Paslavska Iryna MA Thesis

FACULTY OF ARTS
God and Satan, Heaven

and Hell in Milton’s
Paradise Lost
Master’s Diploma Thesis
IRYNA PASLAVSKA
Supervisor: Stephen Paul Hardy, Ph. D.
Department of English and American Studies
Programme English Language and Literature
Brno 2022
GOD AND SATAN, HEAVEN AND HELL IN MILTON’S PARADISE LOST
Bibliographic record
Author: Iryna Paslavska

Faculty of Arts
Masaryk University
English Language and Literature
Title of Thesis: God and Satan, Heaven and Hell in Milton’s Paradise Lost
Degree Programme: English Language and Literature
Supervisor: Stephen Paul Hardy, Ph. D.
Year: 2022
Number of Pages: 106
Keywords: epic poem, Paradise Lost, God, fallen angels, warfare, heaven,
Satan, hell, heroic figure, epic tradition
4
Abstract
The Master’s thesis is focused on the reinterpretation and imaginative depiction of Heaven,
Hell and the characters of God and Satan in the 17th-century epic poem Paradise Lost
published in 1667. John Milton’s narrative of the Fall, inspired by the biblical story, shows
integral relations between God and Satan and their contrasting environments. The first part
describes the existing discourse around Milton’s work and presents an overview of the
textual universe of the poem: the creation, the chaos and the place of the earth in the
created hierarchy. Then following chapters provide the analysis of Milton’s of Heaven
and Hell and the deep-rooted connection between the epic environment, the Almighty
Creator and the Devil, using key passages from the poem.
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Declaration
I hereby declare that this thesis with title God and Satan, Heaven and Hell in Milton’s
Paradise Lost I submit for assessment is entirely my own work and has not been taken
from the work of others save to the extent that such work has been cited and
acknowledged within the text of my.
Brno December 12, 2022 .......................................

Iryna Paslavska
7
GOD, SATAN, HEAVEN AND HELL IN MILTON’S PARADISE LOST
Acknowledgements
I would like to thank my supervisor Stephen Paul Hardy, Ph.D. for all the advice and
encouragement that helped me move forward in this research. Also, I am grateful to
my groupmates for their useful discussions and support.
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GOD, SATAN, HEAVEN AND HELL IN MILTON’S PARADISE LOST
Table of Contents
1 Introduction 11
2 John Milton and His Narrative of "Justifying the Ways of God to Men" 16
3 The Textual Universe of Paradise Lost 21

3.1 The Origin 21
3.2 Chaos 23
3.3 The Earth 28
4 Milton’s God in Heaven 31

4.1 Heaven as a Place and a State 31
4.2 Eden and Paradise 49
4.3 God as the Highest Authority Figure in Paradise Lost 57
5 Milton’s Satan in Hell 72

5.1 Satan as the Devil 72
5.2 Satan as the Rebel in Paradise Lost 77
5.3 Hell as a Place and a State 83
6 Conclusion 97
Bibliography 101
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INTRODUCTION
1 Introduction
The Master’s thesis will focus on the reinterpretation and imaginative depiction of
Heaven and Hell in the 17th-century epic poem Paradise Lost (1667), the eloquent,
intellectually daring, and sublime work of English poet and intellectual John Milton.
John Milton’s greatest work Paradise Lost presents a cosmic panorama of
occidental culture on the fringes of modernity, held together by the author’s linguistic and
stylistic brilliance and by the universal Christian theology. Milton devised, centered on the
redemption of the active, believing human being through the great sacrifice of love.
Paradise Lost takes up all the controversial questions that can be posed based on
Genesis, such as the question of the creation, causality of evil, the condition of the first
humans, the relationship between the sexes, freedom of will, the nature of the forbidden
fruit, the possibility of better worlds. Since the reading of Genesis 2-3 was of crucial
importance for the self-definition of early modernity, the age of the pre-enlightenment,
Milton’s own interpretation of Genesis in Paradise Lost was itself politically explosive,
because upon its answer depended on how a man should govern and be governed (Poole
2005).
There has been a number of both early and modern Miltonists, including the critic
Northrop Frye, who explored how the writer redefines the meaning, symbols, and images
of a Biblical text to create an interpretation of the Genesis in blank verse, enriched with
many elements of classical Greek and Roman literary works. For William Blake Milton
was of the devil’s party without being aware of it (Blake quoted from Brockbank 1972,
11
INTRODUCTION
37), indirectly defending the rebelliousness of the Prince of Hell because it provokes the
goodness of the Creator. Ironically, Milton’s ideas about liberty and providence seem
closer to the conjectures of Satan and his fallen followers.
In 2005, Peter Paul Schnierer published De-Demonization and Demonization, his
studies on the history of representation of the diabolical in English literature since the
Renaissance. The question in his book is why demonization serves to devalue when it
produces the opposite effect (Schnierer, 2005). This question is also of interest for this
Master’s thesis, since the devil figure in Paradise Lost is initially celebrated and portrayed
as a heroic figure.
A more recent work from the last decade is The Cambridge Companion to English
poets, edited by Claude Julien Rawson. The included contribution shows a different view
of the devil. The course of the chants and what status the devil loses after the fall and gains
again are explained. Blake is the first to take up the idea that Satan is the real hero of a
story. This decision caused astonishment for centuries. Quoting the poet Robert Lowell, he
does not understand Milton’s intention, seeing in Satan not a devil but a cosmic rebel of
high rank. Evans even makes a connection between Milton’s devil and Virgil’s Aeneas
(The Cambridge Companion to English poets, 2011).
Dennis Danielson in his work Paradise Lost and the Cosmological Revolution
reflects on how Milton’s cosmic symbolism and the use of theology was a way to create
the complex epic that encompasses the biblical and scientific understanding of the
Universe (Danielson, 2014). Fallon, on the other hand, writes about Milton’s philosophical
views with an interpretation of the Heavenly War as a metaphysical clash (Fallon, 2007).
This modern reading of Milton’s work will be explored more deeply in the Master’s thesis
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INTRODUCTION
because there is not only one way to interpret cosmological passages in Paradise Lost,
especially in a sense of both Heaven and Hell being closely tied to the states and inner
emotional fluctuations of their residents.
The starting point for all further questions about Paradise Lost was the question of
the fall. Adam and Eve’s inner-spiritual struggles have their equivalent in the heavenly
wars between the fallen angels and those faithful to heaven. Tracing back the chain of
causes of the fall from Adam’s sin, one arrives from the seduction of Eve through the
conspiracy in hell to the metaphysical battles in heaven. This logic of fiction raises further
questions of a literary and philosophical nature. Many of these questions will be touched
upon here. All these subtleties make Paradise Lost so valuable to readers and critics across
time and till today.
The main purpose of this thesis is to explore and describe the existing perspectives
on Milton’s Paradise Lost, to find the concordance of Milton’s vision of Paradise with the
fall of humanity and condemnation to Hell, and to compare the characters of God and
Satan with the modern views on the authority and obedience and on the thirst for
knowledge and unlimited expression, conformity, and individual freedom.
The thesis aims to analyse John Milton’s narrative of the Fall in terms of integral
relations between the characters of God and Satan and their contrasting environments.
Also, to bring to attention the qualities and attributes which Milton bestowed on the
characters of God and his creations, humans, and angels, as well as the early development
of the Satan figure as a destructive force. And among the other central questions will be
the one of Milton’s vision of the Universe and how it is brought into dialogue with the
works written by his predecessors.
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INTRODUCTION
A few questions in the foundation of this research have proven to be key to
understanding Paradise Lost, and the answer to them will determine how one interprets the
work and what its literary-historical significance is. What is the tradition of Milton’s epic
poetry? Which literary works are taken up in the epic, even reinvented, or adapted? How
does Milton write to portray Heaven and Hell in relation to its dwellers? What image of
God emerges from such a consideration? What kind of place and state is Milton’s Heaven?
How did the devil’s character evolve? Is Satan depicted by Milton as a personified idea of
all evil or a rebellious romantic hero deserving sympathy? What kind of place and state is
Milton’s Hell?
In connection with this, it is necessary to mention the approaches used in this
research. Paradise Lost can be read and interpreted through the lens of archetypal criticism
to find the common cross-cultural themes such as the creation of the first people, forbidden
knowledge, fall from grace, punishment, the quest for paradise, the golden age, alienation
and return, images of the garden, snake and the abyss. The means of new historicism can
be used to deepen the understanding of the debates regarding politics, theology, and poetic
theory with which Milton was surrounded. The Reader-response theory will be applied to
show the readers’ reception of the religious, moral, and cosmological discussions. The aim
of the research will be reached by attempting to explore and construe the substance and the
influence of Milton’s notion of Paradise and Hell, God and Satan in his epic poem
Paradise Lost. The work will be subject-focused rather than author-focused.
Many considerations are made with regard to symbolism. Milton’s work contains a
variety of ideas that predate the writing of Paradise Lost and whose symbolic meanings
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INTRODUCTION
were well established in Milton’s time. Milton adopts these notions, often to describe
characters and places more vividly and to emphasize their importance.
As the title of the MA thesis suggests, Chapter One will be dedicated to the existing
discourse around Milton’s work, the author’s thoughts on his creative process in Paradise
Lost, and the poem’s cultural-historical contexts. The aim is to establish the general
connection of Milton’s work with historical issues. Chapter Two will present an overview
of the textual universe of the poem, the creation, the chaos, and the place of the earth in the
created hierarchy. The next two chapters will show Milton’s grand-style descriptions of
Heaven and Hell and the deep-rooted connection between the main forces which rule the
universe and human behavior, the Almighty Creator and the Devil. Chapters Three and Four
will also provide an analysis of the characters of God and Satan constructed using key
passages from the poem. In the conclusion, the aim will be restated and findings will be
presented in the order of the chapters.
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JOHN MILTON AND HIS NARRATIVE OF "JUSTIFYING THE WAYS OF GOD TO MEN"
2 John Milton and His Narrative of "Justifying the

