Could the Story of Samson Be True Or Is It Just a Myth
UNIVERZA V MARIBORU
FILOZOFSKA FAKULTETA
Oddelek za anglistiko in amerikanistiko
DIPLOMSKO DELO
Marija Vodopivec
Maribor, 2014
UNIVERZA V MARIBORU
FILOZOFSKA FAKULTETA
Oddelek za anglistiko in amerikanistiko
Diplomsko delo
SAMSONOVA AGONIJA JOHNA MILTONA: KOMPARATIVNI PRISTOP K LIKU
SAMSONU
Graduation thesis
MILTON’S SAMSON AGONISTES: A COMPARATIVE APPROACH TO THE
CHARACTER OF SAMSON
Mentor: izr. prof. dr. Michelle Gadpaille
Kandidat: Marija Vodopivec
Študijski program: Pedagogika in Angleški jezik s književnostjo
Maribor, 2014 Lektor:
Izr. Prof. Dr. Michelle Gadpaille AKNOWLEDGEMENTS
I want to thank my mentor, Dr. Michelle Gadpaille for her guidance and her valuable advice
during my writing.
I want to thank my parents, Drago and Agata for always supporting me and encouraging me
during my studies.
I want to thank my sister Marta and her husband Nino for always being there for me when I
needed the most.
I want to thank my big brother Marko and his lovely Tea for encouraging me and believing in
me.
I also want to thank my dear Denis for encouraging me, making me happy and for not
graduating before me. FILOZOFSKA FAKULTETA Koroška cesta 160 2000 Maribor, Slovenija www.ff.um.si
IZJAVA
Podpisani-a MARIJA VODOPIVEC rojen-a 31.07.1988 študent-ka Filozofske fakultete
Univerze v Mariboru, smer ANGLEŠKI JEZIK S KNJIŽEVNOSTJO IN PEDAGOGIKA, izjavljam, da je diplomsko delo z naslovom SAMSONOVA AGONIJA JOHNA MILTONA: KOMPARATIVNI
PRISTOP K LIKU SAMSONU / MILTON’S SAMSON AGONISTES: A COMPARATIVE APPROACH TO
THE CHARACTER OF SAMSON pri mentorju-ici IZR. PROF. DR. MICHELLE GADPAILLE, avtorsko delo.
V diplomskem delu so uporabljeni viri in literatura korektno navedeni; teksti niso prepisani brez navedbe avtorjev.
Kraj: MARIBOR
Datum: 1.4.2014
______(podpis študenta-ke) POVZETEK Diploma razpravlja o dramskem delu Johna Miltona Samson Agonistes. Zgodba je vzeta iz biblijske knjige Sodniki in govori o sodniku Samsonu, ki je sodil Izraelce 20 let.
Glavni namen diplomske naloge je primerjati pripoved iz knjige Sodniki ter dela Johna
Miltona. Še posebej bodo poudarjene vzporednice in razlike obeh del ter kako se je v obeh delih prepoznal pesnik sam. Milton in Samson sta si bila poddobna v nekaterih lastnostih, katere je Milton poudaril skozi dialoge. Kljub temu je več pozornosti namenil pesniški vrednosti pripovedi kot pa zgodovinski točnosti.
Ključne besede: Samson, Dalila, Izraelci, Filistejci, čaščenje, nazirstvo, lasje
ABSTRACT
The graduation thesis presents Samson Agonistes, written by John Milton. The basics of this drama are taken from the biblical book of Judges. The main aim of this diploma is to compare the original story of Samson described in the biblical Book of Judges to John
Milton’s Samson Agonistes. We will focus on parallels and differences in the two versions and how the poet himself is reflected in both of them. Milton and Samson shared some similar characteristics which he emphasized through the dialogues. Still, he put more emphasis on the poetic value of the poem than on historical accuracy of the story.
Key words: Samson, Delilah, Israelites, Philistines, worship, Nazariteship, hair
Table of Contents 1. Introduction...... 1
2. The Structure and the Background of the Samson Story...... 4
3. Truth or Myth...... 12
4. Naziriteship and Hair...... 15
5. Women in Samson’s Life...... 20
5.1. The Wife from Timna...... 20
5.2. Delilah...... 22
6. Motifs in Samson Agonistes...... 28
6.1. Religion...... 28
6.2. Wine and Water...... 29
6.3. Gifts...... 30
6.4. Silence...... 31
6.5. Imprisonment and Justice...... 32
6.5. Light and Darkness...... 34
6.6. Animal Imagery...... 36
6.7. Disease...... 40
7. Conclusion...... 43
Works Cited...... 44 1. Introduction
Biblical accounts have often served as a source and inspiration for poetic or prose works. One that stands out even today is Samson Agonistes (Milton, 1671), written by the
English poet John Milton. The story originated in the biblical Book of Judges. Milton was inspired by Samson because of the parallels between them? First of all, it is a religious theme.
Milton was a very religious man. He lived in a time when there was no such thing as religious freedom. He was aligned with the Puritanism movement, which “sought to purify the Church of England of remnants of the Catholic “popery” /…/” (Encyclopaedia Britannica,
“Puritanism”). Milton was keen on the Bible. He believed that the Bible was God’s word and that by obeying laws from it one could live his best. It is well known that he read the Bible regularly. In the British museum where they keep Milton’s personal copy of the Bible, there are even underlined verses which he obviously studied carefully and used as ground for his discussions. De Doctrina Christiana is his Latin manuscript in which he thoroughly examined
The Holy Scriptures and exposed the wrong teachings of the Roman Catholic Church and
Protestantism. In addition, Puritans believed that “it was necessary to be in a covenant relationship with God” (“Puritanism”). We can assume that Milton thought and hoped he was in a special relationship with God. One of the underlined verses is from the book of Psalms:
“Blessed are all they that put their trust in him” (KJV, Psalms 2:12b). He apparently believed he would be blessed if he put faith in God’s commandments. That is a parallel with Samson, who was a Nazarite. That meant he enjoyed a special relationship with God. This diploma will discuss what that meant and how features of being a Nazarite are still influential in some social groups today.
The most obvious parallel between Samson and Milton which will be discussed is their loss of eyesight. Samson was blinded by his enemies. Milton became totally blind by
1652. In a way he could connect with the character, since he knew how important eyesight is
1 and how awful it is when one loses it. Literal loss of eyesight is not the only thing the diploma will discuss. It will be interesting to find out what else this loss could mean.
The final parallel between Samson and Milton is the women in their lives. Samson was betrayed by a woman with whom the Book of Judges says Samson was very much in love. Milton, on the other hand, did not experience such a drastic betrayal, but it was obvious his wife was the reason he did not like women. How do we know that? In most of his works women are portrayed in a negative sense. For example, in Samson Agonistes, Delilah has no chance to pass as a wife who cares for her husband.
Samson Agonistes is not the only one of Milton’s works taken from the Bible. His most famous work is the epic poem Paradise Lost (Milton, 1667) based on the biblical account from Genesis. Interestingly, the story involves Eve, the first woman, who was responsible for the fall of man. She was blamed for the loss of paradise when she let the serpent seduce her.
