Paradise Lost

Paradise Lost is an epic poem—or a long narrative poem relating a hero, or heroes', journey—in the tradition of Homer's Odyssey and Iliad. Both the Odyssey and the Iliad concern sweeping narratives of war and the arc of history, unfolding over many days or even years. Paradise Lost is similarly concerned with an epic subject: the fall of man and the beginning of human history. However, the bulk of its action is less grandiose than Homer's epic poems. Rather than depicting prolonged battles, and the rise and fall of cities and civilizations—as the Odyssey and the Iliad do—Milton treats the events leading up to Eve’s seduction and decision to sin, covering just over a month of action. Milton also focuses on only a handful of characters (Satan, Adam and Eve, and God), whereas Homer's epic poems teem with both mortals and gods.