Greco-Latin Mythology in the Lyrics of Sophia de Mello Breyner Andresen: Poetry, Sea Day and Choir
Greek Antiquity. Classic. Mythology. Modernity. Poetry
The work of Portuguese poet Sophia de Mello Breyner Andresen is characterized by its fluidity and the presence of striking themes (sea, tradition, memories, etc.), of which we can highlight the active dialogue with Greek mythology in its entirety. In her lyrics, Antiquity is recovered in a contemporary face that is present; especially in the books Poesia (1944), Dia do Mar (1947) and Coral (1950). It is true that the classic is a fundamental element in her work and significant for Portuguese Literature of the 20th century, but, even so, it is not critically commented on in proportion to its importance. Thus, this work highlights the relevance of the classical influence in the author's work and in ancient and modern literature. In this plan, to categorize the concept of myth and mythological elements, Eliade (2007), Vernant (2006), Monfardini (2005), and Brandão (2000) were used, in order to bring Sophia's poetic literary production closer to the myth, we saw Ceia (1996), Eliot (1989), Calasso (2004), Scranin (2006) and Zenith (2019), with the purpose of rescuing aspects of myth to poetry in aspects that go from the symbolic to the imaginary, we used Durand (2000-2012), Cassirer (2001) and Eliade (1992), to elaborate the analysis of all the selected poems, we used the studies of Spitzer (2003), which transparently addresses hypotheses of how the transfiguration of myth into poetry occurs, bringing a contemporary perspective, also supported, in the conception of Cunha (2004), Bulfinch (2002) and the poetic works of Sophia de Mello Breyner to understand the completeness of the meaning of the classic. In addition, Harvey (1989) and Graves (1985) are used to encompass the meaning of Greco-Latin culture. Thus, it is clear that Sophia's work plays an essential role between the past and the present; however, it is necessary to understand these aspects in greater depth through the entire proposed critical analysis, supported by its completeness.