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Caitlin McEwen

Professor Anne Myers

Major Authors, 1603-1784: John Milton

9 December 2013

Paradise Lost: Not a Fully Christian Epic

Paradise Lost is unarguably a poem that relates to Christian

theology, but John Milton did not just follow the Bible while writing

Paradise Lost. Milton's stylistic approaches are similar to both epic

poetry and Ovidian writing. Milton also uses names of characters and

places that are directly related to paganism, as well as some pagan

ideas about religion. These conventions show that epics, mythology,

and their writers influenced Paradise Lost more than the Bible and

Christian theology.

Sources other than the Bible guided Milton's creation of Paradise

Lost. Milton received a Latin education pre-Cambridge, “For St. Paul's

School, which prepared Milton for Cambridge, was as completely given

over to the study of trivium [liberal arts], in Latin and Greek, as

was the grammar school Ovid attended in Rome” (Clark 4). Outside of

school, however, Milton continued to read these authors, “John Ward's

letter of 1738, reporting an interview with Milton's daughter

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Deborah, mentions that Homer was one of Milton's three favorite

authors (along with Isaiah and Ovid)” (Machacek 1) and that “Milton

has copied after Homer, rather than Virgil, in the length of his

periods, the copiousness of his phrases, and the running of his

verses into one another” (qtd. in Machacek 2). It is undeniable that

Milton read and was shaped by Homer and Ovid.

Although Milton extensively uses themes and conventions of these

poets, Milton did not want to directly imitate them; Milton “sought

to free verse from the bondage of rhyme” (Kilgour 22). Milton wrote

Paradise Lost in blank verse, or unrhymed iambic pentameter which has

five feet of iambs per line, but does not have a rhyming schematic

(Myers, “Milton's Meter” 1). One translation of The Metamorphesis shows

that Ovid wrote in iambic pentameter, which includes rhymes (Ovid,

trans Sandy), but not every translation has rhyming, students who

cannot read Latin and Greek are unable to determine if the epic poets

that Milton read followed rhyming schematics that is common to

English readers. Although Milton did not use rhymes, he admired those

who did, such as Ovid. As for Ovid's influence as a person, not just

an author, in Defensio Secunda in Works, vii.76-8 Milton wrote “Now

poets who are truly so called, I love and reverence… Besides, I know

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that most of them, are the sworn foes of tyrants” (qtd. in Kilgour

22). In addition to being a poet, Ovid is known for his banishment

from Rome (Green P. 205), which Milton saw as acting out against

tyranny. Milton himself was engaged in controversies regarding church

government in 1642 and in 1649 King Charles I was executed on the

charge of tyranny (Myers, “Some Necessary Dates” 2) so it is not

farfetched to say that Ovid's political indiscretions could have

influenced how Milton dealt with politics and thus influenced Paradise

Lost “to our grand foe, / Who now triumphs, and in the excess of joy /

Sole reigning holds the tyranny of heaven” (Milton I.122-124). The

political instability of his era influenced Milton's writing greatly,

as he saw tyranny and acted out against it, partially through

writing, similar to Ovid.

Historically speaking, Milton was indisputably influenced by the

great Greek and Latin poets. Looking at Milton's Paradise Lost, Homer's

The Iliad, and Ovid's Metamorphoses gives concrete examples as to how

these poems are connected, and furthermore exemplifies how Homer and

Ovid determined the path of Paradise Lost more than the Bible. Machacek

says that Homer and Virgil provided models how how to construct a

poem, “A poem should be built out of exempla: stories that depict

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behavior that should be imitated or avoided. With this in mind, I

propose that book 6 [of Paradise Lost] is most fruitfully classified

rhetorically, rather than generically – as an extended negative

exemplum” (56-57). Paradise Lost is intended not only to “assert eternal

providence / And justify the ways of God to men” (Milton I.25-26),

but also to show readers how they should (exemplum) and should not

(negative exemplum) behave. Paradise Lost has examples of both exemplums

and negative exemplums, although the later is more common; chapters

five and six are predominately negative exemplums.

