'Orpheus Girl,' Painful and Beautiful, Puts A Modern Twist On Myth
Author and poet Brynne Rebele-Henry transplants the tale of Orpheus and Eurydice to modern-day Texas, for a wrenching tale of two young women whose love lands them in a religious re-education camp.
The myth of Orpheus and Eurydice is a sad one, told by scholars and poets throughout the ages and painted by many a lovelorn Pre-Raphaelite. For those unfamiliar with the story, here it is in a nutshell: Orpheus falls in love and marries Eurydice, who is promptly bitten by a snake and dies. Orpheus travels all the way to the underworld to plead his case to Hades, turn around. Of course, Orpheus's doubts get the better of him as he's about to emerge, and he turns around just enough to see Eurydice's spirit pulled back into the underworld forever.
