What allusions to Greek mythology does Shakespeare use in Romeo and Juliet, act 3?
opening of scene 2 – “fiery footed steeds” etc. alludes to the myth of phaeton (son of Phoebus) from Ovid, and this is ominous as Phaeton takes the sun for a ride one day and ends up burning the earth – i.e. a sign that haste is bad, so juliet asking for haste is ominous and this a theme of the play (they get married too quick and the friar says a proverb like this to romeo earlier) scene 5 allusions to the nightingale cf. myth of procne in ovid there are a few others that are direct quotations not of greek myth but of contemporary versions of greek myth like Hero and Leander by Marlowe. – so this is more quotation rather than alluding to the myth at hand.
