John milton’s paradise lost is regarded by many as one of the greatest ever poems written in the english language an epic poem that follows two different narratives the biblical story of adam and eve as they fall from grace and are expelled from the garden of eden and the story of satan or lucifer who along with the other fallen angels must create their own home after being expelled from heaven just for some overall context john milton was an english poet born in 1608 he was a huge advocate for freedom of speech and freedom of the press which
Are aspects that certainly bleed into his work milton was not a big fan of the monarchy and many believe this is why his portrayal of satan is much more sympathetic it aims to tell you his story as opposed to just telling you he is evil paradise loss was first published in 1667 and consisted of 10 books in 1674 it was redrafted to contain 12 books john milton is considered amongst the greatest english poets to have ever lived and paradise lost was seen as his magnus opus the greatest of all his work now i know stories and poetry from
Hundreds of years ago can be difficult to read at times so hopefully today’s not so brief summary of john milton’s paradise lost is somewhat comprehensible or at the very least entertaining before we go any further a quick word from today’s sponsor babel the only language learning platform or application you’ll ever need with summer here and many of us planning trips away learning the basics of languages and being able to interact with people abroad is always useful i began by using babble on my pc but then switched over
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Spanish so it won’t be long before mythology and fiction explain gets its very own spanish channel just don’t ask me how to say that in spanish so if you’d like to start learning a new language then use my link in the description to get 65 percent of your subscription the poem begins with a brief discussion of humankind and its disobedience towards god this refers to adam and eve eating the forbidden fruit from the tree of knowledge milton’s speaker places some of the blame on the infernal serpent the fallen angel that he refers
To as satan and some of us may know as lucifer this angel stirred hatred envy and revenge he placed himself above his peers believing his glory to be equal to god this turned into a war in heaven which resulted in god hurling satan and his followers from heaven into a fiery pit below the fallen angels wake up in a lake of fire in tartarus or what we know as hell where they are bound by adamantine chains when satan wakes he describes his surroundings a dungeon horrible on all sides round as one great furnace flamed yet from those
Flames no light but rather darkness visible for those rebellious hear their prison ordained in utter darkness and their portion set as far removed from god and light of heaven milton does a great job here contrasting the two domains if heaven is a place in the sky full of light then wherever satan and the other fallen angels have woken is a dungeon a fiery abyss where only darkness is visible a prison for the fallen next to satan is his second-in-command beaslebub despite the predicament they find themselves in satan feels no regret
For his rebellion against god in fact he sees this time as a period of regrouping before they launch their next attack beazlebub is not so convinced after witnessing their failure the first time he questions whether god can be defeated satan doesn’t dismiss this idea rather than another battle head on he suggests a new tactic god has many beloved creatures and so what if they were able to corrupt them using their powers and the allure of evil to do ought good will never be our task but ever to do ill our soul delight as
Being contrary to his high will whom we resist if then his providence out of our evil seek to bring forth good our labor must be to pervert to that end and out of good to still find means of evil rather than another battle in heaven what satan is recommending is a proxy war halfway in between heaven and hell using god’s favorite creations now with a plan the two angels spread their wings and leave this river of fire many argue here that they did not break free of their chains instead they were allowed to leave because this was not
The punishment that god intended flying above they scour the land and come to the conclusion that it’s better to reign in hell than serve in heaven once on land satan calls out to his fellow fallen angels and beckons them to his cause the speech had its desired effects as the fallen angels were woken from their slumber they gathered around satan who informed them that they had been erased from the book of life and the other books in heaven but all was not lost as even demons could be worshiped like gods in the eyes of man
During this speech we learn the names of a few more fallen angels turned demons moloch the king of human sacrifice and the lustful belial by the end of this speech satan had taken the thousands of wounded and disheveled angels and turned them into an army that once again believed in a cause rather than be ashamed of their actions they should instead embrace their evil nature and be proud of the demons they have become they can make themselves a new home here in hell and to mark this day they construct a great temple in the city
