Milton - Paradise Lost

Good Grief. Where is Braggers taking me?

I am becoming terribly, terribly engrossed in Melvin Bragg and his radio show. My download of the entire works stands at 89% complete. That is dozens of in-depth discussions with boffs on a wide range of subjects. I have taken my own advice and have given certain ones I am particularly interest in multiple listens. There is just too much to glean in a single hearing. And as for the references!!!! Holy Cow!!! Milton, Ruskin, Homer (ok, I have actually read The Odyssey years ago). Tons and tons of references. Sometimes I just crack up at the absurdity of it all. Funnily, enough on a show I heard today on Nature, even the boffs got so confused and at their very limits of comprehension, that Melvin was accusing them on passing the ball. Their were audible gulps and phews at the depth Braggers insisted on following.

The two episodes that have really got me however, are the one on Nature and the other mysteriously entitled, The Fall. No, not the punk group, but the Fall of Man, of course. Adam's adventures in the garden. I have always been very intrigued with the story of Adam and Eve and it was an incredible discussion refering to things like; Man as the Thinking Beast which is a monster, having been given the ability to think and reason will then lay waste the Earth, the mothers pain at birth due to the enormous brain endowed to humans, the existence of Adam and Eve prior to eating the apple, and the various interpretations down through the ages, such as Milton's Paradise Lost, which I am about to delve into.

Of course, what I really like about these discussions is the argument about the Nature of Mankind, which they do talk about. In the Nature episode they talk about the rise of cities and the general consensus towards Nature at points in time and how it changes. For example, one boff states that at one time a mountain was viewed as something a person would have no interest in as it was a barrier and serving no purpose, in fact a place to be avoided. Now, when most folk live in urban areas, mountains are seen as places to escape to.

Another great person to listen to is Joseph Campbell, an American expert on Myths and Legends. Long dead, but his books and videos remain. He talks of all the hero stories that exist in folklore around the world. The hero seeking vengeance, or led by a deer into an unexplored forest which then changes into a fairy queen or the like. Great stories that transcend time.

Other subject from Melvin include; Dark Energy, Spanish Armada, Opium Wars, Quantum Mechanics, the Holy Grail, Aztecs (that was great), Uncle Tom's Cabin. But there are tons of them.

I also found a TV docu with him about the English Language but I have some problems with the sound that remain unresolved as of yet.

So, as Summer has arrived, overnight as it does here, I am back in the hammock gazing up at the sky through the leaves and listening to Melvin roasting some poor boff who has been brought into the studio to discuss Milton and Ruskin.