Billy Budd contains multiple allusions to various mythical heroes. Melville often makes these allusions to characterize Billy Budd. In Chapter 1, for example, Lieutenant Ratcliff compares him to the god Apollo:
“But where’s my beauty? Ah,” looking through the cabin’s open door, “here he comes; and, by Jove, lugging along his chest—Apollo with his portmanteau!—My man,” stepping out to him, “you can’t take that big box aboard a warship.”
In Greek mythology, Apollo is a god and associated with the sun, light, poetry. He is also the god of beauty and aesthetics, and considered to be the most beautiful god, as he is described as handsome and youthful. The lieutenant's comparison all in all highlights Billy's handsome and godly nature.
In Chapter 9, the narrator makes an allusion to another mythical hero, this time the Greek god Achilles, in reference to Billy after he asks the Dansker for advice:
Something less unpleasingly oracular he tried to extract; but the old sea Chiron, thinking perhaps that for the nonce he had sufficiently instructed his young Achilles, pursed his lips, gathered all his wrinkles together, and would commit himself to nothing further.
In Greek mythology, Achilles is known as a hero and warrior of the Trojan War. Known for his strength, courage, and skill in battle, Achilles is considered to be the quintessential warrior. The narrator also makes an allusion to Chiron, a centaur in Greek mythology known for his intelligence and knowledge of medicine. Chiron was a tutor and mentor to Achilles. Similarly, Dansker is a mentor and guide to Budd when he first arrives on the Indomitable. This allusion allows Melville to explain the nature of their relationship in an evocative manner.
In Chapter 17, the narrator compares Billy to the Greek mythological figure Hyperion:
When Claggart’s unobserved glance happened to light on belted Billy rolling along the upper gun deck in the leisure of the second dogwatch, exchanging passing broadsides of fun with other young promenaders in the crowd, that glance would follow the cheerful sea Hyperion with a settled meditative and melancholy expression, his eyes strangely suffused with incipient feverish tears.
In Greek mythology, Hyperion is associated with the sun. He is the god of light and is depicted as a powerful and radiant figure. Melville makes this allusion to characterize Billy as radiant, cheerful, and overall positive. This positive description of Budd is also contrasted with Claggart's "melancholy expression," which foreshadows Billy's tragic death at the end of the novella.
In Chapter 2, the narrator makes a reference to author Nathaniel Hawthorne when describing Billy Budd's appearance:
Though our Handsome Sailor had as much of masculine beauty as one can expect anywhere to see; nevertheless, like the beautiful woman in one of Hawthorne’s minor tales, there was just one thing amiss in him. No visible blemish indeed, as with the lady; no, but an occasional liability to a vocal defect [...] under sudden provocation of strong heart-feeling in his voice [...] was apt to develop an organic hesitancy, in fact more or less of a stutter or even worse.
Nathaniel Hawthorne was an American author known for writing the novels The Scarlet Letter and The House of the Seven Gables. Melville was well acquainted with Hawthorne and greatly respected him as a fellow author. Melville makes this allusion to Hawthorne to underscore the idea that despite Budd's physical beauty, he possesses a flaw, much like a character in one of Hawthorne's tales. Billy's "defect"—his stutter—makes him seem more realistic and relatable as a character. The narrator's description of Billy's "defect" is also a significant instance of foreshadowing; Billy's habit of stuttering gets in the way during a crucial moment in the narrative, when Claggart accuses him of plotting mutiny.
In Chapter 8, the narrator uses a simile and makes an allusion to the poet Luiz de Camoëns as he reflects on the various (and sometimes disreputable) ways the navy recruited sailors, specifically in reference to John Claggart:
That era appears measurably clear to us who look back at it, and but read of it. But to the grandfathers of us graybeards, the more thoughtful of them, the genius of it presented an aspect like that of Camoëns’ Spirit of the Cape, an eclipsing menace mysterious and prodigious.
The narrator begins by reflecting on the differences in naval practices during the past versus the present. The narrator then makes an allusion to the epic poem the "Spirit of the Cape" written by Portuguese poet Luis de Camoëns. In Camoëns's poem, the Spirit of the Cape is a supernatural being that embodies the dangerous, foreboding nature of the Cape of Good Hope. The Spirit of the Cape appears as terrifying and monstrous, symbolizing the difficulties faced by Portuguese explorers navigating the dangerous waters around the Cape. Melville makes this allusion to create a sense of foreboding and mystery around Claggart's background and character, as Claggart has supposedly been recruited in a disreputable manner. In alluding to Camoëns's poem, Melville creates a sense of intrigue around Claggart's character, and the intensity of Camoëns's poem even suggests to the reader that Claggart may be a threat, turning this moment into an instance of foreshadowing.
