Eurydice

The beautiful nymph-wife of Orfeus, who was bitten by a snake while running away from Aristaeus, a son of Apollo. The desperate husband then descended to Hades, and begged the god of Death to release her. Hades was so touched by Orpheus music, that he agreed on the condition that Orpheus would not look back at her during the ascent. Almost back in the world of the living, Orpheus could no longer hear Eurydices footsteps behind him, and could not resist turning around, only to see his wife screaming being pulled back into the underworld.Orpheus, mortified by grief wandered aimlessly around the forests where a crowd of maenads attacked him and tore him to pieces. His head fell into a river, still singing laments after his lost wife. It finally floated to Lesbos, where the Muses buried it.