ORPHEUS--Greek Mythology

Since the head of Orpheus graces the cover of "The Zedland Chronicles," I thought I should offer a brief explanation of the mythology, though it has nothing to do with the book beyond the fact that the illustration could be a depiction of the protagonist, Zed, who, at one point, does find himself in a body of water. The myth also mentions some interesting behavior by trees. The trees in Zedland don't up and walk. Ents, they're not. But a couple of them aren't your run of the mill fir, either.

Head of Orpheus floating in the river A supremely gifted minstrel, Orpheus attempted to rescue his dead wife from the Underworld. Apollo taught him to play the lyre, and such was his skill on the instrument, together with the sweetness of his singing voice, that he could charm wild animals and even cause trees to uproot themselves and follow in his steps. Jason and the Argonauts took him along when they quested after the Golden Fleece, and Orpheus saved them from shipwreck by drowning out the treacherously alluring voices of the Sirens with his own musical stylings. Orpheus fell in love with a nymph named Eurydice and blissful was their life together until one day a son of Apollo pursued her. It was the minor deity, Aristaeus. In her headlong eagerness to escape, she stepped on a poisonous snake, was bitten and died. Disconsolate, Orpheus found a cave which led to Hades and followed Eurydice to the Underworld. Here his musical charms were so persuasive that the King of the Dead permitted the minstrel to take his sweetheart home with him—on one condition. This condition was so simple that it takes some speculation to account for Orpheus's failure to heed it. 1. Perhaps he could not bear to keep his eyes off his beloved object for a moment longer. 2. Perhaps he wanted to share his rapture at birdsong and sunshine, as they approached the mouth of the cave.  3. Or maybe he wanted Eurydice to hear the latest lick that he had worked out on his lyre. In any case, he did the one thing he had been forbidden to do. He turned around and looked at Eurydice before exiting the cave, and she was lost to him forever. Orpheus swore he would never love another, and it may have been the steadfastness of this vow which caused certain wild women of Thrace to tear him limb from limb in a fit of jealousy. They threw his head into a river, and it kept on singing all the way to the sea.