Orpheus

(or'fe-us.) [Gr.] (Myth.) A legendary bard of Greece, said to have been so skilful, that all things, even trees and rocks, were moved by the music of his lyre. IIis wife Eurydice having died, he went down to Hades in quest of her, and by his wondrous music obtained permi ion from Pluto that she should follow him to the upper world again, if he did not once turn to look on her. Just as he reached the regions of day, he turned, and she was borne back to the dead. The Thracian women in the orgies of Bacchus tore him in pieces. [s. 670]