Milton’s
Treatment of the Pagan Gods in Paradise
Lost, Book I
Soumyajit Chandra,
English Honours, PG I,
Jadavpur University.
The first Book of John
Milton’s magnum opus, Paradise Lost, initiates
the story of “Man’s First Disobedience” in medias res, and one comes across the fallen angel Lucifer, and
his vanquished comrades-in-arms, incarcerated on the lake of fire in Hell. Milton
provides a catalogue of the most powerful fallen angels in keeping with the
epic tradition, and proleptically proclaims them to be the deities of three
future pagan religions, namely the Semitic, Egyptian and Greek. Christianity
has a long history of the diabolization of the pagan gods, and Milton may have
been simply following that very tradition, but his treatment of these apostate
angels turned pagan gods whispers of a multitude of sociological, cultural and
religious traditions that were venerated for a long time indeed in the
pre-Christian days.
Milton’s tone is proleptic as he asserts that the fallen angels would
get “new names”, and turn into “Gods ador'd Among the Nations round”. The introductions of these
erstwhile “many throned Powers” are coloured with their future reputation.
Milton actually describes the Egyptian pantheon as “Names of Old Renown.” The
past tense is continually used to speak of the future.
Moloch leads the catalogue; he was an ancient Ammonite god, worshipped
by the Canaanites, Phoenicians, and related cultures of the Levant. In the
valley of Gehenna adjacent to Jerusalem, apostate Israelites practiced
propitiatory child sacrifice to him, by burning their children alive [1].
Hence, he is “besmeared with the blood of human sacrifice, and parents’
tears.”Milton’s claim, that loud noise of “drums and timbrels” was used to
drown the wails of the victims, is corroborated by Plutarch in his De Superstitiones.
Next, we encounter Chemos—he was a god of the Moabites. His presence in the Old
Testament world was well known, as his cult was imported to Jerusalem by King
Solomon. King Josiah destroyed the
Israelite branch of the cult [2].
Milton relates the Biblical episode of the Israelites involving in
fornications with the women of Moab, after their defeat of the Moabites on the
journey to the Promised Land [3]. Hence Chemos, the “obscene dread
of Moab’s sons”, becomes an agent of seduction, and the centre of “lustful orgies”.
Chemos is
followed by a multitude of “Baalim and Ashtaroth”— One finds in the Tanakh the plural forms 'Baalim' or 'Lords' and 'Ashtaroth' or 'Astartes'. A theory
holds that the people of each territory or in each wandering clan worshipped
their own Baal, as the chief deity of each, the god of fertility. Joined with
the Baals, there would be corresponding female figures which might be called
Astartes, embodiments of Astarte.
Post-Exilic allusions to the cult of Baal-Peor
suggest that orgies prevailed. Human sacrifice,
the burning of incense, violent and ecstatic exercises, and ceremonial acts of
bowing and kissing appear among the offences denounced by the post-Exilic prophets;
and show that the cult of Baal (and Astarte) included characteristic features
of worship which recur in various parts of the Semitic (and non-Semitic) world,
although attached to other names[4] .
Milton
goes on to speak of Astarte and Thammuz in close succession, who serve as an
exemplification of the many “Baalim and Ashtaroth”. Astarte is one of the oldest goddesses in recorded history. She
has been known as the ‘Queen of Stars’, ‘Morning Star of Heaven’, and ‘Venus in the Morning’. Astarte
has been associated with goddesses such as Artemis, Aphrodite and Inanna,
and indeed, these goddesses
could represent Astarte under a different name. Her name is also synonymous
with the Goddesses Ishtar and Ashart [5]. The worship of Adonis was
practised by the Semitic peoples of Babylonia and Syria, and the Greeks
borrowed it from them as early as the seventh century before Christ. The true
name of the deity was Tammuz: the appellation of Adonis is merely the Semitic Adon, “lord,” a title of honour by which his
worshippers addressed him. In the religious literature of Babylonia, Tammuz
appears as the youthful spouse or lover of Ishtar, the great mother goddess,
the embodiment of the reproductive energies of nature. Every year, Tammuz was believed to die, passing
away from the cheerful earth to the gloomy subterranean world, and his divine
mistress journeyed in quest of him to the underworld. During her absence, the passion of love ceased
to operate: men and beasts alike forgot to reproduce their kinds: all life was
threatened with extinction. So intimately bound up with the goddess were the
sexual functions of the whole animal kingdom that without her presence they
could not be discharged [6]. Every year, the death of Thammuz/Adonis
was lamented by “Sion’s daughters”, and Milton’s succinct description is
faithful to history. But the “Love tale” is deemed immoral, as it kindled
“wanton passions” in their hearts; the rites of Astarte had a licentious
character as well, and thus, these divine lovers were deemed insidious by
Milton, so to say, Christianity.
