Samson Agonistes

Samson Agonistes is a tragic drama by John Milton. It originally appeared with the publication of Milton's Paradise Regained, A Poem In IV Books To Which Is Added Samson Agonistes.

Samson Agonistes draws on the story of Samson from Judges 13-16 in the Old Testament. The drama starts in medias as Samson has been captured by the Philistines, had his hair, the container of his strength, cut off and his eyes cut out.

Samson Agonistes combines Greek Tragedy with Hebrew Scripture. Milton believed that Bible was better in classical forms than those written by the Greeks and Romans.