Orpheus Dis(re)membered: Milton and the Myth of the Poet-HeroThis is the first monograph-length study of the importance of Orpheus in Milton's conception of himself as an agonistic poet. It is one of the first monographs on Milton to make sustained use of Bakhtinian theory, specifically its concepts of author, hero and answerability. Without excluding a range of important classical sources, such as Statius's Birthday Ode to Lucan, this study argues-singularly in recent criticism-for the significant influence of Virgil. In Milton's writing (from prose to poetry), Orpheus functions as one of a number of heroes (masks, personae) by whom Milton creates an identity for himself as author. Orpheus in particular offers Milton a model (reflection) of the poet who fails, and yet turns that failure into a sign of his own identity as the faithful singer, the civilizer of men. |
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... Event perverse ! . . . Such ambush hid among sweet flowers and shades ( Paradise Lost 9.404-408 ) One final aspect of her doubled nature , then , is that the lady occupies two mythic roles at once ( and two genders ) . As the Lady , she ...
... event supports the church fathers ' claim to authority , Milton's Muse underwrites his claims to a poetic authority ... event on the same time - and - value plane as oneself and one's contemporaries ( and an event that is therefore based ...
... event of its renarration . While lines 195-197 describe the whole event , lines 196-199 then traverse the same ground , focusing on Moses crossing to safety . What follows is retrospective : we return to the image of Pharaoh pursuing ...
Contents
Preface | 1 |
Orpheus in the prose tracts | 18 |
Comus and the early verse | 39 |
Copyright | |
5 other sections not shown