Chapter 9

For this chapter I read "Musée des Beaux Arts" by W. H. Auden and related it to the chapter.



In this poem, the connection to Greek myth is no secret. The stance is not so dramatic, but explains the almost habitual responses of those around who witness such an unusual occurance. Auden's makes a point in this poem that things that do not effect you do not require a need for your attention, which I somewhat disagree with. Or it could be interpretted as those that do not follow direction deserve no pity, which I do somewhat agree with. The onlookers could not have known that Icarus did not follow directions, leading me to conclude that they are heartless and selfish people. The purpose of the myth is to explain what science cannot, but in this case there are two things that could cause need for a myth: first of is why Icarus did not follow directions; second is why the people would be so unphased by this tragedy. As a reader we have no prior knowledge if the spectators had regularly seen occurances like this or not, thus leaving many questions unanswered. However science cannot answer either of these unanswered questions, thus leading to the creation of this myth. A myth is something that matters to some community, but I think this myth matters more to those not in the community because outsiders can see how little people at the site of Icarus' crash cared about his well being. Unless this is one of those misleading myths like Song of Solomon then I feel pretty sure all the things in here refer to Icarus, also because there was a picture to go along with the poem.