Leda And The Swan
If your grasp of mythology is sub-par like mine, you might sometimes wonder “What is it with all these images of naked women and swans?”
For all the answers you might want, there’s an extended discussion (with many many images) at Silent Porn Star.
All you’re going to get for an answer here is a Yeats poem and a strangely menacing rear-entry swan:
Leda And The Swan, by William Butler Yeats, 1928
A sudden blow: the great wings beating still
Above the staggering girl, her thighs caressed
By the dark webs, her nape caught in his bill,
He holds her helpless breast upon his breast.How can those terrified vague fingers push
The feathered glory from her loosening thighs?
And how can body, laid in that white rush,
But feel the strange heart beating where it lies?A shudder in the loins engenders there
The broken wall, the burning roof and tower
And Agamemnon dead.Being so caught up,
So mastered by the brute blood of the air
Did she put on his knowledge with his power
Before the indifferent beak could let her drop?
Shorter URL for sharing: https://www.erosblog.com/?p=1960
I love Leda and the Swan, it’s one of my favorites by Yeats. So erotic and wonderful, and I love the picture you’ve found.
*smiles fondly* If my parents knew what sort of fantasies those Greeks were giving me, they wouldn’t have given me so many mythology books.
we had this discussion in highschool ancient history, as there are also stories of Zeus impregnating women in the form of a bull, a satyr, and my favourite; a “shower of golden light”. we concluded that when ancient Greek women found themselves pregnant by an ilicit lover, they needed to come up with an explanation for parents or husbands, so they said “Zeus came to me in the form of a swan, and i couldn’t resist him!”…
if only that defence would still hold up today.
most erotic poem ever. thanks for posting!
Thanks so much for sharing my post :) I’m a huge fan so it means quite a lot.
Yeats is one of my favorite poets.
“He holds her helpless breast upon his breast.”
The artist did not stick to the poetic description, must be what they call artistic licence.