Orpheus

School Library Journal

Gr 9-12-- A masterly tribute to a timeless myth, this book is both visually stunning and undeniably problematic. There is nothing con troversial about the text, which employs opera lyrics and rises to poetic expression itself in places. Mikolaycak focuses on the poignant rather than the tragic possibilities of the story: this Orpheus loses Eurydice again through misjudgment rather than doubt, and his death is almost accidental, rather than the revenge of the gods. (Other interpretations are touched on in an instructive two-page note, followed by a bibliography and discography.) The volume is a triumph of art and design. Dusky matte pages set off white type and white-edged illustra tions. Both Maxfield Parrish and Caravaggio provide artistic precedents, while some uncon ventional color and composition underscore originality even in the allusions. The pictures are romantically beautiful, but also bold and striking. As befits the textual and artistic sources, however, the realistically rendered figures are all nude. While the warmly toned bodies are idealized and the nudity is ``taste ful,'' doubtless the presence of breasts and but tocks (not to mention the bloody death-scene) will banish the book from some shelves. That would be a shame: at the very least these mag nificent pictures might lure young adult read ers into the depth and resonance of Greek myth. --Patricia Dooley, University of Wash ington, Seattle

Hazel Rochman

This lush and beautiful picture book version of the Orpheus myth combines Classical and Romantic images that celebrate the human body. In a note at the back, Mikolaycak talks about the roots of the story, including the motifs of the hero's journey and the taboo of looking back, and how the myth has been interpreted through the ages in drama, poetry, sculpture, opera, and painting. It's a story that has enduring appeal: the artist-hero whose songs could calm the waves and make the mountains bow down. Orpheus' art wins him the love of Eurydice, and when she dies, he follows her to Hades, where his songs of sorrow charm even the king and queen of the Underworld. They allow him to take Eurydice back with him, on condition that he doesn't look back until he reaches the Upper Air. But he turns too soon, and she's swept back for eternity. His grief makes him mute; he's stoned by a violent mob; and the gods transform his lyre into a constellation. There are bound to be some objections to the nudity here (though the genitals are veiled, Mikolaycak paints lots of bare buttocks and breasts), but the passionate story of the artist who moved the universe with his love and grief will have great appeal for high school students, and this version should be especially welcome in curriculum units on myth and art.