Greek and Roman Myths in Geoffrey Chaucer’s “The Knight’s Tale”

This paper explores Greek and Roman myths mainly in “The Knight’s Tale” of Geoffrey Chaucer, the father of English poetry. For his medieval ideas of chivalric romance, courtly love, and didacticism, Chaucer employs or alludes to Greek and Roman myths including: the Titan Saturn, major gods, Jupiter, Juno, Venus, Mars, Phoebus Apollo, Diana, Mercury, Vulcan, and Pluto; minor deities, Zephyrus, Fortuna, Clemence, Cupid, Nymphs, Fauns, and Hamadryads; mythopoeic figures, Palamon, Arcite, and Emelye; mythological figures, Aegeus, Theseus, Hippolyta, Capaneus, Creon, Cadmus, Amphion, Callisto, Actaeon, Daphne, Atalanta, Meleager, and Hector; legendary creatures, Minotaur and Argus; mythical places, Troy, Crete, Athens, Thebes, Citheron, and Thrace. The mythical technique of employing Greek and Roman mythology in Chaucer’s poems unravels his complicated intentions, deepening his poetic symbolism, and broadening his literary perspective.