Greek and Roman Myths in the Poetry of W. B. Yeats

This paper explores into Greek and Roman myths in the poetry of W. B. Yeats, the last romantic and the precursor of modernism. For his symbolic significance, Yeats alludes to Greek and Roman myths including Arcady, Chronos, Olympus, Pleiades, Ursa Major, Ursa Minor, Polaris, Troy, Hector, Achilles, Athena, Saturn, Sphinx, Phoenix, Helen, Odysseus, Priam, Pegasus, Aphrodite, Hephaestus, Zeus, Leda, Agamemnon, Muses, Peleus, Thetis, Pan, Juno, Dionysus, Argo, Poseidon, Demeter, Hades, Oedipus, Semele, Antigone, Europa, Perseus, Attis, Lethe, Hermes, Jupiter, Mars, Venus, Furies, and Atlas in his collected poems. The mythical technique manipulating Greek and Roman myths in Yeats's poems unravels his complicated intentions, deepens his poetic symbolism, and broadens his modern perspective.