Season 3 Podcast 113 Milton's Paradise Lost Book I Introduction to Satan

Milton’s Paradise Lost Book I Introduction to SatanMilton’s genius is universally acknowledged, but that we even have Paradise Lost is a testament to what the creative mind is capable of. To ask would we have Paradise Lost without Milton, one would have to ask would we have Hamlet without Shakespeare or The Odyssey without Homer and so on and on and on? The answer is probably not. Some things are nonpareil.  Some works are a measure of the writer; some are a measure of the reader. Such is Paradise Lost. We are not judging Milton.  Milton is judging us.In the Poet’s Corner series, I have decided to systematically work through the Twelve Books of Paradise Lost from a Christian point of view and, among other things, to see what Milton tells us about the ‘wiles of the devil.’ I reflect on Peter’s words.8 Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil, as a roaring lion, walketh about, seeking whom he may devour:Those familiar with Milton know of the richness of his imagery.  He demands a lot from his reader for his literary allusions come from an encyclopedia of classical scholarship.  I shall focus primarily on his Biblical allusions which comprise only a short portion of the Bible, the story of the fall of man. Milton was blind when he wrote Paradise Lost so, we can assume that he borrowed from his comprehensive memory. Though over time I intend to finish Paradise Lost, I do not intend to exclude other great writers from Poet’s corner; therefore, Milton will weave in and out of the podcasts as a kind of dominating theme until somewhere down the road we reach the end. So let us together take advantage of Milton’s analytical mind and see what we can learn from one of the greatest Christian thinkers of all time. Let’s begin with his purpose statement. The story begins in the Garden of Eden though Milton immediately takes us back to the pre-physical creation, to the War in Heaven where Lucifer and his angels were cast out prompting Christ, who saw it all, to say, “I saw Satan like lightning fall from heaven.”Of Man’s first disobedience, and the fruitOf that forbidden tree whose mortal tasteBrought death into the World, and all our woe,With loss of Eden, till one greater ManRestore us, and regain the blissful seat,In five lines Milton establishes the fall of man and the mission of Christ who will “restore us” once again to that “blissful seat” where we once lived with God in heaven. That is a revolutionary idea and shows Milton to be an independent thinker for he goes against the orthodoxy of the Church of England of his day. Like all poets he invokes the muses to help him; however rather than calling upon the Greek muses, he calls upon the Holy Ghost. The following allusion is of Christ on Mount Sinai giving the Ten Commandments to Moses, who in the five books of Moses wrote the story of Creation delivered to him by God himself. Sing, Heavenly Muse, that, on the secret topOf Oreb, or of Sinai, didst inspireThat shepherd who first taught the chosen seedIn the beginning how the heavens and earthRose out of Chaos: or, if Sion hillDelight thee more, and Siloa’s brook that flowedFast by the oracle of God, I thenceInvoke thy aid to my adventurous song,Milton then announces that he is going to put to poetry what no other author has done.That with no middle flight intends to soarAbove th’ Aonian mount, while it pursuesThings unattempted yet in prose or rhyme.