John Milton

Areopagitica (1644)

Greek repeated twice

Milton prints the Greek passage twice, then his translation twice—emphasizing the point through repetition before the prose argument even begins. The structure itself argues for redundancy and circulation of ideas.

Τοὐλεύθερον δ᾽ ἐκεῖνο, τίς θέλει πόλει
Χρηστόν τι βούλευμ᾽ ἐς μέσον φέρειν ἔχων.
Καὶ ταῦθ᾽ ὁ χρῄζων, λαμπρός ἐσθ᾽, ὁ μὴ θέλων
Σιγᾷ, τί τούτων ἔστ᾽ ἰσαίτερον πόλει;
Euripid. Hicetid.

Euripides misattributed

Milton cites "Hicetid" but this is from Euripides' *Suppliant Women*. The error (common in his time) matters less than the democratic context—the play depicts Athens as a refuge for free speech.

Greek repeated twice

Milton prints the Greek passage twice, then his translation twice—emphasizing the point through repetition before the prose argument even begins. The structure itself argues for redundancy and circulation of ideas.

Τοὐλεύθερον δ᾽ ἐκεῖνο, τίς θέλει πόλει
Χρηστόν τι βούλευμ᾽ ἐς μέσον φέρειν ἔχων.
Καὶ ταῦθ᾽ ὁ χρῄζων, λαμπρός ἐσθ᾽, ὁ μὴ θέλων
Σιγᾷ, τί τούτων ἔστ᾽ ἰσαίτερον πόλει;
Euripid. Hicetid.

Euripides misattributed

Milton cites "Hicetid" but this is from Euripides' *Suppliant Women*. The error (common in his time) matters less than the democratic context—the play depicts Athens as a refuge for free speech.

"free born men"

Ancient Athens excluded slaves, women, and foreigners from civic participation. Milton keeps this language but will argue for broader press freedom—using classical authority to push beyond classical limits.

This is true liberty, when free born men,
Having to advise the public may speak free,
Which he who can, and will, deserv's high praise,
Who neither can nor will, may hold his peace;

"may hold his peace"

The freedom includes silence—no compulsion to speak. Milton's arguing against licensing that prevents willing speakers, not for forced participation.

What can be juster in a State than this?

Euripides misattributed

Milton cites "Hicetid" but this is from Euripides' *Suppliant Women*. The error (common in his time) matters less than the democratic context—the play depicts Athens as a refuge for free speech.

Euripid. Hicetid.
This is true liberty, when free born men,

"free born men"

Ancient Athens excluded slaves, women, and foreigners from civic participation. Milton keeps this language but will argue for broader press freedom—using classical authority to push beyond classical limits.

Having to advise the public may speak free,
Which he who can, and will, deserv's high praise,

"may hold his peace"

The freedom includes silence—no compulsion to speak. Milton's arguing against licensing that prevents willing speakers, not for forced participation.

Who neither can nor will, may hold his peace;
What can be juster in a State than this?
Euripid. Hicetid.

Euripides misattributed

Milton cites "Hicetid" but this is from Euripides' *Suppliant Women*. The error (common in his time) matters less than the democratic context—the play depicts Athens as a refuge for free speech.

Source Wikipedia Poetry Foundation

Reading Notes

The Epigraph as Argument

This isn't a poem—it's the epigraph to Milton's *Areopagitica* (1644), his prose tract against press censorship. The Licensing Order of 1643 required government approval before publication. Milton responded with an unlicensed pamphlet that opens by defining liberty in ancient Greek terms.

The Greek is from Euripides' *Suppliant Women* (lines 438-441), a play where Theseus defends Athenian democracy against Theban tyranny. Milton uses classical authority strategically—Parliament respected Greek precedent, and Euripides gives him a 2,000-year-old argument that free speech defines a just state. The double repetition (Greek twice, English twice) hammers the point before the prose begins.

Milton's translation is loose but purposeful. Where Euripides describes the herald's question in the Athenian assembly, Milton sharpens it to "advise the public"—making it about counsel and persuasion, not just formal debate. The phrase "deserv's high praise" adds a meritocratic note absent from the Greek. He's adapting Athens to argue for 1640s London, using the past to justify a freer future.

What Milton Leaves Out

The "free born men" phrase is doing heavy lifting. In Athens, this meant adult male citizens—roughly 10-20% of the population. Slaves, women, metics (resident foreigners), and children couldn't speak in the assembly. Milton keeps the exclusionary language but repurposes it: his argument extends beyond formal political speech to the printing press, a technology that could (theoretically) give voice to anyone literate.

The final question—"What can be juster in a State than this?"—sets up the prose argument's structure. *Areopagitica* will claim that pre-publication censorship is unjust because it assumes guilt before trial, treats books worse than people, and stifles the truth-seeking process. The rhetorical question here isn't actually asking; it's asserting that no alternative system could be fairer.

Milton's choice of Euripides over Plato matters. Plato's *Republic* advocated strict censorship of poets. By reaching for a democratic playwright instead of an authoritarian philosopher, Milton aligns himself with Athenian openness against Platonic control. The epigraph is strategic scholarship—he's picking his classical ancestors carefully.