The type of poem is just one example of how Milton used Homer

and Ovid to write poem. Stylistically, Paradise Lost follows epic poetry

more than the style of the Bible. Homer's The Iliad, Ovid's

Metamorphoses, and Milton's Paradise Lost all use Book numbers (with

Roman numerals) to identify different chapters. The Bible however,

uses specific book titles; they are still called books, but each has

it's own name, not just Book I or Book IX. The three poems all use

typical line formats, mostly in iambic pentameter, Milton used blank

verse, some translations of both Ovid and Homer have both rhyming and

unrhymed versions. In contrast, the Bible was not written with any

kind of poetic conventions; line numbers mostly refer to sentences or

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ideas, not the number of syllables, and rhyming does not occur.

The stylistic conventions are only one part of determining to

what extent Milton used poetry over the Bible; content also greatly

comes in to play. On the surface, readers see that names Milton

utilized come from classical mythology. This is because the names

invoke the meaning behind them. In Book I Milton writes, “in bulk as

huge / As whom the fables name of monstrous size, / Titanian, or

Earth-born, that warred on Jove,” (Milton 9.196-198). Although Milton

is describing the massiveness of the giants in comparison to Satan,

he does this by drawing from mythological concepts. Jove, whom is

also known as Jupiter, the Roman name, and Zeus, the Greek name

(Lindemans, “Jupiter”), is the “Father of the Gods, and the King of

men; he only had the power to handle the Thunderbolts, and to hold

the World in subjection” (Gautruche 12). Gautruche goes on to explain

how Jupiter overcame his foes, including the titans and other giants

(12-13). Milton could have written about the enormity of Satan

without having to bring up mythology. He choose to do so because it

follows the style of an epic “celebrating the great deeds of one or

more legendary heroes, in a grand ceremonious style” (Baldick 361).

Traditional epics expound on minor details as seen in The Iliad,

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Ye gallant Chiefs, and ye their gallant host,

(So may the Gods who in Olympus dwell

Give Priam's treasures to you for a spoil

And ye return in safety,) take my gifts

And loose my child, in honor of the son

Of Jove, Apollo, archer of the skies (22-27).

Here, Homer could have left out the parenthesis, but instead chooses

to expound on the reasons as to why gifts need to be given to the

gods. Homer and Milton elaborate on small details extensively

throughout their poems.

The mention of Jove and the Titans does not only allow for

discussion of epic conventions, but also is the beginning of the use

of mythology in Paradise Lost. The poem could have been written without

the mythological examples, but by adding them in Milton is alluding

that the characters he mentions in association with specific

mythological names are comparable. Going back to lines 197-198,

Milton uses the Titans to describe Satan, and Jove as God. God is the

father of all creation (as is Jove), and he beats the Titans when

they try to overcome him (like God beat Satan), even though they are

monstrous in size. At first glance, Christians should shy away from

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this type of thinking, as it shows the pagan belief that there is

more than one God. The Romans did not believe in one God as the

Christians do, they had many gods, and while Jupiter/Jove may have

been elevated, as Gautruche explained, he is not the same God that

Christians believe in. Although Paradise Lost tells a Biblical story, it

is not a true Christian account of the fall of man due to the

paganism that Milton brought in to the poem.

Mythology was not only used to elaborate small details as the

above example shows; Milton also created entire scenes and characters

using mythology. One such example is Eve; Milton wrote Eve in Ovidian

terms, both as “the self-absorbed Narcissus” and “Pyrrha the perfect

wife” (Green M. 7). The Biblical account of Eve's creation says,

But for Adam no suitable helper was found. So the Lord God

caused the man to fall into a deep sleep; and while he was

sleeping, he took one of the man's ribs and then closed up the

place with flesh. Then the Lord God made a woman from the rib he

had taken out of the man, and he brought her to the man. The man

said, “This is now bone of my bones and flesh of my flesh; she

shall be called 'woman,' for she was taken out of man.” That is

why a man leaves his father and mother and is united to his

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wife, and they become one flesh. Adam and his wife were both

naked, and they felt no shame. (KJV Gen. 2:20-25)

That is all that is said on Eve's creation. She was put in to be an

aid to Adam and is described as his wife, one flesh, not as an

individual. Eve was not even her own person, but rather of mans bone

and flesh, taken from man. Milton directly recounts the biblical

reference in Paradise Lost,

Though sleeping, where I lay, and saw the shapeless

Still glorious before whom awake I stood;

Who stopping opened my left side, and took

From thence a rib, with cordial spirits warm,

And life-blood streaming fresh; wide was the wound,

But suddenly with flesh filled up and healed:

The rib he formed and fashioned with his hands;

Under his forming hands a creature grew,

Manlike, but different sex, so lovely fair, (VIII.463-471)

Milton explains Eve's creation from Adam's viewpoint (although keeps

Adam aware of what was happening while still being asleep). This

passage is a literary account of Genesis 2:20-22, but is only a

partial account of Eve's creation. Milton continues Adam's account of

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Eve's creation by saying, “She disappeared, and left me dark, I waked

/ to find her” (VIII.478-479). Adam had to go find Eve as she had

left his side before he could wake up. This references earlier in

Paradise Lost when Eve describes her own creation,

That day I oft remember, when from sleep

I first awaked ...

With unexperienced thought, and laid me down

On the green bank, to look into the clear

Smooth lake, that to me seemed another sky.

As I bent down to look, just opposite,

A shape within the watery gleam appeared

Bending to look on me, I started back,

It started back, but pleased I soon returned,

Pleased it returned as soon with answering looks

Of sympathy and love; there I had fixed

Mine eyes till now, and pined with vain desire, (IV.443-477)

Eve does not know where she came from, but when she saw her

reflection in the water she became enamored with herself, however,

this is not what was written in the Bible. In the Biblical account

woman was made, Adam called her woman and explained why, and from how

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it is written it is assumed that Adam and Eve spent time together

without Eve running off and finding a lake. The admiration of herself

is comparable to the story of Narcissus (Green M. 28) One translation

of Ovid's depiction of Narcissus reads

Flat on the ground, he contemplates two stars, his eyes, and his

hair, fit for Bacchus, fit for Apollo, his youthful cheeks and

ivory neck, the beauty of his face, the rose-flush mingled in

the whiteness of snow, admiring everything for which he is

himself admired. Unknowingly he desires himself, and the one who

praises is himself praised, and, while he courts, is courted, so

that, equally, he inflames and burns. How often he gave his lips

in vain to the deceptive pool, how often, trying to embrace the

neck he could see, he plunged his arms into the water, but could

not catch himself within them! What he has seen he does not

understand, but what he sees he is on fire for, and the same

error both seduces and deceives his eyes. (Ovid, trans. Kline

III. 402-4361)

In both Ovid and Milton the characters see themselves in a body of

1 This translation has line numbers, however it was not translated in iambic pentameter so line numbers do not add up correctly. I used the lines numbers that are referenced under the header of “Narcissus sees himself and falls in love”.

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water and become enthralled their reflections. Milton choice to use a

mythological figure to depict a religious figure reflects the idea

that sources other than the Bible influenced his writing; book VIII

had the biblical account of Eve's creation, Christian readers would

have recognized that relationship and understood where Milton got his

idea for Eve. Going to a mythological source shows that Milton was

not satisfied with the creation of Eve in Biblical terms and felt the

need to elaborate, however, Milton did not just come up with his own

story for Eve's creation, he turned to a source that he had

previously studied. This shows that his Latin education was more

prominent than Christian theology and the teachings of the Church.

Biblical references should have been enough for Paradise Lost to have

been written from a Christian standpoint, but Milton knew that in

order to create characters that had their own thoughts, not just that

of the Church's, he would need to construct stories that were not

just Biblical.

Outside of the tale of Narcissus, the creation of Eve follows

another tale from Metamorphosis, that of Pygmalion (Green M. 43).

Ovid's myth reads,

Pygmalion had seen them, spending their lives in wickedness,

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and, offended by the failings that nature gave the female heart,

he lived as a bachelor, without a wife or partner for his bed.

But, with wonderful skill, he carved a figure, brilliantly, out

of snow-white ivory, no mortal woman, and fell in love with his

own creation. (Ovid, trans. Kline X. 243-252)

Ovid went on to explain how there was a festival for the goddess

Venus, at which point Pygmalion made an offer and requested that he

have a bride that was similar to his ivory creation. Venus grants his

wish and makes a woman identical to that of his creation (Ovid,

trans. Kline X. 243-297). Milton drew upon this story in conjunction

with the Bible to show that Adam needed a partner, but none that was

already made would be fit for him,

I, ere thou spak'st

Knew it not good for man to alone,

And no such company as then thou saw'st

Intended thee, for trial only brought,

To see how thou couldst judge of fit and meet:

What next I bring shall please thee, be assured,

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Thy likeness, thy fit help, thy other self,

Thy wish exactly to thy heart's desire. (Milton VIII.444-451)

Similarly to Pygmalion, Adam did not have a suitable wife, so one is

made specifically for him, “Thy likeness, thy fit help, thy other self, /

Thy wish exactly to thy heart's desire” (emphasis added 450-451). Eve was

created to be what Adam needed and wanted, even before he knew that

Eve was what he desired. As the creation scene goes on Milton

emphasizes the use of God's hands-on approach to creating Eve, “The

rib he formed and fashioned with his hands; / Under his forming hands

a creature grew,” (VIII.469-470). Again this is an elaboration of the

Biblical account of Eve's creation, as in the Bible there is no

mention of God crafting Eve, but rather Genesis glosses over the

creation and simply says that Eve was created from Adams rib. This

expansion once again indicates that Milton drew extensively on

mythology and Ovid's text to explain Biblical stories that are

lacking in substance.

Other instances of mythology that are not scene in Ovid also

show up in Paradise Lost, which indicates that it was not just the great

authors that Milton had read that influenced him, but mythology in

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general. One such tale is the birth of Athena. Athena is one of

Zeus's daughters,

She had sprung fully grown out of her father's head. Her mother

was Metis, goddess of wisdom and Zeus' first wife. In fear that

Metis would bear a son mightier than himself. Zeus swallowed her

and she began to make a robe and helmet for her daughter. The

hammering of the helmet caused Zeus great pain in the form of

headaches and he cried out in agony. Skilled Hephaestus ran to

his father and split his skull open and from it emerged Athena,

fully grown and wearing her mother's robe and helmet.

(Tuccinardi)

The birth of Athena is mimicked in Paradise Lost. The character of Sin

is speaking to Satan,

All on a sudden miserable pain

Surprised thee, dim thine eyes, and dizzy swum

In darkness, while they head flames thick and fast

Threw forth, till on the left side opening wide,

Likest to thee in shape and countenance bright,

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Then shining heavenly fair, a goddess armed

Out of thy head I sprung: amazement seized

All the host of heaven; back they recoiled afraid

At first, and called me Sin (II. 752-260)

It is impossible to reject the idea that Sin's birth directly

correlates to Athena's birth. By doing this, Milton puts Satan in

Zeus's position, which is in direct opposition to the earlier

referencing of God as Jupiter. Milton knew what he was doing when he

put these myths in Paradise Lost so it is no coincidence that God and

Satan are both put in to the position of the strongest god in

mythology. Christians would not say that God and Satan are the same

being, however Milton's uses of them indicate that they have some of

the same attributes. Not only is tyranny used in relation to God,

Satan is also referred to as a tyrant, “So spake the fiend, and with

necessity, / The tyrant's plea, excused his devilish deeds (Milton

IV.393-394), and “Who oft as undeservedly enthral / His outward

freedom: tyranny must be, / Though to the tyrant thereby no excuse

(Milton XII.94-96). Milton shows that God and Satan have similarities

and that both are not clear cut good and bad. This is also a common

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theme amongst myths, the gods do not always play fair or do the just

thing.

Some scholars claim that the War in Heaven that Milton depicts

in books V and VI is taken from the Book of Revelation (Dobbins).

Dobbins quotes Revelation 6:1-8, where the four horses of the

Apocalypse are depicted. Dobbins goes on to say that, “When the first

seal is opened, a rider appears seated upon a white horse (P.L. VI,

748-892). Christ is the rider of the white horse (or chariot) who

appears when the book is opened” (29). In Paradise Lost, however, Christ

is not the only character on a chariot, nor is there only four

riders,

Attended with ten thousand thousand saints

He onward came. Far off his coming shone

And twenty thousand (I their number heard)

Chariots of God half on each hand were seen. (Milton VI. 767-

770)

Milton may have used the general idea of the Apocalypse while writing

this scene, but it is a far stretch to see how twenty thousand

chariots equals the four horseman of the Apocalypse. Epic conventions

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and myths are once again shown in the War in Heaven. The idea of

chariots drawn by winged horses is seen in mythology repeatedly,

Helios, the sun god, flies his chariot through the sky bringing day

to the world (Lindemans, “Helios”), in one story, his son tries to

fly his chariot and burns the world (Ovid, trans. Kline II.11-177),

and in another tale Medea uses Helios' chariot (Ovid, trans. Kline,

VII.179-233). Chariots are a common theme in mythology, if Milton had

wanted to stick to the Book of Revelation he could have written

Christ as being on the white horse and Satan on the other three as

Dobbins claims (31-33). The War in Heaven, while still very Biblical

in nature and deals with Christian themes, is more of an epic in both

form and content than a rewriting of the Book of Revelation.

While the idea for Paradise Lost is from the Bible, and many

Biblical accounts are depicted, mythology influenced the poem more

than the Bible, both stylistically and with content matter. It cannot

be said that Paradise Lost is not a Christian poem, but to say that is

purely Christian would be a lie. Milton's education and knowledge

about Latin and Greek poets and myths heavily shaped how he wrote

Paradise Lost. Milton extended stories told in the Bible to fit his

ideas for the poem, following the content and form of many different

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myths.

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Works Cited

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UP, 2008. 361. Literature Online. Literature Online. Web. 8 Dec. 2013.

Clark, Donald. “The Trivium”. John Milton at St. Paul's School,: A Study of Ancient

Rhetoric in English Renaissance Education. Univerisity of Florida, 1948. 3-

15. Ebook. Web. 8. Dec. 2013.

Dobbins, Austin C. "The War in Heaven." Milton and the Book of Revelation: The

Heavenly Cycle. University: University of Alabama, 1975. 26-52. Print.

Gautruche, Pierre. The Poetrical Histories, Being a Compleat Collection of All the

Stories Necessary for a Perfect Understanding of the Greek and Latine Poets, and Other

Ancient Authors. Ed. Marius D'Assignt, B.D. London: n.p., 1672. Early

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Lindemans, Micha. "Jupiter." Encyclopedia Mythica. Encyclopedia Mythica,

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Myers, Anne. “Some Necessary Dates in the History of the English

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Ovid. Metamorphosis. Trans. George Sandy. N.p., 1632. Ovid Illustrated: The

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Tuccinardi, Ryan. Athena. Encyclopedia Mythica. Encyclopedia Mythica, 26

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