The King Must Die And Bull From The Sea Analysis

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Realistic Myths The presence of mythological gods is scattered throughout Mary Renault’s books, The King Must Die and Bull from the Sea. One specific reoccurring figure in this series is Poseidon, he is never shown in all of his godly glory but instead is merely hinted at through subtle nods via Theseus’s connection to the sea and other creatures related to Poseidon. This is where myths begin to clash with reality. Generally, in Mary Renaults writing she uses realism to capture both the logical and illogical portions of the myths. However, sometimes the use of realism begins to falter, and she adapts her stories so that magical realism can incorporate the myths into reality. What is magic realism? According to the Merriam-Webster dictionary it is “a literary genre or …show more content…

They are inside a temple for Poseidon, Theseus is doing extra work around a well while speaking to Poseidon, until Simo hears him and begins to belittle Theseus. At this point Theseus begins feeling ill, and extremely upset, as an earthquake builds around him. “I could not endure his voice sawing at the stillness. The offended silence seemed to brood around us. “Go away!” I Said. Can’t you feel Poseidon is angry?... I tingled all over, body, limbs, and head. I did not know what oppressed me so; but Simo’s laughter was past bearing. I shouted, “Get out!” and stamped my foot. My foot struck the earth; and the earth moved” (Renault 23). Through Theseus’s mythical luck, he is given an ability, relate to Poseidon, and can sense earthquakes. It would not be impossible for these events to happen at the same time, it is just extremely unlikely. This is where magical realism begins to interact with the story, it allows for unlikely events to become more then likely. It also allows for the gods, Poseidon in this case, to show that there is a possibility of existing without being overly

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