We should also mention Milton’s Areopagitica (Milton, 1644). In 1643
The Parliament required authors to have a license approved by the
government before their work could be published /…/ This issue was
personal for Milton as he had suffered censorship himself in his efforts
to publish several tracts defending divorce (a radical stance which met
with no favor from the censors). Areopagitica is full of biblical and
classical references which Milton uses to strengthen his argument
(Wikipedia, “Areopagitica”).
2 It is clear that Milton used the whole Bible as the source of divine information in every situation. For better understanding of the poem, it is beneficial and vital to clarify Milton’s biblical knowledge in general and of the Samson story. This diploma will discuss in detail how Milton’s personal faith and biblical knowledge is reflected in his dramatic poem Samson
Agonistes.
3 2. The Structure and the Background of the Samson Story
The title of the biblical book of Judges refers to the leaders who delivered Israel from foreign nations who enslaved them after their conquest of the Promised Land, Canaan. The
Israelites were a very religious, monotheistic nation, worshiping only Jehovah God. The first of the Ten Commandments was: “You must not have any other gods against my face /…/ because I Jehovah your God am a God exacting exclusive devotion /…/” (Exodus 20: 3, 5b).
It was also prohibited to make carved images of God, for no image of God was possible; “You must not make for yourself a carved image /…/ you must not bow down to them nor be induced to serve them /…/” (Exodus 20: 4, 5a). After Joshua’s death, the tribes of Israel failed to drive the remaining inhabitants of Canaan out of the land. Instead, they began doing “what was bad in Jehovah’s eyes and they were forgetful of Jehovah their God and went serving the
Ba’als and the sacred poles” (Judg. 3:7). The NIV Bible says that “the historian schematized the accounts of the judges according to an apostasy–deliverance pattern” (NIV Bible,
“Judges”). Whenever the Israelites repented and “began to call to Jehovah for aid” (Judges
3:9a), their God delivered them. He “raised up a saviour for sons of Israel” (3:9b). These saviours were known as judges.
One of the twelve judges mentioned in the account was Samson, who was known mostly by his incredible strength and long hair. The story of Samson begins in chapter thirteen in the book of Judges. Milton focused on the last day of Samson’s life, which we find in the book of Judges, chapter sixteen. Still, through dialogues in Samson Agonistes we can see the whole story. At the beginning of the book the editor says that “the notes that follow do not attempt to list allusions to the story of Samson as recounted in Judges xiii-xvi” (Campbell in
Milton 506). This statement is only partly true. Milton did add a couple of things. For example, in the book Samson’s father Manoah tries to rescue his son, whereas in the Bible account Manoah is already dead when all this occurs. In addition, there is quite a long
4 dialogue between Samson and Delilah, which is not found in the book of Judges. On the other hand, in general one can tell that this account is taken from the Bible because the basic events and issues are the same, no names are changed and the ending is also the same. The structure of the two is not much alike, since the biblical account does not contain these dialogues. We could say that the story as written in the book of Judges is simply a telling of events which happened to a certain person. It seems that the narrator found the events sufficiently dramatic and did not see the need to add any personal declarations, except at the end when Samson expresses his remorse and asks God for help saying: “Sovereign Lord Jehovah, remember me, please, and strengthen me, please just this once, O you the [true] God, and let me avenge myself upon the Philistines /…/.” (Judges 16:28)
Many accounts in the Bible have a declared purpose:
For all the things that were written aforetime
Were written for our instruction,
That through our endurance and through the comfort
From the scriptures we might have hope. (Romans 15:4)
The book itself does not specify who the author of the Book of Judges is. It must have been someone who was devoted to true worship. In that time that was the prophet Samuel, who was one of the first loyal prophets mentioned in the Old Testament. “Internal evidence
5 indicates that the author of Judges lived shortly after the period of the Judges. Samuel fits this qualification”. (“Book of Judges”).
Samson Agonistes is written in dialogues, whereas the biblical account is a telling of a story. Milton’s drama does contain much of what we read in the book of Judges, and the mixture of the two is beneficial. In this way the story is familiar to the reader, and yet the reader can see what Milton found important in this story that may have been left out in the biblical account. The drama begins with Samson’s monologue and short inserts by the chorus.
This helps the reader to see the background of what is happening and how Samson feels at that time. In this way Milton tried to create a dramatic atmosphere. Samson is historically known for his strength, but at the beginning he says: “Eyeless in Gaza, at the mill with slaves / Himself in bonds under Philistian yoke” (Milton 41-42). One wonders how Samson got himself into this situation. Further events should heighten tension to answer who turned out to be stronger. Dr. Johnson argues that the intermediate events in Samson Agonistes give
“no forward dramatic movement to the sequence of events in the plot” (Johnson, quoted in
Tupper 376). In his words, the dialogues within the story do not contribute to dramatisation or anticipation of what the ending will be. Sampson does not agree and claims that the main aim of the story is not the events themselves but to portray how tragedy in a man’s life can help him to grow spiritually. This dead end situation has “made Samson more than ever a solitary figure, to whom only divine aid can restore the final salvation /…/ The unity of the play is not in the development of its plot but in the portrayal of character” (Sampson, quoted in Tupper
376). There is much emphasis put on the person and less on the plot. This account is related to the one from the Bible. There are no events described between Samson’s capture and the feast in Gaza in the book of Judges, so there is literally no material to indicate that a catastrophe is about to happen. A possible message of the story must run deeper. “Whatever is invented to fill up the play must point toward the spiritual significance of the tragedy, if dramatic unity is
6 to be preserved” (Tupper 377). Sampson contends that the events related to Manoa, Delilah and Harapha are “necessary to the development of the character” (Samson, quoted in Tupper
378). First, Manoa’s visit to his son makes Samson realize the consequences of his revelation of the secret. He is captured and his nation will suffer further under the rulership of the
Philistines. Also, their God Jehovah is humiliated:
So Dagon shall be magnified, and God,
Besides whom is no god, compared with idols,
Disglorified, blasphemed, and had in scorn
By the idolatrous rout amidst their wine;
Which to have come to pass by means of thee,
Samson, of all thy sufferings think the heaviest,
Of all reproach the most with shame that ever
Gould have befallen thee and thy father's house. (440-447)
Samson humbly admits his guilt for the current situation and how he failed as God’s representative, saying,
Father, I do acknowledge and confess
That I this honour, I this pomp, have brought
Dishonour, obloquy, and oped the mouths
Of idolists and atheists; have brought scandal
7 To Israel, diffidence of God, and doubt
In feeble hearts /…/ (448-455)
Samson is aware that he was just a mediator through whom God saved his nation. God can find some other way to wash the shame of His great name. Taking this into consideration, the reader can predict that some kind of catastrophe must occur in order for the God of the
Israelites to show his power over Dagon. Samson is convinced:
He, be sure, will not connive, or linger,
Thus provoked,
But will arise, and his great name assert.
