Passage 1

Orpheus and Eurydice
adapted from Old Greek Folk Stories Told Anew by Josephine Preston Peabody

1 When gods and shepherds piped and the stars sang, that was the day of musicians! But the triumph of Apollo himself was not so wonderful as the triumph of a mortal man who lived on earth. This was Orpheus, that best of harpers, who went with the Grecian heroes of the great ship Argo in search of the Golden Fleece.
2 After returning from the quest, he won the lovely Eurydice for his wife, and they were as happy as people can be who love each other and everyone else. The very wild animals loved them, and the trees clustered about their home. But one day misfortune came upon that harper Orpheus whom all men loved to honor.
3 Eurydice, his lovely wife, as she was wandering, unwittingly trod upon a serpent in the grass. She died of the sting, and was lost to him in the Underworld.
4 For days he wandered around despondently, singing the story of his loss and his despair to the helpless passers-by. His grief moved everyone and roused the hearts of savage beasts. Even the gods on Mount Olympus gave ear, but they held no power over the darkness of Hades.
5 Wherever Orpheus wandered with his lyre, no one had the will to forbid him entrance; and at length he found unguarded that cave that leads to the Underworld where Pluto rules the spirits of the dead. He went down without fear. He crossed the river Styx, and Charon, the harsh old ferryman who takes the Shades across, forgot to ask of him the coin that every soul must pay. For Orpheus sang. There in the Underworld the song of Apollo would not have moved the poor ghosts so much. But here was a human singer, and he sang of things that grow in every human heart, youth and love and death, the sweetness of the Earth, and the bitterness of losing aught that is dear to us.
6 Even the Furies were moved to pity. So, among a crowd of eager ghosts, Orpheus came, singing with all his heart, before the king and queen of Hades. And the queen Proserpina wept as she listened and grew homesick, remembering the fields of Enna and the growing of the wheat, and her own beautiful mother, Demeter. Then Pluto gave way.
7 They called Eurydice and she came, like a young guest unused to the darkness of the Underworld. She was to return with Orpheus, but on one condition. If he turned to look at her once before they reached the upper air, he must lose her again and go back to the world alone.
8 Filled with joy to finally be with his wife, Orpheus hastened on the way, thinking only of Eurydice, who was following him. Past Lethe, across the Styx they went, he and his lovely wife. But the place was full of gloom, the silence weighed upon him, he had not seen her for so long; her footsteps made no sound; and he could hardly believe the miracle. When the first gleam of daylight broke through to the dismal world, he forgot all, save that he must know if she still followed. He turned to see her face, and the promise was broken!
9 She smiled at him forgivingly, but it was too late. He stretched out his arms to take her, but she faded from them, as the bright snow, that none may keep, melts in our very hands. A murmur of farewell came to his ears,—no more. She was gone.
10 He would have followed, but Charon, now on guard, drove him back. Seven days he lingered there between the worlds of life and death, but after the broken promise, Hades would not listen to his song. Back to the Earth he wandered, though it was sweet to him no longer. He died young, singing to the last her name, and round about the place where his body rested, nightingales nested in the trees.


Passage 2


adapted from Orpheus
by William Shakespeare

Orpheus with his lute made trees
And the mountain tops that freeze
Bow themselves when he did sing:
To his music plants and flowers
Ever sprung; as sun and showers
5 There had made a lasting spring.
Every thing that heard him play,
Even the billows of the sea,
Hung their heads and then lay by.
In sweet music is such art,
10 Killing care, and grief of heart
Fall asleep, or hearing, die.

36
In the selection "Orpheus and Eurydice" how does Pluto's setting a condition for returning Eurydice contribute to the theme?
A.
It shows how one must be willing to sacrifice something in order to get something.
B.
It shows how one must work hard and undergo hardships in order to be successful.
C.
It shows how pride and greed can lead to destruction.
D.
It shows how one must accept what one cannot change.