1. The man behind the Satan
A little background on John Milton, author of Paradise Lost

2. London
M.A. Christ’s College at Cambridge revolted against curriculum
Believed Anglican church under Charles I corrupt, puritan
Italy- Claudio Monteverdi; visit Galileo
Epic poem to rival Iliad or Odyssey
Mary Powell, 5 kids
Radical pamphlets, “Milton the divorcer”

3. Wrote, Married, Wrote
Published poems in Latin, Greek, Italian (fluent)- Hebrew prior
1649 Defend execute bad king- Oliver Cromwell’s Commonwealth
Politics, blind by 1652, Mary dies, baby John 1 month later
Katherine Woodcock 1656, Elizabeth Minshull 1663
Charles II spares Milton, Paradise Lost 1665
“justify the ways of God to men” glorify country, language, belief

4. Paradis Lost-Death Dictated much of PL, languages, idioms
Divided 12 like Homer, Virgil
“What about Paradise found?” wilderness, conquer
Dies old age 1674, London, Mary Powell lives
1688 wealthy, 1700 classic, greatest English epic