Milton and the Ancients

Paper Summary:

This paper explores John Milton's exposure to classical epics and representations of poets in ancient Greek and Latin literature, from Milton's school days up to the composition of his great epic "Paradise Lost". Among the influences discussed are Homer, Virgil and Ovid, as well as satirists like Petronius and Juvenal. Renaissance influences on Milton's work and self-conception, such as Dante and Spenser, are also discussed.

From the Paper:

"To trace the classical tradition to which John Milton was exposed, the nature, and perhaps more importantly, the content and curricula of his education should be examined. First, Milton's education was far closer to the method of instruction used in the classical period than methods used before the Renaissance-or even modern ones. In Milton's day, as in the Roman period, the emphasis was on the seven liberal arts of Grammar, Rhetoric, Logic, Arithmetic, Geometry, Music, and Astronomy, with preference to the first three; the latter four subjects "were honoured more than taught." As a young student at St. Paul's School, London, Milton studied Grammar, Rhetoric, and Logic in Greek and Latin, just as Ovid, for example, had in his Roman Grammar School."

More papers on Milton and the Ancients:

• Analytical Essay # 55457 : "John Milton's "Comus"
• Analytical Essay # 53830 : "Paradise Lost": Portrayal of the Impossible"
• Essay # 57307 : "Epics throughout History"

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