How Does Margaret Atwood Use Classical Allusions In Poetry

Have you read or heard about the Odyssey or the Iliad? Mythology is very provocative and can also sometimes be humdrum, but it is for the most part intriguing. There are also classical allusions in mythology. A classical allusion is a reference to a particular event or character in classical works of literature. Mythology is still expressed today and some still believe it.There are many classical allusions in mythology and some examples would be, Siren Song by Margaret Atwood, An Ancient Gesture by Edna St. Vincent Millay, and Ithaca by Constantine Cavafy. The first example of a classical allusion in mythology is Siren Song by Margaret Atwood. She uses classical allusions in her poem by referencing parts of the Odyssey where Odysseus and his men hear the sirens and Odysseus puts wax in their ears. Atwood’s poem is not about that part of the Odyssey, it is just using idiosyncrasies from it. In her poem it says, “The song that forces men to leap overboard in squadrons even though they see the beached skulls” which is referencing to things that happened in mythology. Her poem is about the actual siren song which was sang by sirens to lure sailors

Vincent Millay. In this poem, Millay is referencing Penelope’s sorrow when Odysseus had been gone for innumerable years and she has lost all hope of him being alive. In the poem it sounds like she has had a similar instance happen to her with mention of her doing the same thing Penelope had done. In her poem, it says, “I thought, as I wiped my eyes on the corner of my apron: Penelope did this too” which is indications that something comparable happened to her. The poem though is not about Penelope missing Odysseus, it is about how she is acting the same way as Penelope must have. They both must have been very distraught with this. This is a very sad poem and a good example of a classical allusion in Greek