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.