Ways of God to Men"
John Milton’s Paradise Lost is an epic poem that ranges in time from before the
creation of the world to Judgment Day. It is a work of truly cosmic dimensions,
encompassing spatial heaven, hell, and earth. At the same time he, the poet in the spirit of
the Renaissance, is trying to create a coherent world structure from different theological,
philosophical, and scientific thought systems. What emerged from this is an extremely
heterogeneous structure, whose kaleidoscope-like character may surprise at times, but
above all fascinates.
John Milton, who is generally praised as the greatest English writer after William
Shakespeare, certainly had an extraordinary life, as perhaps someone who becomes the
creator of one of the important pieces in literary history must have. He was born on
December 9, 1608, in the Cheapside area of London. He was the son of a successful
businessman, a self-made man who, after being disinherited by his Catholic family for
converting to Protestantism, had made it off on his own. John Milton Senior quickly
recognized the immense linguistic talent of his eldest son and was determined to encourage
him with all the means at his disposal in order to make a polymath out of young John.
Studying was Milton’s element from an early age, both as a self-taught student and as a
pupil at St Paul’s School and later as a student at Cambridge. As a Master of Arts, Milton
independently continued his intensive study of European languages, many of which he was
fluent in, and immersed himself in history, theology, mathematics, and literature. His
studies culminated in a trip through Europe in the years 1639 and ‘38, during which he met
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many intellectual titans of his time, most prominently Galileo Galilei. In doing so, he
captured the learned society on the continent just as much as he did at home in London.
This lexical education of his would be reflected twenty years later in the rich cosmos of his
Paradise Lost, as would his intense Bible studies, which Milton read and almost
memorized in both Greek and Hebrew.
After years of apprenticeship and travel, the young scholar felt finally ready to
follow his vocation as a poet. By the time he was at Cambridge, the young man, who was
repelled by the hierarchical, authoritarian structure of the Anglican Church, had given up
his original intention of becoming a minister. Instead, following the great example of
Virgil, he practiced pastorals and other poetic genres to work his way up to epic, which
literary genre considered to be the highest. At the age of twenty-three, Milton was already
thinking about finally creating a great national epic for England, even if he didn’t think he
had found a suitable subject. But the news of political unrest in his home country, which
reached the ambitious young poet during his tour of Europe, caused a decisive change in
his plans: Milton decided to leave the noble realm of poetic epic flights of fancy and
instead use his linguistic and rhetorical talent in the service to face the puritanical-liberal
cause. The poet became a gifted pamphleteer, both in Latin, the European language of
communication, and in his native English. He wrote for self-determined Christianity, equal
educational opportunities, freedom of speech and against censorship, and, most famously
and infamously, for divorce if the spouses were not compatible. For him, true conjugal
love, as he allows it to exist between Adam and Eve in Paradise Lost, was the noblest state
of human existence.
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The brilliant pamphleteer soon put his pen entirely at the service of the Puritan
Revolution under Oliver Cromwell (1644-45), and for Milton that meant he would be at
the service of the English people and liberty. As Secretary of Foreign Tongues to the Lord
Protector Cromwell – a sort of foreign secretary whose main task was to justify the actions
of the revolutionary party before Europe – Milton defended, among other things, the right
of the English people to execute King Charles I and advocated regicide as a last resort of a
constitutional monarchy. Although he was critical of Oliver Cromwell’s absolutist
aspirations, Milton supported the revolution to the end, even when relevant pamphlets
could only mean his death sentence because of the threatened return of the Stuart kings –
Charles II ascended the English throne in 1660. Milton’s life was spared only thanks to a
general amnesty – and perhaps as a result of the calculation on the part of the victors, who
interpreted the blindness of the wordy advocate of the Republic as God’s punishment.
Milton, whose eyesight had always been bad, was completely blind by 1652. He always
attributed the loss of his sight to his incessant studies and tireless writing of his pamphlets.
In 1660, during the work on Paradise Lost, the freedom fighter Milton stood before the
ruins of the cause to which he had sacrificed his eyesight.
Because of this situation, it is all too tempting to see in Milton’s rebellious Satan,
who does not want to recognize God’s absolute rule and calls himself a fighter for
freedom, an alter ego of the author himself, who boldly defies the legitimation passages of
Divine rule written with conviction seems to contradict. Enough interpreters of Milton,
above all the Promethean romantic poets, for whom the fallen rebel of Paradise Lost
became a kind of figurehead, did so with passion. Perhaps most famous was the claim of
the prophetic poet and engraver William Blake, who can be considered Milton’s literary
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heir in more ways than one, that the great epic poet had sided with Satan without realizing
it. Milton himself counteracts this seductive interpretation – and that is what his
charismatic Satan is above all things: seductive – by giving the heroic rebel who opens the
epic in all his fallen glory, towards the end in favor of the Son of God. The final focus is
on the fallen man and his willing acceptance of his guilt, contrasted with Satan’s small-
mindedness, who, out of sheer defiance, takes vengeance on the innocent. Nonetheless, it
is more than likely that fallen rebel Satan, whose unbroken spirit and heroic energy must
inspire admiration even when used for evil, more than once served as a voice for failed
liberal Milton’s bitterness and frustration.
John Milton was fifty when he began work on Paradise Lost. In 1663 the work,
which comprised 10,565 blank verses (unrhymed verses in the pentagonal jamb), was
completed. Then four years later it appeared in its first form, and in 1674, the year of
Milton’s death, it was in its final form. The great rhetorician had returned to his original
vocation as an epic poet. The short epic Paradise Regained, which deals with the
temptation of Jesus in the desert, and the literary drama Samson Agonistes were also
created during this creative phase. Because of his blindness, Milton had to dictate all of his
poetic works and his creations are all the more impressive for this reason. The reader may
occasionally become disoriented in the labyrinthine sentence structure, but Milton does
not.
Milton’s life has left an unmistakable mark on Paradise Lost; at times it may even
be too tempting to find, for example, the rebellious rhetorician John Milton in the rousing
speeches of his Satan. Elsewhere, blatant contradictions seem to open up between the
author’s life and work, for example when the notorious lawyer for a divorce in his Lost
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Paradise verbosely praises the purity of marital status. But both the correspondences and
the apparent and actual contradictions to his life, which run through Milton’s greatest
work, contribute to the tension-filled density of this epic of mankind, which remains
interesting and exciting to this day, precisely because of its inner contradictions.
Fluent in the language and stylistically confident, he created a highly poetic text in
the epic tradition with Lost Paradise, which at the same time opened up new spheres for
the genre. So it is hardly surprising that later generations stylized the figure of the blind
poet, who created such a visually stunning cosmos with words, into a quasi-mythical
figure. To a certain extent, Milton even does this himself in Paradise Lost: he creates for
himself the persona of the blind poet who invokes the heavenly muse to bring the greatest
history of mankind, the history of God, into epic form and finally that highest poetic form
with the highest to fill content, “that I may, according to the high object, / praising the
ways of God man, / defend eternal providence”. And even more, “To justify the ways of
God to men” (Milton 2013: 9). This puts Milton above all his epic predecessors. This is
poetic self-aggrandizement, which is second to none, especially when the poet names the
goal of his epic.
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THE TEXTUAL UNIVERSE OF PARADISE LOST
3 The Textual Universe of Paradise Lost
3.1. The Origin
The textual universe of Paradise Lost is almost immeasurable in philosophical and
literary terms. In his much-admired and intoxicatingly beautiful language, Milton weaves a
network of pictorial references that connect biblical narratives with the ancient epic
tradition, thus uniting the two great strands of occidental culture.
In terms of the story of creation, heaven and chaos come first, hell second, and the
earth third. There is no information in the text about the origin of the sky itself; only the
origin of the angels gives rise to speculation, which is expressed in Satan’s dispute with
Abdiel. Abdiel’s statement “the mighty Father made / All things, ev’n thee, and all the
spirits of heav’n / By him created” (Milton 2013: 135) indirectly indicates that heaven is
also God’s creation. However, Satan in his pride doubts this and assumes that the angels
created themselves: “We know no time when we were not as now; / Know none before us,
self-begot, self-raised / By our own quick’ning power” (Milton, 2013: 136). The text also
makes no statement whatsoever about the creation of chaos; only its description suggests a
duration of existence that may be similar to heaven. At least one ruler of chaos, night, is
described as having no origin: “unoriginal night” (Milton, 2013: 242). The only thing that
can be clearly established from the text is that heaven and chaos existed before the creation
of hell and earth:
first hell
Your dungeon stretching far and wide beneath;
Now lately heaven and earth, another world Hung
o’er my realm, linked in a golden chain
To that side heav’n from whence your legions fell (Milton 2013: 60).
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Although the divine heaven is not directly mentioned here, the fact that Satan and
his host fell from it suggests that it must be above chaos. The Earth, and especially Eden
and Paradise, are relatively close to heaven; for God they are even within sight:“heaven
gate, from whence / Eden and all the coast in prospect lay” (Milton 2013: 232) and „this
new-made world, another heav’n / From heaven gate not far, founded in view” (Milton
2013: 179). Nevertheless, the Earth is so far removed from heaven that both the distance
and certain heavenly principles are incomprehensible to the human mind: “distance
inexpressible / By numbers that have name [...] God to remove his ways from human
sense, / Placed heav’n from earth so far, that earthly sight, / If it presume, might err in
things too high” (Milton 2013: 183). The apparent resemblance of heaven and earth is
mentioned several times: "what if earth / Be but the shadow of heav’n, and things therein /
Each to other like, more than on earth is thought?" (Milton 2013: 128).
The moral status of a place can also be read in the presence or absence of light. The
chaos that borders heaven and hell is described as middle darkness and hell as outermost
darkness: "Through utter and through middle darkness" (Milton 2013: 63). Light is
synonymous with heaven; Satan pleads with chaos for passage "through your spacious
empire up to light" (Milton 2013: 59).
A reference to the hierarchy of the worlds is found in the order in which God tells
His Son of His dominions:
under thee as Head Supreme

