1. Part 8
Myth and Literature
References to myths enrich our
enjoyment of literature, music, and
performances.

2. Rationale
• In this section we move from “living” mythology and ritual
to literary works by artists who incorporate the stories,
places, and characters from the mythological tradition in
their own efforts.
• As we read literary works — or listen to song lyrics and
view films which contain elements of the mythological
tradition — we can gain much more information and
enjoyment if we are aware of the mythological
connections they include.
• Understanding mythological stories can provide access
to what almost amounts to a secret language of
unspoken references.

3. Changing Views on
Using Myth in Literature
• In the early days of Christianity in Europe, manuscripts
about the ancient Greek and Roman gods were frowned
on, as they represented stories about a rival religion, one
which, in the minds of most people, had been replaced
by Christianity.
• By the Middle Ages, literary production grew at a
constant pace, but the fear of non-Western, non-
Christian influence led to an emphasis in art and
literature on Biblical, religious, and ethnically heroic
themes. There was not much knowledge of classical
literature except for works by Ovid, used as allegory for
Christian beliefs.

4. Changing Views on
Using Myth in Literature, 2
• The wars called the Crusades (lasting 200 years from the end of the
11th century) took many Europeans to Jerusalem and other parts of
the Middle East.
• In the great libraries maintained by Islamic empires, these
Christians rediscovered the works of ancient Greek and Roman
writers that often incorporated mythological stories.
• A surge of interest arose in ancient Greek and Roman culture. This
was called the Renaissance ("rebirth").
• The invention of the printing press in the mid-15th century made
classical literature more accessible to the reading public.
• In turn, the lively interest in ancient Greece and Rome helped lead
to a general shift from the religious and theological perspective to a
more secular focus on all aspects of human nature (thus, the term
“humanism").

5. Changing Views on
Using Myth in Literature, 3
• In the 17th century in England, George Chapman's translations of The Iliad
and The Odyssey made Homer's epics even more widely accessible.
Because most literate people were so familiar with traditional myths and
their characters, poets often alluded to mythological figures in their works,
even if the ancient story was not the main theme.
• In the late 18th century, classical mythology again came into favor in
Europe. A good example of this trend is the popularity of a type of poem
called the “pastoral.” In it, Greek shepherds and shepherdesses inhabit an
idealized and tranquil landscape — which in its simplicity seemed an
antidote to the increasingly industrialized and urban world of the readers.
• Later, archeologists were returning to Europe carrying statuary and huge
pieces of ancient monuments. From the mid-18th and throughout the 19th
century, the English, Germans, and other Europeans were getting to actually
see remnants of the cultures of classical mythology, even without traveling
to the Middle East. The personages and events depicted on these again
excited the interest of the public as well as the academic communities.

6. Mythology in the
Western Tradition
Title Author Genre / Sample Mythological
References
The Divine Comedy
(early 14th c.)
Dante
Alighieri
Dante travels with the Roman poet, Virgil.
They meet figures from ancient Rome and
Troy. Examples: Aeneas, Hector,
Achilles, Helen, Minotaur.
Troilus and
Criseyde (1385)
Chaucer Long tragic love poem about Troilus, a
Trojan prince who loses his beloved to the
Greek warrior Diomede.
Aeneid (1557) Henry
Howard
English translation of Virgil's Latin work.

7. Mythology in the
Western Tradition, 2
Title Author Genre / Sample Mythological
References
"Venus and Adonis"
(1593)
William
Shakespeare
Mythological-erotic poem drawing upon the
classical Roman poet Ovid.
The Faerie
Queen (1596)
Edmund Spenser Epic poem. Spenser acknowledged his use of
classical epic style, motifs, characters, etc.
Hero and
Leander (1598)
Christopher
Marlowe
Mythological-erotic poem drawing upon the
classical Roman poet Ovid; finished after
Marlowe's death by George Chapman.

