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<\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\nHis main sweetie was Eurydice<\/strong>, and when she checked out early (from a snakebite), Orpheus headed down to the Underworld to get her out. Lots of variations to this story, but for the most part, things don’t go well.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The Orpheus archetype of the mystical poet\/musician has survived the centuries, and was popular in medieval art.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The Collector<\/a> has the story of Orpheus told in masterpieces spanning 750 years.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The Orpheus myth has made it into modern cinema.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Black Orpheus<\/a> is a 1959 Brazilian romantic tragedy.<\/p>\n\n\n\n It is an interesting movie in many ways: travelogue, anthropological study, hints of colonialism and poverty and class struggle.<\/p>\n\n\n\n It brings out the joy of being alive, the ecstasy of dance, the simple pleasures of song and family and friends.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Black Orpheus has universal themes of love and destiny and the fleeting, cyclical nature of life.<\/p>\n\n\n\n But… it is not a typical Hollywood movie, and it takes some time to settle into the pace of the film.<\/p>\n\n\n\n There are chickens and goats and puppies and cats, and a snarling dog named Cerberus who temporarily blocks Orpheus from entering the underworld.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Some interesting trivia:<\/p>\n\n\n\n Black Orpheus would be the perfect movie include on the next Voyager Golden Record.<\/p>\n\n\n At the other end of the spectrum, we have the 1950 French film of Orpheus<\/a><\/strong>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n A couple of thoughts while watching:<\/p>\n\n\n\n Death<\/strong> is personified as a creepy femme fatale, with lots of high-maintenance ex-girlfriend vibes.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The dialog is mostly self-indulgent nonsense – and<\/em> it’s all in French. According to Death<\/strong>, “If this were our former world, I’d say, ‘Let’s have a drink.'”<\/p>\n\n\n So…. Let’s talk about Orpheus. This was all new to me, but it turned into an interesting rabbit hole. Orpheus – the man, the myth, the legend. According to ancient Greek mythology, he was musician, poet, and all round adventurer. His music could tame the wild beasts, and even stones. The legend probably had its […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"nf_dc_page":"","_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[9,40,27,8],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-6270","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-europe","category-meaning-of-life","category-movies","category-south-america"],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.wlbott.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6270","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.wlbott.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.wlbott.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.wlbott.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.wlbott.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=6270"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/www.wlbott.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6270\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":6300,"href":"https:\/\/www.wlbott.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6270\/revisions\/6300"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.wlbott.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=6270"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.wlbott.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=6270"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.wlbott.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=6270"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
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<\/a>
Orpheus charming the animals
Christine de Pisan, L’\u00c9p\u00eetre Oth\u00e9a, Paris c. 1410-1414<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<\/a>
Aristaeus chasing Eurydice bitten by the snake<\/em>
1493-4, via Biblioth\u00e8que Nationale de France.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<\/a>
Orpheus Leading Eurydice from the Underworld (detail)
Painting by Jean-Baptiste-Camille Corot (1861)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/figure>\n\n\n\n
\n\n\n\nBlack Orpheus<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
<\/a><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<\/a><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<\/a><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<\/a><\/figure>\n<\/figure>\n\n\n\n\n
<\/em> – Wikipedia<\/a><\/li>\n\n\n\n
\n\n\n\n
\n\n\n\nCaution: French Avant-Garde Film Alert<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
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<\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n<\/a><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<\/a><\/a><\/figure>\n<\/figure>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"