Dagon appears next; he was originally an east-Semitic, fertility god who evolved
into a major Northwest Semitic god, reportedly of grain (as symbol of fertility) and fish
and/or fishing (as symbol of multiplying). He was worshipped by the early Amorites and by the inhabitants of
the cities of Ebla and Ugarit. He was also, perhaps,
chief of the pantheon of the Philistines. The account in 1 Samuel 5.2–7 relates how the
Ark of Covenant, captured to Dagon’s temple in Ashdad, led to the amputation of
his image. Milton mentions this episode, and loads the epithet “Sea Monster” on
Dagon because of his fish-tail, which is now believed to have been a phallic
symbol [7].
Rimmon is mentioned next, who appears to be a
much-venerated deity of the Syrians [8].
Milton proceeds
with his catalogue, accusing “Osiris, Isis and Orus” to be the members of a
similar race of impostor-gods, who have long seduced human beings to depraved
religious practices, such as animal worship and sorcery. By “wand’ring gods”,
Milton refers to the journeys of Osiris and Isis; Osiris has been seen
variously as a corn god, tree spirit or a god of fertility, while the “myriad
named” Isis has been revered as a benevolent mother goddess of fertility [9].
The “Ionian gods” are next in queue: Milton refers to
the inter-generational revolts of the Greek gods to blame them with impiety,
and also denies their divine identity, as he traces their descent from Javan,
son of Japheth. Apart from the pagan gods, three well known demons in Christian
myth are mentioned namely Beelzebub, Belial and Azazel.
Apart from fraudulence, deceit and presumption, Milton
accuses the pagan gods on specific grounds, which may be summarized under a few
heads, namely, the “wandering” nature of the gods, rites and rituals, and
bestial associations. Let us examine them now.
Milton speaks of the pagan gods as “wand’ring” and
“roaming to seek their prey on earth”. This vacillating connotation attached
with pagan deities appears to differentiate them clearly from the high and
immovable seat of Jehovah. Yet, this may have been an unconscious nod to the
overlapping identities of all these deities. The word “Baal” could refer to any
of the vast multitudes of tribal Semitic gods [10]; hence, he is
synonymous with Tammuz, who in turn, becomes Adonis in Greek myth [11].
Biblical references speak of Baal-Peor, who might have been identical with
Chemos [12]. A Semitic manifestation of Chemos was Chemos-Malik, which forges a relation
between Moloch and Chemos [13]. A Byzantine record says that Dagon
was Kronos in Phoenicia [14]. Also Astarte or Ishtar was equated
with Venus [15]. Isis and Demeter have been regarded as avatars of
the same Corn-Mother [16]. The struggle between Osiris and Seth has
been interpreted as the one between Jove and Typhon [17]. Hence, all
of these pagan gods seem to be united in essence as parts of a singular,
colossal faith of nature worship.
As far as rites and rituals were concerned, first, the
child sacrifices to Moloch, if true, were undoubtedly unacceptable and
gruesome. It was a fire rite: however, prejudice has often fabricated the real
nature of such rites. The fire rite was regarded as purificatory in function,
and often carried out on the principles of sympathetic magic. Human sacrifice
by burning was feigned—a man would pretend to writhe in pain very close to the
bonfire, or his associates would feign flinging him into it. The man would have
to lie low for a few days, and he would be spoken of as if he were dead. The
man would generally represent some obnoxious spirit [18]. Secondly,
we have the “lustful orgy”—it consisted of young men and women dancing chaotic
dances around fire, song, music, loud utterances of obscenities, and drunken
revelry. It was principally a part of harvest festivals, and is reminiscent of
the bacchanalia [19]. Thirdly, a variety of sexual rites was observed
to enhance the fertility of the land, rain, and abundant cattle and children—it
was believed by many tribal cultures that this would mirror the impregnation of
the earth by the sun, and lead to a plentiful harvest [20]. Apart
from this, certain gods were inherently libidinous in nature. The temple of
Baal in Babylon always housed a beautiful virgin as the consort of the deity;
the former would have to sleep on a sumptuous bed at night, lying in wait for
the god [21]. The cult of Astarte professed sexual intercourse as a
rite, where the couple would stand for the goddess and Adonis/Thammuz/Baal,
respectively [22]. Also, women were entitled to prostitute
themselves once a year in the temple of Astarte, and donate their earning to
the temple [23]. Fourthly, human sacrifice was clearly intended to
enhance fertility—it originated from various myths about gods of fertility
being quartered and strewn over the land [24]. Nevertheless, one
cannot help oppose it on humanitarian grounds.
