Contemporary Review, September 1st, 1994
R. M. Rilke and W. B. Yeats are two of the greatest 20th century European poets who wrote about the story of Leda and the swan. The story is about Zeus who was attracted by Leda and assumed the form of a swan and raped her when she was having a swim. It is apparent that Greek art, literature and philosophy had not lost their influence on European intellectual life. Rilke's poem empathizes with Zeus and described the process as a dual meeting. Yeats describes Leda's helplessness and terror of the act.
THE story of Leda and the swan is the subject matter of poems by two of the greatest 20th cen...
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