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Paradise Lost (published 1667) is an epic poem, originally in 10 books, later revised in 12, of blank verse by the 17th century English poet John Milton. It narrates the Christian story of the Fall of Man: the temptation of Adam and Eve by Satan and their expulsion from the Garden of Eden.
The protagonist of this Protestant epic, is the fallen angel, Satan. Today it would appear that Milton presents Satan sympathetically, as an ambitious and prideful being who defies his tyrannical creator, omnipotent God, and wages war on Heaven, only to be defeated and cast down. Some critics regard the character of Satan as a Byronic heroA theme that pervades much of Byron's work is that of the Byronic hero, an idealised but flawed character whose attributes include: being a rebel having a distaste for social institutions being an exile expressing a lack of respect for rank and privilege.
The story is innovative in that it attempts to rectify the Christian and the PaganPaganism (or Heathenism ) is a catch-all term which has come to bundle together (by extension from its original classical meaning of a non- Christian religion) a very broad set of not necessarily compatible religious beliefs and practices that are usually; like ShakespeareWilliam Shakespeare born April 1564; baptised April 26, 1564; died April 23, 1616 ( O. May 3, 1616 ( N. has a reputation as the greatest writer the English language has ever known. Indeed, the English Renaissance has often been called "the age of Shakespe, Milton found Christian mythology lacking. The inclusion of a largely pagan Satan allows the vitality of Pagan imagery and maintains the poem's piety.
Many tough theological issues are grappled with, including fate, predestinationPredestination is a religious idea, under which the relationship between the beginning of things and the destiny of things is discussed. Its religious nature distinguishes it from other ideas concerning determinism and free will, and related concepts., and the TrinityThis article concerns the holy Trinity of Christianity. For other uses of trinity see disambiguation. The Blessed Trinity is God, according to the doctrine of most branches of Christianity; the doctrine says that though God is one God, God exists in three. Milton did not strictly believe in the Trinity. He presents a Father who is good but angry and sarcastic, and a Son who is genuinely giving and optimistic.
Milton's story contains two story arcs: that of Satan and that of Adam and Eve. Satan's story is an homage to the old epics of warfare. It begins in media res, after Satan and the other rebel angels have been defeated and cast down by God into HellHell is, according to many religious beliefs about the afterlife, a place of torment, of great weeping and gnashing of teeth. The English word 'hell' comes from the Norse Hel', which originally referred to the goddess of the Norse underworld. In most reli. In Pandæmonium, Lucifer must employ his rhetorical ability to organize his followers; he is aided by Mammon and Beelzebub. At the end of the debate, Satan volunteers himself to poison the newly-created Earth. He releases Sin and Death into the world, and braves the dangers of the Abyss in a manner reminiscient of Odysseus or Aeneas.
The other story is a fundamentally different, new kind of epic: a domestic one. Adam and Eve are presented for the first time in Christian literature as having a functional relationship while still without sin. They have arguments, passions and personalities, as well as sexual intercourse. Satan successfully tempts Eve, who in turn convinces Adam. They again have sex, but in a way which implies rape. After realizing their crime, they fight, but make amends thanks to Eve's humility. They are then cast out of Eden, but the coming of Messiah is foreshadowed, and an angel adds that one may find "A paradise within thee, happier farr."