Lyra: The Harp

Lyra was the lyre of Orpheus, the musician of the Argonauts. His father was the god Apollo, and his mother was the muse Calliope; it was Apollo who gave Orpheus the lyre. With his instrument, Orpheus could play so beautifully as to charm not only people, but also rocks and trees and wild beasts. He soon fell in love with a nymph called Eurydice, and they were married. However, they were not married long before Eurydice went out to explore with some of her nymph friends and was spotted by a shepherd who was captivated by her beauty. As she was fleeing his pursuits, she was bitten by a snake and killed by the poison. Orpheus was devastated and sought out his wife, and, since the gods, too, were charmed by his music, he was permitted to enter the underworld and bring back his wife. This deal was struck on one condition: once he had Eurydice, he could not look back, or else she would slip back to the land of the dead. Unfortunately, once Orpheus had Eurydice, he could not help but look back, and she slipped from his grasp and back to the underworld. Orpheus returned to the land of the living distraught at having lost his wife twice, and decided he would never marry again, and instead sought out the company of younger boys. This enraged the women of his village, and they began to throw stones at him. The stones, at first, were charmed by Orpheus's lyre and fell harmlessly. Unfortunately, the loud shrieks of the women began to drown out the music, and the women ended up dismembering Orpheus, then threw his head and his lyre into the river. The gods came down and buried his limbs so that he could join Eurydice in the underworld, and Zeus himself took Orpheus's lyre and placed it in the stars.