Phaëthon fell into the river Eridanus and the naiads of the stream came to bury his body. Apollo, who had seen all that happened to his son, sorrowfully veiled his face.[8] Chapter V Orpheus Orpheus was the hero-singer of the Thracians, who in the ancient times dwelt at the foot of the mountains Olympus, Parnassus, and Helicon. He was the son of Apollo[9] and the muse Calliope[10] and the husband of Eurydice. His name became so celebrated among later poets that his power of song was said to have produced most marvellous effects. When he struck his lute, the fable says, the lions of the forest fawned upon him like dogs, rivers halted in their course, and the trees and rocks listened to him. He accompanied the Argonauts on their expedition and accomplished by his music many marvellous escapes for them. When he returned from the expedition his young wife, Eurydice, and her companions danced upon a beautiful grass plat one day. While engaged in their sports a snake stung her in the foot and she died in the very bloom of her youth.[11] The inconsolable husband poured out his grief in tones that filled all hearts with sorrow. Taking his lute, he ventured to the entrance of the underworld, Tartarus, and entreated Persephone, spouse of Hades, god of the underworld, to give him back Eurydice. The bars of the gate flew back as he sang. With ever tenderer tones he approached the place where departed spirits wander. Cerberus, the three-headed dog who guards the entrance, quietly wagged his tail as he passed, Ixion’s wheel stood still,[12] and Sisyphus stopped his fruitless task to listen to him.[13] Persephone graciously heard Orpheus’ entreaty and said: “Go back whence you came. Eurydice shall silently follow. But have a care that you do not look at her until you have reached the upper world. If you gaze at her but an instant she will be lost to you forever.” Orpheus turned back. He had not yet seen her. Would she follow him or not? A goddess surely would not deceive him. But he heard no step behind him. Singing, he went his way for a time, and when in the distance he saw the gleam of the upper world, he cried “Eurydice” in tender, eager tones. No answer was made. Overcome by grief and anxiety, he forgot the warning of the goddess. An irresistible desire to see her caused him to turn his head, and behold his wife was quietly and lightly following him. He stretched out his arms to her and in an instant the goddess’s warning was realized. Eurydice suddenly went back and was never again seen by him.