Orpheus (Greek Mythology)

Orpheus is a Greek hero known for his musical talent. After the love of his life, Eurydice, died from a snake bite, Orpheus travelled into the underworld to save her soul. Hades agreed, as long as Orpheus lead Eurydice to the mouth of the underworld without looking back once. Upon leaving the cave, he looked back due to impatience, and Eurydice was lost forever.

Greek myths are often akin to fables, due to their lessons and morals about the flawed human condition. Orpheus himself is the personification of ever-present anxiety that compounds while approaching an event or reward. A comparison to a modern day emotion would be a child eagerly awaiting Christmas, only to open his presents on Christmas Eve and get scolded. The lesson of Orpheus is that patience and discipline are needed most when nearing the end of a difficult period, as that is often when the consequences would be at their most fierce: perhaps not due to external influence, but instead the internal self-flagellation that would occur after losing what you desired most due to impatience.