Wednesday, January 20, 2016

Poem with Allusion

“Doctor Faustus” by Marlowe’s
“Learnèd Faustus, to find the secrets of astronomy
Graven in the book of Jove’s high firmament,
Did mount him up to scale Olympus’ top,
Where, sitting in a chariot burning bright,
Drawn by the strength of yokèd dragons’ necks,
He views the clouds, the planets, and the stars.”
In this poem excerpt Marlowe alludes "olympus' top" to Greek mythologies "Mount Olympus." where is home to the greek gods.  Its also the highest mountain in Greece, which is why Marlowe related it to finding the secrets of astronomy there.   He also alluded the burning chariot to Apollo the Greek god of the sun.  He does this by saying "He views the clouds, the planets, and the stars." because the sun is far away from the planets that it can see everything like the clouds, the planets itself and the stars around them.

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