Posted: Sat Jan 24, 2009 9:47 am
I think taditionally, the Tree of Knowledge is the tree of knowledge of good and evil. By eating fruit from the tree, humans became capable fo knowing good only through knowing evil. Knowledge equalling knowledge of science? This is a different, untraditional interpretation. I don't think Milton was taking a stand against a scientific view that had been around for generations. I'd go more along with Saffron's view.Probably because Milton was aware of the dehumanizing effect of science -- the fruit of the Tree of Knowledge -- the shadow tree of the Tree of Life. Traditional cosmology -- astrological cosmology -- projects humanity onto the heavens by means of the Zodiacal Man -- the Great Man or Logos. The Great Man on the Cosmic Tree is as Christ on the cross, so the crucifixion is an antitype of the cosmic type. Persons with a greater orientation toward matter are hostile to such an interpretation of the cosmos.
It might appear that way from the passage. But is Milton necessarily endorsing any particular conception of the cosmos in PL? Are we to think that this extremely conscientious Christian "believes in" astrology? I don't want to say this is just a poetic coup of sorts for Milton--to Christianize what had had pagan origins--because it is not trivial. But Milton thought that in earlier traditions there were shadows of truth, that in these traditions people were working toward a truth that only became fulfilled in God and Christ. Giving the planets' influence as a result of sin being loosed in the universe (by God, essentially) gives some credence to those who before believed in astrology. So I see Milton as a true humanist in this sense, not saying that the beliefs of lapsed traditions came to naught; saying they may have some validity from the standpoint of a better truth. (I know nothing about the Zodiac or astrology, obviously.)Milton explicitly endorses the astrological worldview in Book 10 when the world is modified for the seasonality that follows sin
On Milton's cosmology in PL, there is a good "map" in my Milton book. It shows a kind of acorn shaped universe, with Heaven at the top represented by a pinnacle of light. Below that is a vast Chaos, and below that is Hell. The "World" is an extremely small orb hanging by a chain from Heaven's gate. It is not the earth, but the "earth system" of the earth and the planets and sun revolving around it, with several other bands on the outside. I had not noted that the territory of the "world" was believed to be miniscule compared to the rest of the universe. I couldn't find an online representation to post for people to look at.