WHAT DO HAMLET'S DIVINE-FATHER ANALOGIES REVEAL? - Series
1. By comparing his father to four classical gods, this implies that Prince Hamlet is like a son of a god [1].
2. By starting with Hyperion – among the Titans whose divine reign was overthrown – this echoes his father having been killed by Claudius [2].
3. The overturning of the old divine order – the rule of Hyperion and the Titans – also echoes the Reformation, which sought to break bonds with Rome and the old Christian order, and to embody a new, reformed order. In this way, English Renaissance fascination with Titans and gods may have been an analogical way to write about what was sometimes forbidden, restricted, discouraged [3].
4. Comparing his father to Mars, god of war, makes sense, given the dead king’s reputation as a warrior; this also contrasts with Claudius, the cowardly poisoner [4].
5. Mercury doesn’t quite fit by himself; but Shakespeare includes both Jove and Mercury among Hamlet’s comparisons…
- Ovid’s Metamorphoses, which Shakespeare often used, has this tale:
- A disguised Jove (Zeus) and Mercury (Hermes) tested the hospitality of thousands in Phrygia, but were welcomed only by Baucis and Philemon.
- A disguised god who tests – and is offered or refused hospitality – is also found in Ophelia’s owl reference, a folktale about Jesus in disguise, testing the hospitality of a baker and his daughter [5].
- This is also found in the Emmaus tale, echoed in the graveyard scene, where instead of two disciples (D) on the road to Emmaus (E), two Danes (D) are on the road to Elsinore (E); they meet a stranger, a sexton/gravedigger, a clown and kindred spirit of Yorick. The connection to Yorick is revealed not in the breaking of bread, but in poured wine, a spilled flagon of Rhenish (the other key element at the Last Supper) [6].
Can you think of other implications of how Hamlet’s god-comparisons shed light?
INDEX to this series on Hamlet and the Ten Commandments:
https://pauladrianfried.blogspot.com/2026/07/series-index-ten-commandments-in-hamlet.html
NOTES: All references to Shakespeare plays are to the Folger Shakespeare Library online versions: https://shakespeare.folger.edu
[1] if only unintentionally, Hamlet implies this. This is a theme he visits elsewhere: “in action how like / an angel, in apprehension how like a god” (2.2.329-330).
[2] Although Claudius does not overcome his brother King Hamlet in the same way that Jove and the other new gods overcame the Titans, it is still an example of a similar change in authority and order.
[3] The Reformation echo might be especially clear when we consider other references in the play as to Wittenberg (by Claudius in 1.2.117, and Gertrude in 1.2.123), associated with Martin Luther, and to the Diet of Worms (4.3.24): “Your worm is your only emperor for diet.”
- But many forms of speech in Shakespeare’s Englan were illegal, such as questioning the authority of the queen over the English church, criticising the Book of Common Prayer as the approved format for English church services, or the requirement that preachers be licenced.
- Plays were also restricted by the Master of Revels, who approved plays for performance or required changes. Published plays were sometimes censored or not approved (for example, Richard II and As You Like It).
[4] Resorting to poison was often considered cowardly, in contrast, say, with King Hamlet fighting Old Fortinbras in single combat. It was also considered more weak and feminine than masculine. See SADOWSKI, PIOTR. “‘Foul, Strange and Unnatural’: Poison as a Murder Weapon in English Renaissance Drama.” Mosaic: An Interdisciplinary Critical Journal 53, no. 3 (2020): 139–54. https://www.jstor.org/stable/27092976. See also Kaye, Dara. “Murther Most Foul: Poison as a Gendered Weapon in Shakespeare.” The Shakespeare Institute Review, 2012.
[5] See “Owl & Beggar Lazarus at Baker's Door in Hamlet 4.5 (part 11)” - April 27, 2021: https://pauladrianfried.blogspot.com/2021/04/the-begggar-lazarus-at-bakers-door-in.html
[6] See “EMMAUS in HAMLET” (Introduction/Index: Multi-Part Series) - May 21, 2018: https://pauladrianfried.blogspot.com/2018/05/emmaus-in-hamlet-in-emmaus-story-1.html
IMAGE: Featuring three insects very strategically placed (one dragonfly and two butterflies), but which interestingly do not quite fit into the story illustrated; the fellow at the lower right is looking up at an interesting angle.... This image is of a painting by Cornelis van Haarlem (1562–1638), titled “Titanernes fald” (Danish) or “The Fall of the Titans” (English), 1588-1590. Statens Museum for Kunst. Via Google Arts & Culture. Public domain via https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/a/a4/Cornelis_Cornelisz._van_Haarlem_-_The_Fall_of_the_Titans_-_Google_Art_Project.jpg
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Disclaimer: If and when I quote or paraphrase bible passages or mention religion in many of my blog posts, I do not intend to promote any religion over another, nor am I attempting to promote religious belief in general; only to explore how the Bible and religion influenced Shakespeare, his plays, and his age.
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