Orpheus - Epic Hero or Drama Queen?
The myths, tales, and concepts of ancient Greece echo and reach into every aspect of modern life. Often misunderstood, frequently romanticised, and sometimes deliberately twisted - to understand their origins and truth is to get a real glimpse into the universal themes that connect us to the past and each other.
Welcome to Podyssey with Alex Andreou. Each week we will take one myth, one concept, person, place, or theme from Ancient Greece, take it apart, figure out its inner workings, trace its influence, juice it for its wisdom, reimagine, update and put it back together - all shiny and new!
…
Orpheus and his lyre. Orpheus and Euridice. Orpheus and the Argonauts. Orpheus in the Underworld. Orpheus and his lament. Orpheus and his pain. Orpheus, Orpheus, Orpheus. The quintessential suffering artist. The shining example of love’s triumph over even death.
Or maybe just a performative, entitled, 'singer-songwriter' nepo-baby .
Written and presented by Alex Andreou
Expert contributions by Alexandra Angeletaki-Røe, Debbie Challis, Linda Marric, and Dr Ruth Smith
Exec. Producers Naomi Smith & Kenny Campbell
Music by Marianna Sangita
Artwork by Simona Kanellou
For Cooler Heads, in collaboration with Sandstone Global
NOTES
MUSIC
Roy Henderson - Orpheus with his lute - PRIVATE COLLECTION
Reinhold Glière - Harp Concerto In B Flat Major, Op. 4, Larghetto - on YOUTUBE
Salli Terri & Laurindo Almeida - Black is the color - on SPOTIFY
Oluf Dimitri Røe - Sabouna of Mykonos - on SPOTIFY
Elena Polonska - Ciaccona - on YOUTUBE
Monteverdi - L’Orfeo “Tu sei morta” Enrico de Franceschi (Orfeo) - PRIVATE COLLECTION
Glück - Orfeo e Euridice “Ché faró senza Euridice” Nan Merriman (Orfeo) - Telephone Hour TV ARCHIVE
Pedro Infante - Soy Infeliz - on SPOTIFY
Marianna Sangita & Oluf Dimitri Røe - Lafina (The Doe) - on SPOTIFY
Korngold - Die Tote Stadt “Glück das mir verblieb” Ilona Steingruber & Anton Dermota - on YOUTUBE
Billie Holiday - “I’ll be seeing you” - on SPOTIFY
FILM
Coco (2017) https://www.imdb.com/title/tt2380307/
Orphée (1950) https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0041719/
Orfeu Negru (1959) https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0053146/
Inception (2010) https://www.imdb.com/title/tt1375666/
The English Patient (1996) https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0116209/
Bill & Ted’s Bogus Journey (1991) https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0101452/
Chinatown (1974) https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0071315/
Apocalypse Now (1979) https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0078788/
Contact (1997) https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0118884/
What Dreams May Come (1998) https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0120889/
Pet Sematary (2019) https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0837563/
Weekend at Bernie’s (1989) https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0098627/
Death becomes her (1992) https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0104070/
Vertigo (1958) https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0052357/
Portrait of a Lady on Fire (2019) https://www.imdb.com/title/tt8613070/
Fitzcarraldo (1982) https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0083946/
ARTWORK
Orpheus embracing his lyre by Unknown
Red figure vase depicting the head of Orpheus by Unknown here and here.
More about red-figure pottery
Examples of Orpheus charming the animals here, here, here, here, here, and here.
An example of Orphic Christ
“Nymphs finding the head of Orpheus” by Waterhouse
“Thracian Girl carrying the Head of Orpheus on his Lyre” by Moreau
“Euridice dying” by Lebœf
“Orpheus leading Euridice from the Underworld” by Cortot
Vergil’s version of the Orpheus myth
More about the Derveni Papyrus
Reiner Maria Rilke’s “Sonnets to Orpheus”
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