Blog #10

Although the religious basis of Paradise Lost (Christianity) is much different than that of The Odyssey (belief in the dodekatheon), the role religion plays in these two epics is very similar. Eve’s struggle between fate and free will, as well as her tendency towards dependence and submission, are very much present in Paradise Lost as a response to God’s prophecy and divine intervention.  Everything she is and everything she lacks is a direct reflection of her relationship with the divine.

            Any sense of inferiority we see from Eve, and any glorification she bestows onto Adam is a result of her first encounter with God, as he seems to intervene in mortal life just as often as the Greek gods.  When Eve comes into existence, she is an innocent, meek creature with no sense of direction.  While falling in love with her reflection (like Narcissus, yet another Greek mythology parallel), Eve is ordered around by the voice of God: “ follow me,/and I will bring thee where no shadow stays …. he/whose image thou art, him thou shalt enjoy/inseparably thine, to him shalt bear/multitudes like thyself and thence be called/”Mother of human race” (4.). God is, in a sense, prophesizing to Eve, leading her to a fate that she has no choice but to “follow straight, invisibly thus led” (4.).  He gives her no free will to do as she pleases, essentially mandating that she “shalt enjoy” Adam and that they will be “inseparable”.  And sure being “mother of human race” is quite an honor, but poor Eve wasn’t even giving the option of turning down the wonderful experience of repeated childbirth.  God orders her around from the get-go, and establishes her as submissive from the start.  So it is no wonder that she lives her life with Adam in the same manner.  Even her rebellious fruit-eating stage is yet another example of her obedience, but this time to Satan’s commands.  Her life is shaped and ruled by the “other-worldly”, and acts as a pawn in helping them accomplish their goals.  She would get along swimmingly with the characters in The Odyssey.