Artwork

For my last in class paper, my topic was to discuss artwork that had been done to depict Milton’s epic poem. There are more pictures than can be described in 10 pages and not all of them will fit together to make a nice, put together paper. There was one picture that was left out of my paper that I wanted to discuss which I will do so here.

The picture I will be writing about is the following picture. However, if for some reason it cannot be viewed within the blog, it can be seen at the link posted at the end.




(Sorry for the poor quality, please check out the link at the bottom for better quality!)

What hit me as interesting with this image is how different it is from my understanding, and possibly the general understanding, of Eve taking the fruit from the serpent.

I never envisioned the serpent to be wrapped all around Eve’s body. This picture has the serpent wrapped all up around her body. The artist takes a different than normal view and perhaps a new interpretation of the text written, both by Milton and even in the Bible.

The second part of this picture that grabbed my attention as different is how Eve is receiving the fruit from the serpent. In this picture the serpent is seen feeding her the fruit. I never imagined that to be how it went. I don’t know my Bible like many do, but I always thought the Bible said Eve took the fruit and ate. It could be taken that she took the fruit from the serpent’s mouth, but I’m not sure how common that thought is.

Whoever the artist is of this work, they were certainly trying to think outside of the box as to the standard belief. This artist may firmly believe that this is how this event played out. Not to be cruel, but odds are, the artist has passed on and we may never quite what he was thinking.

Special thanks to the darkness visible website: http://www.christs.cam.ac.uk/darknessvisible/index.html Once again, if the picture is not loading, go to this link as the picture I’ve discussed is on the homepage.

Movie Time!

As a confessed movie lover, I constantly am comparing things I read to movies I’ve seen. Less than halfway through Pratchett and Gaimen’s Good Omens I have already found a few connections to movies from the last few years that I have watched numerous times.

The first movie connection is with one of my personal favorites, Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man’s Chest, aka the 2nd Pirate movie.

On page 54, Crowley and Azriphale discuss the Kraken, a sea monster. According to Aziraphale, the Kraken is a “great big bugger… sleepth beneath the thunders of the upper deep.”

As a Pirates fan, I remember the Kraken all too well and was able to visualize this “said terrible beasty” (as Capt. Jack would call it) that Crowley and Aziraphale discussed. In the movie, the Kraken was also a great big bugger that was found in the sea. The movie also showed how fierce this sea creature was, which can be seen in the following clip. (I'm including the URL at the end in case the video doesn't embed properly)

First Post: Take Two!

Part of developing writing skills is going back and correcting or re-writing a piece that had already been written. This is the second take of my first post that was titled Not Just From the Bible.

Many of the fellow English 1011-12 blog writers have made note of the biblical references within Paradise Lost thus far. There have been numerous posts centered around a variety of biblical tales and events. I too noticed that when reading, but in addition to Bible references, I noticed a step (or two) back in time, back to the classic writings of the Greeks and Romans.

Within the first few pages, Milton refers to Homer and/or Virgil who were very prominent writers; Homer the Greek writer and Virgil the Roman writer.Shortly after that, Milton dives into the world of Greek mythology,
"Nine times the spaces that measures day and night..."(1.50)In Milton's book, Satan and his fellow fallen angels spent nine days falling into hell. In Greek mythology, the Titans spent nine days falling to Earth.

Milton continues his Titan reference a few pages later by describing Satan as,

"As whom the fables name of monstrous size: Titanian or Earth-born that warred on Jove, Briareos or Typhon whom the den By ancient Tarsus held..." (1.197-200)

Milton tells us that Satan is as strong as the Greek Titans and Giants who fought battles against Jove. A little more research into the Titans has led me to believe that the Titans and Satan and his followers have a bit more in common. The Titans reigned and ruled high above like Gods, similar to how Satan was once in heaven, although he did not reign or rule in heaven like a God. After some time, the Titans lost a battle with the Olympians, thus sending them to Tartarus, a very deep point of Hades. Hades is in basic terms the Greek mythology version of hell. Similarly, Satan and other angels who sided with him fought in a war against God, lost their place in Heaven and were sent to hell.

