Ancient Love Themes in Contemporary Music
(Ancient Text by Euripides, translated by A.J. Podlecki) and Burn (Contemporary Song by Phillipa Soo – Hamilton) ParallelTextLyricsListen The characters Eliza Hamilton and Medea share a remarkably similar plight. Both are won over by the words of their spouse, both Read More …
(Ancient Text by Callimachus, translated by Peter Bing, Rip Cohen) and There Stands the Glass (Contemporary Song by Webb Pierce) ParallelTextLyricsListen Drinking alcohol is an age-old remedy for the pains of love. The poem’s narrator, the stranger, and the subject Read More …
(Ancient Text by Sappho, translated by Peter Bing and Rip Cohen) and Dug My Heart (Contemporary Song by Garrett Borns) ParallelTextLyricsListen Both the ancient poem and the modern song characterize love as an almost painful force that physically affects a Read More …
(Ancient Text by Longus, translated by Ronald McCail) and It Must Be Love (Contemporary Song by Don Williams) ParallelTextLyricsListen Don Williams iconic “It Must Be Love” closely parallels Daphnis and Chloe’s realization about love after Philetas’ teachings. The simultaneous emotional Read More …
(Ancient Text by Plato, translated by Alexander Nehamas, Paul Woodruff) and I Melt with You (Contemporary Song by Modern English) ParallelTextLyricsListen Both Plato’s Symposium and “I Melt with You” use the verbiage “melt” to describe two lovers coming together physically, Read More …
(Ancient Text by Apollonius of Rhodes, translated by E.V. Rieu) and Tops (Contemporary Song by Rolling Stones) ParallelTextLyricsListen Both male narrators (Jason and the “I” in the Rolling Songs song) promise their female interlocutors fame, literally by “taking them to Read More …