Known as pandemonium which in greek means all the demons and all the spirits in latin pandemonium became the focal point where all the demons gathered for council in the first gathering here satan is honest with his peers the war in heaven was difficult and it might just be impossible for them to ever retake heaven he opens the floor to anyone who wants to speak and upsteps monarch molok favors the direct approach of open war believing they should lay siege to heaven once again but this time using the new found weapons of hell molok is
Driven by revenge and anger to him there is nothing worse than their fate in hell not even death and so there is nothing to lose by striking now when those in heaven least expect them to do so to him there is no downside to this plan either way they are free from hell next to speak is a much calmer belial he believes their punishment could be even worse if they choose to attack heaven again there might come a time where god even forgives them for their betrayal but belial doesn’t necessarily advocate for peace they should wait and see what
God has planned for them and then act upon the matter next step forward is mammon he doesn’t call for war either but also accepts that he will never bow down to god again mammon calls for industry they are free to do as they please in hell if they work together they can make hell a kingdom as great as heaven this idea is met by applause and garnered the most support from his fellow demons so far the last to speak is beaslebub who also wishes to be free of god’s servitude he tells his peers of stories he heard in
Heaven the creation of a new world that would be populated by man a new race that god loves even more than angels they can have their revenge by corrupting and destroying these humans without another war this suggestion garners even more support than the idea put forward by mammon when their votes are cast it is the idea discussed by beaslebab and satan that is chosen as their plan of action it is satan who volunteers to leave hell and scout for this promised land with satan gone the council reconvenes and discusses how to begin building hell
Into a kingdom that can rival heaven satan now has the rather difficult task of finding a way out of hell eventually he reaches the gates of which there are nine in total three made from brass three from iron and lastly three from adamantine guarding these gates he sees two figures in the distance a woman with the lower half of a serpent surrounded by a pack of dogs and the second is shrouded in darkness these two figures are known as sin and death satan confronts this woman and demands that he is allowed to pass now this is where
Things start to get strange she asks him if he has forgotten who they are she then explains that they are his children sin and death from his actions as an angel sin was created springing forth from his head she was then impregnated by satan giving birth to death who then in turn impregnated sin and this time she gave birth to a pack of hounds that follow and torment her satan’s children were responsible for guarding the gates of hell as well as the keys needed to open them he soon realizes that his children can
Be persuaded to join his cause after explaining the plot for vengeance against god his children as planned are persuaded and sin using the keys unlocks the gates of hell ahead of him is only darkness but satan chooses to leave hell and fly straight into the darkness caught in a storm satan falls through the sky until he catches a ride on a cloud flying blindly towards the noise he can hear he finds himself in the presence of chaos and night the rulers of this dark abyss i come no spy with purpose to explore or
To disturb the secrets of your realm ensuring chaos and night that he means no ill will he finds himself explaining his plan once again and asking for assistance to find this new world by claiming this new world and corrupting it with evil satan claims that chaos can also reign here freely which is enough to convince them to join his cause chaos points to where a new world has been created and satan assumes that this must be the prophesized earth created by god for mankind sin and death follow slowly behind satan creating a
Bridge from hell to this new world which will allow the demons of hell to easily travel back and forth between the two in book three we shift perspective to heaven where god has been watching everything transpire he can see satan traveling to earth and knows that this will lead to the fall of man the free will he gave to man is what will lead to this corruption and downfall however it is the free will to love that makes man different from the angels and god’s other creations back to satan who has now found earth
When he lands he sees an enormous gate that has a stairway that he assumes connects earth to heaven satan sees god’s creation in all its glory and feels an overwhelming jealousy drawn in by the sun he comes across an angel standing on a hill that he recognizes as archangel uriel satan takes the form of a cherub and approaches uriel he lies to uriel telling him he has just come down from heaven curious about this new world and its inhabitants uriel is unable to see past satan’s disguise and is actually rather happy to see an angel
