Euripides, Milton, and Christian Doctrine

Two Notes on the Authorship of De Doctrina Christiana: Pagan Allusions and Numeration

“…The following comments respond to earlier notes appearing in Milton Quarterly by Gordon Campbell and David Norbrook. Campbell ended his comments on the debate about the authorship of De Doctrina Christiana by saying that although external evidence would not settle it, internal evidence might.…”

“…Campbell ended his comments on the debate about the authorship of De Doctrina Christiana by saying that although external evidence would not settle it, internal evidence might. As to internal authorship, Norbrook observed that allusions to Euripides in De Doctrina outnumber ones to other classical authors, and that in other writings Milton liked to clinch an argument by citing him. The epigraph to Areopagitica is a salient example.…”

“…To these, one can add sundry pithy utterances in Samson Agonistes and quotations in the prose works. Nonetheless, Norbrook remained cautious about the authorship question. Euripides was a general possession.…”

“…More to the point, quality outweighs quantity. Leaving aside the Euripides passages that Norbrook acutely handles, Homer is assigned the climactic proof in the chapter on predestination, Book 1, chapter 4 . Predestination is no excuse.…”