Prominent Myths of Abd al-Wahhab al-Bayyati's Poetry

Abd al-Wahhab al-Bayyati(1926-1999) is one of those poets whose poems make frequent use of myths. Drawing on the ancient myths, and making modifications to them, he tries, while enriching his literary work, to express his views more cogently he does not simply retell the traditional myths, rather, he present new and richer interpretations of these myths and using defamiliarization, conveys his own experiences through them. A psychological analysis of the mythological characters shows that they in fact represent the poet himself in his works, revealing his wishes, desires, and intentions. His mythical characters are concerned and complain about the same sociopolitical issues, seeking political freedom and social justice. In a nutshell, it could be said that his mythical characters symbolize emotional humiliates, adventurism, nostalgic empathy sacrifice. This article intends to review mythology in contemporary Arabic poetry and uncover the employment and functions of myths such as Oedipus, Sisyphus, Jesus, Sandbad in Abd al- Wahhab al Bayyati.