<em>Pietas in Patriam:</em> Milton’s Classical Patriotism

The subject of this essay is the relation between Milton’s classical patriotism and his English nationalism. It has two principal aims. First, it sets out to examine the degree to which the affective or emotional quality of Milton’s patriotism was shaped by the classics, especially Cicero and Virgil...

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Main Author: Paul Stevens
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: MDPI AG 2022-03-01
Series:Humanities
Subjects:
Online Access:https://www.mdpi.com/2076-0787/11/2/42
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author Paul Stevens
author_facet Paul Stevens
author_sort Paul Stevens
collection DOAJ
description The subject of this essay is the relation between Milton’s classical patriotism and his English nationalism. It has two principal aims. First, it sets out to examine the degree to which the affective or emotional quality of Milton’s patriotism was shaped by the classics, especially Cicero and Virgil. For all the energy that has gone into studying Milton’s classical republicanism, there has been relatively little interest in that political movement’s central concern with patriotism: few, for instance, have shown much interest in David Norbrook’s acknowledgment that “English republicanism emerged in part as a vehicle for English nationalism.” And second, through this focus on the classical aspect of Milton’s patriotism, it argues that far from being neutralized or undercut, Milton’s nascent nationalism was actually enabled and intensified by his internationalism, an internationalism that is most graphically illustrated by his engagement with Italy and its role in recovering the classics.
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spelling doaj.art-66f3fb73d2874fe9a17cac3b65582ffe2023-12-01T20:59:34ZengMDPI AGHumanities2076-07872022-03-011124210.3390/h11020042<em>Pietas in Patriam:</em> Milton’s Classical PatriotismPaul Stevens0Department of English, University of Toronto, 170 St. George St., Toronto, ON M5R 2M8, CanadaThe subject of this essay is the relation between Milton’s classical patriotism and his English nationalism. It has two principal aims. First, it sets out to examine the degree to which the affective or emotional quality of Milton’s patriotism was shaped by the classics, especially Cicero and Virgil. For all the energy that has gone into studying Milton’s classical republicanism, there has been relatively little interest in that political movement’s central concern with patriotism: few, for instance, have shown much interest in David Norbrook’s acknowledgment that “English republicanism emerged in part as a vehicle for English nationalism.” And second, through this focus on the classical aspect of Milton’s patriotism, it argues that far from being neutralized or undercut, Milton’s nascent nationalism was actually enabled and intensified by his internationalism, an internationalism that is most graphically illustrated by his engagement with Italy and its role in recovering the classics.https://www.mdpi.com/2076-0787/11/2/42MiltonCiceroVirgilDatiBuonmatteiManso
spellingShingle Paul Stevens
<em>Pietas in Patriam:</em> Milton’s Classical Patriotism
Humanities
Milton
Cicero
Virgil
Dati
Buonmattei
Manso
title <em>Pietas in Patriam:</em> Milton’s Classical Patriotism
title_full <em>Pietas in Patriam:</em> Milton’s Classical Patriotism
title_fullStr <em>Pietas in Patriam:</em> Milton’s Classical Patriotism
title_full_unstemmed <em>Pietas in Patriam:</em> Milton’s Classical Patriotism
title_short <em>Pietas in Patriam:</em> Milton’s Classical Patriotism
title_sort em pietas in patriam em milton s classical patriotism
topic Milton
Cicero
Virgil
Dati
Buonmattei
Manso
url https://www.mdpi.com/2076-0787/11/2/42
work_keys_str_mv AT paulstevens empietasinpatriamemmiltonsclassicalpatriotism