Thanks to Robyn for these great class notes!
Literature 12 Notes.
Monday February 13, 2006.
*Epic- A very long story. There is an Epic hero. There’s the exile, journey, then the return. Good vs. evil. It starts usually in what’s known as the medias res (in the middle of things). Another thing an epic has is that there is always some sort of invocation (calling on or request) to a muse – a muse is something that inspires people or is a source of inspiration; it could be a person or a spirit.
*Paradise Lost. John Milton. -
This epic mainly starts with Satan waking up in Hell; by reading this you miss the whole battle in Heaven.
Lines 1-5. Talking about the fall, tree of knowledge. Good and evil.
Line 6- invoking the muse
Line 13- invocation again
Line 19- Refers to the Holy Spirit
Line 25-26.His purpose of telling this story is to justify the ways of God to men. He wants to make it clear, give a reason.
Line 26- Milton is asking for help from the Holy Spirit.
Lines 26-74. Satan is thrown out of heaven, because he rebels against God by saying he is better than God. Satan overreached his natural limitations. He tried to become something he wasn’t. Milton says in line 43 that Satan started a war in heaven and the result of that was that God threw him into hell. Part of his punishment is that Satan and his minions is that they start to change. At the beginning Satan had the same amount of knowledge as the angels, but then he becomes very corrupt.
Line 81- Beelzebub- Satan
