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In deciding to write an epic, Milton consciously places himself in the tradition of prior epic writers, such as the ancients Homer and Virgil, and the Medieval and Renaissance poets Dante, Tasso, Ariosto, and Spenser. By doing this, he raises specific sets of expectations both for himself and for readers. Formally, Paradise Lost contains many classical and Renaissance epic conceits: it begins in medias res; it concerns heavenly and earthly beings and the interactions between them; it uses conventions such as epic similes, catalogues of people and places, and invocations to a muse; and it contains themes common to epics, such as war, nationalism, empire, and stories of origin.

Milton is patterning this epic poem after the classical epics of Homer and Virgil. He was quite aware of the epic conventions (the elements expected as part of an epic). He also knows that his audience will know what those epic conventions will be. Here is a list of major epic conventions:

1. The work begins in medias res (in the middle of things) -- PL begins after the War in Heaven, which will be described in later books.

2. The poem will open with an invocation of the muse. Generally, this would be the muse of epic poetry (Calliope); here, there's a different sort of "muse"