Mythology in Verse

“The stories are you
and your fear and your hope is as old
as the language of smoke,
the language of blood,
the language of languishing love,
the Gods are all here.
Because the Gods are in us.”

Kae Tempest

I used the Britannica definition of myths as a starting point, that is “specific accounts of gods or superhuman beings involved in extraordinary events or circumstances in a time that is unspecified but which is understood as existing apart from ordinary human experience……..

Myth has existed in every society. Indeed, it would seem to be a basic constituent of human culture. Because the variety is so great, it is difficult to generalize about the nature of myths. But it is clear that in their general characteristics and in their details a people’s myths reflect, express, and explore the people’s self-image.” Britannica. The Myths are more than stories they are multi-faceted narratives that, in cultures both ancient and modern, explain the world and our experience of it. Throughout the ages they have been told and retold across all forms of culture. There is a universality in the topics of the myths; life, death, the origins of man and the world, the nature of the universe, family, good and evil and what is appropriate behaviour. In telling their tales, regardless of their fantastic nature, the mythic story tellers reveal to their audience the connections between the hidden realms of the gods and the everyday life they, the audience, experience. The Ancient Greek and subsequent cultures were not only influenced by the myths, they, also transformed them to reflect societal and cultural changes, thus ensuring their continued relevance. When myths are said to be timeless, it is not a suggestion that they are static, rather an affirmation of their ability to remain relevant.

My perspective is that for a poet mythology offers a shorthand and an immediate indicator that the poet and reader share a common cultural bond.

There are so many poems to choose from in this genre that in order to get a spread of styles I imposed a vague, very flexible framework: we have the myths as first recorded; others a retelling with the original context and narrative still being obvious; some where the context has changed but the narrative is there in some recognisable form; and finally those where the myth or rather references to a myth are there to give additional depth or perspectives to a piece rather than define a narrative. These categories are fluid and tend to blend into one another. In the handout the poems are presented in a chronological order with the most recent first. In part I have used this order as the original myths are so familiar but also to highlight how timeless they are and how poets across the millennia have incorporated them into their work. The myths referenced have mainly been drawn from the ancient Greek and Nordic tradition although there is an English interloper. As an introduction, a children’s poem, ‘Gods and Mortals’ or should it be ‘Mortals and Gods’ a reverso poem from Echo Echo: Reverso poems about the Greek Myths by Marilyn Singer (2016)

The poets

Oliver Teale (1980-) is a lecturer in English literature at Loughborough University in England. Ariadne is a contemporary poem that relocates the myth of Theseus and the Minotaur to a nightclub in a modern-day Greek party resort (Mykonos in this case not Crete). I noticed that this poem appeared in several listings of the best poems on the topic and have only just realised that these lists and accompanying articles were frequently written by him.

Louise Glück (1943-2023) was an American poet and essayist. She won the 2020 Nobel Prize in Literature, whose judges praised "her unmistakable poetic voice that with austere beauty makes individual existence universal". In this poem, a retelling of the myth of Persephone and Hades, Gluck attempts to get inside the head of the abducting god of the Underworld who carried off the beautiful Persephone to be his prisoner, and willing lover, in hell, rather than the more usual third person perspective.

Jack Gilbert (1925-2012) was a prominent American poet. Gilbert described himself as a "serious romantic." For many years he lived on Santorini and other Greek islands, the influence of which can be found in this poem. He argues that even though Icarus eventually fell into the sea, people overlook his ultimate accomplishment: he actually flew. Gilbert uses this Icarus motif as a metaphor for love and life. Just as Icarus’s flight was worth the risk despite his ultimate plunge, Gilbert argues that loving someone—even if the relationship eventually breaks down—is still a triumphant experience.

Carol Ann Duffy (1955-) is a Scottish poet and playwright. She is a professor of contemporary poetry at Manchester Metropolitan University and was Poet Laureate from 2009 until 2019. Her celebrated poetry collection The World’s Wife takes as inspiration and source-material a range of figures from history and mythology, re-imagining them from a modern perspective. Many of the poems, as the title suggests, imagine the lives of the long-suffering other halves of male figures from myth. In this case how did Mrs Midas feel?

U. A. Fanthorpe (1929-2009) was an English poet, whose poems reflected her concern for social justice. In 1994, she was the first woman to be nominated to the post of Professor of Poetry at Oxford. In this poem she retells the story of St George and the Dragon, inspired by Uccello’s painting, from the perspective of the dragon, who isn’t impressed with either the maiden or the knight, the maiden who isn’t impressed by the knight but finds the dragon more to her taste and finally we hear from the knight, a whiny unimpressive being.

