The Orpheus complex

This paper examines the possible psychological implications of two adaptati ons of the myth of Orpheus and Eurydice, both of which were completed in 19 97. The first is by a man: 'Deconstructing Harry', a film by Woody Alien. T he second is by a woman: 'Eurydice in the Underworld', a short story writte n by Kathy Acker in the last year of her life. The paper argues that there are only four 'necessary events' in the myth of Orpheus and Eurydice. It defines the sequence of these events as a 'mythic pattern' that represents the experience of loss, unconscious yearning, dep ression, and psychological inflation. The film is examined as an expression of an 'Orpheus complex', the short story as an expression of an 'Eurydice complex'. The paper suggests a possible reason for the persistence of inter est in the myth throughout the twentieth century. Although it notes that wo men appear to find it easier to free themselves from identification with th e mythic pattern, it also provides reasons for thinking that men may be abo ut to do the same.