Allusion

1. Allusion Identifying classical, historical, and literary allusions in context.

2. What is it? • An allusion is a figure of speech that makes a reference to, or representation of, people, places, events, literary work, myths, or works of art, either directly or by implication. M. H. Abrams defined allusion as "a brief reference, explicit or indirect, to a person, place or event, or to another literary work or passage".1 It is left to the reader or hearer to make the connection (Fowler); where the connection is detailed in depth by the author, it is preferable to call it "a reference".

3. In other words • When you are reading and the author talks about or mentions something from another story or history, etc. • We didn't Start the Fire by Bill Joel • cartoons with allusion • allusions in poetry

4. A Midsummer Night’s Dream • In keeping with the ancient Mediterranean setting, the characters allude often to gods and other personages in Greek and Roman myth and legend.  

5. Among those alluded to are the following: • Diana (1. 1. 94): Roman name of Artemis, goddess of the moon and the hunt. Cupid (1. 1. 175): Roman name for the Greek god of love, Eros, who shot arrows at humans to wound them with love. Venus (1. 1. 177): Roman name for the Greek goddess of love, Aphrodite. She was the mother of Cupid.  Dido (1. 1. 179): Dido is not referred to by name but by the designation Carthage queen, meaning she was the queen of the North African country of Carthage. She appears in Virgil’s great epic poem, The Aeneid. Dido falls desperately in love with TheAeneid’s main character, Aeneas, after he stops in Carthage on his way from Troy to Italy. But after he abandons her, she kills herself by falling on a sword. At sea on his ship, Aeneas can see Carthage glowing with the flames of Dido’s funeral pyre.  Aeneas (1. 1. 180): See Dido, above. Ariadne (2. 1. 84): Daughter of King Minos of Crete. She gave Theseus a thread that enabled him to find his way out of the labyrinth, a maze constructed to house the Minotaur, a creature with the head of a bull and the body of a man. Neptune (2. 1. 131): Roman name of Poseidon, god of the sea. Apollo and Daphne (2. 1. 239): Apollo—god of poetry, music, medicine, and the sun—pursued the nymph Daphne, daughter of a river god. After she prayed for a way to escape Apollo, her father changed her into a laurel tree. Apollo later used the leaves of the laurel in wreaths with which victors of various contests were crowned. Hercules (4. 1.98): Greek demigod known for his feats of strength. Cadmus (4. 1.98): Son of the king of Phoenicia and founder of the Greek city of Thebes. Jove (5. 1. 181): One of two Roman names for Zeus, the king of the Olympian gods. The other Roman name is Jupiter.

6. Hermia Alludes • .......Following is an example of a passage, spoken by Hermia, alluding to personages of myth and legend. The allusions are to Cupid (second line), Venus (fourth line), Dido (sixth line, referred to as Carthage queen), and Aeneas (seventh line, referred to as Troyan).  My good Lysander! I swear to thee, by Cupid’s strongest bow [see Cupid, above],  By his best arrow with the golden head, By the simplicity of Venus’ [see Venus, above] doves, By that which knitteth souls and prospers loves, And by that fire which burn’d the Carthage queen [see Dido, above], When the false Troyan [false Trojan, Aeneas] under sail was seen, By all the vows that ever men have broke, In number more than ever women spoke, In that same place thou hast appointed me, To-morrow truly will I meet with thee. (1. 1. 174-184)