Lexic.us

Definition of Orpheus

1. Noun. (Greek mythology) a great musician; when his wife Eurydice died he went to Hades to get her back but failed.

Definition of Orpheus

1. n. The famous mythic Thracian poet, son of the Muse Calliope, and husband of Eurydice. He is reputed to have had power to entrance beasts and inanimate objects by the music of his lyre.

Definition of Orpheus

1. Proper noun. (Greek mythology) A Thracian musician and poet, who failed to retrieve his wife Eurydice from Hades. ¹

2. Proper noun. (rare) (Ancient Greek male given name). ¹

¹ Source: wiktionary.com

Medical Definition of Orpheus

1. The famous mythic Thracian poet, son of the Muse Calliope, and husband of Eurydice. He is reputed to have had power to entrance beasts and inanimate objects by the music of his lyre. Origin: L. Orpheus, Gr. Source: Websters Dictionary (01 Mar 1998)

Lexicographical Neighbors of Orpheus

Literary usage of Orpheus

Below you will find example usage of this term as found in modern and/or classical literature:

1. The Age of Fable; Or, Stories of Gods and Heroes by Thomas Bulfinch (1856)
"orpheus. CHAPTER XXIV. orpheus AND EURYDICE — ARIST^US — AMPHION — LINUS ... orpheus AND EURYDICE. orpheus was the son of Apollo and the Muse Calliope. ..."

2. The Victrola Book of the Opera: Stories of the Operas with Illustrations by Samuel Holland Rous, Victor Talking Machine Company (1921)
""orpheus" was composed among a group of ballets and similar works written ... "orpheus", however, contains so many lovely airs that it was a truer success, ..."

3. The Opera Goers' Complete Guide: Comprising Two Hundred and Twenty-nine by Leo Leop Melitz, Richard Salinger (1913)
"orpheus prays the gods to restore his wife and is ready to descend to Acheron's shores to regain her. (Recitative: "Gods ! cruel gods, gods of death ! ..."

4. The Antiquary by Edward Walford, John Charles Cox, George Latimer Apperson (1880)
"orpheus calls gems in general " the highest gift of Jove to mortals," bestowed ... All precious stones, says orpheus, are hidden by the gods underground, ..."

5. A History of Ancient Geography Among the Greeks and Romans from the Earliest by Edward Herbert Bunbury (1883)
"NOTE A. ARGONAUTICA OF orpheus. I SHOULD have been content to leave the consideration of the supposed antiquity of the Argonautica, as was done by KO ..."

6. A History of Ancient Geography Among the Greeks and Romans from the Earliest by Edward Herbert Bunbury (1883)
"Suidas, indeed, mentions a certain orpheus of Crotona as having written a poem, called Argonautica (av) And this orpheus is evidently tho game who is ..."

7. The Encyclopaedia Britannica: A Dictionary of Arts, Sciences, Literature and (1911)
"In accordance with this, orpheus may have been originally a god of darkness; ... It is possible, but very improbable, that orpheus was an historical ..."

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