“I WAS CUT OFF FROM HOPE IN THAT SAD PLACE, WHICH YET TO NAME MY SPIRIT LOATHES AND FEARS; MY FATHER HELD HIS HAND UPON HIS FACE; I, BLINDED BY MY TEARS, STILL STROVE TO SPEAK; MY VOICE WAS THICK WITH SIGHS, AS IN A DREAM. DIMLY I COULD DECRY THE STERN BLACK-BEARDED KINGS, WITH WOLFISH EYES, WAITING TO SEE ME DIE. THE TALL MASTS QUIVERED AS THEY LAY AFLOAT, THE TEMPLES AND THE PEOPLE AND THE SHORE; ONE DREW A SHARP KNIFE THROUGH MY TENDER THROAT SLOWLY, AND—NOTHING MORE.” -ALFRED LORD TENNYSON
Tone
In the poem Iphigenia by Tennyson Alfred the tone would be death and sorrow. Alfred uses dreadful words such as "One drew a sharp knife through my tender heart" (Alfred 10). The words Knife and tender heart make me feel uneasy and a little bit sad. The rhythm of the poem is presented like a story that progresses and gets worse. The speaker of the poem starts it off by introducing that the poem was going to be sad, and by the end it ends in the actual death of Iphigenia.
Summary & Lesson
In Greek Mythology, Iphigenia was the daughter of King Agamemnon and Queen Clytemnestra. While the Greek army was preparing to set sail for Troy during the Trojan War, The Goddess Artemis got upset with Agamemnon because he killed a sacred deer. His consequence was that she stopped all winds so that they couldn't sail. His only choice was to sacrifice his daughter to her.
The lesson of this myth is sacrifice, even if it means the sacrifice of a loved one. Both Iphigenia and her father had to sacrifice something. For Iphigenia it was her own self, and for her father it was his daughter. They were both for the better of the people.
Allusion
During the Paris Bombings, a father sacrificed his daughter as well as his own self to help the lives of others in a local grocery store. The myth of Iphigenia is also about a father that sacrifices his daughter for the benefit of others. In other ways besides physical sacrifice, Agamemnon sacrificed himself as well. It would take so much pain and sorrow to have to sacrifice your own daughter. It is very important that sacrifice is seen in all aspects and all time periods. The connection between the myth and the modern day allusion show that sacrifice is necessary in order to accomplish things.
The Connection
Overall, the poem and Myth of Iphigenia is a sad and depressing topic. The poem itself shows Iphigenia's own reactions and sorrows of the situation while the Myth enhances your understanding of why she is so sad and what she is talking about in the poem. When I first read the oem, all I understood was the last few lines where she talks about her death. After reading the myth, I had a full and complete understanding of what was going on in the story. The allusion helped me to understand why the meaning of the poem was so important, that sacrifice is a hard thing, but the outcome can help others.
Works cited
http://www.greekmythology.com/Myths/Mortals/Iphigenia/iphigenia.html
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Iphigenia
http://www.indiatimes.com/news/world/this-father-saved-hundreds-of-lives-during-beirut-bombings-while-sacrificing-his-life-and-his-daughter-s-247323.html
http://ancienthistory.about.com/od/iphigenia/g/Iphigenia.htm
Credits:
Created with images by Unsplash - "sailing boat ocean open water"