Hadestown Explained: The Greek Myth Behind Orpheus and Eurydice

Hadestown turns one of the most enduring stories in mythology into a folk-jazz musical about love, doubt and the power of a song. Written by Anaïs Mitchell, with Rachel Chavkin developing and directing the stage production, it brings together two myths: Orpheus and Eurydice, and Hades and Persephone. The result is a sung-through journey from a troubled world above ground to an industrial Underworld.

The original Orpheus and Eurydice myth

The best-known ancient literary version comes from Ovid’s Metamorphoses, a Roman poem that preserves a story rooted in Greek myth. In Book X of Ovid’s Metamorphoses, Eurydice dies from a snakebite shortly after her wedding to Orpheus. The musician travels through the Underworld and plays his lyre for its rulers, Hades and Persephone. His music moves the spirits and wins Eurydice a chance to return to the living—but only if Orpheus walks ahead and does not look back until they have escaped.

He almost succeeds. Near the surface, fear overcomes him and he turns. Eurydice is pulled back into the Underworld, leaving Orpheus with a second, devastating loss. That famous condition—the glance that changes everything—is the central test that Hadestown reshapes for the stage.

How the musical changes the story

Hadestown does not simply retell Ovid. It intertwines the lovers’ journey with the myth of Hades and Persephone, making their relationship a second, older love story within the show. Concord Theatricals’ official synopsis describes the musical as two interlocking romances: young dreamers Orpheus and Eurydice, and the immortal King Hades and Persephone.

In Mitchell’s version, Orpheus is a gifted but naïve poet trying to finish a song that can restore a broken world. Eurydice is hungry, vulnerable and searching for security. Their romance is therefore not only a supernatural quest: it is also a story about two people facing scarcity and deciding what they can risk for one another.

The Underworld becomes “Hadestown”, an industrial kingdom ruled by Hades. The musical’s official learning resource pack presents it as a place of rail tracks, furnaces, workers and relentless labour, while Persephone moves between the world below and the world above. Her separation from the living world helps give the show its seasonal rhythm: warmth and abundance above, cold and hardship when she is away.

What happens in Hadestown? Spoilers ahead

Hermes acts as narrator and guide, introducing the gods, the workers and the two young mortals. Orpheus and Eurydice fall in love as he works on his unfinished song, but winter and hunger make life increasingly precarious. When Eurydice hears the promises of safety and plenty in Hades’ kingdom, she boards the train to Hadestown.

Orpheus follows her into the Underworld. His music reaches the workers and begins to soften Hades, while Persephone and Hades confront the distance that has grown between them. Hades finally allows Orpheus and Eurydice to leave, under the same seemingly simple condition found in the ancient story: Orpheus must lead the way without looking behind him.

The journey home becomes a test of trust. With doubt mounting and the finish line close, Orpheus turns—and Eurydice disappears back into Hadestown. The ending is heartbreaking, but the show’s philosophy is hopeful: Hermes says the story is told again even though everyone knows how it ends. Repeating the song keeps the possibility of change alive.

From folk opera to Broadway and the West End

The show began as a community-theatre project and a studio album before its 2016 world premiere at New York Theatre Workshop. The venue’s official production page describes the work as a folk opera inspired by American folk music and vintage New Orleans jazz. It later reached Broadway in 2019 and made its West End debut at London’s Lyric Theatre in 2024, according to Concord Theatricals’ production history.

That evolution is part of the musical’s magic. Hadestown honours the ancient Orpheus and Eurydice story while giving it a distinctly modern theatrical world of workers, railways, jazz, folk music and vividly human choices. It is a myth about looking back—but also about why we keep telling stories, singing songs and trying again.