Greek and Roman Myths in the Poetry of Alfred Lord Tennyson

This paper explores Greek and Roman myths in the poetry of Alfred Lord Tennyson, the leading poet of the Victorian era. For his Victorian ideas of duty, discipline, courage, and love, Tennyson employs or alludes to Greek and Roman myths including: major gods, Zeus, Hera, Aphrodite, Athena, Apollo, Ares, Hades, Demeter, and Dionysus; minor deities, Iris, the Hesperides, Aurora, Persephone, Urania, and the Muses; mythological figures, Œnone, Paris, Semele, Ulysses, Telemachus, Achilles, Tithonus, Tiresias, Menoeceus, Cadmus, Oedipus, Amphion, Hero, and Leander; legendary creatures, the Sirens and Sphinx; mythical places, Ida, Gargarus, Ilion or Troy, Elysium, Hippocrene, and Parnassus. The mythical technique of employing Greek and Roman mythology in Tennyson’s poems unravels his complicated intentions, deepening his poetic symbolism, and broadening his Victorian perspective.