Harding, Pitt. “Milton’s Serpent and the Birth of Pagan Error.” Studies in English Literature, 1500-1900, vol. 47, no. 1, Rice University, Johns Hopkins University Press, 2007, pp. 161–77, http://www.jstor.org/stable/4127498. Accessed 11 Nov. 2021.
Harding argues that Satan’s embodiment of the serpent and his temptation of Eve in the Garden of Eden allude to classical values originally conveyed in ancient epics by authors such as Homer, Ovid and Virgil. Harding insists that these allusions to Greco-Roman mythology foreshadow features of the world after the Fall of Man; however, the allusions simultaneously contradict the emergence and foundation of monotheistic religion (i.e. Christianity). Accompanied by Christian apologist Lactantius’ criticisms, Harding asserts that Milton’s epic was designed to highlight the inherent flaws found within Greco-Roman religion. Early Christians believed that the paganistic approach to Greco-Roman deities and heroes were fundamentally flawed; the way that heroes were venerated was treated as self-deification, and the way deities were worshipped contradicted the perception of the merciful God that Christians praised. Milton’s work is not only a poetic retelling of the origin of Christianity and the creation of man, but also an implication of Satan’s serpent as the genesis of these very errors. Despite the artful and unified approach to these subjects, Harding’s essay concludes that Milton’s merging of paganistic allusions and Christian themes resulted in the revival of a long-standing conflict between the church and classical culture.
--Emily Tushar
