The Gaze of Orpheus

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In ancient Greek religion, The Gaze of Orpheus is derived from the antiquarian Greek myth of Orpheus and Eurydice. In the story of Orpheus, the poet descends to the underworld to retrieve his wife, Eurydice from premature death, only on Hades’ and Persephone's condition that he does not look at her during the process. During his descent, however, Orpheus disobeys this condition and loses Eurydice again, and he himself is destroyed.

To you this tale refers,
Who seek to lead your mind
Into the upper day;
For he who overcome should turn back his gaze
Towards the Tartarean cave,
Whatever excellence he takes with him
He loses when he looks on those below.

— Boethius, Consolation of Philosophy 3.52

The Gaze of Orpheus has since been evaluated by many philosophers and literary critics. Common analogies are made between Orpheus's gaze and writing processes, philosophical interpretation, and artistic origins. Some of the most famous uses of the gaze of Orpheus can be found in Maurice Blanchot’s short essay ‘Le Regard d’Orphée’ (The Gaze of Orpheus), Geoffrey Sirc’s, The Composition’s Eye/Orpheus’s Gaze/Cobain’s Journals, and Jaques Lacan’s work on the mirror stage.