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The Tragedy of Orpheus and Eurydice by Shashank Rao

The Tragedy of Orpheus and Eurydice 2011 shashank_rao@me.com 925-556-1557

Shashank Rao 498 Chaucer Circle San Ramon, CA

! CHARACTERS Orpheus:

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Son of Calliope, who journeys to the Underworld in order to bring back his wife, Eurydice, from the dead. Wife of Orpheus and daughter of Apollo, who dies of snake poison. Greek goddess of love. Influences Orpheus relationship with Eurydice. Greek god of the dead, and husband of Persephone. He bargains with Orpheus for Eurydices soul. (Only six appear) The daughters of Mnemosyne, and Calliope is Orpheus mother. Calliope, Urania, Polyhymnia, Thalia, Clio, and Melpomene. The Greek prophetess, who foretells Orpheus fate. The god of music and prophecy, and father of Eurydice. He hates Orpheus for failing to protect her. Greek goddess of springtime. Persuades Hades to let Eurydice go. One of the Erineyes. She escorts Orpheus. Boatman of Styx. Ferries Orpheus.

Eurydice:

Aphrodite: Hades:

The Nine Muses:! Oracle of Delphi:

Apollo:

Persephone: Alecto: Charon:

Maenads 1 & 2:

The often drunk nymph worshippers of Dionysus, the wine god. They slay Orpheus.

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SETTING
Ancient Greece. The Plaza in Thebes - Afternoon, Mt. Parnassus (House - Morning, Meadow - Afternoon, House - Night, Woods at the Base of Parnassus), Funeral Pyre (Eurydice, Orpheus), the Underworld (Western Gate, Hades Palace, Path to the World of the Living).

TIME
Ancient Greece, c. 520-25 B.C. Spans many years. Note: All the narrators lines are not marked, but are written in italics. The stage directions are written in normal font. Cues are included in the narrators lines.

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Act I: Orpheus and Eurydice

SCENE 1: HOUSE ON PARNASSUS
(The lights center on a house atop Mt. Parnassus. A woman, going into labor, screams with pain. CALLIOPE, Muse of Epic Poetry, is giving birth. We see the room inside. Her sister, THALIA, is helping her through it. The ORACLE OF DELPHI stands at the door.) THALIA: (Encouragingly) Come on, Calliope, push! You can do this, let Lady Hera help you! (After a time that seems like forever, CALLIOPEs breathing rate becomes normal.) CALLIOPE: (Panting) At last the pain has ceased (The ORACLE OF DELPHI walks into the room. She begins to recite the babys fate.) ORACLE OF DELPHI: (Ominously) This boy, though fatherless, shall not live treated as a bastard. He will find love, and lose it to Hades. He will fail to retrieve it. CALLIOPE: (Strains to sit up on the bed) Let me see my baby boy. (Endearingly) You are my precious little boy. I shall name you Orpheus.

! (The scene changes.) (ORPHEUS grows up to be a wonderful singer, entrancing all, in every town he went. He was well-loved, but he did not love anyone else.)

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SCENE 2: PLAZA IN THEBES - AFTERNOON

(It is the midday, and a large crowd gathers outside the amphitheater. They begin chattering impatiently as they wait for ORPHEUS to emerge. To the side, ORPHEUS sneaks through a cellar to evade the crowd. As he makes sure he is safe, his gaze falls upon a young woman tending to doves underneath a myrtle tree. Both are symbols of APHRODITE, and indicate some influence on her part. The goddess voice echoes.) APHRODITE: (Laughing gaily) Oh, such delight I take in manipulating mortal love! I want to see this romance unfold! (The crowd leaves, and the spotlight is on Orpheus and the young woman.) ORPHEUS: O young maiden, you are lovely. Would you spend the rest of your life with me? Would you tell me your name?

! EURYDICE: I have heard of you, great Orpheus. Rumors say that your voice is sweet, like that of the Muses. It is said that your voice can charm beasts into peace, and cause rocks and trees to dance. My name is Eurydice, daughter of Apollo. My father envies you for perfecting his invention, the lyre. ORPHEUS: I can only be so modest. My mother is Calliope, and it is only fitting that I marry the daughter of my mothers patron. Would you be my bride? EURYDICE: I would love to you hear your voice sing to me day and night. I shall be your bride. (The lights dim, and the two begin dancing together.) (Then, on a beautiful summer day, the two were wed. They spent many days together. Then, Orpheus brought his bride to his mother and aunts.) SCENE 3: HOUSE ON PARNAS-

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SUS - Morning
ORPHEUS: Mother, Aunts! Come see my new bride! (The Muses come rushing out to see the newlyweds. The women encircle her, inspecting her.) EURYDICE: I am pleased to meet you, Lady Calliope. I hope that I will be a good wife to your son.