Seamus Heaney (1939-2013) was an Irish poet, playwright and translator. He received the 1995 Nobel Prize in Literature. ‘The Underground’ by Seamus Heaney references amongst others, Orpheus and Eurydice, Hansel and Gretel and Pan and Syrinx as he recalls chasing his wife through the London Underground on their honeymoon, blending memory with myth to explore love, pursuit, and devotion.

Roger McGough (1937-) was born and raised in Liverpool, England. A prolific writer, he has published more than 50 books of adult and children’s poetry, as well as several plays. Influenced by the Beat culture in the United States, McGough embraces freedom of expression through his poems’ subjects and verse structure. As in this poem, he often uses various forms of humour, particularly wordplay, to confront serious topics in an effort to expose the subjectivity of reality. Here he references Icarus whilst considering the childishness of war. Icarus Allsorts is based on a real incident, where a general at his radar screen mistook a meteorite for a bomb so started a nuclear attack. A favourite English exam question is to ask candidates to compare this with Dulce et Decorum by Wilfred Owen.

Edward Field (1924-) is an award-winning American novelist and poet. He often utilized well-known figures from mythology and legends and resituated them in the modern, contemporary world. In "Icarus" he re-imagines the ending of a famous Greek myth. This Icarus survives his fall and establishes a new life in the city. Seemingly scarred by his disastrous public failure, Icarus leads a mundane, monotonous, and isolated existence, commuting to work during the day and attempting to recapture his former glory only while hidden in the dark confines of his workshop at night. The poem illustrates the stifling conformity of modern life, the painful loss of youthful dreams, and how fear of failure can prevent people from reaching their full potential.

William Butler Yeats (1865-1939) was an Irish poet, dramatist, and prose writer, one of the greatest English-language poets of the 20th century. He received the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1923. His poetry is frequently populated with the rich tapestry of mythology. Yeats' engagement with mythology, spanning a diverse range of traditions including Irish, Celtic, Greek, and Egyptian, serves as a multifaceted lens through which to explore complex themes and ideas. In this sonnet he explores the themes of power, fate, and the relationship between God and mortal. The poem recounts the mythological event in which Zeus, in the form of a swan, violently impregnates Leda, highlighting her vulnerability and the lack of agency she possesses in the face of divine will.

C.P. Cavafy (1863-1933) was a Greek poet, journalist and civil servant. During his lifetime Cavafy refused to have his poems published in books, preferring to share them with a larger audience through papers and magazines. Some of the defining themes are uncertainty about the future, sensual pleasures, the moral character and psychology of individuals, homosexuality, and a fatalistic existential nostalgia. This, probably his best-known poem, builds on the familiar story of Odysseus, who had gone to fight in the Trojan War. Cavafy’s poem is full of details from the Homer’s epic. Ithaka is the island that Odysseus is trying to get home to, and the Laistrygonians, Cyclops, and Poseidon are some of the dangers he encounters along the way. But Cavafy’s poem is not a retelling of Homer’s epic, rather a reflection on journeys and destinations. A version was read at the funeral of Jackie Kennedy Onassis. A very recent academic paper reported that based on a careful study of Homer’s Odyssey and subsequent research Ithaka is not the mountainous island that tourists flock to but rather a flat promontory on the other side of Greece.

Susan Coolidge (1835-1905) was the pen name of Susan Woolsey an American author and poet, possibly best known for the Katy series. In her children’s books she frequently drew on mythological tropes as a frame for her stories. In this retelling of the start of the downfall of the gods, Freya, who in Norse mythology, was amongst other things, (lust and magic), the goddess of Youth and Hope was traded by Wodin in return for the building of Walhalla. While she remained with the gods and fed them daily with her golden apples, they were all powerful; but when Wodin parted with her they suddenly became weak and weary, and a shadow rested over the world. The poem was published posthumously.

Dante Gabriel Rossetti (1828-1882) was an English poet, illustrator, painter and translator. He was a founder of the Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood. “He used classical and mythical subjects in both his art and his poetry to reflect his own tumultuous life, forbidden love affairs, and obsessions. His mythological works are characterized by lush, sensuous depictions of tragic women, often merging physical beauty with themes of entrapment, fate, and the femme fatale.” Here he retells the myth of Pandora but rather than portraying Pandora as a mere vessel of punishment, the poem implicates the gods in constructing her as a trap. The divine figures—Juno, Pallas, Venus—are recast as sources of dangerous beauty and power.

