Orpheus was the Greek hero who tried to rescue his wife Eurydice from Hades.
Orpheus was famed as a musician whose singing and lyre-playing could charm humans, animals, trees, and even stones. After Eurydice died from a snakebite, he descended alive into the underworld and persuaded Hades and Persephone to release her. They agreed on one condition: he must walk ahead of Eurydice and not look back until both had reached the upper world.
Near the surface, Orpheus lost faith and turned to see whether Eurydice was following. Because he looked back too soon, she was taken away permanently. This is the famous “backward glance” in the myth, not a successful rescue. Hermes is sometimes associated with guiding souls, while Heracles also entered Hades during one of his labors, but neither is the hero who attempted to reclaim Eurydice.
The story was retold by ancient Greek and Roman poets, especially Virgil and Ovid, and later inspired operas by composers including Claudio Monteverdi and Christoph Willibald Gluck.