Orpheus

, a son of Œager by the muse Calliope. Some suppose him to be the son of Apollo, to render his birth more illustrious. He received a lyre from Apollo, or, according to some, from Mercury, upon which he played with such a masterly hand, that even the most rapid rivers ceased to flow, the savage beasts of the forest forgot their wildne , and the mountains moved to listen to his song. All nature seemed charmed and animated, and the nymphs were his constant companions. Eurydice was the only one who made a deep impre ion on the melodious musician, and their nuptials were celebrated. Their happine , however, was short; Aristae us became enamoured of Eurydice, and, as she fled from her pursuer, a serpent, that was lurking in the gra , bit her foot, and she died of the poisonous wound. Her lo was severely felt by Orpheus, and he resolved to recover her, or perish in the attempt. With his lyre in his hand, he entered the infernal regions, and gained an easy admi ion to the palace of Pluto. The king of hell was charmed with the melody of his strains; and, according to the beautiful expre ions of the poets, the wheel of Ixion stopped, the stone of Sisyphus stood still, Tantalus forgot his perpetual thirst, and even the Furies relented. Pluto and Proser pine were moved with his sorrow, and consented to restore him Eurydice, provided he forbore looking behind till he had come to the extremest borders of hell. The conditions were gladly accepted, and Orpheus was already in sight of the upper regions of the air, when he forgot his promises, and turned back to look at his long-lost Eurydice. He saw her, but she instantly vanished from his eyes. He attempted to follow her, but he was refused admi ion; and the only comfort he could find, was to soothe his grief at the sound of his musical instrument, in grottoes, or on the mountains. He totally separated himself from the society of mankind; and the Thracian women, whom he had offended by his coldne to their amorous pa ion, or, according to others, by his unnatural gratifications and impure indulgencies, attacked him while they celebrated the orgies of Bacchus, and after they had torn his body to pieces, they threw his head into the Hebrus, which still articulated the words “Eurydice! Eurydice” as it was carried down the stream into the Ægean sea. Orpheus was one of the Argonauts, of which celebrated expedition he wrote a poetical account, still extant. This is doubted by Aristotle, who says, according to Cicero, that there never existed an Orpheus, but that the poems which pa under his name are the compositions of a Pythagorean philosopher named Cecrops. According to some of the moderns, the Argonautic a , and the other poems attributed to Orpheus, are the production of the pen of Onomacritus, a poet who lived in the age of Pis i stratus tyrant of Athens. Pausanias, however, and Diodorus Siculus, speak of Orpheus as a great poet and musician, who rendered himself equally celebrated by his knowledge of the art of war, by the extent of his understanding, and by the laws which he enacted. Some maintain that he was killed by a thunderbolt. He was buried at Pieria in Macedonia, according to Apollo dor us. The inhabitants of Dion boasted that his tomb was in their city, and the people of mount Libethrus, in Thrace, claimed the same honour, and further observed, that the nightingales, which built their nests near his tomb, sang with greater melody than all other birds. Orpheus, as some report, after death received divine honours, the muses gave an honourable burial to his remains, and his lyre became one of the constellations in the heavens. The best edition of Orpheus is that of Gesner, 8vo, Lipscomb, 1764. Diodorus , bk. 1 , . — Pausanias , bk. 1 , . — Apollo dor us , bk. 1 , ch. 9 , . — Cicero , de Natura Deorum , bk. 1 , ch. 38 .— A poll on i us , bk. 1 .— Virgil , Æneid , bk. 6 , li. 645 ; Georgics , bk. 4 , li. 457 , . — Hyginus , fable 14, . — Ovid , Metamorphoses , bk. 10 , fable 1, . ; bk. 11 , fable 1.— Plato , Republic , bk. 10 .— Horace , bk. 1 , odes 13 & 35.— Orpheus.