Paradise Lost Research Paper

Epic: Paradise Lost by John Milton

The word epic comes from the Greek word ‘Epos’ which means ‘a word’. According to R.J.Rees , epic is a long narrative poem in which the characters and actions are of heroic proportions . It is mostly classified into oral epic and literary epic. The poetry written and intended for a reading audience by a literate poet is literary epic. This includes ‘The Aeneid’of Vergil, ‘The Divine Comedy’ of Dante, ‘The Fairie Queen’ of Spencer and Paradise Lost by Milton. Oral epic poetry is the heroic poetry that is composed for, and at the time of, oral performance. The ‘Odyssey’ belongs to this class of oral epic. Oral epic poetry differs from literary epic in (1) method of composition, (2) method of delivery to the audience, and (3) the role of the audience.

When we move on to the early ages of epic, we find that the epic of Gilgamesh is, perhaps, the oldest written story on earth. It comes to us from Ancient Sumeria, and was originally written on 12 clay tablets in cuneiform script. Beowulf is an old English epic poem consisting of 3,182 alliterative lines. It may be the oldest surviving long poem in old English and is commonly cited as one of the most important works of old English literature.

Paradise Lost is an epic poem in blank verse by the 17th century English poet John Milton. Major characters in it is Satan, Adam, Eve, God the Father, God the son, Gabriel, Raphael, Michael and Abdiel. The story revolves around what happens after the man’s