Dagon must stoop, and shall ere long receive
. Such a discomfit as shall quite despoil him
Of all these boasted trophies won on me,
And with confusion blank his worshippers. (465-471)
Another twist happens after Samson speaks with his father. Delilah, his wife, enters, and asks for Samson’s forgiveness. The same woman who betrayed him, who seemed to care for money only and is responsible for his state, is now pleading with Samson to forgive her weakness. She tries to explain her reasons for the betrayal:
8 I saw thee mutable
Of fancy; feared lest one day thou would’st leave me,
As her at Timna; sought by all means, therefore,
How to endear, and hold thee to me firmest:
No better way I saw than by importuning
To learn thy secrets, get into my power
Thy key of strength and safety; (794-799)
It is true that a woman in love is capable of doing anything to hold on to her man. Still, she must have been aware that letting the Philistines capture her husband could lead to no good. She most definitely knew that her nation was cruel and knew no mercy. She herself answers: “I was assured by those / Who tempted me that nothing was designed / Against thee but safe custody and hold /…/” (800-803). Samson’s first wife from Timna did nothing drastically wrong, and yet the Philistines burned down her house with her and her father included. Could Delilah not have predicted something bad would happen to her husband if the soldiers got him? “The truth seems to be that Milton tried to depict her as a hypocrite and just could not do so. He could not make her words betray her into actual insincerity. In fact,
Milton's genius was not dramatic either in plot construction or in the delineation of character /
…/” (Tupper 382). Based on this argument, we could eliminate this dialogue as the possible climax of the story. Perhaps it could be if Milton had decided to turn the story completely around and have Samson either accept the ransom Manoa provided or forgive Delilah.
Throughout the drama Samson never blamed his God for the situation he was in.
Being very religious, Milton depicted the biblical God as someone merciful who was willing to forgive Samson. That is seen from the fact that he did not change the end of the story. Both
9 accounts tell us that Samson leaned on two pillars and “he tugged, he shook, till down they came, and drew/ the whole roof /…/ upon the heads of all who sat beneath” (1650-1652). The biblical account even says that “the dead that he put to death in his own death came to be more than those he had put to death during his lifetime” (Judges 16:30). What revenge! Not only had he killed a mass of his enemies, he also showed that his God was mightier than any pagan god. Manoa agreed that his son died, not as someone abandoned by God, but as a true hero:
/…/ Samson, and heroicly hath finished
A life heroic, on his enemies
Fully revenged /…/
To himself and father’s house eternal fame;
And, which is best and happiest yet, all this
With God not parted from him, as was feared,
But favouring and assisting to the end. (1710-1720)
This could be climax and dramatic end in one. Samson died as the hero he started out to be and completed his mission given from above. There is no saying what happened with the rest of the cast. Had the story continued, Manoah would have probably died in peace, knowing that his son had died having God’s approval. In the book of Judges, Manoah is already dead when this is happening. Judges 16:31 says: “/…/ and buried him [Samson] /…/ in the burial place of Manoah his father.” As for Delilah, there is no report. We can speculate two things: One, if she was a Philistine and the hypocrite Milton tried to portray her to be, she
10 probably attended the feast and died alongside Samson and the other Philistines. This would definitely have added to the dramatic effect in the story. However, if she was an Israelite, she was probably living somewhere in isolation because everybody knew what she had done.
The story certainly has dramatic elements but still leaves much to the reader’s imagination. If you read it with the idea that Samson was given power from above, then the book has the best ending possible. On the other hand, if you read it with a feminist approach, than Samson may be someone who used women to take vengeance on his enemies and to satisfy his lust. It does not leave the reader indifferent. Most people know the story of
Samson, either from the book of Judges, through Milton or by an artistic depiction. It has also been an object of criticism for decades. Yet, it seems there is still much to say about it.
11 3. Truth or Myth
The book of Judges as a whole has always been considered as an original part of the
Bible. Other writers of biblical books quoted Judges. The Apostle Paul wrote in his letter to
Hebrew Christians: “/…/ For the time will fail me if I go on to relate about Gideon, Barak,
Samson, Jephthah, David as well as Samuel and the [other] prophets /…/” (Hebrews 10:32-
34). There is no doubt that the apostle Paul believed that the book of Judges belonged to the
Bible canon. He even mentioned Samson by name. Further more, archaeological finds support the genuineness of Judges. Things mentioned in the book of Judges regarding Baalism tend to be confirmed. In 1928 archaeologists made a major discovery when they found “a collection of tablets carved with (a then) unknown cuneiform script. In 1932 the identification of the site was made when some of the tablets were deciphered; the city was the ancient and famous site of Ugarit” (“Ugarit and the Bible”).
The biblical account tells us that God used Samson to destroy Philistines. He did not allow the Philistines to coexist with the Israelites. “They should / not dwell in your land,” God warned regarding the Canaanites, “That / they may not cause you to sin / against me. In case you should / Serve their gods, it would become a snare to you” (Exodus 23:33).
The Israelites were suffering very much under their rulership. The Philistines treated even their own people cruelly. When they pressured Samson’s wife from Timna about the riddle he had set up for them, they said: “Fool your husband that he may tell us the riddle.
Otherwise we shall burn you and the house of your father with fire” (Judges 14:15). Later, when Samson took revenge on them, they did burn down the house of his wife from Timna and her father along with them. It is clear that the writer of Judges set out to show that God did not want the Israelites to have any contact with the Canaanites.
12 A variety of stories where the main character is a hero with supernatural talent have always been popular. Some of these kinds of stories are known even today, such as Odysseus and Heracles. That is why the opinions of experts are much divided whether Samson existed or not. Just because a certain story or account contains historical facts does not necessarily mean that person really lived. Let us take Heracles for example: “The Heracles myth definitely points out the places where Heracles was born and where he accomplished his mighty deeds. The royal families that traced their descent from him were still flourishing in historical times, and the “Pillars of Heracles” are standing to this day” (Carus 38). Today,
Heracles is considered as a part of a Greek myth, despite accurate depictions of places mentioned in the story. Still, Gustav Bauer says about Samson:
Against the thorough mythization of this Biblical tale speak the definite
localities to which Samson's birth, deeds and destinies are attached, and
which in any attempt at a mythological solution will remain an
insoluble residue, pointing decidedly to a definite historical tradition.
(Bauer 38)
In addition, even The Encyclopaedia Biblica, one of the most recognized scholarly works, denies that the Samson story is just a myth:
13 Though the name means 'solar/ neither name nor story lends any solid
support to Steinthal's idea that the hero is nothing but a solar myth /…/
He is a member of an undoubtedly historical family of those Danites
who had their standing camp near Zorah, not far from the Philistine
border, before they moved north and seized Laish. The family of
Manoah has a hereditary sepulchre at Zorah, where Samson was said to
lie, and their name continued to be associated with Zorah even after the
exile, when it appears that the Manahethites of Zorah were reckoned as
Calebites. The name had remained though the race changed
(Encyclopaedia Biblica 38).
This could be a solid argument. Still, surroundings and cities described in other legendary stories also existed, some even today. Coincidently, the root of the name Samson means “sun”, so consequently he is put in the rank of “solar heroes”. “He kills a lion with his hands. It is characteristic of Samson as well as of Izdubar, the Babvlonian solar hero, and also of Heracles, that the lion is slain without the use of any weapon” (Carus 41). There are no obvious proofs that Samson was a real person not just a mythical character. There are even many parallels which connect him with other mythical heroes, his strength being the most obvious one.
