Orpheus‘s wife, killed by a snake bite. She was allowed to follow him out of the Underworld, but lost when he turned to look at her.
From Thrace. Today: north-east Greece, southern Bulgaria and European Turkey.
Strength 2/10 · Wisdom 5/10 · Courage 5/10 · Divinity 2/10 · Fame 6/10
The story
A nymph and wife of Orpheus. Soon after their wedding she was bitten by a snake while fleeing a man who chased her, and died.
How it ends
Orpheus charmed Hades into letting her follow him out of the Underworld, but at the last moment he turned to look at her, and she slipped back among the dead.
Still with us today
Her story inspired operas by Monteverdi and Gluck, Jean Cocteau’s film Orphée and the musical Hadestown.
Family
- Partners: Orpheus
Appears in
Read about them in the Library
Ancient sources
- Ovid, Metamorphoses
- Virgil, Aeneid