THE USE OF ANCIENT MYTHS IN MODERN POETRY: THE MYTH OF SISYPHUS AS A CASE STUDY

Abstract

The purpose of this study is to shed light on esthetic uses of Greek myth, its artistic and realistic uses, and the reasons for the allusions to it in contemporary poetry. Selected poetic texts will be analyzed for the use which some modern poets make of the legend of Sisyphus for expressing their views and for showing how they perceived its artistic value. Among these poets are Al-Sayyāb, Al-Bayātī , Adonis, ʿAbd al-ʿAzīz al-Muqāliḥ, as well as the Palestinians Aḥmad Daḥbūr, Murīd al-Barghūthī and Fārūq Muwāsī, all of whom made use of the legend in order to express both suffering and hope in the crisis of Arabs in current times, in an attempt to bring these across to the reader.