'Latinising' Milton: Paradise Lost, Latinitas and the Long Eighteenth Century

This chapter traces the trajectory of Latin translations of Milton’s vernacular verse most capably encapsulated by Latin verse paraphrases of Paradise Lost by a certain J.C. (1686), William Hog (1690), Thomas Power (1691) and by such eighteenth-century renderings as that of William Dobson (1753). Situating its analysis in relation to early modern pedagogical practices, including the double translation system, and informed by current translational theory, the analysis considers the multifunctional aims and consequences of Latinising Milton: the elaboration and elucidation of a vernacular original via Latin exegesis and paraphrase; recourse to Latin as a means of facilitating a wider European readership. Integral to the discussion is an alertness to the contemporary and later reception of Milton’s work, and an assessment of ways in which Latinitas enabled the invocation of classical intertexts which in themselves offer a nuanced reading of Miltonic verse.