신화로서의 『실낙원』

Abstract

Heung-lip KangMost stories of Greco Roman myths warn us of the danger of human pride and challenge against gods. Whenever man steps over his own limitations or the forbidden knowledge, gods chastise mortals with cruel punishment. The same is true in Milton's Paradise Lost. God punishes man with all "our woes, death, and the loss of Eden" because Adam and Eve tried to taste the forbidden fruit. The name of the forbidden fruit is a clue. God calls it the tree of knowledge, of good and evil. I think that the tree of knowledge symbolizes nothing more than the forbidden knowledge to man. We can say that the forbidden knowledges exist even today. Modern studies about atomic power, cloning, genetic technology, and mechanical man can symbolically correspond to our own forbidden knowledge in a sense. Unhappily someday another Paradise Lost may be written as the result of such dangerous researches. That is the core reason why we should read Milton's Paradise Lost carefully again and reconsider the position of man in relation to our forbidden knowledge. Paradise Lost warns us that we should not do everything in our power. I think that this is the main message of the Greco Roman myths to us living today as well.(Kyungwon University)