Analysis of Leda and the Swan Essay -- English Literature

Analysis of Leda and the Swan. Greek mythology.Analysis of Leda and the Swan.Greek mythology has, windup-to-end history, been the subject of muchdebate and interpretation. Conjuring up images of bloody battles andcrumbling cities, its descriptions of the heroic song battle between good andevil still have infrequent relevance and continue to resonate withpoignancy in our bleak, war-torn society. The poem Leda and the Swan,written by William Butler Yeats, attempts to shed new light on what isarguably one of Ancient Greeces most controversial myths. In this try out I aim to study the poem in more depth, analysing what Yeats saysand how he says it.Leda and the Swan is an interpretation of the Greek myth wherein Zeus,in the form of a swan, violated a young woman, who gave birth to Helenand Clytemnestra. Helens flight with Paris to Troy, expiration herhusband Menelaus (Agamemnons brother) caused the war between theGreeks and the Trojans. Clytemnestra then murdered her husbandAgamemno n on his return from victory at Troy.The poem begins with Yeats emphasising the brutality of Zeus actions,describing the initial involve as a sudden blow. The two words conceptualizethe connotation of brutality, urgency and force the harshnessof the word sudden consolidating the phrases power. in that respect 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 get a line the wingsof the swan which represents him, while the harshness of harshness ofthe word licking re-emphasising the brutality of Zeus actions.Furthermore, Yeats use of the word great implies glory and majesty,... ...self as a swan. It is to a fault clear from the poem that Ledafelt ambivalent while beingness raped - she was unsure of whether tosubmit or resist. The implication near the end of the poem is that shedid attempt to resist (although the shudder in the loins and the white rush convey the fact that she was raped), yet the question iswhy this was so. Yeats causes the referee to ponder on whether Ledasfingers were terrified because of the act or because of herpotential experience of the consequences, and he himself near the endof the poem ponders on whether she knew the consequences of the rape forrader it happened (Did she put on his knowledge with his power?).Yeats speaks, on a genuine 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.