Billy Budd contains multiple allusions to various mythical heroes. Melville often makes these allusions to characterize Billy Budd. In Chapter 1, for example, Lieutenant Ratcliff compares him to the god Apollo:
“But where’s my beauty? Ah,” looking through the cabin’s open door, “here he comes; and, by Jove, lugging along his chest—Apollo with his portmanteau!—My man,” stepping out to him, “you can’t take that big box aboard a warship.”
In Greek mythology, Apollo is a god and associated with the sun, light, poetry. He is also the god of beauty and aesthetics, and considered to be the most beautiful god, as he is described as handsome and youthful. The lieutenant's comparison all in all highlights Billy's handsome and godly nature.
In Chapter 9, the narrator makes an allusion to another mythical hero, this time the Greek god Achilles, in reference to Billy after he asks the Dansker for advice:
Something less unpleasingly oracular he tried to extract; but the old sea Chiron, thinking perhaps that for the nonce he had sufficiently instructed his young Achilles, pursed his lips, gathered all his wrinkles together, and would commit himself to nothing further.
In Greek mythology, Achilles is known as a hero and warrior of the Trojan War. Known for his strength, courage, and skill in battle, Achilles is considered to be the quintessential warrior. The narrator also makes an allusion to Chiron, a centaur in Greek mythology known for his intelligence and knowledge of medicine. Chiron was a tutor and mentor to Achilles. Similarly, Dansker is a mentor and guide to Budd when he first arrives on the Indomitable. This allusion allows Melville to explain the nature of their relationship in an evocative manner.
In Chapter 17, the narrator compares Billy to the Greek mythological figure Hyperion:
When Claggart’s unobserved glance happened to light on belted Billy rolling along the upper gun deck in the leisure of the second dogwatch, exchanging passing broadsides of fun with other young promenaders in the crowd, that glance would follow the cheerful sea Hyperion with a settled meditative and melancholy expression, his eyes strangely suffused with incipient feverish tears.
In Greek mythology, Hyperion is associated with the sun. He is the god of light and is depicted as a powerful and radiant figure. Melville makes this allusion to characterize Billy as radiant, cheerful, and overall positive. This positive description of Budd is also contrasted with Claggart's "melancholy expression," which foreshadows Billy's tragic death at the end of the novella.
Billy Budd contains multiple allusions to various mythical heroes. Melville often makes these allusions to characterize Billy Budd. In Chapter 1, for example, Lieutenant Ratcliff compares him to the god Apollo:
“But where’s my beauty? Ah,” looking through the cabin’s open door, “here he comes; and, by Jove, lugging along his chest—Apollo with his portmanteau!—My man,” stepping out to him, “you can’t take that big box aboard a warship.”
In Greek mythology, Apollo is a god and associated with the sun, light, poetry. He is also the god of beauty and aesthetics, and considered to be the most beautiful god, as he is described as handsome and youthful. The lieutenant's comparison all in all highlights Billy's handsome and godly nature.
In Chapter 9, the narrator makes an allusion to another mythical hero, this time the Greek god Achilles, in reference to Billy after he asks the Dansker for advice:
Something less unpleasingly oracular he tried to extract; but the old sea Chiron, thinking perhaps that for the nonce he had sufficiently instructed his young Achilles, pursed his lips, gathered all his wrinkles together, and would commit himself to nothing further.
In Greek mythology, Achilles is known as a hero and warrior of the Trojan War. Known for his strength, courage, and skill in battle, Achilles is considered to be the quintessential warrior. The narrator also makes an allusion to Chiron, a centaur in Greek mythology known for his intelligence and knowledge of medicine. Chiron was a tutor and mentor to Achilles. Similarly, Dansker is a mentor and guide to Budd when he first arrives on the Indomitable. This allusion allows Melville to explain the nature of their relationship in an evocative manner.
In Chapter 17, the narrator compares Billy to the Greek mythological figure Hyperion:
When Claggart’s unobserved glance happened to light on belted Billy rolling along the upper gun deck in the leisure of the second dogwatch, exchanging passing broadsides of fun with other young promenaders in the crowd, that glance would follow the cheerful sea Hyperion with a settled meditative and melancholy expression, his eyes strangely suffused with incipient feverish tears.
In Greek mythology, Hyperion is associated with the sun. He is the god of light and is depicted as a powerful and radiant figure. Melville makes this allusion to characterize Billy as radiant, cheerful, and overall positive. This positive description of Budd is also contrasted with Claggart's "melancholy expression," which foreshadows Billy's tragic death at the end of the novella.