Pagan religion had well forged connections with beasts.
In peasant folk lore, the corn spirit and wood spirit were represented in
animal form. While the pig and the bull were popular choices for the former,
the goat was preferred for the latter. Dionysus, a tree god was depicted as a
goat, and so was Pan, the Greek god of shepherds, along with his train of fawns
and satyrs [25]—Milton’s “bleating gods”. Christianity had no
tolerance whatsoever for primitive pantheistic religious creeds that worshipped
gods “disguis’d in brutish forms”. Pan,
though ugly, half-goat, and characterized by a remarkable sexual appetite, was
a popular and benign nature god. His ugliness was interpreted as a sign of
evil, and Judeo-Christian value for asceticism convicted him for his
lustfulness. Pan came to be the standard icon for Satan, the arch-fiend, though
his wanton nature was perfectly suited to a pastoral deity who stood for
production and plenty [26]. These bestial associations lead Milton
to demean the pagan gods remarkably, especially the “Baalim and Ashtaroth”.
Milton dismisses them as insubstantial, shape-shifting mischief-makers, who can
change their sexes at will. Their dexterity at fulfilling “works of love and enmity”
equates them with succubi and incubi—a remarkable degradation for powerful gods
of yore.
A semantic examination of the names of certain pagan
gods would not be out of place. Moloch had the title “king” [27],
and thus, Milton’s fitting epithet, “horrid king”. Baal was merely the
honourary title for Hadad, a god of thunderstorms and the lord of heaven [28].
“Chemosh” probably meant “destroyer” or “subduer” [29]. Rimmon was
known in Assyria as “The Thunderer” [30]. The etymological root of
“Adonis” is “lord” [31]. Many of these names, then, call to mind the
image of the Christian God. The nerve to “fix their Seats…next the Seat of God”
had thus landed them in a position of discomfort with the Church Fathers, who
vowed to extirpate them.
The first
Commandment enjoined the rejection of other gods, and the story of the Golden
Calf illustrated the punishment that awaited those who strayed. The Psalm of
David reinforced this lesson:”For all the gods of pagans are demons(daimonia); but the Lord made the
Heavens…” and “ The idols of the pagans are silver and gold, the work of men’s
hands…Those who make them are like them; so are all who trust them.” The Apostle
Paul reaffirmed such beliefs: “An idol has no real existence.” In the second
century, Christianity had moved deeper into the gentile world. They found it
harder to condemn the Hellenic Gods, like the Zeus of Homer and Pheidias, than
Moloch or Baal, who had always been obscure, esoteric, and associated with
atrocities. The answer came to them in the form of pagan converts such as
Justin Martyr and Tatian; the former was one of the first Apologists. Through
their writing, they preached that the sins and adulteries ascribed to the gods
by the Greeks were actually committed by demons. When Socrates tried to
discourage the worship of these demons, he was put to death. Tatian too held
that the pagan gods were demons in disguise [32]. This
demonization was no accident, but rather a deliberate twisting of pagan ideals
as Christianity spread its influence throughout Europe [33]. Like pagans, Christians still sensed and saw
the gods and their power, and as something, they had to assume, lay behind it,
by an easy traditional shift of opinion they turned these pagan daimones into
malevolent 'demons', the troupe of Satan... Far into the Byzantine
period Christians eyed their cities' old pagan statuary as a seat of the
demons' presence. It was no longer beautiful; it was infested [34].