Thrones, Princedoms, Powers, Dominions I reduce: All
knees to thee shall bow, of them that bide
In heaven, or earth, or under earth in hell (Milton, 2013: 72).
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As can be established from the text of Paradise Lost, Heaven, as the seat of the
most powerful beings and angels viewed as morally positive, is far above hell, in which the
fallen angels, viewed as morally negative, live. Between Heaven and Hell are Earth and
Chaos, with Earth in turn placed above Chaos.
3.2. Chaos
Chaos fills the space between the three worlds, heaven, earth, and hell. The main
features are a lack of order, darkness, emptiness and the endless dimensions: “The dark
unbottomed infinite abyss” (Milton 2013: 43), “the void profound / Of unessential night
[...] Wide gaping, and with utter loss of being / Threatens him, plunged in that abortive
gulf” (Milton 2013: 44), “the hollow abyss” (Milton 2013: 46), “Th’ unfounded deep [...]
the void immense” (Milton 2013: 55), “a vast vacuity” (Milton 2013: 58), “the void and
formless infinite” (Milton 2013: 63) and
The secrets of the hoary deep, a dark

Illimitable ocean without bound,
Without dimension, where length, breadth, and highth, And
time and place are lost; where eldest Night
And Chaos, ancestors of Nature, hold Eternal
anarchy, amidst the noise
Of endless wars, and by confusion stand (Milton 2013: 57).
Some inconsistencies emerge here, although chaos is described by terms such as
“wide” and “deep“ and clearly fills a space, it is described as dimensionless. The terms
“eldest” and “ancestors” suggest a linear temporal concept, on the other hand, the
unlimited temporal terms “eternal” and “endless” also appear; all of these temporal
concepts follow the statement that time and space do not actually exist in chaos. These
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paradoxes are arguably related to the underlying concept of disorder; in chaos, neither
structure nor logic exist, therefore the occurrence of such contradictions is justified.
The structurelessness is also represented by the endless war:
amidst the noise

Of endless wars, and by confusion stand.
For Hot, Cold, Moist, and Dry, four champions fierce
Strive here for mastery, and to battle bring
Their embryon atoms; [...]
To whom these most adhere,
He rules a moment; Chaos umpire sits, And
by decision more embroils the fray By
which he reigns: next him high arbiter
Chance governs all. (Milton, 2013: 57).
This passage shows the coexistence of opposites, heat and cold, damp and dry, as
well as the consolidation of domination through chaos through perpetual strife; on the
other hand, chaos is a common phenomenon in wartime, and chance often enough
determines the outcome of the war. In addition to coincidence, other abstract terms that
can endanger a prevailing order or hierarchy are mentioned in a personified form:
Rumor next and Chance,

And Tumult and Confusion all embroiled,
And Discord with a thousand various mouths (Milton, 2013: 59).
In a fixed hierarchy that exists in heaven and hell, positions within the hierarchy
are clearly and unequivocally assigned. For example, the war in heaven only arose because
Satan sought a higher rank than he is due.
Although chaos is described as dimensionless, Satan and his followers were able to
fall through it. According to this direction of fall, there must be an above and a below:
I saw and heard, for such a numerous host

Fled not in silence through the frighted deep
With ruin upon ruin, rout on rout,
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Confusion worse confounded (Milton, 2013: 60).
Satan also falls in his attempt to reach earth: “down he drops / Ten thousand
fathom deep, and to this hour / Down had been falling” (Milton 2013: 58). The concrete
indication of length that occurs here is only used to illustrate the immense dimensions of
the chaos; although it is a long distance by human standards, the unimaginable depth of the
chaos is illustrated by the temporal relation, which reaches up to the present. The extent of
the chaos cannot be grasped in human terms: “ the vast immeasurable abyss” (Milton
2013: 168).
The principle opposed to chaos is that of nature associated with order and light:
But now at last the sacred influence

Of light appears, and from the walls of heav’n
Shoots far into the bosom of dim Night
A glimmering dawn; Here Nature first begins
Her farthest verge, and chaos to retire (Milton 2013: 61).
The reign of the night in chaos is also logical insofar as it stands in contrast to light
and morning. Unlike hell, however, chaos is only referred to as “ middle darkness” (Milton
2013: 63). This corresponds to the dualistic concept of light and dark, with the extreme
light being in heaven and the deepest darkness being hell. The chaos that borders on both
cannot therefore correspond to either of the two places in terms of brightness.
In comparative descriptions of chaos, terms connecting it to water and the sea
repeatedly appear: “surging smoke” (Milton 2013: 58), “nearest coast of darkness” (Milton
2013: 59), “the fluid mass” (Milton 2013: 169), “Hovering upon the water, what they met /
Solid or slimy, as in raging sea / Tossed up and down” (Milton 2013: 237) and
They viewed the vast immeasurable abyss

Outrageous as a sea, dark, wasteful, wild, Up
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from the bottom turned by furious winds And

surging waves, as mountains to assault
Heav’n’s highth, and with the center mix the pole (Milton, 2013: 168).
On the other hand, it is also emphasized that chaos is neither land nor water: “a
boggy Syrtis, neiter sea, / Nor good dry land” (Milton 2013: 58). The sea seems as
unlimited in its dimensions as Milton ascribes to chaos, it is also constantly moving and
unpredictable. This accords with the principle of disorder and anarchy. The comparison
with the swamp, on the other hand, emphasizes the inhospitable nature of the place and
evokes the eternal struggle between heat and cold, dryness and humidity.
Satan’s journey through chaos is described as very dangerous and also arduous by
the fall mentioned above:
nigh foundered on he fares,

Treading the crude consistence, half on foot,
Half flying; behoves him now both oar and sail [...]
O’er bog or steep, through strait, rough, dense, or rare, With
head, hands, wings, or feet pursues his way,
And swims or sinks, or wades, or creeps, or flies (Milton, 2013: 58-59).
The irregular meter, especially of the third and fourth lines here, reflects the
arduous, piecemeal progress of the Prince of Hell. Satan himself later refers to chaos as
impassable: “this gulf / Impassable, impervious” (Milton 2013: 236), “ Th’ untractable
abyss” (Milton 2013: 242), and his daughter Sin repeats this: “this unvoyageable gulf
obscure” (Milton 2013: 239).
The three worlds placed in chaos, heaven, hell in the universe, are largely separated
from each other in the space of chaos. Before the fall, only heaven and earth are
connected; after that, however, the transition from hell to earth is made much easier by
building a bridge:
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Deep to the roots of hell the gathered beach

They fastened, and the mole immense wrought on Over
the foaming deep high-arched, a bridge
Of length prodigious joining to the wall Immovable
of this now fenceless world
Forfeit to Death; from hence a passage broad,
Smooth, easy, inoffensive down to hell (Milton, 2013: 238).
The path from hell to earth and vice versa is wide and easy to walk; this is certainly
also meant in a figurative sense: the way to hell, through sin, is easy for people to walk.
The “embryon atoms” (Milton 2013: 57) of which chaos consists at least in part
indicate possibilities for development, and indeed chaos is the stuff from which God
created hell and earth and other worlds as well could create:
The womb of Nature and perhaps her grave, Of