It has been proved that records written in the Bible are true. Maybe some tangible evidence of Samson’s existence is yet to be found. Milton, however, believed in words written in 2. Timothy 3:16 that “all Scripture is inspired of God and beneficial […]”. We can assume that he did believe in truthfulness of the Samson story written in the book of Judges.
14 4. Naziriteship and Hair
Milton mentioned that Samson was a Nazarite. “Nazarite is “the name given by the Hebrews to a person set apart and especially consecrated to the Lord” (Driscoll). The
Catholic Encyclopaedia adds that the regulations for Nazarites written in the Mosaic Law refer “only to persons consecrating themselves to God for a specified time in virtue of a temporary vow, but there were also Nazarites for life, and there are even indications pointing to the consecration of children to that state by their parents” (Driscoll).
Samson no doubt belonged to the latter group. It does not say in the book of Judges that he made a Nazarite vow at some age but that he was already sanctified before birth. An angel of
God foretold to his mother:
[…] you will be pregnant, and you will certainly give birth to a son, and
no razor should come upon his head, because a Nazirite of God is what
the child will become […] and he it is who will take the lead in saving
Israel out of the hand of the Philistines. (Judges 13:5)
Insight of the Scriptures explains that there were three principal restrictions for
Nazarites:
(1) They were to drink no intoxicating beverage; neither were they to
eat any product of the grapevine, whether unripe, ripe, or dried, nor
drink any of its juice, whether in the fresh, fermented, or vinegar state.
(2) They were not to cut hair of their heads. (3) They were not to touch
15 a dead body, even that of the closest relative – father, mother, brother, or
sister (Numbers 6:1-7). (Insight II 477)
If we examine these restrictions closely, we can see that Samson did not obey the last one. He killed many Philistines, yet he stayed a Nazarite. In the Law it clearly stated that if a
Nazirite touched a dead body, he would need to go through a purification ceremony and start the Nazirite period over again (Numbers 6:6-12). Thus, it said: “The former days will go uncounted” (6:12). It is logical that requirements for lifetime Nazirites differed in some ways from those from voluntary Nazirites. The restriction against touching a corpse could not apply in Samson’s case. Since Samson was a Nazirite by divine appointment, his Naziriteship was for life. If this was so, and he accidently touched a dead body, how could he start over a lifelong Naziriteship that began with his birth?
The secret of Samson’s strength was not in his hair but what it represented; a special relationship with God. If the hair itself had been the source of his strength, then all Nazirites would have to have that kind of strength. Long hair was a sign by which others could quickly recognize the holy Naziriteship. When Samson’s hair was cut off, he no longer enjoyed God’s protection. Milton understood that and pointed out Samson’s awareness of his own guilt:
Nothing of all these evils hath befallen me
But justly; I myself have brought them on;
Sole author I, sole cause: if aught seem vile,
As vile hath been my folly, who have profaned
16 The mystery of God, given me under a pledge
Of vow, and have betrayed it to a woman,
A Canaanite, my faithless enemy (374-380).
Not only in the Bible but in general throughout history people have placed much emphasis on human hair. Synnott discusses possible reasons why people assign so much meaning to it:
Hair is perhaps our most powerful symbol of individual and group
identity - powerful first because it is physical and therefore extremely
personal, and second because, although personal, it is also public rather
than private. Furthermore, hair symbolism is usually voluntary rather
than imposed or 'given'. Finally, hair is malleable, in various ways, and
therefore singularly apt to symbolize both differentiations between, and
changes in, individual and group identities (Synnott 381).
Based on the above argument, we can conclude that many people want to make a statement with their hair or with their hairdos. Samson definitely made a statement with his long hair. That was a physical sign of his special relationship with God. It is interesting that today the Rastafarians follow the pattern written in the Bible regarding the Nazirites. Let us take an example. For most of the younger generation, the most popular Rastafarian is Bob
Marley. The first thing we notice about him is probably his hair. He wore dread locks. One of
17 the main reasons most Rastafarians wear dreads is that they follow the biblical command from
Leviticus: “They should not produce baldness upon their heads, and the extremity of their beard they should not shave /…/” (21:5) (Rastafari Practices). The Wikipedia Encyclopaedia writes,
The visible sign of this vow is the Rastafarian’s dreadlocks. Some
Rastafari have concluded that Samson had dreadlocks, as suggested by
the description stating that he had seven locks upon his head. Others
interpret Samson's “locks” to have been simple braids. Additionally, the
Rastafari are taught to abstain from alcohol in accordance with the
nazirite vow (Rastafari Movement).
Native Americans are also known for wearing long hair. Is seems to be more than just tradition. Surprisingly, hair is more significant to Native Americans than we might assume. It is not a sign of some kind special relationship with a higher power but is “viewed as a symbol of spiritual health and strength” (Treuer, “Why Do Indians Have Long Hair”). We can conclude that by the length of the hair we can predict how healthy an Indian is, spiritually of course. Treuer, who spent most of his childhood living in a borderland outside the Leech Lake
Reservation in Minnesota, adds in his book that Indians believe that the purity of childhood preserves spiritual strength and that the haircut will enable greater development of that strength as the child grows (Treuer).
In a way, this is similar to Samson. While Samson obeyed God and did not reveal his secret about his hair, he was “healthy”. He was strong, completing his mission against
18 Philistines and receiving God’s blessing. Once his hair was cut off, which meant he was no longer in a special relationship with God, he lost his strength. His short hair was a physical sign that he was spiritually no longer healthy.
For many people around the world, there is a meaning in wearing hair long. Some wear long hair because of tradition, some to imitate a certain group of people or rock bands they like, and others just because they like it. Bentley says,
On a deeper level, perhaps we do lose a part of ourselves when we cut
our hair. It may be that we lose a special relationship with ourselves.
Considering the connection between all things, the physical cutting of
hair is a manifestation of the loss of a loved one, a loss of a relationship,
and a loss of a part of self (Bentley).
Since we give such a variety of meanings to hair, it is no wonder that it has often been used as an important factor in some stories. Strong or heroic men from history are often painted not only with big muscles but also with longer hair. Also heroic women usually had long, beautiful hair. It seems that tales or stories where hair plays significant role are still popular today.
19 5. Women in Samson’s Life
Two women play significant roles in Samson’s life. Early in the biblical account we get to know that Samson married a Philistine woman from Timna. Later we find out about
Dalila:
“And it came about after that / That he fell in love with a woman / In the torrent valley of
Sorek / And her name was Delilah” (Judges 16:4).
5.1. The Wife from Timna
According to the Mosaic Law, the Israelites were forbidden to marry someone who belonged to the other nation. In Deuteronomy it says, “And you must form no marriage / alliance with them / Your daughter you must not give to his son / And his daughter you must not take for your son” (7:3).