There were
certain basic weaknesses at the heart of pagan religions that undoubtedly
proved advantageous to the Christian cause. The pagans performed rites, but
professed no creed or doctrine. They were neither committed to revealed belief
in the strong Christian sense of the term, nor were they exhorted to faith. The Latin word religio
could mean the awe from which any religious cult begins. It was antithetical to
superstitio or “the excessive fear of
the gods” [35], which was the adhering principle of the Moloch
cults. They were particularly savage brands of religion, and the adherents were
cringing slaves—entitled to propitiate the bloodlust of their gods,
irrespective of their will [36]. Moreover, the pagans believed that
their gods were subject to mortality like themselves. Several places in Greece
and Egypt are popularly known as the final resting places of gods [37].
This bolstered the Euhemerist viewpoint, which the Christians readily accepted
to be able to show pagan gods as mere deified mortals. Euhemerism became a
favourite weapon of the Christian polemicists, which they used at every turn [38].
Milton’s denial of the divine origin of the Ionian gods is thus appropriate:
While introducing the “horrid crew” of Satan, Milton reflects:
Through Gods high sufferance
for the tryal of man,
By falsities and lyes the greatest part
Of Mankind they corrupted to forsake
God…” According to Milton, the establishment of the pagan gods on earth was a test devised by God for man, to test their devotion to Him in the face of deception and disillusionment. But man seems to have failed ruefully in God’s test, even long after the pagan gods had become mere characters in classical literature. The stars had been named after the Hellenic Gods in Antiquity; they were well known in Europe through the planetary week and astrology. The stars, equivalent to the pagan gods, were believed to control human action. The Renaissance saw a pervasive fear of these planets, which were representatives of fate, and superseded human free will according to their own whim. They were seen as demonic antagonists to the benevolent, all-powerful Christian God. Yet, the Christians could not depend completely on Him to guide them, and a roaring trade in gems, talismans and ritual books flourished in Europe, for the propitiation of planets [39].
By falsities and lyes the greatest part
Of Mankind they corrupted to forsake
God…” According to Milton, the establishment of the pagan gods on earth was a test devised by God for man, to test their devotion to Him in the face of deception and disillusionment. But man seems to have failed ruefully in God’s test, even long after the pagan gods had become mere characters in classical literature. The stars had been named after the Hellenic Gods in Antiquity; they were well known in Europe through the planetary week and astrology. The stars, equivalent to the pagan gods, were believed to control human action. The Renaissance saw a pervasive fear of these planets, which were representatives of fate, and superseded human free will according to their own whim. They were seen as demonic antagonists to the benevolent, all-powerful Christian God. Yet, the Christians could not depend completely on Him to guide them, and a roaring trade in gems, talismans and ritual books flourished in Europe, for the propitiation of planets [39].
Shortly afterwards, Milton
asserts that these pagan deities “with thir darkness durst affront
his (God’s) light.” Darkness, if not a symbol of evil, may be seen as a
distinguishing characteristic of the pagan gods, who were more or less related
to earth, nature and fertility. This pagan “darkness” is antithetical to God,
who is popularly represented as a source of ineffable light, Himself the
creator of light, surrounded by fiery Seraphim; His essence being dazzling
truth. This blinding, dazzling light is common to Beatrice, who was portrayed
after God by Dante or the Petrarchan mistress of Spenser (“The light whereof
hath kindled heavenly fire…”) [40]. On the other hand, darkness has
subliminal connections with womb, tomb, earth, fertility, idols, night, moon
and the goddess. They are related to the chthonic deities of yore, among whom,
the most venerated was the Goddess—ancient and primeval; the first of deities; patroness of the
Stone Age hunt and of the first sowers of seeds; She gave birth without the
need of man; under whose guidance the herds were tamed, the healing herbs first discovered; in whose image the
first works of art were created; who was the inspiration
of song and poetry. The Goddess was first of all earth, the dark, nurturing
mother who brought forth all life. She was the power of fertility and
generations: the womb, and also the receptive tomb, the power of death. All
proceeded from Her; all returned to Her [41]. This Goddess was
instrumentally replaced over time by the male Christian God, and Milton’s verse
seems to contain what may be read as an allusion to this rift.
On an ending note, I would like to express my surprise that Milton
framed the Ionian gods as apostate angels turned demons so readily. The Semitic
and Egyptian religions may have been guilty of atrocious rituals and sorcery
respectively, but the Ionian pantheon, to this day, are representatives of the
Classical Antiquity—the fountainhead of European cultural heritage. Milton’s
personal classical learning was immense, and he made classical allusions in his
poetry at the slightest opportunity, which always rendered his work richer. As
a Puritan poet, he may have been adhering to Christian diabolization of pagan
gods, but he was, no how, an orthodox Christian. He rejected the Trinity,
infant baptism and most of the traditional ceremonies including church marriage;
he queried monogamy and believed that the soul died with the body [42].