neither sea, nor shore, nor air, nor fire, But all
these in their pregnant causes mixed
Confus’dly, and which thus must ever fight,
Unless th’ Almighty Maker them ordain
His dark materials to create more worlds (Milton, 2013: 57-58).
But chaos itself also appears as a being, as the ruler of this space; with him the
personified night: “ where eldest Night / And Chaos, ancestors of Nature, hold / Eternal
anarchy” (Milton 2013: 57) and
the throne
Of Chaos, and his dark pavilion spread
Wide on the wasteful deep; with him enthroned
Sat sable-vested Night, eldest of things,
The consort of his reign (Milton, 2013:59).
The ambiguity of “sable-vested” is striking here, since “sable” can be translated by
the expressions “dark” and “sable”. A paradox also appears again: chaos and night are
rulers over anarchy, which, according to the translation, means lawlessness or lack of rule.
This contradiction is taken to the extreme in the expression “the anarch old” (Milton
27
2013: 60), which combines the terms anarchy and monarch. Chaos as a being also makes
contradictory statements: “I know thee, stranger” (Milton 2013: 60). Knowing a stranger is
a rather unusual thing. The closer description of chaos in personified form adds further
characteristic traits: “With falt’ring speech and visage incomposed” (Milton 2013: 60).
Secrets are also repeatedly spoken of in connection with chaos: “The secrets of the
hoary deep” (Milton 2013: 57), “The secrets of your realm” (Milton 2013: 59), “Night and
Chaos wild, / That jealous of their secrets fiercely opposed” (Milton 2013: 242). What
nature these mysteries might be is not mentioned; however, the formlessness of chaos
could be alluded to here, particularly the possibility of evolution, since it is the stuff of
which hell and the universe were created. On the other hand, the lack of structure and the
simultaneously well-functioning reign of chaos and night could also be meant.
3.3. The Earth
The creation of a part of the universe, namely the earth, is presented in more detail.
However, God sent his Son to create the earth:
My overshadowing Spirit and might with thee I

send along, ride forth, and bid the deep
Within appointed bounds be heav’n and earth (Milton, 2013: 167).
The earth was created from parts of chaos, thus restricting its dominion: "some
other place / From your dominion won [...] that region lost" (Milton 2013: 59);it is also
above Chaos: "another world / Hung o’er my realm" (Milton 2013: 60). This implies a
higher position in the hierarchy. She is connected to heaven by a golden chain: "linked in a
golden chain / To that side heav’n from whence your legions fell" (Milton 2013: 60) and
"fast hanging in a golden chain / This pending world" (Milton, pp. 61-62). The golden
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chain carries symbolic meanings: "the general symbolism of the chain, that is, bonds and
communication. On the cosmic plane it is the symbol of the marriage of heaven and earth"
(Cirlot, p. 42) and “Gold is the image of solar light and hence of the divine intelligence
[...]. Consequently, gold is symbolic of all that is superior” (Cirlot, p. 119). So unlike hell,
earth has a connection to heaven and thus to God; the earth and its inhabitants are also in a
figurative sense dependent on God and his goodness. This connection also finds direct
expression in the comparative description of heaven and earth or paradise, in the similarity
of the two worlds. Furthermore, heaven and earth are connected by a staircase, which is
not a fixed facility: “far distant he descries / Ascending by degrees magnificent / Up to the
wall of heaven a structure high [...] Each stair mysteriously was meant, nor stood / There
always, but drawn up to heav’n sometimes / Viewless” (Milton, pp. 77-78). At the time
described, i.e. before the Fall of Man, this stairway ends not far from paradise and is
characterized by a breadth that it will not later reach again: "Just o’er the blissful seat of
Paradise, / A passage down to th’ earth, a passage wide, / Wider by far than that of
aftertimes” (Milton 2013: 78). The symbolically expressive gold is also used again in their
description: "steps of gold" (Milton 2013: 79).
God also gives the earth a great deal of His heavenly light, which in turn indicates
the status of the earth: "Of light by far the greater part he took, / Transplanted from her
cloudy shrine, and placed / In the sun’s orb" (Milton 2013: 172). In the dualism of light
and dark, or taking into account the increasing brightness from hell to heaven, it becomes
clear that the earth is closer to heaven than hell when it was created.
However, the earth does not exist for its own sake, but was created by God for a
specific purpose: "Mankind created, and for him this world" (Milton 2013: 88) and "man
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he made, and for him built / Magnificent this world, and earth his seat, / Him lord
pronounced” (Milton 2013: 202). It serves Adam as a residence, as a source of food and is
his dominion. However, this becomes far clearer in the description of Paradise, since
Adam and Eve are almost entirely there for the time span that encompasses the actual plot
of Paradise Lost.
For Satan, death and sin, the earth has a primary meaning, namely that of a hunting
ground: "who from the pit of hell / roaming to seek their prey on earth" (Milton 2013: 19),
"Both his beloved man and all his world, / To Sin and Death a prey” (Milton 2013: 243)
and “the bait of Eve” (Milton 2013: 244). Rational qualities of these three are thereby
pushed into the background, their animal side is dominant.
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MILTON’S GOD IN HEAVEN