! CALLIOPE: Eurydice, my sweet child, you are a fine young woman. I know that you shall be a good wife to Orpheus. (CALLIOPE beckons EURYDICE inside to talk.) (The other Muses speak quickly in succession.) URANIA: Orpheus, you have chosen your wife. We also have to warn you about something. MELPOMENE: Dear nephew, make sure your wife does not pick the violets in the meadow. THALIA: That meadow belongs to Persephone, consort of Hades. She has entrusted it to us, while she is away in the Underworld. POLYHYMNIA: She allows the picking of all flowers, except the violets, because they are her favorites. CLIO: She has set a serpent in this meadow, to punish those who would take her flowers. ORPHEUS: Yes, I shall tell her. I will not let her pick the violets.

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! SCENE 3: MEADOW ON PARNAS-

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SUS - AFTERNOON
(ORPHEUS begins to search for EURYDICE, finding her picking flowers. He watches her, entranced by her beauty. Eurydice, two years after being married, is now pregnant. She is picking flowers for the bridal shower.) EURYDICE: The flowers are truly lovely. I wish I could learn from the goddess Persephone, how to grow these beautiful flowers. ORPHEUS: Yes, they truly are. (ORPHEUS begins to doze off. 1 min. pause) (ORPHEUS falls asleep, and after some time, he awakes, harkening to a scream.) (EURYDICE shrieks in pain) CALLIOPE: Eurydice, what has happened?! EURYDICE: A serpent has bitten my ankle! I was picking the violets! (URANIA stares at ORPHEUS, upset.) (The Muses bring her inside, to tend to her. They discover that the serpent was a magic snake, made by Hecate.)

! ORPHEUS: (Grievously) Eurydice! Dont leave me, please! (After many hours, MELPOMENE emerges from the room.) MELPOMENE: Im sorry, Orpheus, but Eurydice has left us. We were unable to save the baby. (Orpheus falls to his knees, hands in his face, weeping.) ORPHEUS: All because I had failed to tell her of the dangers.

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ACT I END

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ACT II: Journey to the Underworld

SCENE 1: FUNERAL PYRE (EURYDICE)
(All are dressed in black. APOLLO has come to mourn his daughters death. He begins to rage at ORPHEUS.) APOLLO: Because you failed to warn her, now my Eurydice is dead! You will pay for your failure! (The lights begin to flicker around ORPHEUS. APOLLO leaves, and curses him.) May you live in damnation forever, unless you right the wrong you did her! ORPHEUS: I swear on the River Styx, that I will bring her back. (CALLIOPE gasps. To swear on the River Styx is to make an unbreakable promise. To swear to a god is a rash thing.) CALLIOPE: Please, Orpheus! Revoke your promise! It is better to live in damnation, than to make an impossible journey, and go to Tartarus! (Starts to weep) ORPHEUS: Mother, I must. A life without Eurydice may as well be death for me. I will journey to the Land of the Dead, and bring her back from Hades. (5 minute intermission to set up the next scene) (BLACKOUT)

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SCENE 2: THE SEASIDE COVE

(We are taken to a seaside cove where ORPHEUS is. He has been singing for many years about his tragedy. Many have been moved to tears. Athena and Hermes pointed him west to the Land of the Dead.) ORPHEUS: Finally, I find an entrance to the Underworld! But look! I cannot open it! (Begins to sing sadly, getting louder) (The spirit that lives in the rocks is moved by ORPHEUS. It opens the way to the Underworld, revealing a dark crevice spewing dark mist. However, it warns Orpheus to never forget his mortal ties. As he traveled through the Underworld, he would forget himself, becoming closer to death.) ORPHEUS: I will never forget the beautiful face of my beloved Eurydice, and I shall sing for her. (Enters the crevice.)

UNDERWORLD - THE WESTERN GATE

(ORPHEUS begins to sing throughout his journey. In order to chain himself to the world of the living, he sang of his bond with his wife. He comes to a dock, with a ghost, dressed in rags, moaning and another impatient ghost.)

! GHOST 1: Please! Ferry me across! My family had no money to spare! ORPHEUS: Why do you weep? What is a fate worse than death? Who is this ferryman? GHOST 2: Do you not know of Charon? He is the one who ferries the dead to the Fields of Judgement. To die, becoming one with the Lethe, is to be forgotten. But, how is that you, one of the living, is able to come here, to the Land of the Dead? ORPHEUS: I see his predicament Charon! I have come to set my wife free from this wretched prison! (ORPHEUS tells his story to the ghosts and CHARON. So moved, the ghosts, who were said not to weep, shed tears once more. Even CHARON, who could not feel sadness, being born of all that plagues man, wept bitter tears of blood.) CHARON: (Creakily) I WILL TAKE YOU ORPHEUS: You will take them as well. (Points to the ghosts) And I thank you. CHARON: (Stares angrily, and grunts)

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! (Throughout the entire trip, ORPHEUS sings grievously, causing the hellhounds to howl sadly. Even Cerberus whimpered sadly. The Erineyes, who wept blood, awaited him.) ALECTO: You are truly devoted. We will take you to see Lord Hades. ORPHEUS: Thank you. (The Furies lead ORPHEUS to HADES chamber. His palace was built from human bones. Finally, they reach the audience chamber. A bony, and thin figure sits upon a throne of bones, with a gloomy expression, with bloodshot eyes. PERSEPHONE sits at his side.)

