ORPHEUS, THE BIRTH OF OPERA, AND THE AFTERLIFE IN JUDAISM (IN-PERSON)

Early operas by Monteverdi (1607) and Gluck (1762) present the Greek myth of Orpheus and Eurydice, in which the protagonist literally goes to Hell to retrieve his dead bride. We will study the origin of a brilliant musical and theatrical innovation, opera, which is similar in significance to the advent of film in the 20th century. We will also view the Orpheus operas above. Jewish sources have a great deal to say about the afterlife, largely because the lack of justice and appropriate recompense in our world demands an explanation. We will look at some classical Jewish texts expressing various views on the afterlife, and some passages from the Italian Jewish author Abraham Yagel – a contemporary of Monteverdi – who dreams of a heavenly journey in which he sees the fate of the dead, somewhat in the style of Dante.