[Milton-L] Re: RE: Best Resource on Satan as Hero (Noam Flinker)

[Carol Barton]

What Evan says is true--but further complicated by the dichotomy 
between the *classical* (i.e. pagan) definition of heroism, and the 
Christian definition,  a proposition I think Milton is also exploring 
in _Samson Agonistes_. That is the reason why I suggested both that 
the student should be familiar with the heroes of epic (including 
those employing Spenser's "tilting furniture") and the ways in which 
Milton's Satan does--and doesn't--resemble them (sometimes in entirely 
inverted contexts), and that the subject she was preparing to tackle 
was far more complicated than she might at the outset perceive.

 It's definitely enough fodder for an extended dissertation. I know. 
(I wrote one myself.)

Best to all,

Carol Barton