Edgar Allan Poe (1809-1849) was an American short-story writer, poet, critic, and editor who is famous for his cultivation of mystery and the macabre. ‘To Helen’ was written in memory of Jane Stanard, the mother of a childhood friend whose early death left a lasting mark on Poe, the poem expresses his lifelong conviction that beauty's deepest power lies not in arousal but in return -- the sense that encountering something beautiful can carry a wanderer home. It took him 14 years to refine the poem for publication. This poem delivers a multifaceted exploration of female beauty, presenting it as consistent rather than flighty. In referencing Helen he challenges our assumptions as to the seafarer’s motivation. In renaming her Psyche, Poe invokes the Greek word for soul and the myth of a mortal whose love for a god required her to pass through darkness before reaching light.

Alfred, Lord Tennyson (1809-1892) was an English poet made Poet Laureate during much of Queen Victoria's reign. In his poetry Tennyson frequently reframes on classical myths and Arthurian legends to allow him to explore contemporary topics such as immortality, personal grief and ambition. In this sonnet he draws upon Nordic mythology. The Kraken, becomes a symbol of dormant primordial force, its eventual awakening tied to apocalyptic transformation rather than mere destruction. Its themes resonate with modern ecological fears—the deep sea as untouched sanctuary, vulnerable to irreversible disruption from above.

John Keats (1795-1821) was an English romantic poet still much revered. He trained as a doctor, but at the end of his training resolved to concentrate on his writing. Many of his best-known poems have a reimaging of classical myth as the basic structure. In this sonnet he uses an extended metaphor where the speaker is characterised as an explorer, transported by the words of Homer, to venture into the unknown, to demonstrate the importance of poetry in not just recording culture but keeping it relevant.

Alexander Pope (1688-1744) was an English poet, translator, and satirist of the Enlightenment era who is considered one of the most prominent English poets of the early 18th century. Rape of the Lock is a mock-epic poem that satirizes 18th-century English high society. It recounts a trivial, real-life aristocratic feud over the theft of a lock of hair, elevating a petty squabble into an epic, mythological battle of the sexes.

William Shakespeare (1564-1616) is renowned as arguably the greatest ever playwright in the English language. Shakespeare frequently wove classical Greek, Roman, and English folklore into his plays, using them to deepen emotional stakes, heighten comedy, or explore complex themes. He adapted these ancient stories to fit Elizabethan sensibilities rather than writing strict retelling. “Orpheus with his lute” comes from the play Henry VIII is used to illustrate how music can bring calm to even the most chaotic of circumstances. The poem references Orpheus who had the ability to charm even inanimate objects when he played the lyre. That Shakespeare has him play the lute reflects the culture of the original audience.

Snorri Sturluson (1179-1241) Snorri Sturluson was an Icelandic Christian historian, poet, knight, and politician. Most of the surviving information we have about Norse mythology and legendary Viking history was written by him in the 13th century. Two very important works, his Prose Edda and Heimskringla, were written in old Icelandic and again in a Latin script adapted for that purpose. This reflects the process of conversion and integration into “Christendom” that was underway. “The Seeress” comes from ‘Völuspá’ and compresses the whole of the Norse vision of the universe’s history and future into 60-odd short stanzas. It is narrated by a seeress, or Völva, who is requested by Wodin to share her memories and prophecies with humankind, ‘Heimdall’s young’. In this section she tells a version of the creation story, later in the work she foresees the unavoidable downfall of the Gods. We don’t know when the poem was written just that whilst it appears in both the ‘Prose Edda’ and the ‘Poetic Edda’ it predates them.

Ovid (43BCE-17 CE) (Publius Ovidius Naso) was a celebrated Roman poet. Alongside Virgil and Horace, he is considered one of the three foundational pillars of Latin literature. Ovid is feted for his wit, his narrative skill, and for being one of the greatest storytellers in Western history. He is most famous for the Metamorphoses, a continuous mythological narrative in fifteen books in which this selection, the story of Icarus, was recorded.

Hesiod (circa 768 BCE) A Greek poet, two of his complete epic poems have survived. “Works and Days” describing the life of peasants and “Theogony” which relates to myths of the Greek gods. ‘Theogony’ as we know it is probably a later version with annotations from others rather than being in its original form. Appropriately I have selected the section that deals with the creation of the Muses.

Homer (circa 800 BCE) was an ancient Greek poet who is widely credited as the author of the ‘Iliad’ and the ‘Odyssey’, two epic poems that are foundational works of ancient Greek literature. The ‘Iliad’ which focuses on the Trojan War and the theme of individual wrath, examines the consequences of pride and honor through its central character, Achilles. In contrast, the ‘Odyssey’ portrays Odysseus's long journey home after the war, exploring themes of resilience, cunning, and familial bonds. Both poems emphasize the role of the individual within society and the complexities of human experience, often set against the backdrop of divine influence.