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Greek Myths #3
Enchanted Fire
Orpheus...his music was magic.
His gifted fingers stroke lyrical enchantment from his lyre, seducing Gods and mortals alike. Until he is seduced by the bewitching Eurydice, a woman with the beauty of a goddess—a woman who tempts and torments him beyond earthly reason.
Eurydice...her magic was ecstasy.
Her power is the power of the immortals—a gift that has made her the most feared woman in Thrace. Fleeing a sorcerer of even greater power, she finds sanctuary aboard the legendary Argo—and dangerous desire in the arms of the proud, sensual Orpheus.
In Enchanted Fire, an unforgettable legend comes to life: the magnificent love story of Orpheus and Eurydice. Against the dazzling splendor of a world lost in the mists of time—where a shepherd named Jason searches for the elusive golden fleece, and a vengeful woman called Medea unleashes her powerful sorcery—a humble musician named Orpheus will journey to the darkest depths of Hades to reclaim a love as glorious as the heavens above.
His gifted fingers stroke lyrical enchantment from his lyre, seducing Gods and mortals alike. Until he is seduced by the bewitching Eurydice, a woman with the beauty of a goddess—a woman who tempts and torments him beyond earthly reason.
Eurydice...her magic was ecstasy.
Her power is the power of the immortals—a gift that has made her the most feared woman in Thrace. Fleeing a sorcerer of even greater power, she finds sanctuary aboard the legendary Argo—and dangerous desire in the arms of the proud, sensual Orpheus.
In Enchanted Fire, an unforgettable legend comes to life: the magnificent love story of Orpheus and Eurydice. Against the dazzling splendor of a world lost in the mists of time—where a shepherd named Jason searches for the elusive golden fleece, and a vengeful woman called Medea unleashes her powerful sorcery—a humble musician named Orpheus will journey to the darkest depths of Hades to reclaim a love as glorious as the heavens above.
448 pages, Mass Market Paperback
First published December 1, 1996
5 people are currently reading
222 people want to read
About the author
Roberta Gellis
56 books185 followersRoberta Gellis has been one of the most successful writers of historical fiction of the last few decades, having published about 25 meticulously researched historical novels since 1964. She was married to her husband Charles for over 50 years and they lived together in Lafayette, Indiana with a lively Lakeland terrier called Taffy. She has one child called Mark.
Her page at the Internet Speculative Fiction DataBase
Her page at the Internet Speculative Fiction DataBase
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Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews
June 23, 2013
Greek mythos as feminist romance.
Eurydice is a powerful Thracian witch, but being powerful does not protect her from being persecuted because of her Gift. She is a fugitive from the latest local village where she used her Powers for good, then defended herself from evil, when Jason and the Argonauts come ashore for water and hunting. She makes herself useful to them, and the Gifted musician Orpheus takes her under his protection. They sail on, having the classic adventures in search of the Golden Fleece, with Eurydice as a crew member, an important part in rescuing Phineas from the harpies, and obtaining the Fleece with the partial cooperation of Medea.
Along the way, Eurydice falls deeply in love with Orpheus, and he with her, despite the fact that her Gift still makes him uneasy, and she doesn't keep her eyes cast down as proper Greek woman would.
Spoiler alert for those who didn't study Greek mythology in high school or college:
I loved this feminist retelling of the story; I found all the characters vivid and unique, from Jason to Heracles to Medea (extremely creepy). Eurydice was brilliant and pragmatic; Orpheus was charming, persuasive, and he reminded me of many modern men who might be great in their own way, but don't "get it" about women's issues because they don't WANT to "get it."
Eurydice is a powerful Thracian witch, but being powerful does not protect her from being persecuted because of her Gift. She is a fugitive from the latest local village where she used her Powers for good, then defended herself from evil, when Jason and the Argonauts come ashore for water and hunting. She makes herself useful to them, and the Gifted musician Orpheus takes her under his protection. They sail on, having the classic adventures in search of the Golden Fleece, with Eurydice as a crew member, an important part in rescuing Phineas from the harpies, and obtaining the Fleece with the partial cooperation of Medea.
Along the way, Eurydice falls deeply in love with Orpheus, and he with her, despite the fact that her Gift still makes him uneasy, and she doesn't keep her eyes cast down as proper Greek woman would.
Spoiler alert for those who didn't study Greek mythology in high school or college:
I loved this feminist retelling of the story; I found all the characters vivid and unique, from Jason to Heracles to Medea (extremely creepy). Eurydice was brilliant and pragmatic; Orpheus was charming, persuasive, and he reminded me of many modern men who might be great in their own way, but don't "get it" about women's issues because they don't WANT to "get it."
