The Third Book of Songs begins by referencing a recurring motif of youth and old age through the Greek God Zeus. The Oxford English Dictionary defines “Zeus” as the chief god of the ancient Greeks (OED), and is known throughout Greek mythology as the god of men. Michael Field could be potentially using Zeus and Greek mythology as a way to capture the readers rather than using Christianity and the bible.
In the first Stanza we see words next to each other like “useful day” and “all waxed gray,” which introduces the idea of growing from being naïve to wise. When we grow up, society begins to mold different beliefs about sexuality and social norms. More specifically, when we see children, we often perceive them as innocent and not having such mature thoughts. One example of when we see this motif is when the stanza compares the young and old; the line states, “the tiny hand in eld’s weak palm.” I see this as the connection between the youthful life and the old life as it elaborates on the imagery of a life cycle. In the next stanza, another line states “we had never had one heart: by time set a space apart.” In this stanza that it could be showing how in this life we are following and have never found love. This could relate back to the authors speaking to their sexuality and never being able to love who they love because society does not allow it.
When we examine the author we can see this story carries a deeper meaning. While the story was written under Michael Newfield, the writers were actually two women. When we learn about our authors, we can see how they felt a need to hide their gender and sexual identities through the text and their own lives. More specifically, when we look deeper into the text, we see that the authors used religion as a way to express their prejudices. In this story about Greek mythology we see undertones of homophobia being shined through with religious practices. This relates back to their lives and struggles being lesbians in a time where homosexuality was not accepted.
I think this is a really interesting line of reasoning, especially as it can be used to identify the aspects of Greek mythology that create a more tolerant environment for different lifestyles and beliefs. Do you have any interest in delving into the more pagan roots of western society in order to understand why certain groups gravitate towards it in their literature or other forms of expression?