Orpheus' Sacrifice
A musician's fatal glance condemned him to eternal song within the Dreaming, not ascension among the Endless.
What is known from the source is that the series is based on the 1989–1996 comic book written by Neil Gaiman, and that the comic itself contains stories about the Endless and their realms.
Lore & Background
The comic source material (specifically issues #19-20, 'The Song of Orpheus') explicitly contains the story of Orpheus and Eurydice, including Orpheus' sacrifice of his voice and his failed rescue attempt. The event culminates in Orpheus' decapitation by Dream at his own request, after which his head remains in the Dreaming as an immortal, sentient entity. This is a central mythic event within The Sandman canon, not merely a television adaptation.
Reader's Guide
It does not discuss how mortals interact with the Endless, the concept of a mortal soul becoming an aspect of the cosmos, or the theme of stories altering reality.
More in Mythos & History
Elsewhere in The Sandman
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