The Fault of Orpheus in Reverse1

We all know the fault that cost Orpheus his Eurydice as he brought her from Hades, since Pluto had ordained he should not see her until they reached the land of the living. Unable to resist the temptation, he turned to look at her, whereupon she vanished once more into the realm of shadows. So Vergil, Ovid, and many, before and after, relate this melancholy Greek myth of the lover who loses his love by overimpatience.

Of interest here is the comparable dream of a woman which I was able to note in an analysis. Here is how the dreamer herself set it down.

I am going down the steps of my father's old house, steps that lead to the stables. It is dark. I am being followed by the white mare. I do not turn back to see whether it is keeping behind. So it disappeared on the way. Below, I meet Christian, our old coachman, who knew my mother. I feel guilty about the white mare which, upstairs, taking my place, will occupy my rooms and use my bath room.

The dreamer was an orphan whose mother died of an embolism a month after her birth. It was her father, who she adored, who brought her up. Fate had thus gratified the child's oedipal wishes by straightway removing her mother.

The girl had often heard others speak of her mother's tragic death. And as her mother had died to give her birth, a deep unconscious sense of guilt possessed her. Had she not killed her? And, having the father to herself, had not that death been to her advantage? Many a phantasy testified to this early oedipal guilt in the adult woman.

As a girl, in fact, the dreamer had owned and ridden a white mare which, owing to its colour, was called 'Blanchette'. It was then that her father's head groom had taught her riding. This head groom, however, had been her wet nurse's lover and thus had provided the outline of the primal scene for the child. The dream mare therefore could also suggest his mate, especially as she had often danced the dreamer, as a babe, on her foot.

Soon, however, the reality father