June 18, 2025
Greek Myths – Enchanted Fire by Roberta Gellis
9 out of 10
The Human Stain https://realinibarzoi.blogspot.com/20... is one of the 1,000 Novels Everyone Must Read and it states that Western literature starts with…a quarrel, the conflict between the Greeks and Trojans, over Helen, her return and that brings as to the Great Myths
They are fundamental in reading any magnum opus, without which we do not understand many of the messages (if any) and we can read about different perspectives on the Gods, the legends, such as the one offered by Alberto Moravia in his chef d’ oeuvre Contempt https://realini.blogspot.com/2016/11/... where we have an original interpretation
Alberto Moravia is writing that the journey of Ulysses that is described in The Odyssey, and that takes so long – I think it was ten years - was in fact not so much due to adversity, which we cannot doubt – there are the sirens, with their seductive, irresistible songs, the Cyclops, who would have killed our hero and his men, were it not for the clever ruse of giving the name ‘Nobody’ – Ulysses had not really desired to return, hence the detour
One of the touching legends concerns Orpheus, the demi god that could sing so divinely that he could charm everyone and everything, taming wolves and the waves, the gods would lean from Olympus to hear him better, even the rocks on a journey would stand back from his ship – the latter might be my invention, the lapse of memory creating it
This great half god artist hears about the journey of the Argonauts and he is interested, wants to join the expedition – incidentally, in my time as a tour manager, I had to tell my clients about the parts of the Golden Fleece story which concerned our lands, the itinerary, for some connected the Argonauts with my realm
I think I remember, however long it has been since I had to tell these stories, that some of the episodes are associated with the Black Sea, perhaps near Constanta, aka Tomis in the old days, and then the Danube is thought to have had some part in the action, in some interpretations at least, and travelers like to hear tales
Jason wants to get the golden fleece, which is guarded by a dragon, because he will get the throne of his land, if he achieves this feat, and Orpheus would prove instrumental, for he charms the waves, the rocks (if I am not mystifying you with this)
We know about the sirens from the Odyssey, only just like they tried to do with Ulysses and his crew, they swim to the Argo and sing so that they mesmerize and attract into the depths the sailors and Jason, and Orpheus helps again, saving the situation with his songs, which are more effective, the sirens commit suicide, with one exception
Orpheus may be one of the first vegetarians, or vegans, but I am not clear on this, the more important part of his legend comes when he meets Eurydice and falls in love with her, she accepts to be his wife, Himeneu (which probably has something to do with the name of that part of anatomy associated with virginity) is there, at the wedding
This is the god of marriage, but some bad omen suggests perils – some time later, Eurydice sleeps near a place of arcadian joy, a shepherd comes near and scares her, awoken, she flees from danger, only alas, she is bitten by a snake and found dead by the devasted Orpheus, who would not accept her demise and fight it
He becomes the first to enter the inferno to snatch his love from the clutches of death, at the Styx, he enchants Charon, and the three-headed dog Cerberus, and then he appears before Hades, ruler of the underworld, and his queen, Persephone, the latter knows about this type of tragedy, since she had been taken herself
Hades had fallen in love with Persephone, taken her to his underworld, almost causing the end of humanity, because Demeter, the goddess of harvest and mother of Persephone, would go ‘on strike’, refusing to allow any food to be produced, until her child is liberated, an impasse which ended in compromise
We now have the seasons because of this drama, when Persephone is under ground, Demeter gives us winter, when nothing grows – the queen of the under world is touched by the love expressed by Orpheus and he is allowed to take Eurydice back to the world of the living with him, on condition he obeys the rules of the place
He must not look at his loved one, until he is out and above, and he takes the long journey, taking Persephone with him, does not look, until the last moment, when, unfortunately, he looks into her eyes, and this is the end of the accepted deal, Eurydice is taken away, and the disconsolate demi God will be in eternal pain
He is without consolation, his sadness infinite, the songs are heart breaking and the maenads (if that is how you write this name) attack the poor fellow and tear him to pieces, cutting his head off and throwing it into the river, where it…continues to sing, floating up to the island of Lesbos, where it is taken by the muses and buried
We have the constellation Libra, in the memory of the talented, mesmerizing singer, who adored with such intensity that the Thomas Mann story about love is confirmed - https://realini.blogspot.com/2023/06/... we can find this feeling only in art, or mythology
Now for my standard closing of the note with a question, and invitation – maybe you have a good idea on how we could make more than a million dollars with this http://realini.blogspot.com/2022/02/u... – as it is, this is a unique technique, which we could promote, sell, open the Oscars show with or something and then make lots of money together, if you have the how, I have the product, I just do not know how to get the befits from it, other than the exercise per se
There is also the small matter of working for AT&T – this huge company asked me to be its Representative for Romania and Bulgaria, on the Calling Card side, which meant sailing into the Black Sea wo meet the US Navy ships, travelling to Sofia, a lot of activity, using my mother’s two bedrooms flat as office and warehouse, all for the grand total of $250, raised after a lot of persuasion to the staggering $400…with retirement ahead, there are no benefits, nothing…it is a longer story, but if you can help get the mastodont to pay some dues, or have an idea how it can happen, let me know
As for my role in the Revolution that killed Ceausescu, a smaller Mao, there it is http://realini.blogspot.com/2022/03/r...