4 Milton’s God in Heaven
4.1. Heaven as a Place and a State
Since in Paradise Lost the English term "heaven" is used not only in the usual
meaning of the whereabouts of God, but also for the earthly heaven usually referred to as
"sky", that this subchapter describes heaven only in the first meaning.
The celestial environment greatly surpasses the Earth in extent: "regions to which /
All thy dominion, Adam, is no more / Than what this garden is to all the earth, / And all
the sea, from one entire globose / Stretched out into longitude” (Milton 2013: 133).
Spatially, the sky is limited by walls, gates and a vault, thus describing a clearly closed
extension: "the gates of heav’n" (Milton 2013: 13). This gate is compared to those of
earthly royal palaces in terms of splendor and wealth and at the same time presented as
incomparable: "the wall of heaven a structure high, / At top whereof, but far more rich
appeared / The work as of a kingly palace gate / With frontispiece of diamond and gold /
Embellished; thick with sparkling orient gems / The portal shone, inimitable on earth”
(Milton 2013: 78). Furthermore, this gate does not have to be operated by hand, but opens
by itself; this is probably done by God’s will: "the gate self-opened wide / On golden
hinges turning, as by work / Divine the sovran Architect had framed" (Milton, pp. 119-
120), "heav’n opened wide / Her ever-during gates, harmonious sound / On golden hinges
moving" (Milton 2013: 168) and "heav’n / That opened wide her blazing portals" (Milton
2013: 178). The walls, too, obey God’s will and open up to let the fallen company go
below: "crystal wall of heav’n, which op’ning wide, / Rolled inward, and a spacious gap
disclosed / Into the wasteful deep [. ..] Down from the verge of heav’n” (Milton, pp. 160-
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161). After their banishment, the sky wall closes again automatically: "Disburdened
heav’n rejoiced, and soon repaired / Her mural breach, returning whence it rolled"
(Milton 2013: 161). Heaven, then, is not only spatially closed and separately placed, but
the decision of the admission, exclusion, and presence of all creatures in it rests with God;
This requires obedience and freedom from sin. So the local degree corresponds to a kind of
moral degree, since the set of creatures located in the sky is homogeneous.
Just past the sky’s limit is a chasm, i. e. the sky lies separate and closed off from its
surroundings: "the precipice / Of heav’n" (Milton 2013: 13), "the bordering deep" (Milton
2013: 36), "the bounds / And crystal wall of heav’ n” (Milton 2013: 160) and “On
heav’nly ground they stood, and from the shore / They viewed the vast immeasurable
abyss” (Milton 2013: 168). Nevertheless, the dimensions of the sky are enormous: "the
vast of heav’n" (Milton 2013: 143), as the comparison to the Earth has already shown.
In many respects the environment of the sky contains elements that occur in a
similar form on earth: "the plains of heav’n" (Milton 2013: 11), "the vales of heav’n"
(Milton 2013: 18), "This continent of spacious heav’n, adorned/ With plant, fruit, flow’r
ambrosial, gems and gold" (Milton 2013: 150), "the seated hills with all their load, /
Rocks, waters, woods" (Milton 2013: 154) and "two brazen mountains" (Milton
2013: 168). Some of these elements, however, are of a different, more valuable quality
than their Earth counterparts: "The riches of heav’n’s pavement, trodden gold" (Milton
2013: 28), "the road of heav’n star-paved" (Milton 2013: 111) and "A broad and ample
road, whose dust is gold / And pavement stars" (Milton 2013: 178). This scenic similarity
to earth with deviating qualitative features can also be observed in the description of hell,
however the corresponding elements in heaven are of better quality and in hell of worse
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quality compared to earth. Milton uses elements familiar from the earth to give the reader a
rough idea of the surroundings, while at the same time assigning them celestial qualities.
The use of terms such as "gold" and "riches" are positively identified as gold is the most
precious of metals and is associated with royal rulers along with riches. Knott interprets
the use of gold and precious stones in the description as follows: "Milton embraced the
physical model, at least in its outlines, to make it embody the glory of God" (Knott, 1971).
This is quite correct, captured but not the symbolic content of gold and precious stones,
which contributes somewhat to the characterization of heaven, as will be described in more
detail below. The difference to earth is also expressed by the existence of another, fifth
element: "th’ ethereal sky" (Milton 2013: 9). In his commentary on this passage, Elledge
characterizes it as follows: “ether, the element supposed to fill the outer regions of the
universe; not earth, air, fire, or water, it was not earthly but heavenly, and eternal” (Elledge
in Milton, p. 9, FN to I.45). Due to the connection of the ether with the already positively
charged sky and its description as an eternal element, it occupies a special position among
the elements assumed at that time, or rather even the highest position.
Not only the landscape elements, but also air, plants and water occur in different
qualities on earth and in the sky: The existing air is perceived positively and also has a
healing property: "the soft delicious air, / To heal the scar of these corrosive fires / Shall
breathe her balm" (Milton 2013: 43), "ambrosial fragrance filled / All heav’n" (Milton
2013: 67). When comparing trees and fruits, parallels as well as differences are pointed
out:
Though in heav’n the trees

