# Orpheus — The Georgics character guide

> Orpheus in The Georgics by Virgil.

**Role:** major

**Also known as:** Sad Orpheus

**First appearance:** 0003-book-iv

## Who they are

The singer whose grief for Eurydice becomes the poem's darkest counter-melody, proving that art cannot always undo what love has lost.

## Relationships

### [Proteus](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_georgics_se/characters/proteus)

_rivalry_

Orpheus confronts Proteus, the shape-shifting sea god, in a struggle to gain prophetic knowledge about Eurydice.

## In the story

### [Book IV: The Art of Beekeeping and the Tale of Aristaeus](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_georgics_se/chapters/book-iv)

Referenced in the story of Aristaeus as the Thracian poet whose tragic fate is tied to the loss of Eurydice.

## Links

- HTML: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_georgics_se/characters/orpheus
- Book: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_georgics_se
- All characters: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_georgics_se/characters