Mythology as used in Poetry

Myths are explored and alluded to in all kinds of art forms. The tales of greek gods and heroes being echoed down through literature and art throughout the ages. These myths are even portrayed in poetry, as seen in Natasha Trethewey’s “Myth” and W. H. Auden’s “Musèe des Beaux Arts.” “Myth” makes a quick allusion to Erebus, part of the underworld in Greek mythology, while Auden’s poem references the story of Icarus, the boy who flew too close to the sun. The use of myths in both poems help to strengthen the message that the poem is giving, one by using it as a metaphor, while the other compares it to the concept that incidents do not affect everybody the same way.

In Trethewey’s “Myth,” an allusion to Erebus is made, in reference to the death of someone that the speaker knows, them being between the world of the living and the world of the dead. In the palindromic poem, Erebus is referenced twice. The first time, in lines 3-5, “I make between my slumber and my waking, the Erebus I keep you in, still trying not to let go.” is appropriating the concept of between worlds to be a dream, or the thoughts of the speaker. The memory of their loved one is enough for them to believe that they are alive and comfort them while they dream, in their supposed world within worlds. The second time it is used, in lines 15-16, “The Erebus I keep you in--still, trying-- I make between my slumber and my waking.” reiterates this statement, but in a different way, with the “still, trying” part possibly referring to them trying to live their life without them.

In Auden’s “Musèe des Beaux Arts,” the speaker is in a museum admiring the works of famous artists. The second stanza references Icarus, specifically Breughel’s painting Landscape with the Fall of...

... middle of paper ...

...the myth would be aware of Daedalus’s hand in his son Icarus’s death, and the grief he must feel because of this, while Trethewey’s poem is a grievance for a loved one. Trethewey’s “Myth” depicts a sorrowful message given by a singular person, while Auden’s “Musèe des Beaux Arts” shows the feeling of the masses to be less spectacularly dreadful.

Works Cited

Auden, W. H. “Musèe des Beaux Arts” 1333.

Hyde, William J. "The Fall Of Icarus: A Note On Ovid, Bruegel, And Auden's “Expensive

Delicate Ship”." English Language Notes 41.2 (2003): 66-71. Humanities Full

Text (H.W. Wilson). Web. 29 Mar. 2014.

Mason Jr., K.M. "Auden's Musee Des Beaux Arts." Explicator 48.4 (1990): 283.

Academic Search Complete. Web. 15 Apr. 2014.

Mays, Kelly J., Ed. The Norton Introduction to Literature. 11th Ed. New York: Norton,

2013. 1709-1804. Print.

Trethewey, Natasha. “Myth.” Mays 1079.