Of life ambrosial fruitage bear, and vines
Yield nectar, though from off the boughs each morn
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We brush mellifluous dews, and find the ground

Covered with pearly grain; yet God hath here
Varied his bounty so with new delights,
As may compare with heaven (Milton, 2013: 124)
and "All seasons, ripe for use hangs on the stalk [...] here on earth / God hath
dispensed his bounties as in heav’n" (Milton 2013: 121). However, the second passage
does not necessarily have to refer to abundance of fruit, but can also refer to generosity and
charity in general. Not only is the type of food in heaven basically very similar to that on
earth, the use of tables and the communal meal and lingering in arbours are also
reminiscent of human behavior: "Th’ angelic blast / Filled all the regions: from their
blissful bow’rs / Of amarantine shade, fountain or spring, / By the waters of life” (Milton
2013: 261), “Tables are set, and on a sudden piled / With angels’ food, and rubied nectar
flows / In pearl, in diamond, and massy gold, / Fruit of delicious vines, the growth of
heav’n” (Milton 2013: 130). The color designation "rubied", i.e. red, can on the one hand
be a symbolic reference to "love, life" (Lurker 1991) and thus the strengthening of the
"trees of life" (Milton 2013: 130) in heaven. On the other hand, this is reminiscent of the
Christian ceremony of communion with bread and wine. The comparison to pearls,
diamonds and gold points to the preciousness of the nectar, the mention of gold, which
also appeared in the description of the floor, contains the symbolic reference to
immortality: "Gold, because of its rarity, rust-free and its brilliance symbol of heavenly
light and immortality” (Lurker 1991); the pearl is “a symbol of perfection, of the sacred”
(Lurker 1991) and the diamond is “a symbol of purity and immutability” (Lurker 1991).
The repeated use of the term "ambrosial" is very striking: "ambrosial flowers" (Milton
2013: 39), "flow’r ambrosial" (Milton 2013: 150), "ambrosial fragrance" (Milton
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2013: 67), "Ambrosia" (Milton 2013: 114), "ambrosial fruitage" (Milton 2013: 124) and
"ambrosial night" (Milton 2013: 130). In Greek mythology, ambrosia is the food and/or
drink of the gods and means “immortal”. Water resources, flower meadows and especially
the amaranth and the rose are described in great detail:
Their crowns inwove with amarant and gold,

Immortal amarant, a flow’r which once
In Paradise, fast by the Tree of Life
Began to bloom, but soon for man’s offense
To heav’n removed where first it grew, there grows, And
flow’rs aloft shading the fount of life,
And where the river of bliss through midst of heav’n
Rolls o’er Elysian flow’rs her amber stream;
With these that never fade [...]
[...] the bright
Pavement that like a sea of jasper shone
Impurpled with celestial roses smiled (Milton, 2013: 73-74).
In general, flowers or blossoms carry the meaning of transience, spring and beauty:
"By its very nature it is symbolic of transitoriness, of spring and of beauty" (Cirlot,1971).
However, the first quality is canceled out by the use of the phrases "immortal", "never
fade", as well as the mention of the "tree of life" and the "fount of life". Finding the tree
and the fountain of life in such close proximity reinforces the symbolic meaning of the
fountain: "symbolic of the ‘Centre’ and of the ‘Origin’ in action" (Cirlot, 1971). However,
the above passage assigns other attributes to heaven, namely a condition or status: The
existence of the roses symbolizes the perfection of heaven: "a symbol of completion, of
consummate achievement and perfection" (Cirlot,1971). The expressions ‘river of bliss’
and ‘amber stream’ illustrate the connection between place and inhabitant, as does the
history of amaranth; after the fall of Adam and Eve and their associated mortality, the
immortal plant is removed from paradise and only occurs in heaven, with the immortal
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angels. Immortality and thus eternity are therefore predominant and, in relation to the
further fate of earth, "supernatural" characteristics of heaven, which are repeatedly
expressed in the depiction of the place.
However, the further description of the well indicates another quality than
immortality: the angel Michael gives Adam some of his water so that he gains an expanded
view: "from the well of life three drops instilled. / [...] the power of these ingredients
pierced, / Ev’n to the inmost seat of mental sight" (Milton 2013: 271). This underscores
the description of heaven as the dwelling place of God, who is repeatedly said to be the
creator and source of all life and capable of bestowing enlightenment on man.
The comparison of the heavenly floor with the jasper, "the bright / Pavement that
like a sea of jasper shone" (Milton 2013: 74), was probably not done for purely aesthetic
reasons either; jasper or chert has a special meaning in the Christian faith: "Hrabanus
Maurus assigns the following meaning to the precious stones: [...] jasper – power of faith"
(Lurker 1991). Furthermore, this gemstone is mentioned as one of the following in the
Bible: "The 12 E. on the bust of the high priest (Exodus 28:17-21) referred to the 12 tribes
of Israel" (Lurker 1991). There are other mentions of jasper, which in turn associate it with
heaven: "underneath a bright sea flowed / Of jasper, or of liquid pearl" (Milton 2013: 78)
and "the heav’nly bands / Down from a sky of jasper lighted now / In Paradise” (Milton
2013: 265). In the Bible, jasper is also mentioned twice in the Revelations; On the one
hand, God’s form is described with this stone (Revelation 4:3), on the other hand, the wall
of the New Jerusalem consists of hornstone (Revelation 21:18) and also contains it as the
first of its twelve foundation stones (Revelation 21:19). So Milton was probably biblical
on this point. In particular, the religious feelings, devotion and innocence are reflected in
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heaven in its inhabitants, the angels; Satan and the rebellious angels are no longer tolerated
in heaven after their rebellion, i.e. after their loss of these very qualities.
High buildings can also be found in heaven, towers or tower-like constructions, at
least partially erected by the angels, are even mentioned several times: "In heav’n by many
a towered structure high" (Milton 2013: 30), "To have built in heav’n high tow’rs" (Milton
2013: 31), "O’er heav’n’s high tow’rs (Milton 2013: 34). This emphasizes the height and
moral position of heaven and its inhabitants: "Basically, then, the tower is symbolic of
ascent [...] (whereby material height implies spiritual elevation)" (Cirlot, 1971). But these
towers and walls are also fortifications designed to protect the sky: "The tow’rs of heav’n
are filled / With armèd watch, that render all access / Impregnable" (Milton 2013: 36),
"Heav’n , whose high walls fear no assault or siege, / Or ambush from the deep” (Milton
2013: 42). Overall, the sky has a distinct military note; the described elements of the
environment as well as some activities of the angels or their designations suggest this:
"Proud limitary cherub" (Milton 2013: 111), "Straight knew him all the bands / Of angels
under watch" (Milton 2013: 120 ) and
Go Michael of celestial armies prince, And

