A 'Swan's Song'. (Not my 'Swan Song' just referring to the Song of a Swan.)

   Symbols can be found in almost anything; object, organism, action… When something has its place in culture, it has the ability to develop elements of ambiguity, even developing different meanings across different cultures. Barthes’ ‘Mythologies’ justifies this point to every extreme, his semiotic studies reveal that symbols can be found in anything, depending on the context in which they are read, from; a Wrestler’s appearance to a Roman’s fringe, Wine and Milk to The Brain of Einstein. All of these examples have a literal meaning and further, metaphorical, symbolic, semiotic meaning, potentially numerous meanings.

   A Swan, for example, is a bird. A swan has bones, feathers, eyes, webbed feet and so on; this is the physical and literal meaning of the Swan, just like a ‘Stop Sign’ is metal plate and tubing.    

   However, the combination of; a Swan’s physical appearance and the way in which it is perceived in culture, render the ‘Swan’ a symbol – representing a multitude of rhetoric meanings. 

   A ‘Swan’s Song’ is a powerful symbol of impending death, used as a metaphor for somebody’s last actions before they die. Whilst the song itself exists literally as sound emitting from the bird, it has strong symbolic meanings amongst many. I believe this symbolism exists, also, as a result of the mythology that encapsulates the ‘Swan’s Song,’ both Socrates and Plato believed in such phenomena, yet, there is no solid evidence to prove it’s existence.

   Therefore, I believe that the Swan possesses a multitude of characteristics that exist as symbols for rhetoric meanings, due to the way in which we interpret these characteristics in culture.  I also feel that mythological theories relating to the Swan’s actions and attributes enhance the level of ambiguity and rhetoric that surround it.