...Nancy D. Libby Copyright © 1972 by Duke University Press 1972 Milton s Harapha Nancy D. Libby Harapha of Gath is the only major character in Milton s Samson Agonistes not present in the biblical version of the story. To him the poet has devoted an episode of over two hundred lines, too long...

... and W. O. Ross (Detroit, 1958), pp. 23-39. Todd first noted Harapha s technical refusal of Samson s challenge. See also Daniel C. Boughner, Milton s Harapha and Renaissance Comedy, ELH, 11 (1944), 297-306. George R. Waggoner, in The Challenge to Single Combat in Samson Agonistes, PQ, 39 (1960), 82...

..., as for Dr. John­ son, a misinterpreted Aristotle. Milton himself heavily emphasized his imitation of the Greeks. Mr. Krouse now shows the impact of Hebrew civilization as interpreted by the Church. But even these two are not enough. Especially in the interview with Harapha are to be found touches from...

... of the Greeks. Mr. Krouse now shows the impact of Hebrew civilization as interpreted by the Church. But even these two are not enough. Especially in the interview with Harapha are to be found touches from the mediaeval and renaissance romances. A late offshoot of this theme also suggested a quarter of a century...

... unhappily, failed to catch Harapha s comic quality. Some years ago Mrs. Alma Sams Kennedy in a Duke University master s thesis argued for the upsetting view that Samson Agonistes is not the last production from Milton s pen, but rather is the earliest of his three major works, dating from the 1640 s. Within...

... invents four visitors Manoa, Dalila, Harapha, and the Philistine officer each of whom offers Samson a way out of captivity. In their respective dialogues with him, these interlocutors take different positions on the question of Samson s status as a captive and how to change it. Only by rejecting all...

... of a neglected deliverer, of fallen pride, and of the betrayed husband.55 Like the chorus, Manoa reads him as an example of our fickle state and, like Samson in his first soliloquy, glosses this state in terms of the simple irony of the good I Pray d for, [which] often proves our woe. Harapha sees Samson...