Essay Questions

Why did the main character in the poem "Actaeon’’ have to be punished at the end of the poem?

While the narrator does not give the name of the man in the poem, it can be safe to assume that the main character is Actaeon, a Greek hero who appears in Greek mythology. According to the myth, Actaeon was a great hunter who loved his dogs and was always followed by them. This is also mentioned in the poem where the author even gives the names of the three dogs owned by Actaeon. According to the legend, Actaeon was punished by Artemis, the goddess of forests and hunting. The last stanza of the poem lets it be understood that Actaeon developed an unhealthy obsession for someone, probably for the goddess Artemis and how he did something sinful in the middle of the night for which he had to be punished. In the legends and in the poem it is not mentioned what this action may be but some speculate that Actaeon was punished because he watched Artemis as she bathe in the middle of the forest. Another reason why he could have been punished is because he used to hunt stags, an animal considered by many as being sacred because of its association with goddess Artemis.

How can the line "When we crossed the water, we only brought what we could carry’’ in the poem "After a Greek Proverb’’?

In the third stanza of the poem "After a Greek Poem’’, the quote from above appears. The line is important because it represents the main theme of the poem and its main idea, namely how we, as humans, are born into this world without anything. The river is in many cultures and mythologies used as a symbol for the passage between life and death and in this context as well the river is used here to make reference to the two journeys a man has to take, birth and death. In both cases, a person crosses the river without carrying anything with him. This quote is also important because it makes the reader understand just how foolish it is for a person to focus on only gathering as much wealth as possible and thus forgetting about what is important in life.

Why is Sleep portrayed as a ruthless woman?

In the poem entitled "Another Lullaby for Insomniacs’’, the narrator portrays Sleep as a ruthless woman who goes from one person to another just like a woman of questionable character would do. In many poems and pieces of literature, negative characters are portrayed as women became many see their sexuality as being dangerous. This may be the reason why sleep is portrayed as a ruthless woman instead of a man.