Polydectes

The poem ‘Leda and the Swan’ by William Butler Yeats retells a renown story from Greek mythology. According to the myth, Leda, a queen of Sparta, was raped or seduced by Zeus in the guise of a swan. Leda then gave birth to three eggs, one of which did not hatch. The other two gave life to Helen (of Troy) and Pollux, who are assumed to be children of Zeus, and Castor and Clytemnestra, children of Leda’s husband Tyndareus. In the poem, Yeats alludes to the Trojan war and depicts unusually violent and explicit imagery through the use of powerful symbolism and various literary techniques. ‘Leda and the Swan’ differs considerably from Yeats’ earlier poems due to the violent and striking imagery. The opening line of the first stanza - ‘A sudden blow: the great wings beating still’ - immediately creates a dramatic atmosphere and a sense of foreboding. The word ‘sudden’ suggests that ‘ the staggering girl’ has not anticipated the event. In here, Yeats also uses caesura in order to emphasize the abrupt and unexpected advent of all-powerful God Zeus and bring readers closer to Leda’s perspective. Leda is absolutely vulnerable against the God and is not able conquer him. Her helplessness and weakness is juxtaposed with Zeus’ limitless power that he holds in his ‘great wings’. Interestingly, the poem is written in the form of Petrarchan sonnet, which is usually used to praise ideal love and beauty. Yeats’ sonnet, however, does not center around the theme of love but instead deals…

The Persecutor By Sergei Kourdakov The Persecutor By Sergei Kourdakov is a story about the life of a young man who led raids for secret Russian police on Christian believers, and later became a believer himself after escaping from a Navy ship near the coast of Canada. “life is the survival of the fittest. It is a jungle. The strong will live. The tough will make it. The weak will lose or die. I walked out of that room vowing that if this is how life is, I will be the toughest, the…

Persi Warren Diaconis was famous for being a mathematician. Diaconis did this in a special way though, he added his magic skills. He gave lessons, invented tricks, is an author, speaker, and he collected books on magic. The unusual work is part math textbook, part magic primer, and part history book, tracing how magic and math have long traveled under the same concept. Diaconis thought people wouldn't take him seriously when he said he wanted to mix magic and math together to try to solve…

princess named Andromeda that is chained to a rock at Joppa to where she was being fed to a giant sea-serpent sent by Poseidon to eat her (Greek Gods and Heroes 101). Perseus fell in love with her immediately as she was extremely beautiful. "He waited beside her until the great snake came for its prey; then he cut its head off just as he had the Gorgon's. The headless body dropped back into the water; Perseus took Andromeda to her parents and asked for her hand, which they gladly gave him"…

Perseus, however, has become a powerful man who stands in the way of Polydectes. In order to have Polydectes abandon the island, Perseus had to kill Medusa, a monstrous woman that turned people into stone if they gazed upon her. For his objective, Perseus received several gifts from the gods in order to aid him. He ended up using a shield as a mirror in order to prevent petrification, cut off Medusa’s head with the sword of Hermes, and used her head to turn Polydectes into stone. Finally,…

He places the head into his kibisis using the shield, careful not to look into her face, as the head still possessed all powers despite death. Afterwards, the other two Gorgons are awoken and chase after him, yet he manages to escape by flying away with the winged sandals. While on his way to Seriphos, Perseus comes across a beautiful princess and saves her life, immediately asking for permission to marry. He then flies back to his home on the island with Medusa’s head in his possession and his…

An oracle told his grandfather, Acrisius, that he would be killed by his daughter’s child. Terrified at this thought, Acrisius locked his daughter, Danae, away so that she could not have a child. However, Zeus sent a golden shower to impregnate her, and she soon gave birth to her son, Perseus (Gill). In an attempt to save himself, Acrisius locked Danae and Perseus into a chest and threw them out into the sea (Regula). Zeus requested that Poseidon calm the waters so the mother and son would be…

Greek myths tell the adventures of two epic heroes, Perseus, and Theseus. Edith Hamilton revisits these adventures, in her translation of the greek heros. Hamilton’s translation focuses on their heroic adventures and qualities that made them famous in Greek culture and literature. However, one hero stands out Perseus. Perseus had to build up his courage and one way he did it was by standing up to his king Polydectes “He had nothing he could give...Declared that he would give him a present…

being thrown in the boat but it doesn't explain why however in the book it explains why she's thrown into the boat. The movie Clash of the Titans it explains the how Medusa was a curse by Aphrodite, the difference in the book, is that Athena cursed Medusa. In the movie when Perseus gets back from his quest he sees the Kraken so he takes out Medusa's head and turns the Kraken into stone but in the book when he gets back the quest he sees King Polydectes and he takes out Medusa's head and turns…

Perseus: The Legendary Assassin Greek Mythology has paved a path into different theories and perspectives in our ancestors. It’s a culture in which people believe in different gods goddesses sons and daughters myths. Perseus was one of the greatest and oldest pan-Hellenic heroes of Greek mythology. (Greek Mythology) Perseus was born from his father Zeus and his mother Danae. King Acrisius, Danae’s father, set Perseus and his daughter out to sea because of a prophecy that Perseus would kill…