No doubt Samson knew this commandment. In Samson Agonistes he himself refers to the Philistines as “inhuman foes” (109). Still, he married the woman from Timna and later
Delilah. The first time he said he wanted to marry the woman from Timna, even his parents were concerned. They said to Samson, “Is there not among the daughters / of your brothers and among all / my people a woman, so that / you are going to take a wife / from uncircumcised Philistines?” (Judges 14:3a). Samson insisted that “she is the one just right in his eyes” (Judges 14:3b). He said:
They knew not that what I motioned was of God; I knew
From intimate impulse, and therefore urged
The marriage on, that, by occasion hence,
I might Begin Israel’s deliverance –
20 The work to which I was divinely called (221-226).
These words are consistent with the words from Judges 14:4, saying that Samson was
“looking for an opportunity against the Philistines”, and the woman from Timna was just a means to an end. Thanks to her, Samson killed many Philistines. Milton mentioned that
Samson had “an intimate impulse” (222). The bible account says that “Jehovah’s spirit began to impel him” (Judges 13:25). The Israelites, however, did not see that their God was blessing
Samson and through him the entire nation. To avoid trouble, the men of Judah sent 3,000 men to arrest Samson (Judges 15:11-13), “[…] Israel’s governors and heads of tribes, / who, seeing those great acts which God had done / singly by me against their conquerors, / acknowledged not, or not at all considered, / deliverance offered; […]” (242-246). That did not help though.
As Samson was about to be delivered to the Philistines, “Jehovah’s spirit became operative upon him, and the ropes that were upon his arms came to be like linen threads that have been scorched with fire, so that his fetters melted off his hands” (Judges 15:10-15). He then picked up the jawbone of an ass and struck down a thousand Philistines with it. In Samson Agonistes
Manoah, Samson’s father, admitted that Samson did well by marrying the woman from Timna saying:
I cannot praise thy marriage-choices, son –
Rather approved them not; but thou didst plead
Divine impulsion prompting how thou might’st
Find some occasion to infest our foes. (420-424)
21 5.2. Delilah
Delilah is introduced into the Bible account toward the final part of Samson’s 20-year judgeship as the object of his love. She was from the torrent valley of Sorek (Judges 16:4). In
Samson Agonistes Delilah is described as a Philistine. The Bible account does not deny or confirms that fact. There is one minor detail which causes doubt about her nationality. When the Philistines pressure Samson’s wife from Timna about the riddle he set up for them, they say, “Fool your husband that he may tell us the riddle. Otherwise we shall burn you and the house of your father with fire” (Judges 14:15). On the other hand, they negotiated with
Delilah and offered her a lot of money to betray her husband. Considering the fact that they appealed to Delilah’s greed instead of trying to play on her national feelings, we could assume that she was perhaps an Israelite woman. In addition, there is no record that his parents would have been opposed to his marriage as they were the first time. Even if she were an Israelite, it does not necessarily mean she knew the source of Samson’s strength. Let us remember that even other Israelites did not recognize that Samson was their deliverer and had strength given from God and wanted to turn him to the Philistines.
At first sight, Delilah appears to have been a gold-digger who did not care about her husband. It is possible that the portrayal of Delilah reflects Milton’s own misogyny. He characterized Delilah with all flaws possible. At no point in this story was she “a capable wife
[…] whose value is far more than that of corals” described in Proverbs 31:10. Milton used the words from this chapter, calling the man who finds such a wife as “favoured of heaven”
(1046) which obviously he was not. If we rely only on the Biblical account, there is almost nothing nice we can say about this woman. It does not say specifically why she betrayed her husband, other than for money.
On the other hand, Delilah has been discussed over and over and even defended by critics such as William Empson. He is an English literary critic and poet, who argues that
22 Delilah’s motives for revealing Samson’s secret were noble and that she actually loved him.
“What ambitious or deceitful purpose could she have in offering to spend the rest of her life as a nurse to a blind and (from her point of view) totally discredited husband?” (Empson 251).
That is a good question. If Delilah wanted only revenge, there is no reason she would visit
Samson and ask for forgiveness. She could easily have used his pitiful situation and gloated over his misfortune. Instead, she tries to explain reasons of her betrayal and begs Samson to give their love another chance,
I was a fool, too rash, and quite mistaken
In what I thought would have succeeded best.
Let me obtain forgiveness of thee, Samson;
Afford me place to show what recompense
Towards thee I intend for what I have misdone /…/ (907-911)
There is no sign of her enjoying Samson’s misfortune. She seems to be humble and aware of her mistake for which she is willing to atone,
/…/ that I may fetch thee
From forth this loathsome prison-house, to abide
23 With me, where my redoubled love and care,
With nursing diligence, to me glad office,
May ever tend about thee to old age /…/ (921-925)
To a reader this image of a humble wife may be a little confusing. Writers usually try to reflect some aspects of their own life in their writings. Let us assume that Delilah is a parallel to his wife Mary. It is no secret that Milton was not particularly fond of her. He wanted to divorce her but in those times this was impossible. They were separated for three years (Encyclopaedia Britannica, “John Milton”). In that time he wrote The Doctrine and
Discipline of Divorce (Milton, 1643) where he discussed arguments in favour of divorce.
Milton defines marriage as a meet and happy conversation. This “conversation” is to be a spiritual companionship and to involve that moral and emotional support for the husband on the part of the wife that fulfils her charge to be, in the biblical phrase, a meet help (Milton quoted in Haskin 360).
If Delilah was a Philistine, we cannot say that she was a “spiritual companionship” for
Samson. He had a special relationship with his God Jehovah. Delilah showed no respect toward that vow. She used her womanly charms to satisfy her curiosity. By betraying Samson, she made it clear that she was going to remain faithful to her god Dagon. Even if she was an
Israelite, she showed she cared nothing about Jehovah’s commands and principles. She let the enemies capture her husband despite the fact that he was the saviour of the Israelites. With this she showed love or respect neither to Samson nor to Jehovah.
Obviously, Milton too failed to experience a “spiritual companionship”. His wife left him shortly after they got married and they were separated for approximately three years.
24 “The reason for their separation is unknown, though perhaps Mary adhered to the Royalist inclinations of her family whereas her husband was progressively anti-Royalist”
(Encyclopaedia Britannica, “John Milton”). Evidently, marrying “for better and worse” was not true in this case. It is possible that Milton was disappointed in his wife, since she did not support him in his rough times. His male ego was hurt because she was not as submissive as he wanted her to be. He probably expected her to respect the command: “Let wives be in subjection to their husbands as to the Lord” (Ephesians 5:21). By her leaving him instead of
“having his back”, she, like Delilah, showed she had little respect for him. Still, should we blame only women? They say that a man cannot be seduced if he does not want to be. Dalila could had failed in her attempt to seduce Samson. He chose to tell her; she did not intoxicate him. Not to mention he knew that she was not being completely honest. She asked about his secret several times. Whatever he told her, the Philistines tried to execute. He may have been in love but still he was not stupid. The same is with Milton. He probably had not known Mary for a long time before he married her. She was only 17 when they got married. They apparently never talked about their political beliefs. It must not have been easy for her knowing that her husband was, in a way, against the Government. She was probably scared what would happen to her if he got arrested. None of the two situations is so black and white and easy. We suggest that Milton did not get “moral and emotional support” from his wife either. He must have resented her for life that she left him in these crucial times when he was persecuted. Later, they had three children together, so we can assume he forgave her a little bit but definitely never forgot. Delilah failed in that category as well. She was supposed to be on her husband’s side, but she took her husband’s enemies’ side. Later, when Samson was blind, she tried to offer him this “emotional support” and take care of him, but it was too late:
25 No, no; of my condition take no care;
It fits not; thou and I long since are twain;
Nor think me so unwary or accursed
To bring my feet again into the snare
Where once I have been caught; (928-932).
