MAJOR SPOILERS FOR KAOS
I have rewatched Kaos, the one season TV show on Netflix (cancelled despite being a top 10 series in the US during its release). I have also previously written a review for Kaos, praising its innovation and modern setting that reimagines the myths and reimagines a society whose laws and politicians are guided by a belief in what are now ancient gods. The very foundation of this society is that once someone dies, they are Renewed and reborn on Earth. A life of service to the gods is rewarded in Renewal. This framework for their morals, their life, and their system of belief provides a study into what people believe they deserve because of the gods, what they live for when believing there is a second chance, and their relationship to the gods who seem to curse this life. This is apparent in the series, and my first review touches on the broader strokes of the series.
However, this is a rumination on Kaos’s retelling of the Orpheus and Eurydice myth. This is my favorite ancient Greek myth, one of true love and sacrifice. I’ve previously studied adaptations and retellings of this myth before, so I come with some mild experience. Therefore, my focus shall be on the implications of this particular retelling.
In many ancient myths, lovers kill each other, betray each other, or have children due to assault or rape. The stories of love are bloody and violent, where the violence is interpersonal. The Orpheus and Eurydice myth, on the other hand, is about the strength of trust and love despite death. It’s a testament to their love that Orpheus embarks on a katabasis, journey to the Underworld, to bring Eurydice back, and a test of trust to take her to Earth without looking back and checking that she is there. The version of the myth, I now reference, Orpheus turns back when taking Eurydice back to the Earth after he leaves the Underworld. He looks back by hearing her stumble and fall, or he looks back because he has succeeded but looks back too soon. To me, this feels like the ultimate show of love, of instinct to check on her. Regardless, she must return to the Underworld, to death, and he goes insane in her absence.
With this context, applying this myth to Kaos, is fascinating. For one, this myth, this show of love, of pure devotion, is already upended because Eurydice does not love Orpheus. She is married to him, but falling out of love, while he writes about their love as a famous singer. So, their story already is not about true love and pure devotion, but rather about the ebbs and flows of love. Eurydice’s death is an unimaginable grief for Orpheus. For her, it is an escape. She leaves Orpheus, just as she leaves everyone else. Therefore, Eurydice is already not the object of Orpheus’ love, and does not solely exist as motivation for his katabasis. She has agency and her own emotions, which are centered and reimagined to be directly antithetical to the myth. The retelling considers her own feelings and emotions which do not exist in the myth. This retelling asks us to consider “what if she didn’t want to go back with him?”
The other consideration that makes this retelling hit so hard, is once she is brought back successfully from the Underworld, she asks Orpheus to look at her. Let me repeat for emphasis: she asks, begs even, for Orpheus to look back at her. At this point, he knows she does not love him anymore, she is brought back to the land of the living, and she asks him to look at her. This is their goodbye reimagined. She leaves him, not to go back to the Underworld and die because of his gaze, but she is leaving him to fulfill her fate and complete her prophecy. This once again, recenters her autonomy and choice to leave him behind. Rather than being forced to leave because Orpheus looks at her, she asks him to look at her so she can leave of her own volition.