Poetic Myth-Conceptions: A Collection of Original Poetry Based Upon Greek and Roman Mythology

By E. G. Pizzella

This book will take the reader on an exciting, mystical and exhilarating journey back in time, where he may examine, learn and reflect upon the mythological history of our present day culture. This collection of original poems is rooted in the popular historical religious beliefs and anecdotes of Ancient Greece and Rome, elements and fragments of which have been handed down through the centuries and have profoundly influenced our lives. In our daily discourse we continually employ meaningful and descriptive expressions, which are derived from mythological tales and personalities, such as "Trojan horse," "Pandora's box," "Gordian knot," "bacchanalian," "Spartan," "platonic," "aurora," "Herculean," "Achilles heel" and many more. We have also named cities and planets after them, such as "Athens" and "Jupiter." In this collection the reader will be pleasantly introduced to the origins of these expressions through the delightful medium of lyrical poetry.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Xlibris US
• Release date: Apr 28, 2016
• ISBN: 9781514484937

E. G. Pizzella

Ed Pizzella is a lawyer, politician, consumer advocate, actor, director, producer, writer, and last but not least, a poet. A child of the Great Depression, Mr. Pizzella is the offspring of Italian immigrants. Born in the Italian ghetto of Hartford, Connecticut, he attended local public schools, where, by his heritage, he was driven to learn. Because he was born only a year after his mother arrived in this country, in his early years, he spoke only Italian. He soon mastered English and, in junior high school, was elected to the National Honor Society, won the school’s oratorical contest, and was a graduation speaker and a recipient of the Civitan Award.

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Copyright © 2016 by E. G. Pizzella.

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system, without permission in writing from the copyright owner.

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Rev. date: 04/23/2016

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CONTENTS

Dedication

Author’s Bio

Preface

All That Glitters

Anatomy Of A Boycott

Apollo’s Futile Chase

Beauty And The Beast

Cassandra’s Curse

Celestial Bears

City Without A Name

Diana’s Vindication

Epitaph

Eternal City

Forbidden Garden

Jealous Of The Breeze

Medusa’s Demise

Mourning Becomes Electra

Niobe’s Fatal Pride

One Last Melodic Chord

Phaethon’s Folly

Pride’s Tangled Web

Prologue To Eternity

Return To Mycenae

Seeds Of Things To Be

The Curse Of Pandora

The Final Word

The Glaring Eyes Of Argus

The Golden Apple

The Malice Of Medea

The Model Wife

The Origin Of Frogs

The Penance Of Priam

The Princess And The Purple Lock

The Quest Of The Argonauts

The Rescue Of Andromeda

The Revolt Of The Myrmidons

The Seduction Of Ulysses

The Tempest In The Sack

The Trial Of Orestes

The Vengeance Of Achilles

The Wily Winds Of War

Tragic Rendezvous

Ulysses’ Revenge

Whispers In The Reeds

DEDICATION

This work is dedicated to my devoted and caring teachers at Northeast Junior High School and Weaver High School in Hartford, Connecticut, and, in particular, to my junior high school Guidance Counselor, Ben O’Connell, and my eighth grade English teacher, Miss Hoye. They were my primary inspiration and motivation for the academic achievement, which prepared me for college and law school. Miss Hoye introduced me to poetry, not two dimensional poetry or poetry on the written page, but three dimensional poetry, the mellifluent sounds of poetic expression. She would require her students to memorize certain classical poems and then, standing before the class, recite them with passion and enthusiasm.

Northeast junior High School held an oratorical contest annually and Mr. O’Connell prodded me to participate. With his encouragement I won the Civitan Award in the eighth grade and the oratorical contest in the ninth and was chosen as a graduation speaker. I attribute much of my professional success to the inspiration I received from these devoted mentors.

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EDWARD G. PIZZELLA

AUTHOR’S BIO

Ed Pizzella is a lawyer, politician, consumer advocate, actor, director, producer, writer and, last but not least, a poet. A child of the Great Depression, Mr. Pizzella is the offspring of Italian immigrants. Born in the Italian ghetto of Hartford, Connecticut, he attended local public schools, where, by his heritage, he was driven to learn. Because he was born only a year after his mother arrived in this country, in his early years he spoke only Italian. He soon mastered English and in junior high school was elected to the National Honor Society, won the school’s oratorical contest and was a graduation speaker and a recipient of the Civitan Award.

His appreciation of poetry commenced in his eighth grade English class, where he studied the classics and excelled in recitation. He was attracted to languages and avidly studied Latin, French and Italian. He also acquired a profound interest in mythology.

At Weaver High School in Hartford, he wrote for the school newspaper, served as president of the French Club, was awarded the chemistry prize at graduation and ranked in the upper ten percent of his class. At Trinity College (Hartford) he majored in Romance Languages and in 1954 was graduated cum laude with a Bachelor of Arts degree. He received his Juris Doctor degree from the University of Connecticut School of Law in 1957, where he was graduated third in his class. He was admitted to the Connecticut Bar in 1957 and since that time has been actively engaged in the general practice of law.

In law school Mr. Pizzella became a member of the Board of Student Editors (Law Review) and authored three articles which were published in the Connecticut Bar Journal. The last of the three, entitled A Survey Of Connecticut Zoning Law, was subsequently republished in pamphlet form.

He was admitted to the Connecticut Bar in 1957 and is a member of the Connecticut Bar Association, the Federal District Court Bar for the District of Connecticut, the Second Circuit Court of Appeals Bar and the U. S. Supreme Court Bar.

