The Film Black Orpheus and the Myth of Orpheus and Eurydice

The Film Black Orpheus and the Myth of Orpheus and Eurydice

The story of Orpheus and Eurydice is one that has been passed down through generations for thousands of years. Almost every generation has heard a rendition of how Orpheus and Eurydice fall in love with one another and are eventually parted by death. I say rendition because this myth is passed on by word of mouth, which in return causes the story to change depending on the story teller. This may also have a great deal to do with the different interpretation people form about the story. Black Orpheus, directed by Marcel Camus in 1959, is an interpretation or modern rendition of the Greek myth, Orpheus and Eurydice. Although this film does not adapt the literal meaning of the Greek myth in every scene, I do believe that many scenes adopt the symbolic nature of the film, particularly the decent to the underworld.

In the Greek myth, Orpheus has to travel through the five rivers of Hades (Phlegethon, Acheron, Lethe, Styx, and Cocytus) to retrieve Eurydice from the overseer of the underworld, Hades. In Black Orpheus, Orpheus does not travel through the actual rivers, but in my opinion, symbolic representations of them. The obstacles that Orpheus faces while trying to find Eurydice, could possibly be the representation of the rivers.

In the scene following Eurydice’s death, Orpheus does not believe that she is dead. He goes to the hospital in hopes of finding his love, Eurydice. However, once he reaches the hospital, he inquires many constraints. The doctors and nurses will only let him go so far in the hospital. In an attempt to avoid the doctors, he runs around frantically, looking for a way to elude the doctors. In my opinion, this is Orpheus decent to Phlegethon,...

... middle of paper ...

...ce’s body. I feel that Camus; however, does represent the myth in many other ways. Instead of Orpheus actually traveling to the underworld, he goes through obstacles that I personally feel represents the underworld. Ultimately, Camus does relay the exact same message of the Greek myth. At the end of the story, Orpheus is happy to have Eurydice in his arms even though she is lifeless and in need of a burial. Orpheus in the myth is happy to have Eurydice close by even though he can not look at her. Orpheus, in the movie is killed by a woman and falls off the mountain. Orpheus, in the myth is ripped apart and his limbs are also spread on a mountain. Despite of all of the twist and turns Camus may have put in the movie, the message of the myth is very clear, to be together forever only comes through death, death should never be questioned because it makes no mistakes.