Antihero: Satan
Genre: Epic Poem / Classic / Biblical
Citation: Milton, John. Paradise Lost, London ;
Ringwood, Vic : Penguin, 1989.
Annotation:
Written by 17th century English poet John Milton Paradise Lost was first
published in 1667 in ten books. The poem written in blank verse is an
adaptation of the biblical story of the fall of man. John Milton was quoted in
the first novel that the purpose of the poem was to “justify the ways of God to
men”.
The poem contains two narrative arcs one following Satan and the other
being the story of Adam and Eve. At one point the poem retells the Angelic War
over Heaven with the defeat of Satan and the other rebel Angels and there
subsequent banishment to Tatarus (Milton’s name for Hell). However the bulk of
the poem details the Fall of Man. The Fall of Man is the temptation of the
first humans, Adam and Eve, by Satan to commit the First Sin and there subsequent
expulsion from the Garden of Eden.
Satan was once the most beautiful of all the angels in Heaven before his
rebellion and his consequential banishment. Milton portrays Satan as a
charismatic and tragic figure albeit a deeply arrogant and powerful avenging
angel. He is cunning and deceptive but is able to rally the other fallen to
continue in the rebellion after their defeat in the War. Satan argues that God
rules Heaven as a tyrant and that the angels should rule as Gods. He is
unwilling to be controlled by God and his Son, claiming that all angels are
“self-begot, self-raised” therefore meaning that God has no authority over them
as their creator. One of the most famous quotes from the epic is Satan stating
that it is “Better to reign in Hell than serve in Heaven”.
Milton’s Satan is a far more complex and detailed characterisation then
most of the vague and simple portrayals that appeared in other works produced
in the 17th century. The reader with full knowledge and understanding
that Satan has committed evil cannot help but feel something akin to sympathy
towards him. Satan has is shown as a character simply battling against an enemy
who he honestly believes is doing him and his fellow angels wrong. The true
nature of Satan and his role in this epic poem has been the focus of great
debate by scholars and the general public since its first publication.
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