Come down from heaven with an interest in learning about this new world that god has created he even makes the mistake of showing him paradise where adam and eve live satan thanks uriel for sharing his knowledge and flies off into the distance with the information he came for satan lands on mount nefertes as he contemplates the task ahead of him seeing the beauty of eden and paradise reminds him of a time in heaven when he still possessed his innocence he begins to have an internal struggle and unknown to him archangel uriel is watching this
Unfold he questions whether he could ever return to heaven if he was to repent but he concludes it would never be the same and he is now past the point of redemption the only way forward for him is to stick to the plan of spreading evil and sin to this paradise uriel notices multiple different facial expressions and rapid change in demeanor something you would never see from a cherub as they are joyous beings now he begins to suspect that this cherub was actually someone trying to deceive him he travels to heaven to inform the
Archangel gabriel that one of the fallen angels may have found eden together they vow to find this impostor by morning satan has essentially overcome his doubts and decides to enter eden standing tallest of all the trees is the tree of life and next to it is the tree of knowledge satan transforms himself into a bird and perches on the branches of the tree of knowledge looking down he observes the many different animals however his attention is drawn to two creatures in particular that stand upright on two legs filled with rage and
Jealousy satan remembers why he came to paradise these two beings must be the new race that was created in his fall he watches adam and eve and overhears their conversation adam is telling eve that she must be obedient to god because this paradise is only possible because of him she shouldn’t complain about the work they have to do because it means they can roam and freely explore this paradise with only one rule never to eat the forbidden fruit from the tree of knowledge as night falls gabriel and the other angels begin to search the garden
They find satan who has switched his disguise from a bird to a toad and they bring him before gabriel he immediately sees through this disguise and recognizes satan demanding to know what business he has in the garden of eden satan tells gabriel that he means no harm and they have no reason to suspect anything else gabriel once again is not convinced not willing to deal with any more of satan’s lies he tells him that he will send him back to hell if he does not confess all this threat succeeds in doing is enraging satan to the point of a
Physical confrontation as both angels posture they are interrupted by a pair of golden scales a sign from heaven knowing his own strength as well as gabriel’s satan interprets these scales as a sign he cannot win this battle and so he decides to flee in book five we have an interaction between adam and eve where she describes a dream she had in this stream eve was woken by voices that she could hear coming from the tree of knowledge following the whispers she then sees what she believes is an angel eating fruit from the tree the angel encourages
Eve to taste for herself here happy creature fair angelic eve partake thou also happy thou thou art happier thou may be worthier canst not be taste this and be henceforth among the gods thyself a goddess not to earth confined the angel is trying to persuade eve by insinuating she could become a goddess by merely tasting the fruit before eve is able to do so the angel disappears and she wakes from her dream adam is fairly concerned but does his best to reassure eve that this was just a dream and not an indication of the future
Because eve just like adam has free will the gifts given by god at this point god is fully aware of satan’s plan however he still believes his human creation can exercise their free will he sends for the archangel raphael instructing him to go to eden and explain why the fruit is forbidden or at least explain the differences between food that is considered earthly and heavenly at least then it has been explained to them when satan comes both adam and eve know that eating from the tree is forbidden if they choose to exercise their free will
Knowing this then their punishments are their own raphael does explain these differences to adam who in turn is expected to relay this information to eve when adam questions why any creature of god would willingly disobey him raphael tells him the story of satan and his fall from grace as a cautionary tale heaven was always a place of peace until the day god announced he had created a son that he wished to rule with him one angel in particular took issue of this and voiced his frustration and anger that angel would be stripped of
His heavenly name and for his disobedience he would be known as satan as one of god’s most loyal and trusted angels satan believed he deserves to rule alongside god and thus the rebellion began satan convinced a third of the angels to join his cause and contest the rule in heaven a rebellious angel by the name of abdiel eventually saw the error of his ways and tried to convince satan that this was not a battle that could be won abdiel then asked god for forgiveness which was granted showing that for those who seek
It there will always be redemption this discussion continues on into book six where raphael discusses the war in heaven in some more detail it ends with raphael telling adam that satan and the other fallen angels have already begun plotting the fall of mankind he wishes to lead adam and eve down the path of sin they must be weary and fearful of satan but they must also be brave enough to resist him in book seven and eight adam inquires about the creation of the world and raphael agrees to explain after the fall of satan and the other
