of the swarming bees: First, Milton's bees direct our mind's eye to winged creatures of the very size that the spirits . . . are to become. Secondly, they make us contemplate in advance diminutive creatures which, despite their tininess, we have always liked to imagine do expatiate and confer their state-affairs, -- exactly what the infernal assembly is going to do. (551)As Gregerson had noted, the simile "prefigures" and/or is a reflection of other events that are to come later in the story. Clearly, then, and in spite of some alterations and modifications, Milton did indeed use classical epic conventions. As Blessington so artfully writes, "Milton built his epic out of those of Homer and Virgil, like a cathedral erected our of the ruins of pagan temples whose remains can still be seen" (xiii). ...
