Winged Words

This blog explores all things classics-related in popular culture! Scroll and find something you're already interested in, or discover something completely new.

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Hadestown & the Critique of Capitalism

Hadestown is a Broadway musical written by Anaïs Mitchell, which reconstructs the myth of Orpheus and Eurydice through a blend of jazz and blues. The play is a perfect example of the ways in which Greek mythology has developed over the centuries and has been moulded to serve as a commentary to modern politics and issues within society. As opposed to ancient Greece, the production is set in a noticeably dystopian New Orleans in order to articulate the modern themes of the play. Orpheus is described as a “poor boy” who works as a waiter, and falls in love with Eurydice at first sight. In the original myth, Eurydice is killed by the bite of a snake, but in this musical version she sells her soul to work for Hades within an industrial version of the Underworld- Hadestown.

The dire effects of capitalism and poverty are reflected within the song “Why We Build The Wall” as Hades behaves as a relentless industrialist, brainwashing his labourers into believing they have no other choice but to work for him within his factories and mines. He tells them that “the enemy is poverty” and the only way in which they are able to “keep out” the enemy is to give their life and soul to Hadestown. This particular moment within the musical serves as a commentary to highlight the dictatorial methods utilised by those in power to maintain authority, as they condition communities to believe that there is no escape from their suffering. Hades also calls the workers his “children” to feign care for their welfare and future, but this is simply a scheme regulated in order to keep them under his hegemonic grasp. Eurydice, struck by hunger and poverty, becomes a labourer of Hadestown as she believes it is her only means of survival; she undergoes a metaphorical death. In turn, Orpheus travels into the industrialised reconstruction of Hell to save his lover from Hades’ capitalist rule. Thus, this Greek myth retelling behaves as a critique into the conditions of the working class and the injustices of power structures, highlighting just why the study of classics is so valuable within the contemporary world today.

Ela Hodzic, 02/06/25,

Country music is just Latin poetry, reheated.

I've always had this nagging suspicion that the fundamentals to any good country song - western country that is - are identical to the fundamental elements of many a Latin poem. So here I am going to attempt to dissect this, and prove that Latin poetry perhaps isn't as intimidating a topic as you might assume. Although it may look scary if you have no background in classics, the themes can still be relatable.

Any good country song contains: Alcohol, the countryside, nostalgia, deep yearning, and most of all - romance, or at the very least - infatuation. The best have a distinct narrative to their lyrics (Dirt Cheap by Cody Johnson is a great example).

The Latin poet Ovid's ‘Amores’, by this list of literary ingredients I have defined, reside lyrically in the genre of country, which I’m going to prove by comparing the (frankly epic) songs of Luke Combs, with Ovid’s ‘Amores’ written in the first century BCE.

In this poem, Ovid expresses his deep frustration with the woman he loves; he knows he should hate her for her actions (which are not specified but claimed to be ‘wicked’) but he cannot help but love her anyway for her beauty, deciding that no matter what she does he cannot stop adoring her. But will it be returned?

Ovid’s Amores, Book 3, Elegy 11b – The conflict of emotions

I struggle, and my fickle heart is pulled both ways,

now by love, now hate, but I think love wins.

I’ll hate if I can do: if not, I love unwillingly.

No ox loves the yoke: yet he still suffers what he hates.

I flee your wickedness – your beauty draws me back:

I loathe your guilty ways – I love your body.

So I can’t live with you or without you,

and don’t seem to know my own mind.

I wish you were less beautiful or less wanton:

such a lovely form doesn’t go with such bad ways.

Actions worthy of hatred, a face that begs for love –

ah me, she’s worth so much more than her vices!

---

Be what you will, you will be mine for ever:

you choose then, shall I love freely too or be constrained!

Let me spread sail and enjoy the flowing breezes,

or, if I may not, to want what I’m forced to love. 