One final portion that I chose to discuss focuses heavily on the Greeks and their fighting spirit and way.
"Their visages and statures as of gods, Their number last he sums. And now his heart Distends with pride and, hard'ning in his strength, Glories. For never since created Man Met such embodied force as named with these Could merit more than that small infantry Warred on by cranes, though all the giant brood Of Phlegra with th' heroic race were joined That fought at Thebes and Ilium, on each side Mixed with auxiliar gods, and what resounds..." (1.570-579)

Milton is telling us that this army of fallen, or rebel as mentioned in the book, angels are mightier than any Greek army. That is a strong and bold statement as the Greeks were quite the warriors. The Spartans from Sparta were known for their fighting spirit and ability and were trained to fight at a young age. The Greek armies that fought in wars at Troy were responsible for the well known Trojan Horse that attacked Troy from within. Yet, these rebel angels make these big fighting forces look small and weak.

Now that we know some of Milton's Classical references this far, we haven't answered this question: why did he refer to them? Did he see himself as the second Homer or Virgil? Was he personally fascinated by these periods of history? Or did he think he'd toss in some classic references just for the fun of it?
In Milton’s era of writing, which some may call the Renaissance (however new names are being probably being created as I type this), referring back to the classical writings was a common trend. Many writers from his time chose to ‘turn back the clock’ and incorporate the classics into their writings.

To end, I think I should list (or cite) my additional sources. I don't know everything about the Titans and Greek mythology, so I needed a little support!www.greekgods.info and www.greekmythology.com

Comparison to Paradise Lost by aralias

Comparison to Paradise Lost by aralias

By Megan Novak

This blog compares the actual text of John Milton’s Paradise Lost to the clay representation by aralias found on YouTube.  The clay representation (link given below) is a brief and simplistic representation of the scene in which Adam and Eve are created by god and then ultimately execute the original sin.  In the clay representation the hand represents God.  Adam is created first as he is in Milton’s text.  The first difference is that God then creates Eve equally, and there is no evidence to prove that Eve is created from Adam.  Then Eve is tempted by the serpent (Satan) and eats the fruit.  This process in the clay form shows no doubt or consideration as Eve has in Milton’s text.  However this representation does exhibit the traditional belief that the original sin is Eve’s fault as I believe that Milton is trying to disprove.  Adam then makes a rather quick decision to sin with Eve as doe’s Milton’s Adam.  God then punishes Adam and Eve and forces them out of Eden, as does Milton’s god (however this process takes longer in Milton’s text due to the story of the future told by the angels.)

            Even though this version varies in many key elements of the text the creativity of the filmmaker must be noted.  This cute story of the original sin scene provides a basis for the reader as to what the common conception o the story of genesis is with out getting into the heads of the characters as Milton does.  I believe that it is in this key difference between previous renditions of the fall of man that makes Milton’s poem such a masterpiece.  The creative way in which this scene was represented makes me wish that the filmmaker had created the entire text, because it is both comical and easy to understand with out the need of speech. 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9jE2FgIkGlE

 