thou in military prowess next
Gabriel, lead forth to battle these my sons
Invincible, lead forth my armèd saints
By thousands and by millions ranged for fight (Milton, 2013: 139).
The expected properties also underline this military aspect: "discipline and faith [...]
military obedience" (Milton, pp. 110-111).
A significant feature of heaven is the throne of God, which is also a symbol of
God’s power: "And shook his throne" (Milton 2013: 11), "But he who reigns / Monarch in
heav’n, till then as one secure / Sat on his throne" (Milton 2013: 27), "the courts / And
37
temple of his mighty Father throned / On high" (Milton 2013: 161), "at the holy mount /
Of heav’n’s high-seated top , the imperial throne / Of Godhead, fixed forever firm and
sure” (Milton 2013: 178), “the throne supreme” (Milton 2013: 230) and “the mercy-seat
above” (Milton 2013: 259).
The mention of royal insignia and titles have their correspondence on earth and in
the Elizabethan world view, so once again point to the strict hierarchy: "whom the
Súpreme King / Exalted to such power, and gave to rule, / Each in his hierarchy, the orders
bright" (Milton 2013: 30), "the Almighty Father from above, / From the pure empyrean
where he sits / High throned above all highth, bent down his eye" (Milton 2013: 65) and
"That golden scepter ” (Milton 2013: 136). To reinforce this elevated position, the throne
is locally placed on a hill: "his holy mount" (Milton 2013: 132), "This our high place, our
sanctuary, our hill" (Milton 2013: 132), "thy holy mount" (Milton 2013: 157), “the mount
of God” (Milton 2013: 140) and
There is a cave
Within the mount of God, fast by his throne, Where
light and darkness in perpetual round
Lodge and dislodge by turns, which makes through heav’n
Grateful vicissitude, like day and night;
Light issues forth, and at the other door
Obsequious darkness enters, till her hour
To veil the heav’n, though darkness there might well
Seem twilight here (Milton, 2013: 138).
So this mound has other properties than depicting God in an exalted position and
underlining his status: it contains light or darkness according to the time of day that
prevails in heaven. This corresponds very well to God’s quality as Creator of Light and
Illuminator; Furthermore, a comparison to the earth is drawn here again. The fact that there
38
can be greater darkness on earth than in heaven is reflected in the dualism of good and evil
or innocence and sin: Sinful Satan is banished from heaven, but sneaks up to Eve’s bed at
night and wakes him up her dream of being godlike.
During the war in heaven, the hill is also described by a military term: "stronghold
of heav’n" (Milton 2013: 143), whose impregnability is repeatedly referred to: "where thou
sitt’st / Throned inaccessible" (Milton 2013: 74) and "This inaccessible high strength, the
seat / Of Deity supreme" (Milton 2013: 166). This impregnability can also be interpreted
through the military interpretation in matters of power, and thus the position of God.
Heaven is divided into dominions assigned to individual mighty angels: "Regions
they passed, the mighty regencies / Of Seraphim and Potentates and Thrones / In their
triple degrees" (Milton 2013: 133). One cardinal point mentioned in heaven, the north, is
Satan’s dominion: "Homeward with flying march where we possess / The quarters of the
north" (Milton 2013: 131). The North is also associated in the Bible with the color black,
which has primarily negative connotations, which corresponds to Satan’s role and
characteristics or contains a foreshadowing of the following events: "The identification of
the North with the black color (night, winter, calamity, death) is also found [...] in the OT”
(Lurker 1991). This association is most likely explained by observations of the sun rising
in the east, traveling in the south, setting in the west, and "never seen" in the north,
according to a popular rhyme. The north is also that part of heaven where the revolt is
instigated: "his first revolt in heaven [...] how he drew his legions after him to the parts of
the north, and there incited them to rebel with him" (Milton 2013: 113).
In Satan’s northern dominion is an imitation of God’s hill and throne:
Satan to his royal seat
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High on a hill, far blazing, as a mount

Raised on a mount, with pyramids and tow’rs From
diamond quarries hewn, and rocks of gold, The
palace of great Lucifer [...]
Affecting all equality with God,
In imitation of that mount whereon
Messiah was declared in sight of heav’n,
The Mountain of the Congregation called (Milton, 2013: 133).
However, Satan’s copy does not reach the original: it is surpassed by the fact that
light and darkness emanate from God’s mountain, so he has power over the times of day
and the light. However, in this description, in the imitation of God’s abode and its
immediate surroundings, Satan’s arrogance and pride are already indicated; later the pride
is also explicitly mentioned: "those proud tow’rs to swift destruction doomed" (Milton
2013: 137). This passage is strongly reminiscent of a later passage dealing with the Tower
of Babel, where pride also leads people to build the Tower as an expression of their
striving for godlike status:
A mighty hunter thence he shall be styled