He commenced legal practice as assistant legal aid attorney for the Legal Aid Society of Hartford County and, after he left that position to enter private practice, founded and chaired the Legal Aid Board of New Britain. He continued to hone his writing skills in the form of brief writing in the course of his extensive appellate practice. His writing became prominent in his civic and political activities, where, as President of the local Chamber of Commerce and as a local elected official, he penned numerous articles which were published in local newspapers.

He served as a member of the Newington Zoning Commission and as Chairman of the Newington Zoning Board of Appeals. He also served as a member of the Newington Town Council and, upon his re-election received the highest number of votes among the ten candidates nominated. In the 1973 and 1974 state legislative sessions, he was appointed counsel for the Senate majority and in 1974 also served as counsel for the legislature’s Banks and Regulated Activities Committee. In 1975 he was nominated as Newington’s Republican candidate for Mayor and in 1995 as the Republican candidate for Probate Judge for the Newington Probate District. He was elected and served as Grand Knight of the Rev. Edward Shaugnessey Council, Knights of Columbus.

In the late 1960’s, Mr. Pizzella became active in community theatre and subsequently appeared in major roles in more than a hundred dinner theatre and community theatre productions in central Connecticut. He directed a number of theatrical productions for Theatre Newington, The OnStage Performers, L’Auberge d’Elegance Dinner Theatre, Beckley Dinner Theatre, The Downstairs Cabaret, The Ramada Dinner Theatre, The Centre Stage Dinner Theatre and The Connecticut Cabaret in Berlin, Bristol, Meriden, New Britain and Newington, Connecticut.

As one of the founders of Theatre One Productions, Inc., he assisted in producing nineteen major theatrical productions. He served as Business Manager for Theatre Newington and Secretary of Theatre One Productions. He was elected and served as Chairman of the Tri-Town Community Cable Access Committee, Chairman of the Cox Cable Advisory Council and Vice-Chairman of the SNET State-wide Cable Advisory Council. He was a founder and served as Secretary of Newington Community Television, Inc., a local community access telecaster.

In 2010, he was honored by the Connecticut General Assembly with a congratulatory citation for his many years of service in advancing the rights of video cable subscribers.

He authored three theatrical reviews and numerous original poems, which have been published in area newspapers, and has published three books, a collection of original poems based upon Biblical passages and religious themes entitled Thy Will Be Done, a theatrical memoir entitled The Versatility Of Chairs, and a collection of original lyrical poems entitled Wordbridge, all of which are available online.

PREFACE

According to the precepts of Greek mythology, which were later adopted by the Romans, the physical world was thought to be dominated by a multitude of powerful gods, who made their home on Mt. Olympus.

They joined together under the leadership of Zeus (or Jupiter, the Roman equivalent) to form a huge bureaucracy in which they, like present day government department heads, were charged with ruling over and administering a myriad of human activities and talents, while actually mingling and interacting with humans. The writings that follow focus upon many of the historical events and mythological stories and beliefs handed down to us by the ancients.

SEEDS OF THINGS TO BE

Man has always been intrigued by the mystery of creation

And theories have evolved, which differ and diverge.

Each culture has propounded its peculiar explanation

In terms with which its cherished and familiar customs merge.

The ancient Greeks opined with plausibility

That heaven, sea and earth were at first one shapeless mass,

Containing neither solid matter or liquidity,

Nor did the air consist of clear, transparent gas.

This confused amalgamation was given Chaos, as its name,

And deep within its bosom slumbered seeds of things to be,

Which lingered in a latent state, until diffusion came,

For it took the gods and nature many years to set them free.

To form the sky the fiery part sprang upward through the mass,

Leaving atmosphere to settle and to take its place with ease.

Water formed and, being liquid, did through solid matter pass

And buoyed up the continents, which floated on the seas.

This led to the formation of rivers, lakes and bays,

Which nurtured growth of forests and fertile fields of green.

Then came an unknown god, who did lofty mountains raise

From material scooped out to make the valleys in between.

Filled with birds was the air, now by settlement made clear,

And scaly fish in rippling waters made their home.

In the heavens glowing stars began to rapidly appear,

As savage hoards of animals o’er the land did roam.

A race of giants known as Titans then inhabited the earth,

Before commencement of the process that we term as evolution,

And all the traits of Man and beast having any worth

Were trustingly committed to them for distribution.

The achievements of Prometheus were commendable indeed,

For birds and fish and mammals by this Titan were designed.

But for a nobler type of beast there now arose a need,

So the task of making Man was to this artisan assigned.

Man’s creator on his sibling, Epimetheus, relied

To bestow on all such beings their means of preservation.

Speed he gave to animals and to Man he gifted pride

And to defenseless birds he gave wings for aviation.

In the storehouse of these Titans, among unique and sundry wares,

Were physical adornments for survival and defense.

Some functioned by themselves and some in groups and pairs,

Which Epimetheus judiciously proceeded to dispense.

There were bony beaks and cloven hooves and smooth and jagged shells,

Bills and quills and tusks and horns that pierce just like a drill,

Rigid bristles, humps and rumps and awful, putrid smells,

Whines and neighs and hoots and howls that penetrate and chill.

There were jowls and snouts and muzzles and vice-like gaping jaws

With pointed teeth arranged in layers and pincers prone to sting,

Antlers, fangs and sharpened nails lodged in grasping claws

And trunks and tails and tentacles that maim with but a swing.

There were shaggy furs and swarthy skins and multicolored feathers,

Appropriate for scavengers or those who take to flight,

Slippery scales and prickly pelts and armor-coated leathers,

Reserved for those, who slither or stand their ground and fight.

Many were the attributes parceled out, we’re told,

And weary Epimetheus, though fatigued, did not complain.

By his brother oft encouraged and frequently consoled,

He endeavored that each trait to its receiver should pertain.

The beasts