1U8 



and taken from life, to evoke the genius of victory to crown a dying 

 hero, or to conjure up the muses to hold the medallion of a philosopher. 

 In poetry the introduction of the unreal and untruthful is a more fatal 

 error, and nowhere so much as in sacred poetry, in which religious 

 objections are added to those which are merely aesthetical. 



In the " Paradise Lost" Milton has so intimately interwoven the 

 imagery of Greek mythology with the sacred texts, that offence was 

 unavoidable. Jehovah is represented like a Jupiter Tonans, the thun- 

 der-bolt is his dreaded weapon ; it gives him even the appellation of 

 Thunderer (II. 28) ; it is the thunder of the Almighty, wielded by the 

 Messiah, which decides the doubtful contest of angels and demons, and 

 which helps to give to the poem so much of the character of a Titano- 

 machia.!- 



The Greek idea of Fate, as superior to the reigning gods of Olympus, 

 has also an oifensive prominence in the poem. It is liinted, and not 

 by the devils alone, that there is some mysterious power, to whose 

 decrees even God must bend, (II. 610, VI. 869, XI. 181.) 



It is quite impossible to give here anything like a complete list of 

 the reprehensible allusions to Greek mythology, of which the " Paradise 

 Lost" is full. I must confine myself to a few examples, sufficient for 

 illustration. 



Heaven is a complete Olympus. The archangels dwell in separata 

 palaces, erected as those of the Homeric gods, by Hephsestos, the divine 

 architect, I. 732 ; and they are supported by nectar and ambrosia. 



On the other hand, Hell is dra\vn like a perfect copy of Tartarus. 

 There are in it — 



II. .575. " Four infernal rivers, that disgorge 



Into the burning lake tlieir baleful streams ; 



Abhorred Styx, the flood of deadly hate ; 



Sad Acheron of sorrow, black aud dee\i ; 



Cocytus named of lamentations loud, 



Heard on the rueful stream ; tierce Phleyethon 



Whose waves of torrent fire inflame with rage. 



Far ofi' from these, a slow and silent stream, 



Lethe, the river of oblivion rolls 



Her wat'ry labyrinth, whereof who drinks 



Forthwith his former state and being forgets, 



Forgets both joy and grief, pleasure and pain." 

 596. " Thither, by harpy-footed Furies, hail'd 



At certain revolutions, all the damned 



Are brought," (fee. 



♦Of course Milton must have meant lieavenly thunder, distinct from earthly. For the 

 latter belongs to these terrestrial elements, which, according to v. 22", the least of the 

 angelic host can wield with ease. 