Here is where Samson and Milton differ. Samson was so disappointed in Dalila that he did not want to have contact with her any more. He was so mad at her that when she asked if she could at least touch him he answered: “Not for thy life, lest fierce remembrance wake /
My sudden rage to tear thee joint by joint” (951-953). Milton, on the other hand reunited with his wife from time to time, since they had three children together. She died in 1652. There is no record of how they got along during these years, but Milton stayed a firm believer that divorce was justified when the reasons mentioned above were not fulfilled.
Milton had much to say about his wife but never revealed how he treated her or what kind of a husband he was. There is no record in the Book of Judges if Samson and Delilah shared happy moments. In Samson Agonistes it also does not say how Samson behaved toward Delilah. She said to Samson: “I /…/ feared lest one day thou would’st leave me, / as her in Timna” (794-795). In the biblical report and Milton’s version, two women play the main roles in Samson’s life: the wife from Timna and later Delilah. The first marriage failed before it had a chance to succeed. Samson used her to get close to his enemies. She also did not show love and affection toward Samson, since she betrayed him. Dalila tries to excuse her act of betrayal with the lack of confidence she had in her husband. She thought that if she allowed the Philistines to capture him, he would have to stay with her forever and she would
26 turn out to be a heroine not a bad wife. Milton had an affair with another woman while he was separated from his wife and wanted to marry her (Encyclopaedia Britannica, “John Milton”).
On the one hand, he went on and on about how a wife should be submissive to her husband but never wrote how husbands should treat their wives. Milton would undoubtedly have been aware that the Bible clearly says:
You husbands, continue dwelling in like manner
With them according to knowledge,
Assigning them honour as to a weaker vessel,
The feminine one /…/. (1 Peter 3:7)
Considering the fact that Milton had a mistress, we can conclude that he did not
“assign honour” to Mary. He did not follow the Apostle Paul’s advice, which says: “/…/ husbands ought to be loving their wives as their own bodies” (Ephesians 5:28a). Maybe when they got back together he did, but in the first years of their marriage he clearly did not. I do not believe that having another woman while one is married can be qualified as loving your wife as your own body.
27 6. Motifs in Samson Agonistes
6.1. Religion
Every aspect of Samson’s life was bound to his religion. It was not just a part of his life but it was his life. He was sanctified prior to his birth, and for a long time he enjoyed a special relationship with God. At the point when he loses God’s approval, he is desperate and tries to regain His affection. In Hebrews, chapter 11, Samson is mentioned as a man of faith.
No doubt Milton considered himself a man of faith, too. In his personal Bible we can find little notes he made and verses which he underlined. One of the passages he underlined is from the book of Ezra:
For Ezra himself had prepared
His heart to consult the law of Jehovah
And to do [it] and to teach
In Israel regulation and justice (7:10).
We can say that Milton did “prepare his heart” meaning he was determined to do
God’s will no matter what. In those days this was risky since he lived in a time when the
Puritans were not accepted by the Government. Just as the Israelites were under the yoke of the Philistines and Egyptians before, maybe Milton felt that he and his supporters were under pressure to give up their beliefs for the sake of peace. Samson did not kneel, and neither did
Milton. Even though he was persecuted, he did not deny his beliefs. He hoped that God would
28 view him the same way as Asa, described in 2 Chronicles, and he underlined that verse too,
“Asa’s heart itself proved to be complete all his days” (15:17).
6.2. Wine and Water
As a Nazirite, Samson was forbidden to drink wine. Because he was under this special vow from birth, his mother was also not allowed to drink liquor during pregnancy. In Judges
13:4, 5 it says: “And / now watch yourself, please, and / do not drink wine or intoxicating / liquor /…/ For, look! / you will be pregnant, and you / will certainly give birth to a son /…/ a
Nazirite / of God is what the child / will become /…/”. It is not mentioned in the Bible if
Samson ever broke this rule. Since his other mistakes are discussed in detail, this one would probably be as well if it had happened. The fact that Samson had no lust for wine is mentioned several times in Samson Agonistes. The Chorus says: “Desire of wine and all delicious drinks, / Which many a famous warrior overturns, / Thou could’st repress;” (541-
42). A couple of lines before Samson talks about a concubine. The chorus is trying to say that it was easier for Samson to resist wine than a beautiful woman. Samson said that he never felt deprived for not drinking wine and always quenched his thirst with pure water:
Wherever fountain or fresh current flowed
Against the eastern ray, translucent, pure
With touch ethereal of heaven’s fiery rod,
I drank, from the clear milky juice allaying
Thirst, and refreshed; nor envied them the grape
Whose heads that turbulent liquor fills with fumes. (547-51)
29 Samson was well aware what wine does to someone who drinks too much of it. When the officer brought Samson the message that he must appear at the feast, he tried to convince him by saying: “By this compliance thou wilt win the lords / To favour, and perhaps to set thee free” (1410-12). In response Samson, among other things, says that “Lords are lordliest in their wine” (1418). He knew that he was the Philistine’s worst enemy and that it is hardly likely that they would set him free. Being drunk from wine they could have been even more insolent toward him and have behaved worse than usually. Too much wine clouds sane reason and judgment. The God of Israel did not approve other nations sacrifice ceremonies for that particular reason. Those kinds of ceremonies were usually accompanied by intoxicating beverages. It was no different in this case. The messenger says toward the end: “The feast and noon grew high, and sacrifice / Had filled their hearts with mirth, high cheer, and wine”
(1613-15). Also the chorus says that the Philistines were “Drunk with idolatry, drunk with wine” (1670).
Once, when Samson killed a lot of Philistines, he got very thirsty. He called to God: “It was you that gave this / great salvation into the hand / of your servant, and now shall / I die of thirst and must I fall / into the hand of the uncircumcised?” (Judges 15:18). It is mentioned in
Samson Agonistes how God responded: “But God, who caused a fountain at thy prayer / From the dry ground to spring, thy thirst to allay / After the brunt of battle” (581-83). God blessed him by giving him water, not wine or any other intoxicating drink. That way Samson stayed sober and gave glory to God and did not try to glorify himself.
6.3. Gifts
In Samson Agonistes Samson and other characters often mention his strength as a gift from God. This is seen in Samson’s words: “God, when he gave me strength, to show withal, /
How slight the gift was, hung it in my hair” (58-59). He calls himself a fool who “have
30 divulged the secret gift of God / To a deceitful woman” (201-202). With these words Samson admitted that he showed no appreciation toward the gift God had given him. The Chorus sings that hair was the gift which held the source of Samson’s strength: “But such as thou hast solemnly elected, / With gifts and graces eminently adorned, / To some great work, thy glory, /
And people’s safety /…/” (678-681). Later, the Chorus mentions Samson’s hair as an “inward gift” (1026). Samson says at the end that his hair was sacred: “Shall I abuse this consecrated gift / Of strength, again returning with my hair / After my great transgression /…/” (1354-
1356). The book of Judges does not specifically mention that Samson praised God for his strength. Considering the fact that he gave God glory for his winnings and begged Him for help before he died, this could imply that he did not try to glorify himself or take credit for his victories.
