Canto II Appearances Quotes

Toward the beginning of "Canto II," Pound starts us off by describing a "daughter of Lir," which is actually an ocean seal, then says that this seal has "eyes of Picasso." This is interesting because the painter Pablo Picasso was famous for being able to find beauty in ordinary things by showing those things from a new angle—or in some cases, from a bunch of angles at once.

The men of Troy want Helen out of their city because they know she'll bring war to their people. They realize that she's incredibly beautiful, almost god-like in her beauty. But at the same time, they feel like her beauty will eventually destroy them, so they want her gone.

When Acoetes and his buds first get to the island of Scios, they see a young boy hanging out by a rock pool. None of them realize that the handsome young boy is the god Dionysius in disguise, even though the smell of vines should give them a bit of a hint. In any case, the men totally disregard the boy's freedom and decide that he'd make them a bit of money if they sold him as a slave. That choice will come back to haunt them, though.