I i TREATMENT OF GREEK MYTHOLOGY ' IN THE POEMS OF TENNYSON ABSTRACT THESIS SUBMITTED FOR THE DEGREE OF ©octor of ^l)ilosiopl)p '""^ 4 IN ft ENGLISH BY SANTOSH NATH yW ^*«. DEPARTMENT OF ENGLISH ALIGARH MUSLIM UNIVERSITY ALIGARH [INDIA] 1989 \;v";; "^ c Iff,; r •r ^^73^ ABSTRACT The pr©p©nt thesiP attempts to bring out the impact of Texinyoon'o claaoical learning on hlo eensibllity and hie reeponoc to it in hie use of areek mythology in hie poems. Suoh a otudy hno boon long overdue ond there le o need for an explorntion of Tonnyoon'e deep involvement in and hie rapport with the port, often reoulting in hio rumina^ tiv® absorption in it. More often than not he sought coffii'ort of the olaesica, especially Greek mythology, during the trying periods of hio life. Its contemplation helped him to analyse his own situation objectively, for Greek myths were a refuge for him from the harsh realities of life. They Invigorated him and helped him to resolve hie tensions. Tennyson has written thirteen poems on Greek myths. They are, chronologically, "Hero to Leander," "The Sea- Fairies," "Ilion, Ilion," "Oenone," "The Ilesperides," "The Lotofi-Baters," "myssee," "Tlthonus," "Tiresias," "Semele," "Demeter and Persephone," "Parnassus," and "The Death of Oenone." OJiey have been divided into two broad categories for the purpose of this study, viz., poems on mythical personages and poems on mythical places. The poems on mythical pereonagee have been further subdivided, on the b«ieie of some formal and thematic criteria, into three sets : (1) Songs sung by groups of singers i "The Sea-Fairies," "Ih© Honporldeo," and "Tho Lo ton-Bate re." (2) laments by solitary Greek mythical heroines : "Hero to Leander," "Oenone," "Semele," "Demeter and P&rsephone," and "The Death of Oenone," (3) Oof:itationR on life and death by some Greek mythical heroes j "Ulysses," "Tithonus," and "Tiresias." There ar© jugt two poems on Greek mythical places, "Ilion, Ilion" and "Parnassus." They form the fourth set. The study is divided into six chapters. The above four sets of poems are analysed in the first four chapters which are entitled "The Choric Songs," "Poems with Greek Mythical Heroines as Protagonists," "Poems with Greek Mythical Heiroes as Protagonists," and "Poems on Mythical Places and Miscellaneoup Uses of Greek Mythology." The fifth chapter is entitled "Form and Style," and the elxth^ the "Conclusion," recapitulates the general observations derived from our snalyslp In the foregoing chapters. Chapter I deal? with Tennyson's inner conflict between art-for-art's sako and the artist's social res­ ponsibility. Its genesis lay in his first interaction with the world at large, beyond the insulated world of Somereby, when he entered Cambridge und wac absorbed in the coterie of the Apostles, They impressed upon him the onus of the high calling of a poet and asked him to write for the moral edifioation of society. The mission imposed on him wa« new. Ostensibly he agreed, but inwardly h© was caught in a conflict depicted in "The Palace of Art," "Sense and Conscience," "The Sea-Fairies^" "The Heeperides," and "The Lotos-Eaters." The two non-^nythioal poems ("The Palace of Art" and "Sense and Conscience"), express his overt agreement with the Apostles* but the three mythical ones are Tennyson's logical, cogent, sequential defense and defiance of the constraint imposed upon his genius. Cliapter II discusses Tennyson's concept of woman­ hood. He generally portrays two types of women, the feroroe fsLtftle and the ideal women. But the fatal women in this set of poems ("Hero to Leander," "Oenone," "Semele," "Bemeter and Persephone," and "The Death of Oenone") are rather mild, and in the nature of foils to his ideal women, modelled on his mother whom he adored. The poems of this set, except "Hero to Leander," are about married love, for their protngoniflts are sedate wives who are victims oT the indiscretions of their husbands. Tennyson's attitude towards love, marriage, and motherhood in these poems is the same aa in "Ihe Princess." Chapter III reflects Tennyson's concept of life through his soulful cogitations on the death of his friend, Arthur Hallam, The mythical poems inspired by this tragedy are "Ulysses," "Tithonue," and "Tirepias." The concept of life in this trilogy is value-based; a long life is not necessarily desirable, just as a short one is neither to b© pitied nor feared. The protegonists of this set of poems are men of action. When they are unnble to live up to their Ideals of life, they prefer dcnth, R\anlnations on the artist's social responsibility which is the theme of the first chapter, persist at a subterraneous level in all the poems of chapters II and III. Tlie set of poems, "Ilion, Ilion" and "Parnassus," gives a i3ue to Tennyson's secret ambition of writing an immortal epic, and the final blighting of that hope in Chapter IV, It also throws light on Tennyson's other uses of Greek myths and epics. Chapter V deals with the form, style, and technique Tennyson adopted in theee poems. He makes use of perponal allegory, dramatic monologue, and the narrative forme, and employs iterative symbolic images which contribute to the coheBiveneBP of the poemp. He experiments with combina­ tions and permutations of various stylistic devices and techniques In them. He uses nature both as background, and symbol. His landscapes and sea-scapes are a blend of realism and scholarship for he adapts his first-hand experience of nature to make it conform to the topography portrayed by the ancients. CJhapter VI sums up the conclusions of the study. The investigation establishes that Tennyson uses Greek mythology for ornamentation in his non-mythical poems, for translation of passages from Greek epics into English, and for subjects of his poems. The discussion shows the thematic importance and artistic refinement of Tennyson's Greek mythical poems. The salient features of his mode of handling the myths are : his originality in using them by focussing on a mood hardly touched upon in the eource myths; his intro­ duction of modifications in the myths to make them suit the themen of his poems; his endowing these poems with a contemporaneoup touch by making them reflect eome of the major leeuee of the a^ce; and hie proponBity to experiment in fonn and style. We find that Tennyeon^s poemp on Greek myths are multidlmenpional. He projects in them the pest, the present,as well as himself, with superb craftemanQhip. Those poems are a veritable repository of his profound experience and yet have an unmistakable class leal flavour. TREATMENT OF GREEK MYTHOLOGY IN THE POEMS OF TENNYSON THESIS SUBMITTED FOR THE DEGREE OF Mottnt of ${|jIo£(op(ip IN ENGLISH BY SANTOSH NATH DEPARTMENT OF ENGLISH ALIGARH MUSLIM UNIVERSITY AL IGARH [1 NOI A] 198 9 T3730 Ace Ko. t./J7 30 <5.v ^'i'lr- CONTSNTS PAGE NO. ACKNOWLEDOKMENTS i-n ABBREVIATIONS iii INTH)DUCTION i v-xi V CHAPTER I The Clioric Songs. 1-36 Poems with Greek Mythical CHAPTER II fleroines as ProtagonistB. 37-80 PoemB with Greek Mythical CHAPTER III Heroes as Protagoniste- 81-148 CHAPTER IV Poems on Mythical Places and Miscellaneoup Uses of Greek Myths. 1 49-1 60 CHAPTER V Form and Style. 161-204 CHAPTER VI Conclusion. 205-218 APPENDIX I Sourcen of the 'Chorlc Songs'. 219-225 Sources of Poems with APPENDIX II Greek Mythical Heroines as Protagonists. 226-267 Sources of Poems with APPENDIX III Greek Mythical Heroes as Protagonists. 268-291 SELECT BIBLIOGRAPHY 292-298 ACWlOWLLDOlil'IKHTJ I am oKtreniely grateful to Vcoft^ni.or O.r. Hovll w)»o ouggentod thlo topic €8id hao holped mo unatlntingly throughout my research. I owe my thanks to Professor K.S. Mlsra for his valuable advice in giving the final touches to this thesis. I vdsh to thank my colleagues as well as Dr. H.V. Nema# Dr. R« Agarwal/ Dr. (Mrs.) M. Agarwal# Dr. M.D. Khan and Rev. Trevor Almeida for the various ways in which they helped me. Thanks are due to Mr. Rlzwanuddin Khan, Seminar Librarian/ Department of English and to Mr. N«U. Bumey of Maulana Azad Library for the help they readily and unfailingly extended to me in using both these libraries. I am extronely grateful to The British Council Library, New Delhi and the British Library Photocopy Service for books and reprints of articles. I am indebted to Mr. A. Kamal and Mr. Unni K. for their unsolicited help in the rough typing of the thesis. This work could not have been possible without the help and cooperation of my husband, Dr. Kail ash Nath, who il freed me from all mundane reeponeibilitleB to enable me to apply myeelf eingle-mlndedly to my study. My children, Rattan, Jyotsna and Satlsh have been a great help to me in my venture, for they sent me books and material from the U.S.A. The BubmlsBlon of this work le, and its succesB would be, a wish fulfilment of my parents. My father, Mr, C.S, Bhatnagar, encouraged me by typing out the very firet draft of the first few chapters. The conflciousnese of the fact that my mother left for her heavenly abode before I oould complete my work naddeno me, I, however, feel 0un> thut her unseen proooncc and her bloosinge hove all alon^i boen with me in my endeavour. iii ABBREVIATIONS The following studies, which have been frequently referred to in the present thesis, have been abbreviated as under: 1. W.D. Paden, Tennyson in Egypt ; A study of the imagery of his earlier works (Lawrence : University of Kansas Publications Humanistic Studies No.27, 1942)» Paden, Tennyson in E^ypt.