6.4. Silence
Silence is the key aspect in this story. Manoah said that Samson had violated “the sacred trust of silence” (428). If Samson had kept silence and not told Delilal his secret, none of this would have happened to him. He says: “Whom have I to complain of but myself? /…/
Under the seal of silence could not keep, / But weakly to a woman must reveal it” (46, 49-50).
Again, he admits that Delilah was his weakness and he blames himself for the damage: “She was not the prime cause, but I myself, / Who, vanquished with a peal of words (O weakness!),
/ Gave up my fort of silence to a woman” (234-236). Silence was a “fort” which protected his secret and he demolished it by revealing his secret to Delilah. That cost him his eyesight. “The sun to me is dark / And silent as the moon / When she deserts the night, / Hid in her vacant interlunar cave” (86-89). Samson is in a similar situation. Just as the moon silently deserts the night and is hidden in a cave, so Samson is put away in a “cave”, the prison. He is silent as the moon. No matter how loud he is, it is useless. The loss of eyesight forever silenced his deeds
31 that spoke so loud for him before: “The deeds themselves, though mute, spoke loud the doer;”
(248). The only things loud now were the discussions of his defeat. All the great deeds he had done before were now resting in silence.
Delilah was better at keeping secrets. Part of her defense before Samson was that she had agreed to turn him over to the Philistines but did not explain them why: “Only my love of thee held long debate, / And combated in silence all these reasons / With hard contest;” (863-
865). She tried to say that, even though it had looked on the outside that she was vicious, she had noble reasons which she kept to herself. When the right time came, she revealed them to
Samson. At the end, everything was revealed. Nothing was kept in silence but it was all out on the open.
6.5. Imprisonment and Justice
Samson Agonistes begins at the last day of Samson’s life. Samson pitifully says that he is “in the common prison” (6) where he is chained and he fells like the air is imprisoned also
(6, 7). This probably means that he sees no way out and that this is the end for him. Despite pitying himself there is no record, not in the book of Judges nor in Samson Agonistes, that
Samson blamed anybody for his state of being but himself. He considered the things which had happened to him a just punishment for his acts. He says to his father:
Nothing of all these evils hath befallen me
But justly; I myself have brought them on;
Sole author I, sole cause: if aught seem vile,
As vile hath been my folly, who have profaned
The mystery of God, given me under pledge
32 Of vow, and have betrayed it to a woman,
A Canaanite, my faithless enemy. (374-380)
He is not even trying to blame Delilah, as Adam tried to blame Eve when God asked him why he ate the forbidden fruit. He said: “The woman whom you gave to be with me, she gave me fruit from the tree, so I ate” (Genesis 3:12). Samson knew there was nobody else to blame.
Later, when his father Manoah tried to pay ransom to set Samson free, Samson said to him:
Spare that proposal, father; spare the trouble
Of that solicitation; let me here,
As I deserve, pay on my punishment,
And expiate, if possible, my crime,
Shameful garrulity. (487-491)
From these words we can see that Samson gave up on his fate. Manoah, however, was not willing to give up on his son. He tries to encourage him: “Repent the sin, but, if the punishment / Thou canst avoid, self-preservation bids; / Or the execution leave to high disposal /…/ perhaps / God will relent, and quit thee all his debt” (502-09). Still, Samson is determined that this is how he should live till death: “These evils I deserve and more, /
Acknowledge them from God inflicted on me / Justly” (1169-1171). It does not say in the book of Judges that God punished Samson in this way. All of this shows what happens if one enjoys a special relationship with God and then discards it. Milton agreed that once Samson
33 was no longer under God’s protection, bad thing started happening to him. We can say that
Milton thought that God forgave Samson since He returned him his strength and used him to glorify His name.
6.5. Light and Darkness
At the time when Milton wrote Samson Agonistes, he was blind. So in a way he could identify with Samson. Throughout the story the words light and darkness are mentioned several times. Samson was blind so he was literary in the dark. This also has a figurative meaning. Milton uses metaphor from the Bible and involves it in the drama.
Samson describes his imprisonment as being literally in the dark:
Imprisoned now indeed,
In real darkness of the body dwells,
Shut up from outward light
To incorporate with gloomy night;
For inward light, alas,
Puts forth no visual beam. (158-164)
To emphasize the dark mood of the drama, Milton uses the word “dungeon” several times (69,
367). It is also mentioned that the prison Samson is in is “close and damp” (8). With these words it is stressed how dark is the situation Samson found himself in.
34 Samson says: “Than had I not been thus exiled from light, / As in the land of darkness”
(98-99). Adam and Eve, whose story is described in Genesis, were also exiled from light. In
Genesis, they were disobedient to God. Their disobedience led to the point where God denied them protection. They were no longer in good relations with the source of the light. In Psalms
36:9 God is described: “For with you is the source of life; by light from you we can see light”.
When Samson was no longer “in light”, the Philistines were able to capture him and enslave him.
Now, that he is blind, he says he is “dark in light” (75). Even though there is daylight, he is in the dark. He is a cripple, depending on others: “In power of others, never in my own-”
(78). He says: “Light, the prime work of God, to me is extinct, / And all her various objects of delight / Annulled” (70-72). Samson literally could not see light. The fact that it was “extinct” could mean that he had not made rational decisions. He had made decisions which led him in the darkness. He no longer has hope for brighter days: “O dark, dark, dark, amid the blaze of noon, / Irrecoverably dark, total eclipse / Without all hope of day!” (80-83). Samson knows that there is no life without light, literally and physically. He says: “/…/ light so necessary is to life, / And almost life itself, if it be true / That light is in the soul, / She all in every part”
(90-93). Being deprived from light in a metaphorical way, Samson sees no sense in living any more. He feels that God is no longer by his side and thus he is in the dark. He calls that kind of a dark the “worst imprisonment” (155). He doubts he shall see light ever again; metaphorically and literally, meaning he will die soon:
All otherwise to me my thoughts portend –
That these dark orbs no more shall treat with light,
Nor the other light of life continue long,
35 But yield to double darkness nigh at hand;
So much I feel my genial spirits droop,
My hopes all flat; /…/
And I shall shortly be with them that rest. (590-595, 598)
Even the Chorus says that those who do not believe in God are in the dark: “/…/ there be who think not God at all; / If any be, they walk obscure:” (295-96). These words probably reflect Milton’s point of view. He relied on God all his life. It is most likely that although he was blind, he felt that his soul is still “in light”, meaning that he still has a connection and a close relationship with his God.
