Mavi Atlas

Abstract

In this study, Salih Zeki Aktay, who wrote his poems with the Nev-Greek movement, which has not been the subject of many academic studies before, has been examined. Salih Zeki Aktay is one of the poets who had an active literary life in various magazines in the Republican Period. In this study, the mythological elements in the works of the poet, who wrote his works in the 1920s-40s, were emphasized. In this context, it has been determined that his poems were created by blending different texts such as Greek mythology, Turkish culture and traditions. However, it would be an incomplete definition to consider him only as a poet. Salih Zeki Aktay, who produced works in many genres of literature (story, play, essay, translation), not only used mythological elements in his poems, but also produced intellectuel works (Mythology) on this subject. In his work titled Mythology, he brings a definition to the concept of myth and supports this with examples.
In this study, which gives examples of the perception of mythology through his poems, it is seen that the poet frequently uses metaphors such as life, death, afterlife, heaven, Israfil in his poems. Religious and historical figures such as Venus, Aphrodite and Herodotus are frequently encountered in the poems of the poet, who was especially influenced by Greek mythology. Salih Zeki Aktay seeks to create an unreal world in his poems. For this, he often makes use of unreal elements (magic, spell, fairy, …). However, he sought the search fort he world he wanted to create, not in his own traditions, but in the traditions of other cultures. In this case, he only mentioned these concepts of different cultures just by name in his poems. As a result, he could not deepen his poems.