We’ve got a desperate conflict of emotions, a sneaky little cow/farming analogy, and a sense of narrative in the way the poet can’t escape his love and adoration yet continues to be drawn back to the women he loves. A classic love song in other terms.

Now approximately 2000 years later, here’s what Luke Combs came up with to express his feelings in a similar scenario:

Luke Combs – Love You Anyway

‘If your kiss turned me to stone
I'd be a statue standing tall in Ancient Rome
And if your touch shattered me like glass
I'd be in pieces trying to make the breaking last

If it took one look to turn my days to night
At least I'd have the stars that sparkle in your eyes

There's just some things that leave a man no choice
Like a compass needle needing its true North
Even if I knew the day we met you'd be the reason this heart breaks
Oh, I'd love you anyway

I know just trying to write a song
I run the risk that I could get your perfect wrong
And well, I guess what I'm trying to say
Is there ain't words been made could shoulder so much weight

And if you turned your back on me and walked away
Not a thing about the way I feel would change…’

As you can see from the lines in bold, unwavering adoration is a timeless theme. Just as Ovid does, he wants to stay in this relationship, in this position of desire, even if it hurts him: he wants it to ‘last’. Combs compares the eyes of his love to the stars, bringing metaphors of nature in, just as Ovid does, to convey the extent and inevitability of their devotion and their love’s beauty. Even if their love is unrequited, it doesn’t dissipate. From Ovid to Luke Combs, Zach Bryan, and Chris Stapleton, I enjoy the idea that it has stayed a human trait for thousands of years to look to poetry, lyricism, and nature to express our strongest emotions. Even if that emotion is an intense thirst for some liquid courage...

'Wine rouses courage and is fit for passion,' - Ovid, Ars Amatoria, Book 1.7

'We locked eyes over whiskey on ice, started talking ’bout us again' - Luke Combs, Hurricane

Niamh Smith, 16/05/2025

BTS and Dionysus: Where's the Party At?

Dionysus is a song released by BTS in their album Map of the soul: 7. The song describes partying and drinking, as well as performing on stage. (English lyrics here). It draws on the mythology and symbolism of the Greek god of the same name, to explore themes of partying, rebirth and the role of the artist. The Greek god Dionysus was the god of wine, theatre, and madness: By using his imagery, BTS explore the connections between all these different themes. He was often depicted carrying a thyrsus, which was a spear tipped with a pinecone and wrapped with ivy to symbolised prosperity and hedonism. The lyrics of the song connect this to a microphone: “from my mic made of ivy and rugged wood”. In their live performances, RM, leader of the band, holds a staff decorated with ivy. This is clearly a reference to the Dionysian thyrsus. BTS describe their live performances as a Dionysian experience: the cheering of fans, partying ‘until the sun comes up’, calling on everyone to take part. Dionysus’ festival - the Dionysia - involved the community coming together to drink, sing and dance – it was a place for everyone to let lose together. The festival was seen as a ‘rebirth’ where the group festivities broke down boundaries between different groups of people – elites and slaves, men and women. BTS repeatedly call on their listeners to be reborn – ‘we are born twice’, and say they are ‘reborn as an artist’. The festival also involved lots of music and plays: Dionysus was the god of theatre, so it was important to honour him through performances. The band’s live performances of the song are very theatrical: for instance, their MMA 2019 performance involved gigantic tiger models, which were sacred to the god. The background projections showed a Greek temple, as well as some Greek statues. Harp and lyre players, aerial dancers and people holding giant fans added to the sense that this performance was like the Dionysia: by referencing these classical motifs, they pay homage to the Dionysia and the rites associated with it. This, combined with the frenzied dancing and the strobe lighting, shows how partying and performances today are connected to the same emotions felt by the Greeks when they took part in the Dionysia. The song closely references Dionysus’ sacred symbols and festival rites to explore the role of performers and their fans today, and how this connects with the same themes that the Greeks experienced through their religion.

May Robinson, 14/05/2025