"Leda and the Swan" by William Butler Yeats

What does Yeats hope to accomplish with his portrayal of a rape from mythology? What themes does this poem reveal about the present through its portrayal of the past?

1) This poem to me was very disturbing, to think of a women being raped. I thought it was repulsing to make a poem about such a topic. To describe such a horrific action is repulsive. I understand the portrayal of power but in this sense it was just wrong.

2) Of all the years men and women roamed this earth, there has always been a sense of power and strength, especially physically. With this poem describing an action of rape is showing the physical strength a man has over a woman. It describes the women as helpless showing the strength of men. The news today always seems to have a case in which a man has raped a woman. I feel as though men have always strived for this superiority and have their ways, even horrendous ways, of showing it.