Lyra: Bittersweet Sounds of Love
**The instrument in the center of the eagle is a lyre and it was
placed in the night sky by Jupiter in honor of Orpheus, son of Apollo.
In Ptolemy's book, The Almagest, this constellation is called Lyra.
The star under the eagle's beak represents Vega, the brightest star
in the night sky.**
I was sitting on my favorite boulder and holding the majestic blue rock, thinking about how I was going to clear Ptolemy’s name. I closed my eyes and focused on my breathing. My mind started to drift and I saw an instrument. It looked like a harp, only smaller. It was an instrument I had seen before, but where. After a few minutes it hit me; it was a lyre. I opened my eyes and noticed I was no longer on my boulder. “Where am I?” I thought. I was surrounded by large trees and saw huge mountains in the distance. After a few moments, I heard music. It was so beautiful, so enchanting even the trees and animals seemed to stop in their tracks. After following the music for about hundred feet, I peered out from behind a tree. Sitting on a tree stump, I saw Orpheus, son of Apollo, playing a lyre.
.
Behind me I heard rustling so I quickly turned around. Eurydice, the wife of Orpheus, was running very fast in my direction and Aristaeus, a shepard who had fallen in love with Eurydice's beauty, was trailing her by only about six feet. “My heavens. I always believed this to be a myth. Oh no, I know what happens after this; I have got to stop it," I thought. “Eurydice, stop running, stop running now,” I yelled. But in her state of fright she ignored my cries and kept running in my direction. Just as I knew would happen, Eurydice was bitten by a serpent hanging from a tree. She was dead within seconds. The music stopped at that moment and I heard Orpheus running in my direction. He ran to Eurydice's lifeless body and began to weep.
I said to him “Dearest Orpheus, I have read about your tragedy in school. I know how bad your heart weeps for her.” Orpheus looked up in despair and contemplated for a moment he said, “You have Ptolemy’s eyes”. Before the shock of his comment wore off he said, “We both have great missions we have to accomplish. Clearing Ptolemy’s good name will be no easier a task than saving Eurydice from the underworld.” With this statement I realized he knew who I was and why I had come.
With the help of the king and queen of the underworld, we easily located Eurydice. The king and queen guaranteed that we would all make it safely home as long as we did not look back. Eurydice trailed slowly behind Orpheus and me because of the neck injury she received when the serpent bit her neck. We were almost home when Orpheus grew impatient and had to look at his gorgeous bride. He looked back at Eurydice and at that moment she slipped back into the depths of the underworld; she was gone for all time.
When Orpheus and I reached the real world, we were on the western peak of the Rhodope Mountains near Batak, Bulgaria. Orpheus said, “On this very spot we stand, your great ancestor has left you a token.” I thought about this statement for a moment and then realized my dear Ptolemy frequently traveled to this mountain peak to observe the stars. With that statement, Orpheus was telling me something great was within. I followed Orpheus down the mountainside and decided I needed to tell him about his fate.
“Dear Orpheus, I know your fate if you do not change your ways. You give up women, taking only little boys as lover. The women of the village are going to kill you.”
“You don't understand, young one; I want to go and be with Eurydice,” replied Orpheus.
“The decision is yours and you can take solace knowing Jupiter is going to give your lyre a place among the stars,” I replied.
I was so distracted by the conversation with Orpheus I did not pay attention to where he was leading me.
When I refocused on my location, I was in a cave on the side of Rhodoes Mountain. In front of me was a handle on the wall with IV inscribed on it. I pulled on the handle and the wall opened. To my amazement, I saw a lyre. Inscribed on the lyre:
Dearest Maple,
Take
this with care
Many forces active so beware
Scripts tell of the
history
Leaving no more a mystery
Heart and soul, your final
muse, you must trust
To conclude, his help is a must
With watchful eyes,
IV
I sat on the
nearest boulder holding the majestic blue rock and newly acquired lyre
and let my mind drift...
Author's Note: I changed the traditional story of the constellation Lyra to include Maple, a descendant of Ptolemy, as an active participant. While meditating, Maple gets a vision of a lyre which indicates to her that she needs to see Orpheus, son of Apollo, in order to help clear Ptolemy’s name. A magical rock transports Maple from modern times back into history to visit Orpheus. Once she finds him they experience his tragedy together and she tells him of his future if he does not change his ways; since Maple comes from the future, she already know his story. In the actual story, Orpheus makes these decisions alone and is actually killed by the women of the village for taking young boys as lovers. He does lose Eurydice to a deadly bite by a serpent and he does travel to the underworld in an attempt to find her. The only part I changed was Maple and Ptolemy's participation.
Bibliography:
Title: Lyra
Websource: Lyra
* Image Information
Title: Lyra
Websource: Lyra
Title: Eurydice and Orpheus
Websource: Eurydice and Orpheus
