Medieval Influences in Paradise Lost

Much has been made of Milton's classical influences in Paradise Lost. Annotated copies are littered with footnotes tying Milton's work to the Odyssey and the Aeneid. Since Milton did model his Christian epic on these pagan models, such citations are justifiable. However, since Milton's intention was to "justify God's ways to man", we should acknowledge that classical references are simply carefully selected structural devices utilized for a higher purpose.

It is equally important to note that this Renaissance work, written in 1667, is also indebted to medieval lore. Kester Svendsen notes that by "fusing medieval cosmological lore with Christian metaphysics, Milton was . . . no less a medieval than a Renaissance Christian" (223). By drawing connections between Milton's cosmology and the cosmological theories found in 15^th and 16^th century encyclopedias, Svendsen illustrates how the author was influenced by medieval sources. In order to explain the mystical nature of God and creation, Milton utilized a number of medieval sources including sacred geometry, German mysticism, and rabbinic tradition.

To the medieval mind, the evidence of God's relationship with creation could be found in the geometric nature of the universe. To understand this nature is to understand God, as Milton writes: "for Heav'n/ Is as the Book of God before the set" (PL VIII 66-67). In this passage, if we read the preposition "as" to mean "equivalent to" we see its connection to the Medieval idea of God authoring two books, one being the Bible and the second being Nature itself. This was a common idea in medieval mysticism:

The medieval world was thoroughly semiotic, the stars in the sky and the leaves on the trees were shot through with semantic meaning, signifiers of the Creator's absolute authorship. (http://www3.iath.virginia.edu/elab/hfl0247.html)

Like the Bible, the "Book of Nature" was a work of God intended to glorify his divinity and lead man to a greater understanding of his will. In the second invocation, at the beginning of Book III, Milton also address the mystic properties of the natural world. Blind the narrator is now "Cut off" from the "Book of knowledge fair,/ Presented with a Universal blanc" (ln 47-48).

Since unlocking the mysteries of nature led to a deeper understanding of God, natural sciences became imbued with mystical meaning. In 1596, Johannes Kepler published Cosmographic Mystery. As a student of Copernicus himself, Kepler stated that he became a Copernican for "metaphysical reasons" (http://galileo.rice.edu/sci/kepler.html), and developed a heliocentric model of the universe utilizing the five Platonic solids. These perfect geometrical shapes where once believed to be the base substance of all elements. During the middle ages they became the emblems of ideal proportion, and its repetition throughout nature, evidence of God's divine authorship. This became known as Sacred Geometry. Some medieval artifacts even depict God creating the universe with a compass.

In Paradise Lost, Milton utilizes geometric symbolism thatmirrors this medieval fascination. In Book VI, Milton uses geometry to describe the angelic defense of Heaven:

Not liable to fear or flight or pain.

Far otherwise th' inviolable Saints

In Cubic Phalanx firm advanc'd entire

(PL VI 397-399).

The description of this ancient Greek defensive as being cubic (one of the five Platonic solids) has special implications. Not only is the cubic made up entirely of 90 degree, or 'right,' angles (symbolizing the righteousness of the faithful), it underscores the ultimate victory of good over evil. The Book of Revelation tells us that the "heavenly Jerusalem" itself was cubic: "The length and the breadth and the height of it are equal" (Revelation 21:16). This mystical proportion of the heavenly Jerusalem was also a common depiction in medieval art and architecture.

There are also indications that Milton was influenced by 13^th and 14^th century German Mystics. In his book, Light, life and love-Selections from the German Mystics of the Middle Ages, W. R. Inge writes:

They insist that the difference between heaven and hell is not that one is a place of enjoyment, the other of torment; it is that in the one we are with Christ, in the other without Him.

(http://www.ellopos.net/theology/eckhart_inge.html)

In Paradise Lost, a fleeing Satan laments "Me miserable! Which way shall I fly/ Infinite wrath and infinite despair/ Which way I fly is Hell; myself am Hell" (Book IV ln 73-75). Here Milton obviously indicates that Hell is not a mere location, as Satan has escaped through the gates of Hell and is now conversing with the sun. Satan's misery is, therefore, his isolation from God.

German mystic, Meister Eckhart, described an internal "spark" that was not man, but God in man: "the impersonal light of the divine nature which transforms our nature" (http://www.ellops.net/theology/eckhart_inge.html). Milton addresses this same light in the second invocation: "So much the rather thou Celestial Light/ Shine inward . . . that I may see and tell/ Of things invisible to mortal sight" (ln 51-55).

