'Quests' - Dannie Abse

Part one.

Who are the figures in the poem?

Some of the Greek figures/legends that are portrayed in Abse's poem is important to take into account as readers. Why? well because t gives us more of a clear idea of what the poem is about. These Greek figures are sometimes used as metaphors to what Abse might be trying to say. How? well all of these Greek legends/figures are known as deities, or they are known to have sacrificed or achieved something through their heroic actions.

Homer - the author of the Lliad and the Odyssey, Homer, is revered as the greatest poets of ancient Greek. These epic poems by Homer stem from the beginning of the Western canon of Literature, and have had an enormous and significant influence on the history of Literature.

Satyr - half-man, half-goat/a man displaying inappropriate sexual behaviour. In Greek mythology the satyrs are deities of the woods and mountains. They are half human and half beast; they usually have a goat's tail, flanks and hooves. While the upper part of the body is that of a human.

Proteus - is an early sea-god from Greek mythology, one of several deities whom Homer called the "Old Man of the Sea". Some who ascribe to him a specific domain call him the God of the "elusive sea change," which suggests the constantly changing nature of the sea or the liquid quality of the water in general spheres - from Dante's paradise, an allegory telling of Dante's journey through Heaven.


Here are also some links to websites that might give you more of a background about the figures mentioned in this Abse poem:

http://www.jewishencyclopedia.com/articles/1641-apion
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Proteus