Monteverdi l`orfeo: ecco l`atra palude and my painting

pictures from the internet and my painting, acrylics and real gold on canvas, 20 x 24 inches, 2007 music: Claudio Monteverdi l`Orfeo 1)Sinfonia 2)Scorto da te mio Nume (Orfeo) 3) Ecco l`atra palude (Speranza) 4) Dove, ah dove ten vai (Orfeo) 5) O tu ch`innanzi morte (Caronte) 6)Ritornello: Vanne Orfeo felice a pieno(Choro) In the opera Apollo, the father of Orpheus, puts Orpheus and Eurydike to the nightsky at the end . more of my artwork at http://www.wolfgangschweizer.com You can order prints of my paintings at http://wolfgang-schweizer.fineartamerica.com from www.hellenica.de: In Greek legend, Orpheus (Ορφέας) was the chief representative of the arts of song and the lyre, and of great importance in the religious history of Greece. The mythical figure of Orpheus was borrowed by the Greeks from their Thracian neighbours; the Thracian "Orphic Mysteries", rituals of unknown content, were named after him. Overview The name Orpheus does not occur in Homer or Hesiod, but he was known in the time of Ibycus (c. 530 BC), and Pindar (522—-442 BC) speaks of him as the father of songs. From the 6th century BC onwards he was looked upon as one of the chief poets and musicians of antiquity, the inventor or perfecter of the lyre, who by his music and singing was able not only to charm the wild beasts, but even to draw the trees and rocks from their places, and to arrest the rivers in their course. As one of the pioneers of civilization, he was supposed to have taught mankind the arts of medicine, writing and agriculture. As closely connected with religious life, he was an augur and seer; practised magical arts, especially astrology; founded or rendered accessible many important cults, such as those of Apollo and Thracian god Dionysus; instituted mystic rites, both public and private; prescribed initiatory and purificatory ritual. Etymology While several etymologies of the name "Orpheus" have been proposed, the most probable is that it was an actor-noun derived from a hypothetical archaic verb *orphao, "to be deprived, to long for". Cognates would include Greek orphe, "darkness", and English "orphan". "Orpheus" would therefore be semantically close to goao, "to lament, sing wildly, cast a spell", uniting his seemingly disparate roles as disappointed lover, transgressive musician and mystery-priest into a single lexical whole. Genealogy According to the best-known tradition, Orpheus was the son of Oeagrus, king of Thrace, and the muse Calliope. Sometimes, Calliope and Apollo were his parents. Orpheus learned music from Linus, or from Apollo, who was also his lover and who gave him his own lyre (made by Hermes out of a turtle shell) as a gift. Death of Eurydice The most famous story in which he figures is that of his wife Eurydice. Eurydice is sometimes known as Agriope. While fleeing from Aristaeus, she was bitten by a serpent which brought her to her death. Distraught, Orpheus played such sad songs and sang so mournfully that all the nymphs and gods wept and gave him advice. Orpheus went down to the lower world and by his music softened the heart of Hades and Persephone (the only person to ever do so), who agreed to allow Eurydice to return with him to earth. But the condition was attached that he should walk in front of her and not look back until he had reached the upper world. In his anxiety he broke his promise, and Eurydice vanished again from his sight. The story in this form belongs to the time of Virgil, who first introduces the name of Aristaeus. Other ancient writers, however, speak of Orpheus' visit to the underworld; according to Plato, the infernal gods only presented an apparition of Eurydice to him. Ovid says that Eurydice's death was not caused by fleeing from Aristaeus but dancing with Naiads on her wedding day. According to a Late Antique summary of Aeschylus's lost play Bassarids, Orpheus at the end of his life disdained the worship of all gods save the sun, whom he called Apollo. One early morning he ascended Mount Pangaion (where Dionysus had an oracle) to salute his god at dawn, but was torn to death by Thracian Maenads for not honoring his previous patron, Dionysus. It is significant that his death is analogous with the death of Dionysus, to whom therefore he functioned as a priest and avatar. His head and lyre—still singing mournful songs—floated down the swift Hebrus to the Mediterranean shore. There, the winds and waves carried them on to the Lesbian shore, where the inhabitants buried his head and a shrine was built in his honour near Antissa. The lyre was carried to heaven by the Muses, and was placed amongst the stars. The Muses also gathered up the fragments of his body and buried them at Leibethra below Mount Olympus, where the nightingales sang over his grave. His soul returned to the underworld, where he was re-united at last with his beloved Eurydice.