I am FASCINATED by BBC Atlantis version of Orpheus and Eurydice. Firstly, and the thing that really fascinates me, is that they're old. They are both old people, and have been with eachother, known eachother, loved eachother, been married to eachother, for a very long time. In all other versions of the story (that I've heard), they are always young, often newlyweds, and there is always a sense of "she died too soon", or "she was so young", or "we barely got any time together" which is not really the case here. She didn't die "naturally" (whatever a "natural" death means) in this version either, but still, she wasn't a young woman. And yet. And yet. It still isn't enough time, for either of them, because obviously this all takes place before, and right after, Eurydice's death. Before he goes after her. And he does go after her, despite them being in "their last days" on earth. They both knew they didn't have much time left, and still he goes after her. Because it wasn't supposed to end like that.
The other thing is that Orpheus is blind. Which makes the whole "do not turn around" bit seem... not pointless, but interesting. He can't see Eurydice anyway, so why that rule? We do see him using Eurydice as help to walk, one hand on her shoulder, she in front of him, leading him forward. So maybe it is meant to be a twist of that, reversing the roles they had in life? I imagine him having to walk down to the underworld alone, without his guide to help him know where to place his feet. Without his best friend to talk to. Without his wife beside him. Although I am just speculating now, since we don't get to see Orpheus and Eurydice again after season 2 episode 5, so we don't actually know how this version of the myth ends. (Except, we kind of do. He does go after her. Of course he does. That's their story, and it always ends the same way. "Love is a force as destructive as it is harmonious".)
