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Posted by Nikko the Red on October 14, 1998 at 16:16:11:
In Reply to: Leda and the Swan posted by Laully on October 04, 1998 at 17:24:54:
: If anyone could tell me their thoughts on the poem "Leda and the Swan", it would be greatly appreciated. I'm having great difficulty with it.
: Thanks.
If you know the mythology, you should know that
Zeus is one bastard. So --that his
wife, Hera, forbid him to "have relations" with
Leda (mother of Helen of Troy, and three others--
two gods and two mortals), the most beautiful
mortal at the time. So, in order to trick Hera,
Zeus morphed into a giant swan, flew down to Leda
and had his way with her still as the swan.
The poem asks the question of whether this act was
or not. Yeats thinks it is, "Great wings
beating still above the staggering girl, her
thighs caressed by dark webs." Even the image of
"A SUDDEN " cannot be considered consentual.
The final question actually askes the reader to
consider her a victim, even though she was loved
by a god, "Did she put on his knowledge with his
power even before the indifferent beak let her
drop?" Even though Zeus has great power, does
that justify his actions? Come to think of it,
I am supprised that Kenneth Starr hasn't used it
in his conquest against Clinton.
See your around!