His heretical thought, if revealed completely in his time, would have had him
imprisoned, burned and damned several times over. So, if he showed a little
more reverence to the Ionian deities by not condemning them as demons in his magnum opus, and using more commonly
known devils in their stead, I do not feel that it would have been a burden on
his conscience.
References:
[6] “The Myth of Adonis” in The Golden Bough (New York: Macmillan,
1922) p.423.
[9] “The Myth of Osiris” in The Golden Bough (New York: Macmillan,
1922) p.470.
[11] “The Myth of Adonis” in The Golden Bough, p.423.
[15] “The Myth of Adonis” in The Golden Bough, p.427.
[16] “The Myth of Osiris” in The Golden Bough, p.470.
[17] “Isis” in The Golden Bough, p.492.
[18] “The Burning of Men and
Animals in the Fire” in The Golden Bough
(New York: Macmillan, 1922) p.831.
[19] “The Fire Festivals of
Europe” in The Golden Bough, p.759.
[20] “The Influence of the Sexes
on Vegetation” in The Golden Bough,
p.185.
[21] “The Sacred Marriage” in The Golden Bough, p.189.
[22] “Adonis in Cyprus” in The Golden Bough, p.437.
[23] “Adonis in Cyprus” in The Golden Bough, p.438.
[24] “Diana as a Goddess of
Fertility” in The Golden Bough,
p.195.
[25] “Dionysus, the Goat and the Bull”
in The Golden Bough, p.597.
[31] “The Myth of Adonis” in The Golden Bough, p.423.
[32] “Heroes and Saints” in New Heroes in Antiquity (Cambridge: Harvard
University Press, 2010) p.86.
[34] “The
Spread of Christianity” in Pagans and
Christians (London: Penguin Books, 2006) p.306.
[35]
“Pagans and their Cities” in Pagans and
Christians, p.45.
[36] “A
Free Man’s Worship” in Mysticism and
Logic and Other Essays (London: Routledge, 1910) p.50.
[37] “The
Mortality of the Gods” in The Golden
Bough, p.349.
[38] “The
Historical Tradition” in Survival of the
Pagan Gods (New York: Harper Torchbooks/ The Bollingen Library, 1953) p.13.
[39] “The
Historical Tradition” in Survival of the
Pagan Gods, pp.43-48.
[40] Amoretti,
Sonnet III.
[42] Milton
and the English Revolution (London: Faber and Faber, 1959)
Further
Reading:
Fox, Robin
Lane. Pagans and Christians. London:
Penguin Books, 2006.
Frazer, Sir
James. The Golden Bough. New York: Macmillan, 1922.
Jones,
Christopher P. New Heroes in Antiquity:
From Achilles to Antinoos. Cambridge: Harvard University Press,
2010.
Seznec,
Jean. Survival of the Pagan Gods. New
York: Harper Torchbooks/ The Bollingen Library, 1953.
That was a wonderful article and examination of the topic. Do you think Milton syncretized certain popular figures as related or the same so that one chain of identity could be created for each figure or that he never really became that advanced in his exploration of the topic? For an effort made just by available literature, I think he really did some wonderful work. As for the conclusion, some Christians often linked the Greek Gods to demons since Ancient Times and the writings of people like Justin Martyr and others. Not only were they generally known as such at times in the Greek language, but the rapacity and lustfulness of the "Gods" and their children mixed with humans, fit well the brief account in Genesis and elaborated in Enoch of the Sons of God descending and mating with human women to produce giant offspring who were killed, their souls becoming demons (similar to a demonized account of the origins of the Daimon from the story of the Golden Age ruled over by Kronus who was linked syncretically with the Semitic El and ultimately the Jewish Elohim. It would likely be far more unusual for Milton to show approval towards enemies and rivals of Christ at the time, where only some Greek philosophers held some esteem as sort of considered noble pagans who were trying to escape the prevailing polytheism of their eras. If you ever compile a list of the demons mentioned and their syncretic epithets or clues as to their identities in general or in Milton's cosmology, and who all is generally mentioned and their apparent rank and domains and associations in his works, feel free to let me know at theartismagistra@gmail.com
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