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"I was more than your echo": Feminist Revisioning of the Myth of Orpheus and Eurydice in the Poems of H.D. and Margaret Atwood

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Author

  • Faith Manalili

Summary, in English

The ancient Greek myth of Orpheus and Eurydice has been of interest to readers and writers across the ages. However, Ovid's version and many subsequent retellings have focused on Orpheus' character. H.D.'s poem "Eurydice" and Margaret Atwood's poem "Orpheus (1)" are two of the first revisions of the Orphic myth from Eurydice's perspective. In this essay, I combine Sanders' theory of appropriation, DuPlessis' idea of narrative strategies, and Mulvey's theory of the gaze to examine the effects of shifting the perspective from Orpheus to Eurydice. In addition, I use close reading to identify characterizations and literary archetypes that H.D. and Atwood rewrite and offer comparisons to Ovid's version. I argue that H.D. and Atwood center Eurydice, oppose conventions and ideas about men and women present in the classical canon, and thus write against a male literary tradition.

Department/s

Publishing year

2024

Language

English

Document type

Student publication for Bachelor's degree

Topic

  • Languages and Literatures

Keywords

  • Greek mythology
  • Orpheus
  • Eurydice
  • appropriation
  • feminism
  • poetry
  • Atwood
  • H.D.

Supervisor

  • Annika Lindskog