The use of classical allusion in these three poems is intended to accentuate the idea that women have a certain role in society; a way in which they are seen and treated by men.  The poem, Leda and the Swan, by William Butler Yeats, is about a woman who is raped by the god, Zeus, while he is in the form of a swan.  It describes her helplessness as well as Zeus' lust, control and apathy.  The poem, Penelope, is based on the story of the Odyssey, written by Homer.  The narrator fees that she can relate to Penelope, the wife of Odysseus, who waits for her husband's return, while he is away fighting in the Trojan War and encountering several adventures on his journey home.  The poem, Penelope's Song, is slightly less directly related to the myth of Odysseus, but contains elements and slight references to what Penelope went through while waiting for her husband to come home.

    All three poems are interrelated in terms of the imagery which they are based on.  Each of the children spawned from the act which takes place in "Leda and the Swan" are involved in the Trojan War: Helen of Troy, being the cause of the war, Clytemnestra being the wife and murderer of Agamemnon, a soldier and integral part of the war, and the "Dioscuri" brothers who also fought as soldiers. Penelope is affected by the war because it is the reason why her husband, Odysseus has to leave; not being able to return for 20 years.