Stanley Fish: Gladly Mixing

At the end of my edition of Paradise Lost, there are criticisms. Stanley Fish's criticism in the book (p. 498) falls under the category of christian ideology. His article is about Abdiel, "the zealous loyalist", a character Milton creates "more or less out of whole cloth that he can even imagine what it would be like not to feel the stirrings he describes as 'that last infirmity of Noble mind'." Stanley Fish goes on to explain how Abdiel is seen as visibly heroic because he was the only fallen angel who decided to remain faithful to God and drop Satan. Stanley Fish goes on to describe the way in which Abdiel takes flight from Satan: "All night the dreadless Angel unpursu'd / Through Heav'n's wide Champaign held his way, till Morn, / Wak't by the circling Hours, with rosy hand / Unbarr'd the gates of Light (PL, VI, 1-4). Staney goes on to say that the effect of this image is "to further undercut the urgency and point of Abdiel's linear flight." Stanley goes on to say how God is basically telling him "Good job at being Abdiel, Abdiel." He says that Abidel is what he is, does what he does, and is the servant of God. Staney Fish goes on to talk about Milton and questions what Miltn conceives of himself--his idenity, faith, etc. Stanley Fish ends his criticism with a long question having to do with what Milton' goal is and questions whether or not Milton wants to fail/fall and wander.
Stanley Fishs' criticism kind of confused me. From the introduction, i thought that his criticism was going to be on Abdiel. Most of it was with quotes reflecting Abdiel's flight from Hell to Heaven and God congradulatin him for choosing the good side and remaining faithful to him. The part that confused me was the title of this article is "gladly mixing" and the only thing Fish says that attains to this is: "Abdiel would have been glad to report and he just as gladly mixes--that is, loses himself in a host already composed without his reportorial aid." Maybe this means Abdiel did not report the informaion Satan wanted him to? Or Abdiel is mixed up between Satan and God? Whatever it may mean, I am glad that Stanley Fish recognizes Abdiel because Abdiel was the only one to remain faithful to God. Althought Stanley's article was a bit confusing, overall it was interesting to read.

Summary and Reaction to A.S.P. Woodhouse

Included in our edition of Paradise Lost is an excerpt from an article by A.S.P. Woodhouse on the impact of Christian ideology on John Milton's writing of the epic poem. In the first section of the article, Woodhouse compares "Milton's deliberate effort to write a classical epic on a Christian theme" with "its two great models, the Iliad and the Aeneid." Woodhouse contends that the main difference between Milton and his predecessors Homer and Virgil is their attitude towards fate based on their respective religious beliefs (Christian and Olympian): "In Homer the hero is by no means the master of his fate, but he is the captain of his soul. In Milton he is in some degree the master of his individual destiny, but Christ is the captain of his soul." Woodhouse means that in Homer the hero (Achilles in the Iliad) has a fate dominated totally by the gods, while he himself determines his motivations and adherence to his own principles within the confines of that divine control; meanwhile, in Milton the hero (Adam) is given free will but it is his adherence to God which sets his motivations.

Speaking of heroic figures, the second half of the article is where Woodhouse compares and its two models based on their heroes. Here Woodhouse asserts that the central difference is that while in "Homer and Virgil hero and protagonist are, accordingly, one," it turns out that "in Milton they are two". Woodhouse rejects the theory that Satan is hero or protagonist, saying instead that he is the "antagonist", as Hector and Turnus were in the classics. He argues that in Paradise Lost Adam is the protagonist and The Son is the hero. But Woodhouse also states that while in the classics the hero is demonstrative of all heroic qualities, in Milton both hero and protagonist are shown in relation to a so-called "heroic standard": Adam, failing, falls sub-standard while The Son's perfect victory places him above.

There is one aspect of Woodhouse's article where I find it lacking, and that is where it shows little to no similarity between Paradise Lost and its classic models, aside from the obvious inferences that both are based on religious ideology and both have heroic figures. Specifically, I would like to have seen Woodhouse address the specific similarities between Milton's hero of The Son in comparison with Achilles and/or Aeneas. An example of one similarity is the way in which the heroes are presented in the style of an aristeia. By definition, an aristeia is a scene where the hero is depicted in a glorious demonstration of his prowess and skill as a warrior, usually by defeating hordes of enemies single-handed. In Homer's Iliad, for instance, there is a scene in which Achilles takes on the entire Trojan army, proceeds to find Hector the Trojan champion, kills Hector, and then drags Hector's body through the streets to proclaim his victory. This can be likened in epic nature to the scene where The Son dominates the rebel angels and expels them from Heaven in a blaze of divine power, actually having to restrain himself so as to not totally annihilate his enemies. Thus, while Woodhouse does an excellent job of highlighting how Paradise Lost, the Iliad, and the Aeneid are uniquely epic works, it could have been done to greater effect by showing how each story uniquely presents similar characteristics.