COMPARING LEDAS!

In The Norton Anthology of World Literature, there are two poems that illustrate the same idea in Greek mythology. "Leda and the Swan" by William Butler Yeats and "Leda" by Ruben Dario both describe the same event-the almighty and powerful Zeus takes the form of a swan to rape a mortal named Leda.

Yeat's poem mainly focuses on the rape of the girl..."A sudden blow: the great wings beating still /  Above the staggering girl, her thighs caressed /  By the dark webs..."
 (1-3). He describes how the girl is so helpless against Zeus's powerful force. The poem is short, but it has a powerful meaning.

Dario first sets the scene of the poem, the swan seems innocent [described as snow] far away in the darkness, but as the animal gets closer to the prey it becomes more vibrant with red and amber colors. Dario describes colors a lot throughout this poem which adds something unique that I like about it. Even though this Greek myth is about a rape, Dario illustrates it peacefully in the beginning and then the action begins by the third stanza. "The bird from Olympus, wounded by love, swells out /  his silken plumage, and clasping her in his wings /  he ravages Leda there in the singing water" (9-11).  The poem picks up steam by the beginning of these lines and the act begins. Also, Dario adds another character to the mix in this story, Pan. He is the god of the woods and an onlooker in this scene of the poem.

I thought it was interesting that this Greek myth caught so much attention to painters, writers, and sculptors alike because so much artwork and writing has been done about this story. I found some of the artwork that I thought was interesting and included it in my blog.

This sculpture at the left was created by J.C. Nolan.






I found this cartoon piece at www.cartoonstock.com


This myth also caught the attention of many famous painters as well, such as Michael De'Angelo!