Title: John Milton's epic invocations
First published: 2000
Description: "A crisis over the function and identity of the Muse occurred in seventeenth-century religious poetry. How could Christian writers use a pagan device? Using rhetorical analysis, Phillips examines epic invocations in order to show how this crisis was eventually reconciled in the works of John Milton.

While predecessors such as Abraham Cowley and Guillaume du Bartas either rejected the pagan Muses outright or attempted to Christianize them, Milton invoked the inspirational power of the Muses throughout his poetic career.

In Paradise Lost, Milton confronts the tension between his Muse's "name" and "meaning." While never fully rejecting the Muse's pagan past, Milton's four proems (PL I, III, VII, and IX) increasingly emphasize the Muse's Christian "meaning" over her pagan "name." Ultimately, Milton's syncretic blending of pagan and Christian conventions restores vitality and resonance to the literary trope of the Muse."--BOOK JACKET.
Subjects: Christian poetry, English, Christianity and literature, Classical influences, English Christian poetry, English Epic poetry, English poetry, Epic poetry, English, History, History and criticism, Invocation in literature, Muses (Greek deities) in literature, Paganism in literature, Religion, Christian poetry, history and criticism, Epic poetry, history and criticism, English poetry, history and criticism, early modern, 1500-1700
Places: England
People: John Milton (1608-1674)
Time periods: 17th century
LC classification: PR3592.R4 P47 2000