6.6. Animal Imagery
The Bible uses a lot of animal imagery. There is no doubt Milton was acquainted with that and tried to involve some of that imagery in the drama. The most obvious one which appears several times in the Bible and in Samson Agonistes is snake. Milton compares Delilah to “a poisonous bosom-snake” (703), “a manifest serpent” (997) and a
“viper” (1001). In Genesis, chapter 3 God’s main enemy Satan is compared to a serpent who seduces Eve. In Revelation it says,
So down the great dragon was hurled,
The original serpent, the one
Called Devil and Satan, who is
Misleading the entire inhabited earth […] (12:9)
36 Just as Satan was challenging Eve to prove she can make better decisions than God and there would be no harm in eating that fruit, so Delilah tried to influence Samson’s emotions. After he lied to her three times about his strength, she said,
How can you say, ‘I love you,’
When your heart is not with me?
These three times you have fooled me and
Have not told me the source
Of your great power. (Judges 16:15)
Like Satan, Delilah was also successful. She achieved that Samson revealed his secret.
In both cases that turned out bad. In Romans 5:12 it says that because of Adam and Eve everyone is sinful and mortal. Samson ended up blind and powerless. How much Samson resented Delilah her betrayal he calls her “hyena” (748). This description fits since hyenas see very well in the dark (Wikipedia, “Hyena”). This is a parallel to Delilah. She was alienated from God, thus was in the dark. Still, she could “see” well in the dark, meaning her secret agenda she had had with Samson was clear.
All that Samson could think was how wrongly he had behaved. He says that he can get no “ease to the mind” (18). His thoughts are “restless” (19). “Like a deadly swarm / Of hornets armed, no sooner found alone / But rush upon me thronging, and present / Times past, what once I was, and what am now” (19-22). If a hornet stings you, you feel the pain for a long time and the wound is also seen. Samson felt as if a “sworn of hornets” bit him and was
37 making awful noise in his head. He felt unimportant and crushed as an insect. He says that he
“now become /…/ or worm” (73-74).
Manoah felt very unhappy because of Samson’s fate:
Who would be a father in my stead?
O, wherefore did God grant me my request,
/…/
Why are his gifts desirable, to tempt
Our earnest prayers, then, given with solemn hand
As graces, draw a scorpion’s tail behind? (355-56, 358-60)
He felt as if a scorpion had bitten him. First, he had been so happy he got a son. Then, this blessing turned into a poisonous wound which stings, hurts and cannot be healed.
Interestingly, at the end, Samson is compared by the Chorus to an eagle. Eagles are known for their sharp eyesight. When the Messenger announces to Manoah that Samson got his strength back, the Chorus concludes that Samson was “in light again”:
But he, though blind of sight,
Despised, and thought extinguished quite,
With inward eyes illuminated,
His fiery virtue roused
From under ashes into sudden flame,
38 /…/
But as an eagle
His cloudless thunder bolted on their heads. (1687-91, 1695-96).
The Chorus says that at first Samson looked helpless like a “self-begotten bird” (1699) but turned out to be strong like an “eagle” (1695) which defeats his prey. Like Samson had been helpless when the Philistines captured him, so were they when Samson got his strength back. Let us not forget that in the beginning of the drama, Samson had killed a lion. Lion is one of the strongest animals. Milton did not want to leave this occurrence out. With it it is shown how strong Samson was. Maybe Milton tried to say that Samson’s faith was stronger than the physical strength of a lion. With that kind of faith anything is possible. Even
Harapha, one of the Philistines, admitted that Samson was the strongest man alive. He says: “/
…/ All thy hairs / Were bristles ranged like those that ridge the back / Of chafed wild boars of ruffled porcupines” (1136-38). These animals are wild, hard to catch and cannot be tamed.
Samson turned out to be like that at the end.
Also, just as the eagle is the prime in the bird realm and the lion is the king of the beasts, so was Samson the “prime” in Israel. He was the leader and the saviour of the nation and he had the qualities of an eagle and a lion.
Animal imagery in the drama emphasized Samson’s strength and boldness, on the one hand and, on the other hand, his helplessness and smallness. He was a great man, who for a short period of time became least of them all. Still, he ended up as a winner.
39 6.7. Disease
The cause of Samson’s fall was revealing his secret to a woman. Every woman mentioned in relation to him was in a negative connotation. When Samson discusses with his father his life before his transgression, he talks about his strength and fearlessness. He mentions a woman as a venereal disease which ruined his life:
Then, swoll’n with pride, into the snare I fell
Of fair fallacious looks, venereal trains,
Softened with pleasure and voluptuous life,
At length to lay my head and hallowed pledge
Of all my strength in the lascivious lap
Of a deceitful concubine, who shore me,
Like a tame wether, all my precious fleece,
Then turned me out ridiculous, despoiled,
Shaven, and disarmed among my enemies. (532-540)
Samson was weak when it came to women. He desired Delilah but she turned out to be like a disease which leaves visual symptoms on a man, indicating he is sick and at the end defeated by it.
If someone has a terrible conscience, it is sometimes seen on the outside. One loses appetite, maybe looks pale and it is as if that person were sick. Samson felt very guilty for giving up the secret of his strength. He says that his regret is like a strong pain which does not let him sleep and mortifies him all the time:
40 My griefs not only pain me
As a lingering disease,
But finding no redress, ferment and rage;
Nor less than wounds immedicable
Rankle, and fester, and gangrene,
To black mortification.
Thoughts, my tormentors, armed with daily stings,
Mangle my apprehensive tenderest parts,
Exasperate, exulcerate, and raise
Dire inflammation, which no cooling herb
Or medicinal liquor can assuage,
Nor breath of vernal air from snowy alp. (619-628)
Because of these strong negative feelings, Samson thought that the only cure for his
“disease” was death. He says: “To death’s benumbing opium as my only cure” (630). He gave up on his life and said that the only way to stop these tormenting feelings and thoughts was to fall in the sleep of death: “This one prayer yet remains, might I be heard, / No long petition – speedy death, / The close of all my miseries and the balm” (649-651).
Later, the Chorus describes how God punishes someone who consciously does the things he knows he is not supposed to. Among other things they say: “With sickness and disease thou bow’st them down, / Painful diseases and deformed, / In crude old age;” (698-
700). Here we can see the Chorus says that disease is a punishment from God. Samson did not share the same opinion. We mentioned several times that Samson blamed himself for the state he was in and always emphasized that God is just.
41 Samson was not literally sick, but his thoughts haunted him so much that it looked like he had a disease which is taking his will to live.
42 7. Conclusion
There is no doubt John Milton was a unique writer and a poet. The main aim of this diploma was to show just a small part of his literary mastery; how he was able to combine the
Bible story with his writing and create a timeless masterpiece. Samson Agonistes is a dramatic poem of which all has not been said yet. Milton knew how to embed his thinking into the biblical account and express it through dialogue. It is true that he was not particularly fond of women, but that is another element which makes the story interesting. Samson loved Delilah, was betrayed by her and did not want to have anything with her anymore. Milton loved Mary, felt betrayed by her and never completely forgave her. Maybe he felt that in some way he had led the same life as Samson. Finally, there is the most obvious frailty that author and character have in common – blindness. Defeated by a woman and the loss of eyesight – these are two afflictions not to go by unnoticed and both worth to write about.
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