Rebellious angels god wished to fill these absent places and so he found an empty part of the universe devoid of life and created the earth if mankind showed obedience and belief in god’s will then there would be a day when the earth and heaven become one this rather long discussion ends with raphael returning to heaven in book nine we see satan’s return to the garden of eden avoiding the angels who are watching the walls satan’s disguise of choice this time is a serpent when adam and eve wake up the next morning they begin their workload
However with much to do eve suggests that they perform separate tasks so they could finish double the work in the same amount of time reluctantly agrees and they both go off in separate directions when satan finds eve she’s alone which makes his plan much easier to accomplish the serpent calls out to eve and seduces her claiming the fruit is what gave him his intellect and the ability to speak knowing the fruit is forbidden eve attempts to resist however the serpent continues to flatter her with compliments of her beauty satan
Continues by asking why would god forbid the fruit unless it possessed some kind of power that he wanted to keep for himself eve reached out and from the tree she plucked an apple surely some fruits couldn’t do any harm adam’s claims must have been exaggerated and so she took a bite of the apple expecting to feel something wonderful and she did feel invigorated at first but soon this turned into a horrible feeling the feeling of instant regret not knowing what to do eve searched for adam if she convinced him to also eat
The fruit then their sin would be equal when she explained everything to adam his choices were very simple if he wished to remain with eve then he must also consume the fruit to ensure they suffer the same fate and so adam also ate the fruit and just like eve he felt its positive effects to begin with the two end up having sex and falling asleep under the tree when they wake they are met with an overwhelming guilt and shame it’s clear to them that they may have just lost their paradise forever they cover their naked bodies in
Leaves and it’s not long before they turn on each other blaming one another for their fall from grace in book 10 the angels return to heaven to inform god of what has transpired in the garden but he is fully aware having observed the entire thing they try to share the blame here as they failed to stop satan entering the garden but god absolves them of any guilt as he allowed this to happen he tells them that he will send his son down to the earth to punish the sinners when he arrives he asks adam and eve if they ate from the tree adam admits that
He did after eve gave him the fruit and eve tells him that she was tricked into doing so by the serpent punishing all three parties here the son states that from now on serpents will be cursed to forever crawl on their belly never to rise the children of adam will be forced to labor all day and hunt for food the children of eve will give birth in pain and be forced to submit to their husbands however the seed of eve will take vengeance upon the serpent satan begins his journey back to hell victorious awaiting him are death and
Sin believing in their father they have already finished creating the bridge making the journey from hell to earth much faster as satan leaves paradise his children congratulate him on the outskirts sin vows to corrupt the minds of humankind and death will infect all living things causing them to die when satan returns to pandemonium he calls out telling stories of his victory however he does not receive the reception he expected no one is cheering the only thing he can hear is the sound of hissing all of the
Demons have been transformed into snakes as punishment hell is now full of trees containing fruit whenever the snakes try to eat from these trees the fruit turns to ash meanwhile as promised to their father sin and death arrive on the earth god tells his angels that he will allow sin and death to remain there until judgment day where they must return to hell and serve their eternal punishment with their father he also informs the angels the earth will no longer be a perfect paradise humans will now have to endure extreme
Cold and blistering heat animals begin to turn on each other and some now even see adam and eve as food in book 11 it is the archangel michael who is given the task of expelling adam and eve from eden although they can no longer live in paradise if adam and eve continue to live an honest and moral life then upon death they will be reunited with god in heaven hearing their remorse god also decides that his own son will be humanity’s biggest advocate and will end up paying for their sins before michael expels adam and eve from eden he shows adam the
Future of humanity the events that will transpire before the great flood in book 12 michael discusses the future of mankind after the flood by the end of this discussion adam is relieved to know that despite these acts of sin there will always be redemption adam and eve are escorted from the gates of paradise to this new world knowing that paradise may have been lost but hope still remained You
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