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SCENE 3: HADES PALACE

HADES: Who are you? How has one of the living come to me? ORPHEUS: I am Orpheus, and I have come here by way of the Western Entrance. I have come to free my wife, Eurydice. PERSEPHONE: The one who tried to take my violets? ORPHEUS: I failed to warn her. I am sorry.

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(PERSEPHONE slaps him. ORPHEUS is silent, and there is a pause. The goddess expression softens, but remains grim and sad.) PERSEPHONE: You sent her to an early death! You have failed as a husband! (ORPHEUS apologizes, and begins to sing his story. Both, even HADES, weeps.) HADES: I must sympathize. So, you want her back? (HADES snaps his fingers, and EURYDICE, ghostly and bloodstained, appears.) PERSEPHONE: Please, my lord! Dont give him any more burdens. HADES: NO ONE HAS EVER LEFT MY REALM WITHOUT PAYING THE PRICE! (All is still, and silent. The air is tense.) HADES: I will let her go. On one condition. Do you understand, mortal? ORPHEUS: Name your price. (BLACKOUT)

ACT II END

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ACT III: Eternal Damnation by Separation

SCENE 1: HADES PALACE
(We are in Hades audience chamber. Hades bargains with Orpheus, in exchange for Eurydice.) Hades: I have a bargain in mind I receive thousands of souls each day. To let one go, is worth too much. Orpheus: Then what is it that you want? Hades: I want compensation! Orpheus: Fine. Just tell me! Ill pay anything to have her back again! Hades: Anything, hmm? Im feeling merciful this time, so I wont curse you. You can take her back. But, you must always look forward, and not dwell on the past. I give you a test. Go through the Underworld, and do not look back to see if she is there. Trust that she will follow. (Orpheus and Eurydice embraced each other. She is overjoyed to see her husband.)

! Eurydice: Why have you returned? Orpheus: I wanted to bring you back! I sent you to an early grave! I need to redeem myself, and I must repay your father. Eurydice: Really, my love, you neednt do this for me. I was fated to die that way. Nothing can sway the Fates hand. I wont feel right, among the living. Orpheus: Youll be a goddess on Olympus! I will challenge Fate!

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SCENE 2: UNDERWORLD - THE PATH TO THE WORLD OF THE LIVING (So, they set out, and ORPHEUS sang happily, that his wife was returning with him. EURYDICE has a sad look on her face, staring at her nave husband.)
ALECTO: You fool. Hades intentionally tricked you! I can tell that we will see each other again very soon, you and your wife! (Stalks away) ORPHEUS: I will not be overcome by mistrust, or doubt. I know that Eurydice is there!

! (ORPHEUS is confident that he will succeed. However, as he made it towards the exit crevice, the seeds of doubt began to sprout.) ORPHEUS: Look, my love! Can you see the light? Were almost there! (Fatally, Orpheus turns to look) EURYDICE: (Crying) ORPHEUS, NO! (SCREAMS) (EURYDICE is taken by arms of shadow.) ORPHEUS: EURYDICE! (BLACKOUT)

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SCENE 3: WOODS AT THE BASE OF PARNASSUS

(ORPHEUS had failed. For the rest of his life, he wandered mourning forever.) CALLIOPE: My son, please! Weep no more! The past is done! ORPHEUS: I have failed her Why? Was she so deserving of such an unfaithful husband? I am unable to live any longer. I will join Eurydice in death soon enough. (ORPHEUS wandered everywhere, singing his eternally mournful song. All nature and humanity wept for him.)

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MAENAD 1: Come, Orpheus! Sing, and be gay! MAENAD 2: (Drunk) Why are you sad? Indulge in wine! ORPHEUS: Please, leave me alone (Maenad shrieks and strikes Orpheus) (Orpheus falls down)

SCENE 4: FUNERAL PYRE (ORPHEUS)

(The drunk Maenads slays ORPHEUS. Though his head is severed from his body, his voice still rings sadly. CALLIOPE is deeply saddened by her sons death. Even APOLLO attends the funeral.) APOLLO: My good son-in-law, though in life, I had cursed you, now, I bless you. I feel great remorse for you. Let your voice ring ever true. CALLIOPE: Oh, my blessed daughter-in-law, let your soul rest in peace. It was by no fault of your own that you died here. It is your spouses wish to be buried at your side. APOLLO AND CALLIOPE: (Together) Rest in peace, and may you find Elysium. Or come back to us, and find the Isles of Blest. (All leave.) ALL PRESENT: (SHOUT) ORPHEUS AND EURYDICE! (Three times) (The lights dim, and a man and woman are seen together. Orpheus and Eurydice are together at last.) ACT III END

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FIN