13 Facts About Samson Agonistes

Samson Agonistes is a tragic closet drama by John Milton.

Samson Agonistes did not wish for it to be performed on stage, but thought that the text could still influence people.

Samson Agonistes hoped that by giving Samson attributes of other Biblical figures, including Job or the Psalmist, he could create a complex hero who would embody and help resolve theological issues.

Samson Agonistes has been captured by the Philistines, had his hair, the container of his strength, cut off and his eyes cut out.

Samson Agonistes reveals how he lost his power because of his desire for Dalila, and, through this act, betrayed God:.

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Samson Agonistes combines Greek tragedy with Hebrew Scripture, which alters both forms.

Likewise, David Loewenstein remarks that "the destruction and vengeance depicted in Samson Agonistes, then, dramatizes a kind of awesome religious terror".

Samson Agonistes, who is both holy and desirous of Dalila, is seduced into betraying the source of his strength, and thus betrays God.

However, Samson Agonistes develops through the play and Dalila reveals that she is concerned only with her status among her people.

Samson Agonistes undergoes despair when he loses God's favour in the form of his strength.

Samson Agonistes continued this service even though his eyesight was failing and he knew that he was hastening his own blindness.

The correlation is significant to the Agonistes plot: Milton describes Samson as being "Eyeless in Gaza", a phrase that has become the most quoted line of Agonistes.

Some chorus's lines in Samson Agonistes are rhymed, thus suggesting a return of the "chain of rhymes", which itself reflects upon Samson's imprisonment.