[Milton-L] Reading Samson Agonistes

[Carol Barton]

Just to add another dimension to Derek's point, Jim, the early church 
"Christianized" the OT, too, and made those who preceded Christ what modern 
manufacturing calls "prototypes"--the first concretizations of a final 
design, typically used for testing (to determine if the product meets 
specification) and refining (when and where it doesn't). They're fully 
working models, but potentially in some way flawed--but not defective, just 
not the optimum design. I suppose I see Samson in that way to some degree, 
too: as a classical hero, he fits the mold, strutting his macho in the name 
of his "tribal Leader" and not terribly concerned with the morality of what 
he's doing. (Is Odysseus' behavior reprehensible when he entraps then 
slaughters Penelope's suitors? By today's standards, yes--but by his 
culture's?) That is an act of mass-murder, too. Samson up to the moment when 
he stands with head "inclin'd" has been just one in a long line of 
berserkers--and though the Judeo-Christian perspective blames Dalila/Delilah 
for betraying him, in Milton's version of the story, all she did was beat 
him to the punch: he was no more in love with her (spiritually) than she was 
with him--but the sex was apparently pretty good, just the same. For me, 
when Samson stands "as though in prayer," it's possible that he may not 
actually be praying (in the sense that we typically think of it--a 
structured speech, such as "avenge, O Lord, my two eyes"). But it's pretty 
clear (from my perspective) that he's experiencing  some sort of 
epiphany--some anticipatory version of "Thy will"--not MY will--"be done," 
some sudden realization that he serves his God best by doing as his God 
wants him to do, not by compulsion, but by choice. He has said repeatedly, 
"I will not go"--I won't debase myself in front of these heathens, I won't 
make myself a laughingstock--but he suddenly goes willingly, anyway. Does 
that make him Christ at Golgotha? No. Does it transform him into the sort of 
Christian that Milton is? No, not that either. But does it change forever 
the significance of the barbaric act that ensues from it, moving the hero 
one step closer to modern sensibilities, just as Achilles' yielding up of 
the body of Hector and having his own servants dress it for the funeral 
before returning it to Priam does? I think so.

I see PR, SA, and PL (in that order) as an experimentational trilogy. Milton 
is trying to redefine in that process what it means to be a "hero"--in 
Christian terms, very much as opposed to classical expectations. Jesus is 
perfect, but too hard for the average human being to emulate--not only 
because of the divine aspect of his nature, but because even as a human 
being he exceeds the moral strength of other mortals. Samson is more 
accessible, but flawed--because, as Derek points out, he's too much a 
creature of his era to make it to the Promised Land. Eve (not Adam--Eve) 
succeeds in the first real Christomeimesis on earth (though Adam has the 
opportunity to decline). She can't intercede for him (he's already admitted 
his guilt, and she's more culpable than he is), but she can, and *does* 
offer to die in his place, and it is she who first suggests that they throw 
themselves prostrate before the Lord and beg His forgiveness. Samson 
couldn't get there either, from his starting point . . . and you can just 
imagine the reaction of contemporary audiences, had Milton made him fall to 
his knees, and beg God not to make him slay the Philistines. But he makes a 
rousing motion in the direction of Christian heroism by his act of obedience 
and fortitude, nonetheless.

Best to all,

Carol Barton