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.