Negotiating fate : John Milton's recreation of the Homeric and Virgilian model of divine intercession

Abstract

At the beginning of Book 3 of John Milton's English Christian epic Paradise Lost, God is depicted sitting high on his celestial throne in heaven, an image that in its 'ambrosial fragrance' (PL. 3. 135) recalls the pagan Olympus. The Father, an anthropomorphic character in the poem, turns to the Son, foretells the imminent fall of Adam and Eve, and foresees its consequences for the fate of all mankind. The Son intercedes on behalf of man, ensuring the eventual redemption of the human race. This scene has been recognized as modelled on the epic concilium deorum. Revising existing scholarship on this scene, I argue that Milton is specific about the type of the epic concilium he recreates for the dialogue between the Father and Son in heaven. Whether full assemblies where Zeus presides over the gods, or more intimate dialogues between Zeus and the goddesses Thetis, Athene, and Here, the Olympian scenes in epic were problematic to Homer's ancient commentators due to their portrayal of Zeus bowing to the arguments of lesser deities. In recreating a specific model of the epic concilium deorum, Milton, I argue, is following a tradition of decorum-based criticism of Homer, according to the master of epic aemulatio - Virgil. A learned reader of the epic tradition, Milton, like Virgil, would have been aware of the history of criticism surrounding the dialogue at Iliad 16 in particular, where Zeus not only yields to the arguments of Here, but also seems to bow to fate. The language of the Father's prophecy in Paradise Lost reworks the poetic of Christian prophecy in Vida's Renaissance epic, the Christiad, by tracing it back to Virgil's language of fate in Aeneid 1. Finally, the Son's appeal to the Father on behalf of fallen mankind revises the scenes of intercession by the Olympian goddesses (Thetis and Athene in Homer and Venus and Juno in Virgil) on behalf of their favourite mortals. Milton follows the pattern of reproach and reassurance that occurs in these exchanges, revising it to reflect the Christian theology and theodical aim of Paradise Lost. The arguments of the Son become the enactment of the Father's will, thereby reconciling the competing claims of justice and mercy, and rendering the Son, in turn, a figure that harmonizes the divine and human spheres of epic. By drawing on recent work on Milton's theology in De Doctrina Christiana, I will challenge the idea that Milton's concerns as poet and theologian are mutually exclusive. I will show that the manner in which the poet attempts to reconcile his use of ancient models with the demands of a Christian theodicy demonstrates a complex engagement with the epic tradition in light of contemporary debates about the depiction of the divine sphere in Renaissance Christian epic. -- provided by Candidate. Show more