Paradise Lost

I kind of had an odd response to Book One in that I felt, and still feel, a tad conflicted in what exactly Milton was attempting to do. As other students have pointed out, Book 1 seems to address similar ideas and themes as Dr. Faustus. However, Paradise Lost also reminded me a lot of other works as well; the most obvious being Dante’s Divine Comedy. In reality, Paradise Lost has a very similar style to just about any of the Greek epics such as Homer’s Odyssey and Iliad. However, what confused/conflicted me the most comes mainly from the beginning of Book 1 which is essentially Milton’s prologue. In it Milton refers to epics of the past as he invokes the idea of muses. However, Milton makes a point to state that his muse is none other than the Holy Spirit and goes on to clarify that it is the same Holy Spirit which inspired Moses. It just seemed like an odd juxtaposition because it seems as though Milton is attempting to write an epic in line with the aforementioned classics and yet he is comparing his inspiration to the same “being” that has provided prophets with, what many people, including presumably Milton, believe to be the “official” word of God. I’m not accusing Milton of pride or anything but it just seemed odd and made me wonder if he intended this work, which comes across to me to be dealing with religious themes but on a more literary and secular level, to be considered purely theological. I’d be curious to get any opinions on that.