Eurydike 75
Eurydike was the wife of Orpheus, a gifted musician and poet. Once while out walking alone, Aristaeus came upon her and tried to rape her. As she fled, the hapless Eurydike trod upon a poisonous serpent, which bit and killed her. Disconsolate in his grief, Orpheus set out for the underworld to bring her back. He sang and played his lyre so sweetly that even the stern heart of Hades was moved. He agreed that Eurydike could return with Orpheus to the world of the living, on one condition: he must lead the way and not look back until they had reached the surface. As they ascended, Orpheus became agitated; he could not hear Eurydike behind him, and feared that she was not following, and Hades had tricked him. Just as he reached the portal of the underworld, he could not resist looking behind him to ensure she was there, and Eurydike faded away, lost forever.
Astrologically, Eurydike represents that which has been lost, gone beyond the point of recall, a harking back to what has been but cannot be reclaimed or replaced, misplaced nostalgia and a longing to return to a former state of being; clinging to the past; outmoded or no longer useful.
