Staggeringly brilliant essay, Adrian, with some very funny asides in it as well. Alistair Fowler’s edition of Milton’s PL has a running commentary throughout that’s quite erudite. His analysis of the argument between Eve and the Serpent is enlightening. In the poem, their dialogue devolves into a Scholastic debate between the two and I feel like the Tempter won. (Wonder if that was Milton’s intent.) One of things I didn’t know was that some medieval scholars believed that the Serpent was created four-legged, like the beasts of the field; and that it was only after the curse that he was forced to crawl on his belly as a snake. That passage in PL also has a word formation that makes me wince to this day: “into the plant sciential sap, derived.” Even Homer nods. 😂
Staggeringly brilliant essay, Adrian, with some very funny asides in it as well. Alistair Fowler’s edition of Milton’s PL has a running commentary throughout that’s quite erudite. His analysis of the argument between Eve and the Serpent is enlightening. In the poem, their dialogue devolves into a Scholastic debate between the two and I feel like the Tempter won. (Wonder if that was Milton’s intent.) One of things I didn’t know was that some medieval scholars believed that the Serpent was created four-legged, like the beasts of the field; and that it was only after the curse that he was forced to crawl on his belly as a snake. That passage in PL also has a word formation that makes me wince to this day: “into the plant sciential sap, derived.” Even Homer nods. 😂