/lit/ - Literature

It helps to know your basic Bible, specifically Adam 'n Eve 'n the Serpent.

"O hell, what do mine eyes
With grief behold?"

It's the English speaking world's Iliad and Odyssey. You must read it.

Try and buy an edition with footnotes, and familiarize yourself with the Angels, Adam and Even, and a little bit of the Satan mythos.

>>1244584

Hahah, people who refer to 'the Satan mythos' can eat my ass.

Vocabulary, do you has it?

it's ok but not useful...
Interesting because christians are a bit too much, but well...

>>1244586

>>1244590

Yeah, you know you want to Dave. Chow deep on my musky meat.

>>1244586
You should probably be familiar with the 17th century conception of Satan to read Paradise Lost, don't you think?

>>1244597

Stop digging, man. Theology is not mythos.

>>1244601
wat

>>1244601
'mythos' means 'legend' or 'tale' or 'story'

How does that not apply to the set of Satan tales circulating and informing the minds of 17th century English people?

I don't think it's particularly important to know much about Christianity before reading it, although you might appreciate it more if you do. The basic theme is free will versus predestination, so you might want to be sure you understand those concepts first. However, I think the most important question you should ask yourself is whether you do well reading literature that is wrought with flowery description, and metaphors which persist for lines upon lines, and sentences which take up half the page, and seem completely out of order by modern standards. I can even say I kind of like this "epic poem," but if I were not reading it for a class, with a list of questions I should look out for, sparknotes, and class discussions I am pretty sure I'd be lost. I tried to read it on my own a few years back & couldn't get past the first 8 pages.

If you can follow Shakespeare, Ovid, or Homer (in verse translations) you should be do fine with Paradise Lost. Blank verse kicks ass.

>>1244607

THEOLOGY IS NOT MYTHOS BECAUSE MYTHOS IS THE BACKSTORY OF A MYTHOLOGICALLY-CONCEIVED CHARACTER. They didn't conceive of Satan as mythological. You're trying to be clever and in doing so, begging for the devastation of your life. WHEN YOU'RE IN A HOLE, STOP DIGGING. THEOLOGY IS NOT FUCKING MYTHOS. EAT SHIT, FUCK OFF.

>>1244623

>>1244627

That's right, take refuge in emoticons. That's your level of development, you pompous fake.

>>1244623
The Greeks considered their Gods theology, not myth, and that doesn't stop us from referring to the Zeus mythos or the Eris mythos.

I'm not trying to be edgy. If you'd like, I'll rephrase: "OP, try to get familiar with the theological stories concerning Satan that would have been familiar to the readers of 17th century England."

How's that?

>>1244623
Are you trying to say that, when people spoke of Zeus and such, they had already accepted that he didn't exist? Because, to me, that's what mythologically-conceived sounds like, especially when you back it up by saying "they didn't conceive of Satan as mythological"

>>1244632

I don't refer to 'mythos' because I'm not a neckbeard D&Der. I may refer to 'myth'.

'theological ideas about Satan' would be better.

>>1244638

STOP DIGGING. What you're attempting is IRRELEVANT. It is pathetic for anyone who aspires to literacy to use the term 'mythos' to describe anything that doesn't appear on a series of laminated playing cards. Grow up, man up, shut the fuck up, and get out of here.

>>1244643

No one has any idea what you're mad about. "Mythos" is perfectly acceptable in this context.

>>1244649
>he thinks Dungeons and Dragons invented the word mythos!

OP this is simply a stunning book from what I've read -only on book VI- I came into it with a limited knowledge of Christian doctrine but I'm finding that the story is relatively easy to follow. If you are reading this for pleasure like myself go for it, the language, story and ideas in this poem can't help but captivate the readers mind.
Enjoy and cross it off the list.

Just read it, OP. It's a great epic. It would be useful to have a basic knowledge of the creation story; that is, you should read Genesis, the first book of Moses from the Old Testament.

>>1244611
That's a theme, alright, but Milton makes it clear what really is the argument of the epic, which is to "justify the ways of God to men" (book 1, line 26). Therefore, the primary theme of the book is theodicy. Theodicy as defined in M-W: "defense of God's goodness and omnipotence in view of the existence of evil."

However, one could write a 200 page essay on free will in Paradise Lost without much of a headache. I suppose that is what makes this work so great.

>>1244653
>>1244671

No, it's not.

>>1244692
If by "no it's not" you mean "Magic the Gathering wasn't the creator of the word 'mythos'" you're correct.

>>1244649
>>1244649

beware sounds like an idiot... or a troll

>>1244685
Augh, nevermind. It's one and the same. I realize how much I'm splitting straws in that post, haha.

>>1244697

You don't get to contradict me, neckbeard. No matter how much you persist you're only digging a deeper hole.

>>1244708
I'm going to dig a hole in your goddamn brain and spooge with all my force right into it.

This face will be the last thing you ever see.

Are the bad men gone? Can we actually discuss Paradise Lost now?