Context brings the brightest minds to your living room with perspective-shifting online lectures.
Book Discussion – Milton’s "Paradise Lost": A Three-Part Course with Dr. Joseph Luzzi
No events are scheduled at this time. Want to be notified when it’s back? Click the blue button to the right and we’ll notify you.
Written when Milton was in his fifties - blind, bitterly disappointed by the Restoration and in danger of execution - Paradise Lost's apparent ambivalence towards authority has led to intense debate about whether it manages to 'justify the ways of God to men', or exposes the cruelty of Christianity.
We invite you to explore the lecture outlines below for additional details. And to experience additional seminars and courses being led by Dr. Luzzi, please click here.
Our first session will introduce us to the major issues and concerns of Milton’s epic poem, especially the rebellion of God’s one-time favorite Lucifer (Satan) and his relation to Adam and Eve, as we focus on Paradise Lost, Books 1–4.
Lecture Two: Questions of Creation
Our second session will take us through the ongoing dramatic struggles between the fallen angels and their heavenly counterparts, paying special attention to the sections describing God’s creation of the world, as we focus on Paradise Lost, Books 5–8.
Lecture Three: On Human Disobedience
Our third and final session will explore the issues and consequences related to Adam and Eve’s transgression of God’s will and its effects on the aftermath of humankind, as we focus on Aeneid, Books 9–12.
Joseph Luzzi received his Ph.D. from Yale University and is a Professor of Comparative Literature and Faculty Member in Italian Studies at Bard College, where he has taught since 2002 after being a visiting faculty member at the University of Pennsylvania. A frequent contributor to publications including the New York Times, TLS, and Chronicle of Higher Education, he is the author of 5 books, including "My Two Italies," a New York Times Editors' Choice selection and "In a Dark Wood: What Dante Taught Me About Grief, Healing, and the Mysteries of Love," a Vanity Fair “Must-Read” selection. His work has been translated into multiple languages and his many awards include a Yale College Teaching Prize, Dante Society of America Essay Prize, and Wallace Fellowship at Villa I Tatti, Harvard's Center for Italian Renaissance Studies. In 2017 he was named Cittadino Onorario/Honorary Citizen in Acri, Calabria, his Italian parents' birthplace. His next book is "Botticelli's Secret: The Lost Drawings and the Rediscovery of the Renaissance," which will be published by W. W. Norton. Professor Luzzi is the founder of the Virtual Book Club, an online community of readers dedicated to exploring some of the best books ever written. Learn more at JosephLuzzi.com.
When will I receive the Zoom link?
This conversation is suitable for all ages.
60 minutes, including a 30 minute Q&A.