Eurídice

Eurídice, often anglicized as Eurydice, is a figure from Greek mythology best known as the wife of the musician Orfeo (Orpheus). The name comes from the Greek Eurydike, from eurys meaning “wide” or “broad” and dike meaning “justice.”

In the most familiar version of the myth, Eurídice dies shortly after her wedding, bitten by a snake while walking in a meadow. Grief‑stricken, Orfeo travels to the Underworld, where he charms Hades and Persephone with his lyre and song. They permit Eurídice to return with him to the world of the living on one condition: he must not look back at her until they have both reached the surface. As they ascend, Orfeo looks back too soon, and Eurídice vanishes back into the underworld. Depending on the source, the moment of loss may occur at the boundary between worlds or just before leaving the underworld; some later variations adjust the ending, but the core is Orfeo’s failure to bring Eurídice back to the living world.

Cultural influence: Eurídice has been a central subject in Western art and literature. She is the heroine of early baroque opera L’Orfeo by Claudio Monteverdi (1607) and of Christoph Willibald Gluck’s Orfeo ed Euridice (1762, revised 1774). The tale continues to be retold and reinterpreted in modern plays, novels, and films, often exploring themes of love, memory, and artistic expression. The name Eurídice remains a common reference in various languages to the myth and its adaptations.