 Orpheus has to be bullied by Public Opinion into trying to rescue Eurydice.The reprehensible conduct of the gods of Olympus in the opera was widely seen as a veiled satire of the court and government of Napoleon III, Emperor of the French.Some critics expressed outrage at the librettists' disrespect for classic mythology and the composer's parody of Gluck's opera "Orfeo ed Euridice"; others praised the piece highly.