Some favorite quotes from To The Heritage and other works
‘Fiction is infinitely preferable to real life...As long as you avoid the books of Kafka or Beckett, the everlasting plot of fiction has fewer futile experiences than the careless plot of reality...Fiction's people are fuller, deeper, cleverer, more moving than those in real life…Its actions are more intricate, illuminating, noble, profound…There are many more dramas, climaxes, romantic fulfillment, twists, turns, gratified resolutions…Unlike reality, all of this you can experience without leaving the house or even getting out of bed…What's more, books are a form of intelligent human greatness, as stories are a higher order of sense…As random life is to destiny, so stories are to great authors, who provided us with some of the highest pleasures and the most wonderful mystifications we can find…Few stories are greater than Anna Karenina, that wise epic by an often foolish author…’
‚Parturiunt montes, nascetur ridiculus mus’
“From Monty Python - The Meaning of Life...Well, it's nothing very special...Try and be nice to people, avoid eating fat, read a good book every now and then, get some walking in, and try and live together in peace and harmony with people of all creeds and nations.”
9 out of 10
The Human Stain https://realinibarzoi.blogspot.com/20... is one of the 1,000 Novels Everyone Must Read and it states that Western literature starts with…a quarrel, the conflict between the Greeks and Trojans, over Helen, her return and that brings as to the Great Myths
They are fundamental in reading any magnum opus, without which we do not understand many of the messages (if any) and we can read about different perspectives on the Gods, the legends, such as the one offered by Alberto Moravia in his chef d’ oeuvre Contempt https://realini.blogspot.com/2016/11/... where we have an original interpretation
Alberto Moravia is writing that the journey of Ulysses that is described in The Odyssey, and that takes so long – I think it was ten years - was in fact not so much due to adversity, which we cannot doubt – there are the sirens, with their seductive, irresistible songs, the Cyclops, who would have killed our hero and his men, were it not for the clever ruse of giving the name ‘Nobody’ – Ulysses had not really desired to return, hence the detour
One of the touching legends concerns Orpheus, the demi god that could sing so divinely that he could charm everyone and everything, taming wolves and the waves, the gods would lean from Olympus to hear him better, even the rocks on a journey would stand back from his ship – the latter might be my invention, the lapse of memory creating it
This great half god artist hears about the journey of the Argonauts and he is interested, wants to join the expedition – incidentally, in my time as a tour manager, I had to tell my clients about the parts of the Golden Fleece story which concerned our lands, the itinerary, for some connected the Argonauts with my realm
I think I remember, however long it has been since I had to tell these stories, that some of the episodes are associated with the Black Sea, perhaps near Constanta, aka Tomis in the old days, and then the Danube is thought to have had some part in the action, in some interpretations at least, and travelers like to hear tales
Jason wants to get the golden fleece, which is guarded by a dragon, because he will get the throne of his land, if he achieves this feat, and Orpheus would prove instrumental, for he charms the waves, the rocks (if I am not mystifying you with this)
We know about the sirens from the Odyssey, only just like they tried to do with Ulysses and his crew, they swim to the Argo and sing so that they mesmerize and attract into the depths the sailors and Jason, and Orpheus helps again, saving the situation with his songs, which are more effective, the sirens commit suicide, with one exception
Orpheus may be one of the first vegetarians, or vegans, but I am not clear on this, the more important part of his legend comes when he meets Eurydice and falls in love with her, she accepts to be his wife, Himeneu (which probably has something to do with the name of that part of anatomy associated with virginity) is there, at the wedding
This is the god of marriage, but some bad omen suggests perils – some time later, Eurydice sleeps near a place of arcadian joy, a shepherd comes near and scares her, awoken, she flees from danger, only alas, she is bitten by a snake and found dead by the devasted Orpheus, who would not accept her demise and fight it
He becomes the first to enter the inferno to snatch his love from the clutches of death, at the Styx, he enchants Charon, and the three-headed dog Cerberus, and then he appears before Hades, ruler of the underworld, and his queen, Persephone, the latter knows about this type of tragedy, since she had been taken herself
