Orpheus and Eurydice

The story of Orpheus and Eurydice is one of the most romantic (and heartbreaking) stories from
Greek mythology.

You've probably heard this mythical love story because it's used to lecture impatient people, which
isn't helpful.

Orpheus fell in love with a nymph named Eurydice, who tragically died on their wedding day when
she was walking down the aisle and stepped on a poisonous snake.

Orpheus was able to make his way to the Underworld and used his musical talents to convince Hades
to release his true love. Hades agreed, but only if Orpheus would lead his bride to the world of the
living without looking back to make sure she was following him.

Orpheus almost made it all the way to the surface before he couldn't control himself and turned
around.

Eurydice had been following him the whole time but once he looked at her she was immediately
taken back to the land of the dead for eternity. Orpheus swore to never love again.
Version 2

The story of Orpheus and Eurydice is one of the most tragic tales in Greek mythology. Orpheus of
Thrace was the son of the god Apollo and the muse Calliope. He was renowned for his musical
talents with a lyre and fell in love with the beautiful Eurydice.

One day, Eurydice was wandering in the forest with nymphs when the shepherd Aristaeus spotted
her. When Eurydice rejected the shepherd’s advances he pursued her and during her efforts to
escape she was bitten by a poisonous snake and killed.

Utterly broken by his wife’s death, Orpheus turned to music and moved the gods with his mournful
tunes. With the protection of the gods, Orpheus descended into the underworld in search of his
wife, managing to bypass both the souls of the dead and the mighty three-headed dog Cerberus,
who took a liking to his music.

Orpheus presented himself before Hades – the god of the dead in Greek mythology – and his wife
Persephone and greatly moved them with a sorrowful tune. Hades permitted Orpheus to retrieve his
wife from the underworld on the condition that he lead her out without turning to look at her.

However, as they ascended from the underworld, Orpheus could not hear Eurydice stepping behind
him and grew anxious that the gods had fooled him. He lost his faith and looked behind him.
Consequently, Eurydice was returned to the underworld and Orpheus was forced to return without
her.

Orpheus could not bear to live without his wife and called for his own death in song. His wish was
granted, either by wild beasts who tore him apart, or the Maenads (female followers of Dionysus). In
another version, Zeus struck him dead with a lightning bolt.

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Alcyone and Ceyx

Alcyone and Ceyx were the beloved king and queen of Trachis in Greek mythology. They loved each
other so intensely that both gods and mortals admired their relationship.

However, they both let this go to their heads a little bit and began to call each other Hera and
Zeus, the king and queen of the gods. This didn't go over well with the real Hera and Zeus, who
wanted to punish them.
One day, while Ceyx was sailing back to his wife, Zeus sent a thunderbolt to capsize his ship and kill
the king.

Alcyone waited on the shore day and night for her missing husband to appear on the sea and
prayed to Hera to return Ceyx to her.

Hera took pity on her and sent Ceyx's body to wash ashore so Alcyone wouldn't have to wait
anymore.

Alcyone was so overcome with grief that she drowned herself at the sight of her dead husband, but
Zeus turned them both into kingfisher birds that lay eggs on the water during the halcyon days
when the ocean is calm.

Version2

Halcyon was a princess of Thessaly who became the queen of Trachis. She married Ceyx, who was
also of noble birth. They loved each other very much, and they were a very loving and devoted
couple. When in bed, they could call each other Zeus and Hera, which angered Zeus, who set out to
punish them.

While Ceyx was traveling on a boat, Zeus threw a thunderbolt, sinking the ship and drowning him.
While she was sleeping, Halcyon learned of his death in a dream by the god Morpheus. Mad with
grief, she threw herself in the sea and drowned. The gods then took pity on the couple, moved by
Halcyon’s love, and transformed them into halcyon birds (common kingfishers).
 Pyramus and Thisbe

Pyramus and Thisbe grew up living right next to each other. they became great friends although their
families were rivals. As they grew up, their friendship also blossomed into an intense and passionate
love for one another.

Not wanting to be caught, the couple could only exchange gestures of affection from a distance.
Living right next to each other, the only thing to separate them was a single wall. But the two young
lovers found a crack in that wall, where they would stand for hours expressing their deep love for
each other.

One day they planned to meet so they could run away and get married since their parents would
never allow their union.

