Allusions In The Bloody Sire

An allusion is defined as “an indirect or inexplicit reference by one text to another text, to a historical, mythic and legends.” The four illusions in The Bloody Sire are Helen, Christ, Herod, and Caesar. I am familiar with Helen, Christ, and Caesar, I however had never heard of Herod before. All four allusions represent violence and human cruelty. Helen as she was kidnapped and that sparked the Trojan War, Christ as he was crucified by the Romans. Herod and Caesar as they were both powerful and violent individuals. The function of these four allusions is to serve as a reference to the violence that they were associated with.

I think these four allusions help Jeffers make a point because these allusions represent the violence and cruelty
As for today, I think that not as many people are going to be familiar with all four of the allusions. More than likely most people are at least somewhat familiar with Christ, even if they are not religious. I believe that most people today have at least heard about Helen, maybe Caesar too, but I feel that many may be confused about which Caesar Jeffers was referring to. I however feel that many people today may be unfamiliar with Herod, I have asked a few people if they know who Herod is to test this, and the people that I have asked were unfamiliar with Herod as well. The fact that not all of these once very familiar historical/religious figures are not widely recognized today can indicate how times have changed in terms of historical studies. Violence is still very present in today’s society, and the vast majority of people are aware of the violence that occurred throughout history, I just believe that we are taught to be more familiar with figures of violence that are a bit more modern. Adolf Hitler is an example, if he were to be used as an allusion in a poem, a very large percentage of the population would be familiar with him and the violence that he