Analysis of Leda and the Swan Essay -- English Literature

Analysis of Leda and the Swan. classical mythology.Analysis of Leda and the Swan.Greek mythology has, throughout history, been the subject of muchdebate and interpretation. Conjuring up images of crashing(a) battles andcrumbling cities, its descriptions of the epic battle between good andevil still urinate remarkable relevance and continue to resonate withpoignancy in our bleak, war-worn society. The poem Leda and the Swan,written by William Butler Yeats, attempts to shed new illumine on what isarguably one of Ancient Greeces most controversial myths. In thisessay I aim to study the poem in more(prenominal) depth, analysing what Yeats saysand how he says it.Leda and the Swan is an interpretation of the Greek myth wherein Zeus,in the work of a swan, violated a young woman, who gave birth to Helenand Clytemnestra. Helens flight with capital of France to Troy, leaving her maintain Menelaus (Agamemnons brother) ca employ the war between theGreeks and the Trojans. Clytemnestra the n murdered her husbandAgamemnon on his return from victory at Troy.The poem begins with Yeats emphasising the brutality of Zeus actions,describing the sign impact as a abrupt blow. The two rowing carrythe connotation of brutality, urgency and forcefulness the harshnessof the discourse sudden consolidating the phrases personnel. There is animplication that the action is unnaturally rapid, thus godlike andpowerful. The power and forcefulness of Zeus actions is reinforced asthe line continues, with the word great used to describe the wingsof the swan which represents him, period the harshness of harshness ofthe word beating re-emphasising the brutality of Zeus actions.Furthermore, Yeats use of the word great implies glory and majesty,... ...self as a swan. It is also clear from the poem that Ledafelt ambivalent while being enraptured - she was unsure of whether tosubmit or resist. The implication skilful the end of the poem is that shedid attempt to resist (although the shudde r in the pubes and thewhite rush convey the fact that she was raped), yet the question iswhy this was so. Yeats causes the reader to ponder on whether Ledasfingers were terrified because of the act or because of her potentiality knowledge of the consequences, and he himself near the endof the poem ponders on whether she knew the consequences of the rapebefore it happened (Did she put on his knowledge with his power?).Yeats speaks, on a literal level, about the rape of a young woman, yethe also relates the events of Greek mythology to themes of fate,giving the poem meaning and resonance on a more universal level.