Their meeting was sot be at the great big tree by the river. Thisbe, arriving first, was spooked by a
lioness drinking by the river after just finishing its meal. When Thisbe turned to flee, her veil became
stuck in the tree causing her to leave the piece of clothing behind.

The lioness, curious by nature, ended up playing around with the lost veil with its bloody paws. The
lioness became bored quickly and left.

Pyramus then arrived and saw Thisbe's veil covered in blood. Assuming the worst, he was
overcome with intense guilt. He then unsheathed his own sword and struck it through his heart.
Thisbe came back to the tree and saw her lover bleeding out under their beloved tree, dead. Upon
further inspection of the scene, she soon came to understand the sad situation. Without a second
thought, she threw herself upon the same sword.

The couple's blood was absorbed by the great tree. The blood of the couple made the fruits of the
tree turn red and become sweeter.

The couple's death erased the feud between their families, and their love nurtured the great tree
until this very day. The berries of that tree are what we now call mulberries.
 Cupid and Psyche

Psyche was the youngest of three daughters of a king. Her beauty resembled that of a goddess
walking among mortals and all she wanted was a love that would lift her spirits. Aphrodite, hearing of
the remarks of her beauty, became enraged and sought out her son Eros, the god of love. Aphrodite
asked Eros to use his arrows to cause Psyche to fall in love with a hideous creature. But once Eros
saw her, he could not fulfill his mother's wishes and instantly fell in love with Psyche.

As time passed Pysche realized that she couldn't fall in love with anyone just as no one truly could
fall in love with her. This is because Eros refused to awaken a love for Psyche in any man. Psyche's
father worried for her, sought out the oracle of Delphie for guidance. The oracle told them that
Pysche was to be brought to a mountain and left alone for a horrible winged creature who will cause
her death to claim her. The oracle was speaking of Eros.

The family did as they were told and Pysche was taken up the mountain. She was then put to sleep
by Zephyr, God of winds. Psyche awoke in an idyllic place: a beautiful palace. She waited in her
darkened room for this husband of hers to arrive. When he did Pysche was sure he was the love she
had wished for.

She was happy for the next few days, although a sadness soon crept in as she could never see her
husband. She asked her mysterious husband if she could invite her two sisters to see taht she was
alright. Eros agreed but wanted her not to let her sisters influence her or their relationship would
suffer.

Her sisters put doubt in Psyche's mind so much that she betrayed her husband and lit a candle that
night to look upon his face. Noticing he wasn't a monster Psyche was relieved, but Eros awoke and
left the room. Psyche heard Eros say as he left, "Love cannot live without trust."

Distraught Pysche asked APhrodite for help, but the vain goddess was still jealous and wanted
revenge. Aphrodite then gave Psyche three impossible tasks to do to prove she was a worthy wife for
her son. In each task, Psyche was helped due to her pure determination.

Upon seeing this Aphrodite deemed Pysche unworthy and enslaved the poor girl as her servant. The
gods looking on this wrongdoing sent Hermes to fill Eros in on his mother's treachery. Hearing what
Psyche was doing for him, healed the God's wound of betrayal. He then found Psyche in his mother's
garden and took her away.
The two lived out their lives happily in their palace where flowers grew and music played. Zeus gave
Psyche immortality as a wedding gift and even Aphrodite was happy in the end.

Psyche was the youngest daughter of a king. She was the most beautiful of all three. So much so,
that there were rumors she may be a goddess, or even Aphrodite herself, and people worshipped
Psyche instead of the goddess. Aphrodite was offended by this, and she sent her son, Eros, the god
of intense desire and love, to shoot her with an arrow and force her to fall in love with something
hideous, as punishment.

Eros did fly to the palace to do his mother’s bidding, but he scratched himself on the arrow and fell
in love with her instead. He flew away without shooting Psyche, who carried on without being able
to fall in love. Her father eventually asked the Oracle for a prophecy and was distressed when he
was told Psyche would love a dragon-like creature of fire that even the gods feared.

Quickly, they decided to sacrifice Psyche by leaving her at a tall mountain in a ‘marriage’ of sorts, to
the horrid creature. From there, the Zephyr, the god of the north wind, transported her to Eros’
palace.

Psyche lived happily there, even though her husband never appeared. Because her sisters were
jealous, they manipulated her into Eros’ bedroom and peek at him. She did so, but accidentally
burned him with the lamp’s oil, and he fled.

