Greek myth is full of many stories of love. However, the ancients were not fully enamored of love. They saw it as a powerful component of both the mortal and divine worlds and as a prime motivator in great accomplishments. Yet they also saw it as a possible road to ruin. If the road does not take one that far it is still not a journey of nothing but light and buoyant feelings; it is a journey that causes misgivings and angst too.
There are negative components to all of these poems of relationships in Greek myth. The poems are ordered from a poem containing the subtlest of misgivings, to one of angst, to those that show accomplishment then disaster then finally to a poem illustrating hate as a consequence of a relationship of love. Beginning with Louis Gluck’s autobiographical “Penelope’s Song” she portrays herself and her son as Penelope and Telemachus preparing for the arrival of their respective husband and father, Odysseus. However, Gluck manages to quietly weave into the poem several points that create a tinge of disquiet in the reader. I then move to a short poem by the ancient Greek poet Sappho. Sappho, in one short phrase, elicits all of the angst that can come from a simple act of love. Following this poem is “The Crane Dance” by Yannis Ritsos. Ritsos divides his poem between the great accomplishment as a consequence of love to its reality and the modern desire to ignore that in order to keep hope alive. The next poem, “Orpheus” by A. F. Moritz, begins to highlight the darker side of love. A love that initially overcomes even death itself, but ends in complete disaster. Moritz also highlights the horror of losing such a love and the disjointed, wrenching feelings of being forever apart.
The project ends with “Telemachus’ Guilt” by Louise Gluck, and finally “Helen” by H. D. Both poems show the darkest side of relationships with increasing severity in Greek mythology. Whereas in Orpheus, his love only caused himself and his wife pain, in “Telemachus’ Guilt” the speaker makes it clear that his father’s abandonment has ruined the lives of everyone he loved. The family of Odysseus has been broken by love and his abandonment, turning Telemachus and his mother against one another, where at the beginning in “Penelope’s Song” there was still strength in their relationship, as well as both mother and son having misgivings about Odysseus. “Helen” ends the project because it is the most poignant example of love causing destruction. In “Helen” the love between Helen and Paris has caused the entirety of Greece to hate Helen, wishing for her death because she betrayed her homeland and caused the Trojan War, all in the name of love. As the poems progress the less fantasized aspects of love are made more and more apparent by examples of love causing greater and greater magnitudes of damage to people. Poetry is an incredible art form. This project proves that poetry has the ability to evoke strong emotion in the reader and even change a reader’s mindset. Where at the beginning of this project one might feel as though love is a force that causes great happiness, it is made apparent through the progression of these poems that love can be very risky, even dangerous. Love can cause hope and happiness, but it can also destroy a person, a family, or even a civilization.