Orpheus Stravinsky's ballet "Orpheus" (1948) and two operas by Harrison Birtwistle: "The Mask of Orpheus" (1973–1984) and "The Corridor" (2009). The Bulgarian Rousse State Opera commissioned and performed "Orpheus: A Masque" by John Robertson. It debuted in 2015. Rainer Maria Rilke's "Sonnets to Orpheus" (1922) are based on the Orpheus myth. Poul Anderson's Hugo Award-winning novelette "Goat Song", published in 1972, is a retelling of the story of Orpheus in a science fiction setting. Some feminist interpretations of the myth give Eurydice greater weight. Margaret Atwood's "Orpheus and Eurydice Cycle" (1976–86) deals with the myth, and gives Eurydice a more prominent
Orpheus son of the Thracian king Oeagrus and the Muse Calliope. Greeks of the Classical age venerated Orpheus as the greatest of all poets and musicians; it was said that while Hermes had invented the lyre, Orpheus had perfected it. Poets such as Simonides of Ceos said that Orpheus' music and singing could charm the birds, fish and wild beasts, coax the trees and rocks into dance, and divert the course of rivers. Orpheus was one of the handful of Greek heroes to visit the Underworld and return; his music and song even had power over Hades. Some sources credit Orpheus