Hades had fallen in love with Persephone, taken her to his underworld, almost causing the end of humanity, because Demeter, the goddess of harvest and mother of Persephone, would go ‘on strike’, refusing to allow any food to be produced, until her child is liberated, an impasse which ended in compromise
We now have the seasons because of this drama, when Persephone is under ground, Demeter gives us winter, when nothing grows – the queen of the under world is touched by the love expressed by Orpheus and he is allowed to take Eurydice back to the world of the living with him, on condition he obeys the rules of the place
He must not look at his loved one, until he is out and above, and he takes the long journey, taking Persephone with him, does not look, until the last moment, when, unfortunately, he looks into her eyes, and this is the end of the accepted deal, Eurydice is taken away, and the disconsolate demi God will be in eternal pain
He is without consolation, his sadness infinite, the songs are heart breaking and the maenads (if that is how you write this name) attack the poor fellow and tear him to pieces, cutting his head off and throwing it into the river, where it…continues to sing, floating up to the island of Lesbos, where it is taken by the muses and buried
We have the constellation Libra, in the memory of the talented, mesmerizing singer, who adored with such intensity that the Thomas Mann story about love is confirmed - https://realini.blogspot.com/2023/06/... we can find this feeling only in art, or mythology
Now for my standard closing of the note with a question, and invitation – maybe you have a good idea on how we could make more than a million dollars with this http://realini.blogspot.com/2022/02/u... – as it is, this is a unique technique, which we could promote, sell, open the Oscars show with or something and then make lots of money together, if you have the how, I have the product, I just do not know how to get the befits from it, other than the exercise per se
There is also the small matter of working for AT&T – this huge company asked me to be its Representative for Romania and Bulgaria, on the Calling Card side, which meant sailing into the Black Sea wo meet the US Navy ships, travelling to Sofia, a lot of activity, using my mother’s two bedrooms flat as office and warehouse, all for the grand total of $250, raised after a lot of persuasion to the staggering $400…with retirement ahead, there are no benefits, nothing…it is a longer story, but if you can help get the mastodont to pay some dues, or have an idea how it can happen, let me know
As for my role in the Revolution that killed Ceausescu, a smaller Mao, there it is http://realini.blogspot.com/2022/03/r...
Some favorite quotes from To The Heritage and other works
‘Fiction is infinitely preferable to real life...As long as you avoid the books of Kafka or Beckett, the everlasting plot of fiction has fewer futile experiences than the careless plot of reality...Fiction's people are fuller, deeper, cleverer, more moving than those in real life…Its actions are more intricate, illuminating, noble, profound…There are many more dramas, climaxes, romantic fulfillment, twists, turns, gratified resolutions…Unlike reality, all of this you can experience without leaving the house or even getting out of bed…What's more, books are a form of intelligent human greatness, as stories are a higher order of sense…As random life is to destiny, so stories are to great authors, who provided us with some of the highest pleasures and the most wonderful mystifications we can find…Few stories are greater than Anna Karenina, that wise epic by an often foolish author…’
‚Parturiunt montes, nascetur ridiculus mus’
“From Monty Python - The Meaning of Life...Well, it's nothing very special...Try and be nice to people, avoid eating fat, read a good book every now and then, get some walking in, and try and live together in peace and harmony with people of all creeds and nations.”
July 22, 2018
A wonderful Greek myth retold.
As with any book by Roberta Gelllis, fast moving and a page Turner. I could not read it fast enough to find out what was going to happen next.
As with any book by Roberta Gelllis, fast moving and a page Turner. I could not read it fast enough to find out what was going to happen next.
October 24, 2023
At some point I need to leave a real review, because I love, love, love this book. I've read it over and over again to the point my old copy is falling apart. It's got everything-- a strong but believable heroine, a flawed but lovable hero, action, adventure, hot sex, monsters, witches, everything! Also super cool world building! Anyway, read it, guys-- you won't be disappointed.
Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews