Trouble in Paradise: Milton’s Singular Failure in Paradise Lost

For a poem as influential and enduring as John Milton’s Paradise Lost, it may seem difficult to argue that the poet failed in any way in his attempt to create a masterpiece comparable to the likes of Homer’s The Odyssey and Virgil’s The Aeneid. However, the heavy influence from the classical epic poems is precisely what hinders Milton’s success in his intentions of producing the ultimate Christian epic. The poem depicts the Book of Genesis, focusing on the fall of man, but the author also draws greatly on the Book of Job and Psalms. However, it is the obvious influence from Homer, Virgil, and Lucan, and numerous classical references and allusions that seem to detach his own work from history, instead ranking it with other mythological literature. As Milton openly states his intentions in writing the poem in Book I, it is evident that he wished his story to be taken seriously; as truth. He wanted to “justify the ways of God to men.” (l 26). Also, based on his life, it is clear that he was solid in his convictions and religious beliefs, accepting his disinheritance from his Catholic father in order to remain an ardent protestant. In 1667, well after the Protestant Reformation in England, Milton wished to stake his claim among the Protestant branch of Christianity. In spite of this, the overwhelming amount of classical mythology and borrowed images cloud the story of Adam and Eve, reducing it to simply the next mythology from a series of epic poems throughout history. It is possible that Milton purposefully included such a variety of other mythological characters in his poem in order to be taken seriously as a scholar, in which case he succeeded. Paradise Lost perhaps proves his abundant knowledge of classical mythology, but in so fully incorporating it, Milton categorises his own work in both style and intent in that genre. Although belonging to the category of Myth in no way diminishes the text on a literary basis, the author perhaps fails in his intentions of creating a poem to which the public could refer in their studies and introspection of the origins of the Christian faith and God’s reasoning.

Mythology, according to academics, is generally considered a story regarding the origins of the world and how the creatures in it arrived at their current state. Gods and heroes are normally the characters, and the story begins before history. “In saying that a myth is a sacred narrative, what is meant is that a myth is believed to be true by people who attach religious or spiritual significance to it. Use of the term by scholars does not imply that the narrative is either true or false ”. Paradise Lost certainly falls into these parameters, which would most likely be to the dismay of Mr. Milton. “Milton is recording myth which is by definition a literal even though fanciful explanation (though not always etiological) of human experience…Paradise Lost records essentially the fall of man. Milton of course means the historical fall of man” (Weathers 261). However, by current standards, as scholarship becomes increasingly secular, the poem fits much better into the category of mythology rather than history.

However, the secularisation of academia is not entirely to blame for Paradise Lost’s placement in mythology. Milton so bogged down his work with classical references that it is nearly impossible to consider it separate from such literature. Even before he states his intent of justifying the God’s reasoning in Book I, he makes a comparison of Mount Sinai, a Christian symbol, to Aonia, a mountain sacred to the classical muses: “Above the Aonian mount, while it pursues/ Things unattempted yet in prose or rhyme” (ll 15-16). Although it is clear that he is mentioning the Aonian mount in order to make the claim that his own poetry will surpass any which includes classical myth, the constant comparison seems unnecessary if his work was indeed so much greater. In Book IX a mere six lines of poetry contains four different classical references: “Not less but more heroic that the wrath/ Of stern Achilles on his foe pursued/ Thrice fugitive about Troy wall; or rage/ Of Turnus for Lavinia disespoused,/ Or Neptune’s ire or Juno’s, that so long/ Perplexed the Greek and Cyrtherea’s son;” (ll 14-19). Again it is a comparison made so that biblical tale will appear superior, yet the excessiveness muddles the original intention, as well as draws the mind to the other tales, which automatically allows the reader to liken them.

The significance of the tree of knowledge of good and evil in Paradise Lost also serves problematic in differentiating the story from history and mythology. It is a borrowed image that appears throughout many other religions and scriptures. It is similar to the Bodhi Tree of Buddhism under which Buddha achieved his ultimate awakening. It could also be compared to the Tree of Java and Atman in Vedic scripture, which precedes Hinduism, and is a manifestation or representation of the soul. Milton also fails to clarify exactly what “knowledge of good and evil” entails, and why the tree is so important. God clearly wishes to test the obedience of Adam and Eve, but in Book IV even Satan considers such a test “suspicious, reasonless” (l 516). Why should God deny them this “forbidden knowledge by forbidden means” (l 279)? If Milton whished to justify his Christian God’s reasoning, he failed utterly in explaining the knowledge of good and evil. The change that occurs in man after the forbidden fruit has been eaten is not descriptive of his sudden ability to identify what is good and what is evil. Instead Milton focuses on the fact that man was disobedient. In his novel Ishmael Daniel Quinn suggests that the tree represents the choice to bear the burden of responsibility of deciding which species may live and which should die. Furthermore, he proposes that Adam and Eve simply assumed that they had gained this knowledge when they ate of the tree. Although this is obviously a more modern perspective on the fall of man, Milton does not even attempt to explain the knowledge of good and evil.

Although the poem may now be read as something different than the author first intended, its influence on subsequent literature is immeasurable. Also, as mythology, it maintains the didactic power of all mythologies. Milton “attempted and perhaps achieved an ultimate aesthetic allegory on the life of you and me, for we are each an Adam and Eve” (Weathers 264). The depiction of man and the battle of good and evil, whatever representation it may take, still proves applicable so long as man exists and faces conflict. Therefore the poem is not diminished in any way because of the questionability of its belonging in historical context. “A part of Milton’s greatness lies in his dealing not with just a historical truth (a truth in fact which we deny) but with a continually contemporary truth of human experience” (Weathers 262). Obviously the story endures for a reason.

References

Adar, Zvi. The Book of Genesis: An Introduction to the Biblical World. Jerusalem: The Magnes Press, 1990.

James, E.O. “The Tree of Life.” Folklore, 79.4, (Winter, 1968): 241-249.

Kessler, Martin. A Commentary on Genesis: the Book of Beginnings. New York: Paulist Press, 2000.

Milton, John. “Paradise Lost.” The Major Works. Eds. Stephen Orgel and Johnathan Goldberg. New York: Oxford University Press, 2003.

Quinn, Daniel. Ishmael. New York: Bantam/Turner Books, 1992.

Weathers, Winston. “Paradise Lost as Archetypal Myth.” College English, 14.5, (Feb., 1953): 261-264.