Leda and the Swan Notes

Hercules, born of Alcmena and Zeus, was conceived when Zeus took the form of Alcmena’s husband and lay with her. Her true husband lay with her again later that night and she conceived twins. One would be born to her human husband, and the other fathered by Zeus himself (Hamilton). Zeus bragged about his soon to be born son alerting and infuriating Hera to Hercules existence. Hera was notorious for tormenting her husbands’ illegitimate offspring since she couldn’t harm Zeus outright for his infidelity (Hamilton). Hera persuaded Eileithyia to slow Alcmena’s labor in a fit of piqué, almost killing her (Hamilton). Alcmena in fear of Hera’s wrath gave her son to nature. Zeus (in some accounts Hermes) stole him away to Olympus, where he suckled at Hera’s breast while she lay sleeping, granting him immortality (McLeish). When Hera awoke during the suckling she pushed Hercules away and the milk that sprayed out formed the Milky Way (Leeming). Zeus took the infant and placed him back in his crib before departing to Olympus again. Enraged Hera sent two massive serpents to kill Hercules and his brother as they lay sleeping

His affair with a woman named Leto led to the birth of the twins Apollo and Artemis. Hera being the jealous wife she was, forced Leto to roam the earth in search of a place to give birth, for Hera had stopped her from gaining shelter on land or at sea. The only place she could go was to the isle of Delos in the middle of the Aegean Sea, for Delos was a floating island. This would be one of many of Hera’s revenges on her husband’s affairs. Zeus used many different disguises to seduce women. When he seduced the Spartan queen Leda, he transformed himself into a beautiful swan, and from the egg which Leda produced, two sets of twins were born. They were Polydeuces and Castor and Clytemnestra and Helen of Troy. He also visited princess Danae as a shower of gold, and from this, the hero Perseus was born. He kidnapped the Phoenician princess Europa, disguised as a bull, then carried her on his back to the island of Crete where she had three sons. They were Minos, Rhadamanthys, and Sarpedon. These were just some of his many children. Zeus had many Temples and festivals in his honor, the most famous was Olympia, the magnificent "Temple of Zeus", which held the gold and ivory statue of the enthroned Zeus, which was sculpted by Phidias. It was later to become one of the "Seven Wonders of the Ancient World". Also the Olympic Games and many other numerous festivals throughout Greece were held in

Helen of Sparta’s portrayals in many different accounts of mythology and history are extremely dissimilar. Helen was said to be the daughter of Zeus and Leda (Queen of Sparta), and was the wife of Menelaus, king of Sparta. Helen was abducted by Paris of Troy and when Menelaus came to retrieve Helen, the Trojan war began. In “The Odyssey”, Helen is shown as living happily with Menelaus after he brought her back from Sparta. She is portrayed as an intelligent person who sees things for what they truly are, but is mostly reserved to wifely duties. In “Trojan Women” by Euripides, Helen is shown as a person who was used by the gods as a reward for Paris with nothing else in mind. However, she fights vehemently for her own innocence in the

Greek mythology has been passed on and retold over generations. Literature and movies have been created to entertain as well as provide specific themes based off of myths. There are many heroes that mythology talks about and each one has lived an epic life, but there is one famous hero that has been immortalized throughout history. Hercules is the son of Zeus and a mortal named Alcmene. Zeus impregnated her while her husband was away and this is where his story began. Zeus' wife, Hera, found out about the affair and was outrageous about his careless actions. She tried to prevent Hercules' birth; however, when that didn't work she sent snakes to kill the baby. Hercules was too mighty for the snakes and strangled them before they could even hurt him. As stated in this source, "Hera remained angry. How could she get even? Hera knew that she would lose in a fight, and that she wasn't powerful enough to prevent Zeus from having his way. Hera decided to pay Zeus back for his infidelity by making the rest of Hercules' life as miserable as she could" (Crane WEB). Hercules grew up to be a great young warrior and was all around. With this god-like strength, also came an uncontrollable temper that made him react at times without thinking, but later made him realize the wrongdoings of his violence. He later then married a woman named Megara and had two beautiful children. But one day, Hera instilled a fit of rage into Hercules and made him slaughter his family with his very own hands. He was shocked by his actions and asked Apollo for assistance since he was drowning in guilt. Apollo later then gave him specific tasks to help Hercules redeem himself for the bloodshed he caused. The hero was sent to Eurystheus, and under his strict hand, he was to accomplish twelve labors over the next twelve years.

Hera was the daughter of Cronus and Rhea. She was born on the riverbanks of Imbrasons, under a willow tree. When Hera and her siblings were born Cornos her father, thought one of his children was going to kill him, so he swallowed all of them. Including Hera. Later on when Zeus was born and grew up he killed Cronos, and freed his brothers and sisters.