Aphrodite vowed revenge, and kept the lovers separated. Psyche had to go through several trials to
earn the right to see her husband again, even though Eros eventually opposed this. Eros had to
escape Aphrodite, to go find Psyche and stop Aphrodite’s revenge. They lived happily ever after.

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 Poseidon and Amphitrite

Poseidon God of the Sea was a very temperamental God. In his rage, Tsunamis and earthquakes
happened often. Zeus, his brother, thought he had a solution to Poseidon's anger, and that was that
Poseidon needed a wife. Zeus asked Nereus to give up one of his daughters to marry Poseidon.
Nereus felt honored to do so.

Poseidon hearing of this set off to meet his future wife. Nereus presented Poseidon with his
daughters allowing Poseidon to choose his bride. They were all beautiful but one, Amphitrite, was
particularly beautiful to Poseidon.

However, Amphitrite was embarrassed by Poseidon's advances and swam to the darkest depths of
the ocean. Poseidon searched every inch of the ocean to find his new bride, but alas came up empty-
handed. Not being able to find his new bride, Poseidon's anger only increased.

This angers Zeus who then demands Amphitrite's mother to reveal her daughter's location to him.
Poseidon then sent his most loyal dolphin to persuade Amphitrite to return. Amphitrite agrees and
marries The God of the Sea. From their union, Triton was born. All was well in the land of the Sea
God.
 Pygmalion and Galatea

Pygmalion was a great sculptor in Cyprus (in some versions he was also a king). He was a dedicated
bachelor and declared he would never fall in love. Around that time, he was working hard on a
sculpture of a young woman, and it came out so beautiful and lifelike, that Pygmalion fell in love
with it. Ashamed to admit it, once Aphrodite’s festival came about, Pygmalion made offerings and
asked of the goddess that he meet a woman as beautiful as his sculpture.

When he returned home, he kissed his sculpture with a sigh. To his surprise, he found that the ivory
had become warm! He kissed the sculpture again, and it turned into a living, breathing woman,
named Galatea. He married her and lived happily with her.
 Iphis and Ianthe

Ligdus and Telethusa were husband and wife in Crete. They were very poor, and though they wanted
children they knew that they couldn’t afford a girl, because she would need a dowry.

Ligdus told his wife when she got pregnant that if the baby was a girl, he would sadly need to kill
her. Telethusa was grieved, but during the night, the Egyptian goddess Isis visited her and told her
she would assist her.

When Telethusa gave birth to a girl, she disguised the baby as a boy. Ligdus didn’t understand a thing
and named the baby Iphis. Telethusa was happy because the name was unisex. Iphis grew up as a boy.

A beautiful maiden called Ianthe fell in love with Iphis. Iphis, too, loved her back, and Ligdus agreed
to marry them. But Iphis was desperate because it would be revealed she was a woman and
forbidden to love Ianthe. But Isis intervened and turned Iphis into a man, so they married and lived
happily with Aphrodite’s blessing.
 Atalanta and Hippomenes

Atalanta was a virgin huntress. She was so good at hunting that no man could best her. She also
despised marriage, and any man who tried to win her hand found a terrible end: Atalanta challenged
the suitor to a race against her. If he lost, she killed him. But Hippomenes was not a simple man,
either. He was a disciple of the centaur Chiron and the best among the Caledonian hunters!

When he saw her, he fell in love with Atalanta and he accepted her challenge. His confidence and
character appealed to her even before the race! When they started running, she was leading the race
because she was faster than him. But Hippomenes tossed a golden apple in her way, and she
stopped to pick it up, giving Hippomenes the opportunity to run ahead. Whenever she would
overtake him, he would toss a golden apple, until he won the race, and Atalanta’s hand in marriage.
 Apollo and Hyacinthus

Hyacinthus was a Spartan prince, who fell madly in love with Apollo. He was extremely handsome
and graceful, and Apollo returned his love and affections. They were often together, much to the
consternation and jealousy of Zephyr, the god of the north wind. He tried to appeal to Hyacinthus for
his love, but Hyacinthus chose Apollo over Zephyr.

So, one day, when Apollo was throwing disks, Zephyr made a gust of wind carry the disk away. It hit
Hyacinthus’ head hard, killing him instantly. Apollo was deeply grieved and created the flower
hyacinth, which bloomed for the first time where Hyacinthus died.