The Plunge

Do I believe in Love?

In the delirious state, I believe most people subscribe to the idea of being in love as opposed to loving the person. It's happy-happy, joy-joy with spring in the air and diabetic levels of sweetness. In that sense of things, No. I don't subscribe to love like candy floss- it fills you up only to leave you feeling emptier than before.

But I am fascinated with the idea of loving someone to the point of following them to the depths of hell. That is, to me, the most natural course of coping with the loss of someone you truly love- believing that you can bring them back whole.

It's a theme that lends itself well to many cultural forms- this post is my dumping ground for all things Orpheus/Eurydice, Satyavan/Savitri that I find in things that I hear, read, see:

Music:
Considering Orpheus was "the father of songs", it is hardly surprising that this theme should find favour with musicians.

U2: The Ground Beneath her Feet
Definitive Lyric: "Go lightly down your darker way/Go lightly underground/I'll be down there in another day/I won't rest until you're found"

Death Cab for Cutie: Follow You Into the Dark
Definitive Lyric: "Love of mine some day you will die/ But I'll be close behind/ I'll follow you into the dark"

a-ha: Hunting High and Low
Definitive Lyric: "Hunting high and low/ There's no end to lengths I'll go/ To find her again/ Upon this my dreams are depending"

Books+Graphic Novels:
Orpheus/Eurydice is considered one of the most tragic tales in Greek Myth while the tale of Satyavan/Savitri as one of the many tales in the Mahabharata is part of the all-pervasive oral story-telling tradition in India.

Neil Gaiman: The Song of Orpheus
A part of the Sandman collection, Neil Gaiman's take on "The Song of Orpheus" takes the tragic to a higher plane with the old ones thrown in for good measure- This was old man Dream at his cruelest.

Jeff Vandermeer: Veniss Underground
Orpheus/Eurydice set in a steampunk future. (Need to go back to this book)

Movies:
Black Orpheus (Dir. Marcel Camus)
Orpheus/Eurydice set in the slums of Rio de Janeiro of the late 1950s/early 60s with a few extra plot points to make it palatable to the Spanish soap opera audience.