Leda was a beautiful maid who attracted Zeus; the mighty God transformed himself into the form of a swan with his divine powers and raped Leda. The outcome of this was the birth of Helen of Troy. The four stanzas reflect upon the actual scene of the rape, where Zeus (as a swan) attacks Leda.

An alternative version of this myth, includes Poseidon. Here Medusa was a beautiful maiden, envy of every women and desired by every man around, her hair was the loveliest. She was a priestess of Athena. Medusa "it's said, was violated in Minerva's shine by Ocean's lord. Jove's daughter turned away and covered with her shield her virgin's eyes and then for fitting punishment transformed The Gorgon's lovely hair to loathsome snakes. Minerva still, to strike her foes with dread, upon her breastplate wears the snakes she made"(Ovid, page 98). It is not entirely clear if she was violated or if she consented. Either way, she was punished for committing a crime because Athena is a virgin goddess, so all her priestesses have to remain virgin too.

When Hera found out about Zeus’ dirty deeds, she convinced Semele to ask Zeus for proof of his true nature. Zeus agreed and presented himself to her in his true form, Zeus’ true glory however burned Semele alive. (ML 301) This myth is a prime example of Zeus’ human tendencies of acting like a common man as he gives in to his more primitive needs and cheats on Hera with Semele.

Hera is, probably, the brightest example of how Greco-Roman mythology reflects the power relations between women and men: Greek and Roman myths depict Hera as a woman of the utmost anger, evil, revenge, and jealousy. Aeschylus’s Prometheus Bound shows Hera as a woman full of negative emotions and the desire to destroy everything and everyone on her way to personal happiness. Aeschylus mentions the story of Hera, Zeus and Io. Zeus falls in love with Io but fearing Hera’s revenge, he turns Io into a cow and asks her to come to the meadow to make love with him: “but get thee gone to meadow deep / By Lerna’s marsh, where are thy father’s flocks And cattle-folds, that on the eye of Zeus / May fall the balm that shall assuage desire” (Aeschylus). In his poem, Aeschylus mentions Hera a few times, and every time her name is overfilled with negative connotations, turning Hera into a monster: “And Hera’s curse even as a runner stripped / Pursues thee ever on thine endless round” (Aeschylus). However, these

The author uses an allusion to question whether Leda knew she was being raped by a God, and would eventually cause the war of Troy. Mythologically, Leda was the princess of Aetolia and married to Tyndareus. Zeus seduced her in the form of a swan, impregnating her with Helen, while Tyndareus impregnated her with Clytemnestra at the same time. Helen was the main cause of the Trojan war and Clytemnestra killed Agamemnon along with Aegisthus. The poem questions if Leda knew that she was being raped by Zeus.

Zeus was known for a number of things, but his love affairs was one of the numerous things he was famous for. Zeus was the king of all the gods, he was known for the god of the skies, weather, fate and laws. Out of all of his lovers he had over the years, his first was known as Aphrodite. She was the goddess of beauty and was followed by Zeus when she first emerged from the great sea, but she managed to escape him. It did not take much time for Zeus’ wife Hera to realize that their marriage was falling into the deep end. Zeus had a deep lust which then made Hera’s jealousy fester. (Summary 1).

This poem is also about Art, and the Irish people's response to it. It is structured around the contrast between the Yeats' dream to write for the Irish people, and the reality.

She is the mother of famous twin star, Pollux and Castor. Also, she bore Helen, the most beautiful mortal on Earth causing the great Trojan War. Leda appeared in one of Zeus’s affair, which the story is named “Leda and the swan”.

In William Butler Yeats poem “Leda and the Swan”, he uses the fourteen lines of the traditional sonnet form in a radical, modernist style. He calls up a series of unforgettable, bizarre images of an immediate physical event using abstract descriptions in brief language. Through structure and language Yeats is able to paint a powerful sexual image to his readers without directly giving the meaning of the poem.

The next referenced Greek myth we come across is that of Semele and Zeus on page 84. Semele was a mortal princess who was one of many seduced by the god Zeus. She became pregnant and would give birth to the god Dionysus. Semele reaches a tragic end when she is killed by Zeus’s wife/sister Hera. Zeus however is able to save the baby Dionysus. Once Dionysus grows up, he ventures to the underworld to save his mother and arranges for her to live on Mt. Olympus with the Gods (Morford et al. 2013). Aschenbach refers to Semele and Zeus when he is reflecting on the beauty and spirituality he experiences when he looks at Tadzio (Mann 2004 pp. 84). He looks at