurydice back from the deadóon one condition, that Orpheus never turns around to see if she is following. Orpheus, holding his wife's hand, braves the unfriendly terrain of the Underworld to escape with Eurydice and at the entrance, he makes the mistake of turning back. Eurydice's mythical character was only allotted one word ("Farewell") in Hamilton's text. Conversely, poet H.D's lengthy work allowed Eurydice to voice her frust...

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...ction of Classic Texts." Special Issue: Feminist Philosophy of Religion. Hypatia. 9/22/94. Retrieved from Electronic Library April 16 2001. http://www.elibrary.com

Additional Resources

Bolen, Jean Shinoda. Goddesses in Everywoman: A New Psychology of Women. Designed by Gloria Steinem. Harper Collins Publishers, 1985.

Estes, Clarissa Pinkola. Women Who Run with the Wolves: Myths and Stories of the Wild Woman Archetype. New York: Ballantine Books, 1996.

Knapp, Bettina. Women in Myth. New York: State University of New York Press, 1997.

Larrington, Carolyne. Ed. The Feminist Companion to Mythology. New York: Pandora/ Harper Collins. 1992. Now reprinted as The Woman's Companion to Mythology. (1997).

Woolger, Jennifer Barker with Roger. J. Woogler. The Goddess within: A Guide to the Eternal Myths That Shape Women's Lives. Fawcett Book Group, 1989.

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