Summary
At the halfway point of the twelve books of Paradise
Lost, Milton once more invokes a muse, but this time it
is Urania, the Muse of Astronomy. Milton refers to her in Christian
terms, as a source of inspiration much like the Holy Spirit. He
asks Urania to insure his safe transition from relating the story
of the war in Heaven back to Raphael and Adam’s conversation on
Earth. Again, Milton asks that the muse inspire him through the
rest of Raphael’s speech and protect him from the troublesome beliefs
of others who do not have access to her wisdom.
Back on Earth, Adam asks Raphael about how and why the world
was created, as well as about his own creation. Adam initially believes
that he may not be allowed to hear the story of creation, so he
asks cautiously, although his curiosity is overwhelming. Raphael agrees
to tell him, explaining that the story of creation is not a secret to
be kept from human beings. Raphael begins by picking up where he
left off, with the fall of Satan and his rebel followers. He explains that
shortly after the fall, the Father wished to forge a new race, partly
to erase the memory of the rebellion and partly to make up for the
rebels’ absence from the ranks of God’s loyal creations. Raphael believes
that by replacing the fallen angels, God renders Satan unable to
claim that he diminished God’s creation. By creating Earth and mankind
in a nearly empty part of the universe, God shows the fallen angels
that his glorious kingdom can be expanded indefinitely. For all
these reasons, God decides to create Earth and humans, with the
idea that Earth and Heaven will eventually be joined together as
one kingdom through mankind’s obedience to God’s divine will.
Raphael says that God sends the Son down into Chaos to
create Earth. The Earth is first formed out of Chaos and given light
and dark, or night and day, in equal measure. Land is separated
from water, and animals are created to populate both land and sea.
The creation takes six days, and Adam and Eve are created last.
The entire act of creation is done through the Son, who makes man
in his image and gives him authority over all the animals on Earth.
God gives Adam one command: he must not eat the fruit from the Tree
of Knowledge, which gives knowledge of good and evil. The Son, finishing
with his work, hangs Earth beneath Heaven by a chain. He reascends
to Heaven as the angels sing hymns and praise his work. Pleased
with his work, God rests on the seventh day, which then becomes
known as the Sabbath.
Analysis
In the same manner as the two previous invocations of
the muse, Milton’s invocation of Urania fuses classical allusion
with Christian belief. Milton reconfigures Urania and likens her
to the Holy Spirit, placing a corrective, Christian spin on an old
mythological figure. The cumulative effect of Milton’s allusions
to and corrections of classical culture is to convey the impression
that Greek and Roman civilization was indeed great, but misled in
its philosophy and religion. Thus Milton can claim to build upon
the achievements of classical authors while replacing their religious
beliefs with Christian ones. Being born before Christ, most classical
authors do have a good excuse for not professing Christian beliefs.
In this respect, Milton’s stance toward antiquity is not unlike
that of earlier Christian poets such as Dante or Spenser, who were
similarly steeped in classical literary culture.
Raphael’s account of the world’s creation closely follows
the biblical account of creation in the first few chapters of Genesis.
Milton takes some of his language directly from popular English
translations of the Bible. By using biblical language, Milton gives
Raphael’s account more authority and renders the invented details
of his story more credible as well. Raphael’s extended explanations
about the world and about God and Satan are lengthy, but their length
demonstrates Milton’s beliefs concerning the absolute importance
of conversation, knowledge, and thought. Book VII presents a curious Adam
who seeks knowledge and an agreeable Raphael who disposes his knowledge
in human terms. Their evolving interaction in this book differs
from their interaction in earlier books, as Adam becomes
more aggressive in his attempts to gain wisdom from Raphael. Throughout
their conversation, the desire for knowledge is expressed through
metaphors of hunger, eating, and digestion. Adam’s craving for knowledge
begins to surface in this book and foreshadows his potential temptation
to eat from the Tree of Knowledge.
The Son is given a more significant role in Book VII
than he has in previous books, illustrating that he is the instrument
through which God acts. Milton actually departs from the Bible in
having the Son create the world, as Genesis says nothing about the
Son. But according to Christian teaching, God and the Son are manifestations
of the same entity. Milton begins with the orthodox Christian premise
of a three-part God and then elaborates on the relationship between God
the Father and God the Son. By having God send the Son to defeat
Satan and create the universe, Milton shows how God and the Son
can work separately yet still work as one God. Even though they
appear as separate characters, Milton believed that the Son represents
the living, active, almost human likeness of God.
