Through a glass darkly
Subtitle: Milton's reinvention of the mythological tradition
By: John Mulryan.
Series: Duquesne studies.; v. 21
Publisher: Duquesne University Press
Published: 1996
Place of publication: Pittsburgh
Language: eng
Number of pages: 345
Subjects: Milton, John, 1608-1674 -- Knowledge -- Mythology.; Classicism -- England -- History -- 17th century.; English poetry -- Classical influences.; Mythology, Classical, in literature.
Description: Perhaps our most Christian poet, Milton chose to communicate his vision of reality in the language of ancient Greek and Roman mythology. As Mulryan points out, Milton - as no other poet before him - mastered the texts of classical mythology in their original languages and seldom wrote a line that did not betray their influence.

Here, we are reintroduced to the Renaissance milieu that was not only intimately familiar to Milton but that helped to shape his thinking about fundamental matters that he addresses in his poetry, particularly Paradise Lost.

Mulryan's study first establishes the incredible richness of the mythological tradition that was available to Milton, including many sources that have either been ignored or depreciated in current scholarship. Milton's own view of classical myth is then explored, and Mulryan provides insight into how this view had to deal with the problem of reconciling pagan learning and Christian thought.

Finally, this study demonstrates how Milton drew upon and assimilated the mythological traditions in his poetry as a reflection of the receptiveness to such acts of "creative mythologizing" during his own time.
Notes: Includes bibliographical references (p. 315-338) and index.
Table of contents: title: Introduction; title: Milton and the classics; title: Milton and the Church Fathers; title: Milton, Martianus Capella, Bernard of Sylvester, and Alan of Lille; title: Milton and the Trattato d'amore; title: Milton and the emblematic tradition; title: Milton and the Egyptological tradition; title: Milton and the Renaissance dictionaries; title: Milton and the mythographers; title: Milton, Vincenzo Cartari, and Natale Conti.