8. Mythology in the
Western Tradition, 3
Title Author Genre / Sample Mythological
References
The Iliad (1611)
The Odyssey (1616)
George Chapman Translations of Homer's works.
Comus (1634) John Milton Masque presenting examples of chaste love,
based on Odysseus's adventures. Examples:
Cupid, Psyche, Venus, and Adonis.
"Lycidas" (1637) John Milton Elegy in the form of a pastoral poem.

9. Mythology in the
Western Tradition, 4
Title Author Genre / Sample Mythological
References
The Fall of
Hyperion (1819)
John Keats Epic poem. Like Prometheus
Unbound, it deals with the question of
the source and elimination of evil. Examples:
Hyperion, Saturn, Oceanus, Apollo.
"Ode on a Grecian Urn"
(1819) "Ode to Psyche"
(1819) "To Homer"
(1848)
John Keats Poems. Addressed to the titled object or
person, they praise the effect of ancient Greek
influence on the poet. Examples: Arcadia,
Olympus, Diana.

10. Mythology in the
Western Tradition, 5
Title Author Genre / Sample Mythological
References
Prometheus
Unbound (1820)
Percy Bysshe
Shelley
Symbolic drama. Continuing the story of
Prometheus dramatized by Aeschylus, it
illustrates Shelley's ideas on social justice and
the problem of evil.
"Ulysses" (1833) Alfred Lord
Tennyson
Poem. Uses Homeric characters and events
to investigate the human problem of aging.
Ulysses finds it painful that he did not travel
more, and that he is now too old.

11. Mythology in the
Western Tradition, 6
Title Author Genre / Sample Mythological
References
"The Sphinx" (1841) Ralph Waldo
Emerson
Poem. Uses images of the Sphinx and
allusions to classical mythology, like Lethe
and Jove, to argue against emphasis on
particulars in life in favor of the eternal.
"The Second Coming"
(1920)
William Butler
Yeats
Poem. Derives images from the Bible, for
example, to describe Yeats’ philosophical
views, incorporates the birth of Christ.
"Leda and the Swan"
(1921)
William Butler
Yeats
Sonnet. Uses the ancient story of
the fall of Troy as a metaphor for the
political situation in Ireland. Uses
classical Greek myth, refers to
Helen and Paris, Agamemnon.

12. Mythology in the
Western Tradition, 7
Title Author Genre / Sample Mythological
References
Ulysses (1922) James Joyce Follows hero through one day in Dublin in
1904. No named references to classical Greek
mythology, but in his notes, Joyce referred
to various episodes by their Odyssey
counterpart story, e.g., Circe, Cyclops, etc.
"Helen" (1924) Hilda Doolittle Poem. Helen of Troy.
Mourning
Becomes Electra
(1931)
Eugene O'Neill Modern American attempt to recreate the
Oresteia of Aeschylus in light of the
psychological theories of Freud.

13. Mythology in the
Western Tradition, 8
Title Author Genre / Sample Mythological
References
The Centaur
(1963)
John Updike Although set in mid-20th-century
Pennsylvania, characters represent classical
Greek deities. The action takes place in
the world we know, although the
underlying motivations of the
characters are rooted in their
identities in mythology.
“Yellow Woman” (1981) Leslie Marmon
Silko
Short story. Contemporary narration of
ancient Navajo legend in which the heroine
tries to deny her existence as the
mythological Yellow Woman.

14. Mythology in the
Western Tradition, 9
Title Author Genre / Sample Mythological
References
"The Tiger's Bride"
(1995)
Angela Carter Tale. Ironic retelling of "Beauty and the
Beast."
"Snow White and the
Seven Dwarfs" (1971)
Anne Sexton Poem. Satiric presentation of Grimm
brothers' fairy tale. Part of a series of such
revisions in Transformations.

15. Further Trends
• A growing body of literature in the United States reveals
the richness of Native American mythology.
• Folk and fairy tales often appear in modern literature.
– New versions of classical fairy tales are aimed at particular
audiences. These stories, or “duplications,” maintain the ideas
and belief system of the original, but alter them to suit a new
audience.
– More creative incorporations transfer old tales into other
perspectives and styles of writing. These "revisions" are different
from duplications. They draw upon a well-honored tradition
without remaining bound to its aims or style of writing.