The Myth of Icarus Portrayed in Todays Literature free essay sample

In the video â€Å"Distant Voices: Myth, Symbolism, and Allusion in Poetry† narrated by Fran Dorn, Dorn and a guest speaker Marjorie Perloff a professor at Stanford University discuss the story of Icarus and Daedalus from the Greek myth and its use in todays literature. In the myth Icarus, the son of Daedalus, disobeys his father while the two try to escape from a maze in which a great king has them. During the escape, the two fashion wings out of feathers they find while inside the maze and are able to escape by flying away. However, during the escape young Icarus disobeys his father who told him he should not fly to close to the sun or the wax that holds his wings together would melt and he would fall to his death. We will write a custom essay sample on The Myth of Icarus Portrayed in Todays Literature or any similar topic specifically for you Do Not WasteYour Time HIRE WRITER Only 13.90 / page But, during the escape Icarus sees the sun and is so amazed by its beauty that he disregards his father’s warnings and tries to get closer to the sun to better see its beauty and eventually plunges to his death. In the video, the professors discuss four different stories based on this idea of sons disobeying their fathers. These poems include â€Å"To a Friend Whose Work has Come to Triumph† by Anne Sexton, and â€Å"Icarus† by Stephen Spender. In her poem, Anne Sexton discusses how Icarus strives to see a moment of beauty before his death while his sensible father continues to fly straight into town. Marjorie Perloff who speaks in the video talks discusses how Anne Sexton seems to take a woman’s view of the myth of Icarus in her poem. Perloff also states that Sexton sympathizes with Icarus in her poem. Perloff believes Sexton tries to ask the question why we are always criticizing Icarus for flying so high is it really so wrong of him to strive to see beauty while his father returns home to continue his everyday life. In the video, Marjorie Perloff also discusses â€Å"Icarus† by Stephen Spender. Perloff states that Spender seems to sympathize with Icarus in the story saying that he had so much potential but instead of using it, he becomes an aristocrat; then when Icarus had almost won his battle with the sun to get a better view of its beauty he falls to his death. Perloff states that in his story Spender focuses on loss and the things you lose when you die, namely potential. In the video, professors not only read the poems but also give some background about the stories. They also help to point out some of the symbolism the authors tried to put into their stories. My Reaction I liked the way the professors in the story made the poems easier to understand. Without the video, I would not have thought about the way, Sexton viewed Icarus, that flying to close to the sun may not have been such a bad idea. Or that in Spenders poem Spender’s main purpose was to point the things that you lose when you die, wich in Spender’s words is mainly your potential.