Milton’s Use of The Classics

The first 200 words of this essay...

Milton's Use of The Classics

Milton imitates some scenes from classical authors in his Paradise Lost. Three examples of Milton's use from the classics are, Adam and Eve, how he describes Satan, and Eve looking at her reflection in a pond. For these examples he imitates scenes from Homer's Iliad, Vergil's Aeneid, and Ovid's Metamorphoses.

One scene that Milton uses from a classical author is the scene with Adam trying to seduce Eve. Once he has seduced her he takes her into the bushes to make love. This scene is similar to Homer's Iliad when Zeus wants to make love to Hera. Zeus says to Hera, "For never before has love for any goddess or woman so melted about the heart inside me" (Homer, 14.312-16). This scene is similar to Milton's because it is the man trying to seduce the woman so they can make love. This shows that Milton imitated the concept of seduction from Homer.

Another scene that Milton gets from a great writer is what Satan looks like. In Milton's book he describes Satan as a serpent with rising folds and a neck of verdant gold with circling spires. In Vergil's