Cuchulain's Quest

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In William Butler Yeats’s The Yeats Reader: A Portable Compendium of Poetry, Drama, and Prose Cuchulain in “At the Hawk’s Well” is destined to fail his quest for eternal life because it would disrupt his journey as a hero. The first sign that the quest should not be attempted is the Old Man’s description of the land, depicting it as a desolate land for the deceivers of men. The Old Man says that he was once like Cuchulain when he arrived at the well, showing that he is doomed to stay there until his body rots. Lastly, the Old Man foresees that the Woman of the Sidhe will make Cuchulain’s children will die at his own hand if he does not leave. It is necessary for Cuchulain to fail at achieving eternal life for him to thrive as a hero, because …show more content…

While he has never heard of Cuchulain, the Old Man sees Cuchulain’s clothes and correctly assumes that he is a bloodlusted warrior eager to lust after women and then says to him, “There is no house to sack among these hills / Nor beautiful woman to be carried off” (94-95). The Old Man makes it clear to Cuchulain that he did not arrive at a welcoming place, this is no place for a warrior hero. However, the hero ignores this and wishes to stay near the well, but the Old Man pushes harshly says back, “No! Go from this accursed place! This place / Belongs to me, that girl there, and those others, / Deceivers of men” (124-126). Cuchulain is not wanting on the hill, showing that this is not meant to be a part of his journey. While Cuchulain pushes on with his quest, his ignorance of the Old Man shows that he not ready to become a …show more content…

. . The well was dry, I sat upon its edge / I waited the miraculous flood, I waited / While the years passed and withered me away” (128, 131-133). The Old Man is trying to tell Cuchulain that he will have the same fate as him if he does not leave the hill. Abandoning the quest for eternal life is essential to Cuchulain’s journey as a hero because he cannot wait for the well forever. Unfortunately, he is still not ready to leave until he hears the cry of a hawk. Cuchulain hears what he thinks is the cry of a hawk, but is told by the Old Man that it is the Woman of the Sidhe. The Old Man then tells Cuchulain about the horrors of the Woman of the Sidhe. There falls a curse On all those who have gazed in her unmoistened eyes . . . It may be that she will kill your children . . . Or you will be so maddened that you kill them With your own hand. (167-168, 176,

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