Question

Can some one help me find a greek allussion in "the Raven"

Answer 1

In line 41, the speaker notices the raven, "Perched upon a bust of Pallas." "Pallas" is "Pallas Athena," the Greek goddess of wisdom. The fact that the raven chooses to sit there, upon her head, rather than anywhere else in the room, might be interpreted in a couple of ways. First, it might be taken ironically. The bird only seems to know one word. The speaker may be attributing, in his idolatry of Lenore, more wisdom to her than she deserves. Or it might be positive, in that both Lenore and Pallas are wise. Both are certainly worshiped.

Another mythological allusion occurs in line 47, in which the speaker demands of the raven to "Tell me what thy lordly name is on the Night's Plutonian shore!" Pluto is the Greek god the Underworld. The underworld, (also known as Hades or Hell) is perpetually dark. The darkness here works as a metaphor for the speaker's state of mind which is filled with thoughts of death.

The word "shore" may also be an allusion to the River Styx, which existed between the Earth and the Underworld. The river was piloted by Charon, the ferryman who carried recently-deceased souls from the earthly shore to that of the Underworld. This too makes sense, given the speaker's internal torment.

dose this help any? heres were i got it: http://www.enotes.com/homework-help/explain-least-two-allusions-from-poem-raven-12699

Answer 2

@Sosa4954 dose this help any?

Answer 3

Yes thanks