The Timeless Heresies of 'Paradise Lost'

Paradise Lost, John Milton’s religious epic poem detailing the Fall of man, has earned both for its author and for itself a kind of literary immortality since its 1667 publication. To readers today, more than 300 years later, it should be obvious why. The verse is exquisite; the depiction of Biblical events and characters in Heaven, on Earth, and in Hell is vivid, despite having been dreamed up by a blind man. Even modern action-movie fans might thrill to some of the tropes that the poem employs. In one scene of angelic combat — such scenes are by far the most exciting parts of the epic — Heaven’s champion, the Archangel Michael, and its fiercest foe, the rebellious Satan, fight separately in a massive fray. Then, seeing each other on opposite sides of the battlefield, they fight across it to each other before engaging in a one-on-one duel. The exact same scene appears in Enter the Dragon and The Dark Knight Rises, to name just two examples.