Greek Myths in Elizabethan Literature and Art: A Conceptual Theory Study

Ancient Greek myths played a crucial role in the Renaissance culture taking on new meanings in textual and visual art. This article assesses the role of Greek mythology in the Elizabethan period in two particular aspects: 1) the plot forming significance of fabled Greek tales and 2) their capacity to constitute a given situation within the framework of a broader myth. Antique stories were used by Elizabethan poets, dramatists, and artists as a cognitive base, a point of departure for their works setting a general direction with a clear-cut conceptual structure. The archetypal myth was then modified to meet the needs of the early modern politics, religion, and morality, with the conceptual scheme seriously revised and extended. Old stories were subject to alterations and adaptations introducing new motifs, Christian dogmas and interpretations, and contensive typology in the discourse of praise of the female monarch and her country. Mythological enclaves (inclusions) as a figurative device are laconic references to Greek myths and are meant to add imagery beyond the limitations of the plot-forming myth. They are situation-based and create an additional layer of meaning for a given context. They have special functions and effects and extend the narrative's cognitive content and complexity. Keywords: Greek theology, archetypal myth, conceptual structure, mythological enclave, pictorial art, Lyly, Drayton, Peele.