Milton begins Book VII with a petition to
Urania, one of the nine muses of ancient Greek mythology. Specifically,
she is the patron of astronomy and so is often seen holding a globe or crowned
with stars. She is also often connected with the goddess Aphrodite. I wanted to do a little research on Urania
seeing as how Milton petitions her specifically by name, though he adds the
disclaimer "The meaning, not the name I call..." (l. 5). The
footnote to that line clarifies it a little by saying that "Urania"
means "heavenly one" in Latin. Milton being the consummate
Humanist probably couldn't help but include this reference to the Classics as
he begins a story that involves the creation of the heavens, but I did a little
more research and ran across an interesting article written on this exact
topic. The authors posit an interesting theory about Urania and what she
represents in Milton's universe. The article by Stevie Davies and
William B. Hunter titled "Milton's Urania: 'The Meaning, Not the Name
I Call'" makes the argument that Urania is meant to represent the Holy
Ghost, and that since the invocation of this muse is the third of three (the
previous two being first in Book I and then in Book III) the three invocations
are meant to be invocations to the Trinity. Essentially, Milton is not
invoking a single muse or spirit in these various petitions, but rather he is
invoking the aid of God the Father, the Son, and the Holy Ghost.
I'd like to briefly go over some of the authors'
arguments that I found most intriguing. The full article can be accessed
on JSTOR here.
The
authors of the article stress the connection between Urania and her
"sister" Wisdom saying at one point, "The linked figures of
Urania and Wisdom stress the lovability and accessibility of the
almighty…" (105). The authors make the point that Urania (as the
Holy Ghost) is meant to be a mediator between God and us. This is especially important as, story-wise,
we are about to leave the perfect, heavenly courts of God and descend
(literally and figuratively) down to an earth “whose narrative (though it
treats of creation) is on the verge of the Fall. This invocation represents a search for inner
comfort and security of knowledge and articulation within a world which is
personally experienced as profoundly unsafe, in external terms…” (105). The Holy Ghost is after all meant to be our
guide while living in a fallen world.
The authors
further argue that Milton is expressing a greater urgency in this third
invocation as the story moves closer to the Fall. They advance the idea that part of the reason
for invoking a name with this muse is because “Venus Urania is traditionally
Venus the reconciler, forgiving disparities, uniting opposites, restoring the
mundane to the celestial. Hence Milton's ‘heavenly born’ Muse presents a medium
between earth and heaven (as divine messenger, God's agent, advocate and
revealer of language and vision, the traditional functions of the Holy Spirit)…”
(106). Though the story is gearing up to
describe the Fall, Milton urgently wants to unite his narrative with the
divine. Though he has to describe “man’s
first disobedience” he doesn’t want to lose the heavenly assistance.
I think this
continues to show Milton’s Christian Humanistic approach to telling the story
of the Fall in uniting old pagan figures with Christian ones. I think this shows how Milton sought to find
the most good in those Classic tales in order to tell this story in the most
effective way possible.
I’m curious to
know your opinion on this idea of the muse Urania being a representation of the
Holy Ghost. Agree or disagree? Is it an interesting thought, mind-blowing
interpretation, or complete hogwash?
Milton, John
(2009-10-28). The Complete Poetry and Essential Prose of John Milton (Modern
Library). Random House Publishing Group.
Kindle Edition.
Davies, Stevie
and Hunter, William B. “Milton's Urania:
‘The Meaning, Not the Name I Call’. Studies in English Literature, 1500-1900
28.1 (1988): 95-111.
I took nearly that whole book as a tip of the hat to Galileo, but I can see that it could easily be interpreted as the Holy Ghost as mediator.
ReplyDeleteI always wondered why he invokes the aid of these muses and also includes so many other Greek references (I mean, I know Greek mythology is a huge part of literary history) but I really like this idea--that he's calling upon the Godhead more and more urgently as we approach the fall. I think it's beautiful.
ReplyDeleteWow I am blown away by this as a Professional Astrologer. Im not an English Lit. buff. But this means so much more. Urania rules Astronomy which was also Astrology and Doctoring in Milton's time. ALso Urania is Feminine and Venus rules Love. Milton is using Astrology as the medium and symbol of "As above so below" the famous Hermes Trimegistus maxim. "Holy Ghost" and Christianity is just an overlay for the ancient pagan customs. All Trinities began with the Triple Goddess as Maiden Mother Crone relating to the cycles of the Moon. This is wondefull to know. I will definitely have to look into this more.
ReplyDeleteThe Holy Ghost also references one of the Feminine sides of G*d according to my intepretation of the Kabalaistic teachings. The Shekinah is the right hand pillar of G*'s two feminine sides. She is the one who watches over Her children and descends to earth every Jewish Sabbath from Friday night at sundown until Saturday night at Sundown. Holy rights of sacred sexuality are honored in Her name at these times. Venus was always associated with sexual romantic love. This is not what most Christians think of as the Holy Ghost of course. I was not raised Christian so its much easier for me to see this and relate to it.
ReplyDeleteWhat most Christians think of as Holy Ghost has been distorted by the translation from Greek to Latin. Before Latin , Wisdom was Sophia, feminine, the Spirit was understood as feminine. But I’m Latin , the word they chose is masculine- spiritus. So we’re living with the consequences of the latinisation of the ancient knowledge. It’s now time to return to the original.
ReplyDeleteCorrection of the auto correct- I wrote “ but in Latin , the word they chose…”
Delete