Selected Works of John Milton

John Milton was a 17th-century English poet who wrote at a time of religious flux and political upheaval.  He is best known for his poem Paradise Lost.  In addition to that work, this module includes Paradise Regained and Samson Agonistes.

Paradise Lost (1674)
Paradise Lost is an epic poem originally published in 1667 in ten books (revised in 1674 to twelve books).  The poem concerns the biblical story of the fall of man: the temptation of Adam and Eve by the fallen angel Satan and their expulsion from the Garden of Eden.  Milton’s purpose, stated in Book I, is to “justify the ways of God to men.”  Paradise Lost is widely considered one of the greatest literary works in the English language.

Paradise Regained (1671)
Paradise Regained is connected by name to Milton’s earlier and more famous epic poem Paradise Lost, which it shared similar theological themes.  It deals with the subject of the temptation of Christ.

Samson Agonistes (1671)
Written and published around the same time as Paradise Regained, Samson Agonistes combines Greek Tragedy with the biblical story of Samson.  In writing the poem, Milton, in choosing the character of Samson as his hero, was also illustrating his own blindness, which afflicted him in his later life.