Tithonus is a notable literary work by Alfred Lord Tennyson. A complete discussion of this literary work is given, which will help you enhance your literary skills and prepare for the exam. Read the Main texts, Key info, Summary, Themes, Characters, Literary devices, Quotations, Notes, and various study materials of Tithonus.
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Basic Concepts of Poetry: Tithonus is a poem written by famous Victorian poet Alfred Lord Tennyson. Alfred Lord Tennyson was born in 1809 and died in 1892. Tennyson wrote this poem in 1833 as “Tithon” but it was not popular and he changed the name of the poem to Tithonus in 1859. The poem became very popular as soon as it was published. He originally composed this poem based on a story from Greek mythology. This poem is a dramatic monologue. A dramatic monologue refers to a speaker presenting his or her thoughts to a silent audience. In this poem, Tihonus is telling all the sorrows of his heart in front of his beloved Aurora, a silent audience.
Identity of Tithonus: Tithonus was a handsome man from Troy. He is the son of King Laomedon of Troy and the brother of King Priam. His mother was Streamo, the daughter of Scamander River. He was so handsome that Aurora, the goddess of dawn in Greek mythology, fell in love with him. and picked her up and went to Ethiopia with the intention of marrying her. Arora married him there and gave birth to two sons, Imathion and Memnon. He asked for immortality from Aurora but forgot to ask for youth. Due to this, he becomes very old as he grows older and resents his life. Later he turned into an insect called cicada with the blessings of deva. He never dies but changes his shell.
The essence of the poem: Tithonus is a famous figure in Greek mythology because the sun goddess Aurora fell in love with him and granted him immortality. But a sad thing is that Tithonus asked for immortality from his lover but he forgot to ask for youth i.e. his body was getting old with age but he took immortality from the goddess because of which he was not dying. As Tithonus grew older, he resented his immortality, but his beloved’s youth remained intact. Every morning when the sun rises, its beauty seems to increase. Since becoming immortal, he no longer considers himself human, he considers himself a shadow. He asks Aurora to die naturally.
Tithonus English Summary: In Greek mythology, Aurora, the goddess of dawn, married Tithonus out of love. Tithonus prayed to the god Zeus for immortality. The god Zeus gave Tithonus immortality but Tithonus only asked for immortality he forgot to ask for eternal youth. Due to this Tithonus slowly grows old after marriage. As he gets older, he gets older. But on the other hand, the beauty of his wife Arora does not diminish at all, her beauty continues to increase every day. As the days went by, Tithonus’ heart grew more and more sad.
Aurora fell in love with Tithonus and stole him from Troy. But Aurora is no longer attracted to Tithonus as her beauty has faded. Tithonus had become a burden to Aurora. The beauty of the aurora has mesmerized all around. Meanwhile, Tithonus spends his days in despair over his aged useless life. And now he is desperately begging to be freed from this curse of immortality. In this poem, his deep desire is expressed. By this he means immortality without youth is a burden.
In this poem, Tithonus laments that everything in nature decays. Everything in nature perishes, dies but does not die. Being immortal, he was getting older day by day but was by no means dying. He was not able to die like other beings on earth because he was slowly passing through old age after his youth had passed. But this situation does not seem to end in any way. He remembers the other animals and people of the earth. Those who work in youth and die at the end of youth. He was very sorry to see all these things and expressed that I too want to taste death like them.
He then reminds Aurora of her distant condition. He no longer identifies himself as human, revealing himself as a shadow spirit. Whose job is to get up every morning to see his wife in full youth. But he has no ability to use that youth. Because there is no sign of youth in him. He is old. All the organs of his body have become useless.
He then remembers his old memories and begins to suffer. He then realizes that he made a mistake when he sought immortality from the gods. Today he has to spend his days in this cursed state as a result of not wanting eternal life. As the days go by his body becomes more and more useless. And on the other hand, the youthful beauty of his beloved wife continues to illuminate all around. For this, he kept saying to his wife every day, take back the immortality you have given me, take it back. I want to taste death naturally. But his beloved wife did not say anything and remained silent.