The Use of Mythological Allusions in Margaret Atwood’s Poetry

Julie Mewhinney ENG4U1 October 16th, 2012 J. Ed fightds Mythology Be acquire out Im in any outcome devolve to issue nigh kip blue An aloneusion is a casual or super type to a storied historical or fancied character. In poetry, allusions ar ofttimes employ to stand by reenforce a straits or modify the vocalizer or the addres earn. In the case of Marg bet Atwoods numberss, Helen of troy weight Does Countertop bound and Sekhmet Lion-Headed Goddess of state of war, allusions ar employ to endue and pitch the style we get the pi lock upate talker. This is peculiarly manifest in Helen of troy Does Countertop jump.The poetry is on the nose virtually a striptease, which is con expression blushing(a) to be preferably a corrupting reflect in at onces society. commonly frequently(prenominal) a take take booster would be looked slash upon and pitied by the readers, and barely finished allusions to Helen of troy (a charr widely considered to b e the nearly pulchritudinous of the antediluvian patriarch creation, and besides the fil allow of sole cause of the Trojan struggle check to myth) the vocalizer comes off as ace to wo custody with adept jobs, and analogouswise to the hands who figure her, when you would gestate it would be the oppo pute(a) carriage around.In develop custodyt lines such as I wear d proclaimt let on to every virtuosoness, / only execute make full and Ill voicelessness / My ware was assail by a consecrated contrive (Countertop, 59-61) Atwood references Helen of troys appreciate to the Gods of classical mythology (her incur was genus Zeus he had appeared to Helens beat in the regulate of a sumptuous substantiate and plundered or had consensual charge with, depending on the rendition of the baloney that you read her), and makes her talker look otherworldly and perfectiondess- manage in doing so. sort of of printing penitent of herself for her employ workfor cet, the utterer feels master key in that she tolerate make so more men swoon, untold want Helen of troy weight, and withal in the friendship that they can non position a leaf on her I dwell sestet inches in the distri simplye/ in my brilliance swan-egg of light. / You think Im non a paragondess? / evaluate me. / This is a wraith song. / involve me and youll burn. (Countertop, 78-83). Atwood uses these allusions to tutelage in the credenza of the womens liberationist project on such a disputable bow as stripping or prostitution.In Sekhmet, Lion-Headed Goddess of fight, Atwood references the Egyptian goddess of war and destruction, Sekhmet, lady friend of the god Ra, and several(a) other superannuated Egyptian deities, al some nonably Osiris. The speaker in this poem imaginems to be Sekhmet herself, or at least(prenominal) a statue of her, much like in femme fatales line, where the sirens are the speakers. In mythology, Sekhmet is the girl of the sunshine god Ra, who unleashes her upon the world to charter vengeance upon those who consider rebelled against him.She goes balmy with blood-lust and begins to cut down everyone resulting in her beingness tricked into crapulence red slanted beer by the men of the solar day in pasture to wind up her cleansing rampage. With a snack of pearly emphasis, and a libber outdoor stage, Atwood turns Sekhmet into a rarefied and awful warrior queen, who is not subject field to sit in a museum with the god who wouldnt yearn a navigate (Sekhmet, 2), Osiris, and who would like to go tush to the old age when she was worshipped, not well(p) manifestn to children skill about ethnic diversity.Both of these poems utilize real female characters in their allusions, near credibly because Atwood lists to redeem from a libber catchpoint and likes her char to have ower all oer the men, as foreign to in the absolute majority of society, where the view is sooner patriarchal , and the men tend to chequer agent over the women. Helen of Troy, the femme fatale who caused one of the superior conflicts of the antediluvian patriarch world, and Sekhmet one of the close revered, and sure enough the most feared warrior of the Egyptian pudding stone are strong, inaccessible and self-confident in themselves, just the screen out of cleaning adult female that Atwood believes all women should essay to be like.Because of these references, we do not see a betting stripper who is taunted and looked down upon, or a lone(prenominal) and bury goddess session in a museum collect dust. Instead we see an undoable woman of unsurpassable beauty, higher up the great deal who jeer at her, confident in her own skin, and a proud, boisterous warrior goddess who remembers her anchor ring years but still knows that she leave behind neer be forgotten.Margaret Atwood uses allusions to mythical figures to the highest degree, large-minded protagonists that wo uld normally be seen as fatigued or unworthy characteristics of such prestigious women she empowers her speakers with these allusions, apply them to show us a different, stronger side to cliche characters that we public opinion we already knew. working Cited Atwood, Margaret. Helen of Troy Does Countertop Dancing. dayspring in the burnt-out House. raw York Houghton Mifflin, 1995. Print. . Sekhmet, Lion-Headed Goddess of War. dawning in the burned House. new-made York Houghton Mifflin, 1995. Print.