thinking about how orpheus turning to look back at eurydice isn’t a sign of mortal frailness but a sign of love
“Eurydice, dying now a second time, uttered no complaint against her husband. What was there to complain of, but that she had been loved?” ― Ovid, Metamorphoses
This is true no matter the version you’re reading.
1. Eurydice trips and Orpheus turns to help her because he loves her.
2. Orpheus cannot hear Eurydice behind him, and fearing that he’s been tricked, turns to make sure she’s there.
3. Orpheus makes it out of the Underworld, and so full of love and excitement to be with Eurydice, turns to embrace her, forgetting that they both need to be out of the Underworld.
No matter what happens in the story, Orpheus loses Eurydice because his love for her compels him to look.
Orpheus, I can forgive you, then, There’s not a soul alive who wouldn’t have looked back
Don’t forget Gluck’s opera, where Eurydice doesn’t know Orpheus is forbidden to look back, Orpheus is also forbidden to tell her, she assumes he must not love her anymore, and Orpheus finally looks back to reassure her of his love because he can’t bear her anguish.
In that version in particular, but possibly in all retellings, a part of us wants Orpheus to look back, because his failure proves his love.
I’d be the voice that urged Orpheus When her body was found I’d be the choiceless hope in grief That drove him underground I’d be the dreadful need in the devotee That made him turn around (Hey ya) And I’d be the immediate forgiveness In Eurydice
I kinda want to do the gentle lil tappities that you do to babies bellies that make them laugh like crazy to Huey, I wanna see that babytwo do the baby laughs... But I do not want to risk The Mother's Wrath
So this has actually been cited by academics as part of the major draw to online spaces is the fact that just existing in public is reacted to with hostility and punishment. Gretchen McCulloch discussed this is in her book Because Internet, citing research that shows teens and young adults want to be outside! We want to spend time in social places, it’s just that there aren’t any places to exist in public without being charged for it.