Chalcedony I

In Greek mythology some women had to misfortune to have angered the gods and where turned into stone: 'Anaxarete'- for being coldharted, 'Niobe' for having to many children, 'Lethaea' due to her vanity. In the case of the last one, her lover Olenus wished to share in the blame, and so shared her fate. This story is used as a metaphor for how stunned Orpheus was after a failed attempt to bring back his wife from the underworld. It was as if he too were turned to stone.