The German mystics were not the only medieval influence on Milton's epic poem. D. C. Allen enumerates four instances in which Milton's extra-Biblical descriptions mirror those in rabbinical tradition-Adam's wedding bower, Eve's seduction of Adam after the fall, the dressing of Adam and Eve in skins, and the killing of Abel with a stone. All of these details can be found in the Pirke of Rabbi Eliezer. Allen acknowledges that most likely Eliezer was not the source but that "he is a symptom of a vast literature that was available to Milton" (262).

Milton also utilizes rabbinic tradition to explain the two variations of the creation story. In Paradise Lost, two archangels give their account of creation. First, in Book III, Uriel gives his brief account. Milton distinguishes him as "Regent of the Sun." According to medieval Jewish mysticism, Uriel was the "represented as the source of heat of the day" (http://www.jewishencyclopedia.com/view.jsp?artid=49&letter=U). He was also known as the "Fire of God" and the "Light of God." The second angel, Raphael ("He who Heals" and "the bringer of Secrets"), reveals the divine history of creation to Adam in Books V-VIII.

Walter Clyde Curry notes that, in Paradise Lost, although the two archangels are in general agreement as to the process and order of creation, the minor discrepancies in reports can be traced to variations in character and view point:

Uriel the physicist sketches with enthusiasm what he sees; Raphael records amazing events and, as metaphysician exercising intuitive reason, contemplates profoundly upon their casual relationships.

(Curry 113)

Milton utilizes the two witnesses of rabbinic tradition to approach creation from two perspectives.

Since Milton utilizes rabbinic sources in the fashioning of his creation accounts, it is fitting that he should utilize rabbinic sources in the creation of Adam's Pisgah vision in the last two Books. Pisgah is the location of Moses' death after beholding the Promised Land. Jason P. Rosenblatt makes an extensive argument with regards to Milton's "reliance on Rashi's Commentary in describing the final vision" (76). Rashi was a 12^th century rabbi who wrote extensive commentaries for the Pentateuch (the five books of Moses). Since the descriptions in Paradise Lost do indeed mirror Rashi's commentary, it further illustrates Milton's familiarity with Judaic text.

Considering the impact of sacred geometry, mysticism, and rabbinic tradition, we should not be surprised to find the "harmonious numbers" mentioned in the second incantation has a deeper meaning than mere classical balance. In Galbraith Miller Crump's The Mystical Design of Paradise Lost, the author dedicates an entire chapter to Milton's poetic structure. He notes that the twelve books of Paradise Lost can be evenly divided into thirds in which Satan dominates the first four books, the Son dominates books V-VIIII, and Adam dominates the remaining four books. Crump also points out that the first half of the book focuses on destruction while the second half focuses on creation:

The entire design moves toward the central image of Christ's victory over Satan during the rebellion in Heaven, an event symbolic of the eternal victory of good over evil.

Milton's "intelligent design" is the deepest allegorical symbol to be found in Paradise Lost, as he attempts to replicate God's relationship with creation in his poetic creation.

Although Milton began with the classical epic in mind, his aim was much higher, to pursue "things unattempted yet." In expressing the true nature of ones creator, an author requires more than literary allusion and poetic meter, but divine order, mystical insight, and authority.

Works Cited

Allen, D. C. "Milton and Rabbi Eliezer." Modern Language Notes. 63.4

(1948) 262-263. JSTOR. Mercy College Library. 20 April 2007.

Curry, Walter Clyde. Milton's Ontology, Cosmogony, and Physics.

Lexington: University of Kentucky Press. 1966.

Crump, Galbraith Miller. The Mystical Design of Paradise Lost. Lewisburg:

Bucknell University Press. 1975.

Igne, W.R. "German Mystics as Guides to Holiness." (excerpt from Light,

life and love-Selections from the German Mystics of the Middle Ages. 1904) Ellopos. 6 May 2007. (http://www.ellopos.net/theology/eckhart_inge.html)

Rosenblatt, Jason P. "Adam's Pisgah Vision: Paradise Lost, Books XI and

XII." ELH. 39.1 (1972) 66-68. JSTOR. Mercy College Library. 20 April 2007.

Svendsen, Kester. "Cosmological Lore in Milton." ELH. 9.3 (1942) 198-

223. JSTOR. Mercy College Library. 20 April 2007.

The Galileo Project. 1995. Albert Van Helden. 5 May 2007.

The Book of Nature. 2001 Christopner Keep. 7 May 2007.

< http://www3.iath.virginia.edu/elab/hfl0247.html>

"Uriel" Jewish Encyclopedia.com. 2002. Isidore Singer. 13 May 2007.

< http://www.jewishencyclopedia.com/view.jsp?artid=49&letter=U>