Before the Lord, as in despite of Heav’n, Or
from Heav’n claiming second sovranty [...]
to build
A city and tow’r, whose top may reach to heav’n (Milton, 2013: 284).
Elements of the environment not only provide information about the actual status,
but also about the desired status and the sins of the residents. Satan’s desire to rise higher
in the hierarchy is evident here, but so is the possibility of falling lower than he had
previously.
In the description of its surroundings, heaven contains numerous symbols that refer
to a high moral status, perfection, life and especially immortality. But the difference
between light and dark can also be viewed more closely using the sky environment. The
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ground contains materials that enable the construction of the cannon, which, through their
description in connection with the expression "dark", illustrate the negative character of
darkness: "Deep under ground, materials dark and crude, / Of spiritous and fiery spume
[...] These in their dark nativity the deep” (Milton 2013: 150). "Deep" and "fiery" are terms
that otherwise mainly appear in connection with the negative connotations of hell. The
occurrence of mineral substances is also attributed to the earth for comparison: "blackest
grain [...] Part hidden veins digged up (nor hath this earth / Entrails unlike) of mineral and
stone" (Milton 2013: 151). Through contact with heavenly light, however, these materials
are transformed, according to Satan, into the beautiful things so typical of heaven:
"touched / With heav’n’s ray, and tempered they shoot forth / So beauteous, op’ning to the
ambient light ” (Milton 2013: 150). Finally, heaven is associated with the notion of light,
using light as a synonym for heaven: "up to the coast of light" (Milton 2013: 187).
The actual spatial concept of heaven is not only used in a personified form in
Paradise Lost, but is even used as an equivalent to a creature, namely God. Hell is also
partly shown as a living being, but it lacks the opportunity to act and make decisions
independently. This depiction of the two places differs markedly from other uses of the
terms hell and paradise used in relation to persons to describe their status; hell as the inner
state of Satan and paradise as the inner state of Eve. Heaven as a synonym for God
therefore occupies a special position. Not only does he live above all he created, but he is
frequently addressed as the highest: "the Most High" (Milton 2013: 9, p. 230, p. 278,
p. 286), "the Highest" ( Milton, p. 28, p. 45, p. 257) and "God Most High" (Milton
2013: 294).
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Furthermore, the sky is described as an evaluative, but also credible instance:
"Favored of Heav’n so highly" (Milton 2013: 9), „however witness heaven, / Heav’n
witness thou anon“ (Milton, 2013: 152), „gain [...] Favor from Heav’n“ (Milton, 2013:
206) und „witness Heav’n / What love sincere“ (Milton, 2013: 254).
Heaven has laws established by God: "the fixed laws of heav’n" (Milton 2013: 33),
"Strict laws imposed" (Milton 2013: 39). But God is not only the legislator, but also the
punishing instance when these rules are violated; he sometimes uses thunder and fire:
"Heav’n’s afflicting thunder" (Milton 2013: 37), "for soon expect to feel / His thunder on
thy head, devouring fire" (Milton 2013: 137), "There with my cry importune Heaven, that
all/ The sentence from thy head removed may light / On me” (Milton 2013: 254),
"Heav’n’s high jurisdiction" (Milton 2013: 41) and "Father, who art judge / Of all things
made, and judgest only right" (Milton 2013: 67). Here it becomes clear that God makes no
mistakes in this function, i.e. is infallible. The dominion over all worlds is also in the
hands of God, which Satan and Moloch, however, do not regard as pleasant: "Sole
reigning holds the tyranny of heav’n [...] heav’ns perpetual King [...] his high supremacy”
(Milton 2013: 12), “the will / And high permission of all-ruling Heaven” (Milton
2013: 14), "heav’n’s all-ruling sire" (Milton 2013: 40) and "Terror of heav’n" (Milton
2013: 45). And through the revolt of the fallen angels, which ends in a war against Heaven,
he becomes Satan’s adversary or opposing instance: "Vain war with Heav’n" (Milton
2013: 33), "th’ antagonist of Heav’ n” (Milton 2013: 46). However, everything is
according to his will, even the incursion of sin and death into paradise: "Heav’n’s high
behest" (Milton 2013: 266) and "Sin and Death amain / Following his track, such was the
will of Heav’ n” (Milton 2013: 61). God in the denomination of heaven is further
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characterized by Adam as a giver: "Heav’n’s last best gift" (Milton 2013: 114), "by sovran
gift possess / This spacious ground [...] These bounties which our Nourisher , from whom /
All perfect good unmeasured out, descends, / To us for food and for delight hath caused /
The earth to yield [...] That one Celestial Father gives to all” (Milton, pp. 123-124) and
"Creator bounteous and benign, / Giver of all things fair, but fairest this / Of all thy gifts,
nor enviest" (Milton 2013: 193). God, the giver of all things, including life itself, demands
in return faith and obedience, the only things he cannot create himself.
Another important attribute of God, the scope of which only becomes clear in the
eleventh and twelfth books, is that of forgiveness and grace: "the mercy-seat above /
Prevenient grace" (Milton 2013: 259), "in whose look serene, / When angry most he
seemed and most severe, / What else but favor, grace, and mercy shone" (Milton
2013: 258), "infinite in pardon was my Judge" (Milton 2013: 264). However, this quality is
by no means in conflict with his function as judge and punisher; this is excluded by the
infallibility mentioned above.
The supreme being not only holds the absolute supremacy, but also holds the
highest authority for many important functions: God is the sole creator, giver and
legislator, he is the highest judge, punisher and forgiver and also directs the fate of all
worlds.
The denominations of the heavenly dwellers and former heavenly dwellers also
clarify the moral difference between light and dark: the faithful heavenly dwellers are
referred to as "sons of light" (Milton 2013: 117), "the sons of morn" (Milton 2013: 132)
and "the sons of heaven" (Milton 2013: 28), in which the angels are brought into a family
relationship with God, heaven and light. The fallen company, in contrast, are called "sons
43
of darkness" (Milton 2013: 156). The moral evaluation is illustrated by the term "bad
angels" (Milton 2013: 18), although they too were once among the creatures of light:
"though Spirits of purest light, / Purest at first, now gross by sinning grown" (Milton
2013: 155). At this point, the connection between light and beauty or dark and ugliness
becomes clear. Furthermore, the narrator himself refers to God as light: "Hail holy Light,
offspring of Heav’n first-born [...] Since God is light, / And never but in unapproachèd
light / Dwelt from eternity" (Milton 2013: 63) and "thou celestial light" (Milton 2013: 65),
Elledge’s comment on the first passage is as follows: "To move from hell to heaven is to
move from darkness to light [...] holy Light, God himself, who is light and dwells in fire,
flame, dazzling brightness” (Elledge in Milton, FN to III.1-55). Elsewhere these
statements are repeated, with the addition of the statement that God is not only the light,
but also the source of light: "thee Author of all being, / Fountain of light" (Milton
2013: 74). In this context, there are paradoxes in God’s description; although it emits such
brightness, it remains invisible and the brightness takes on such proportions that it appears
dark:
[...] thyself invisible

Amidst the glorious brightness where thou sitt’st
Throned inaccessible, but when thou shad’st The
full blaze of thy beams, and through a cloud Drawn
round about thee like a radiant shrine, Dark with
excessive bright thy skirts appear.
Yet dazzle heav’n, that brightest Seraphim
Approach not, but with both wings veil their eyes. (Milton, 2013: 74).
Fire is also mentioned in connection with this brightness: "a flaming mount, whose
top / Brightness had made invisible" (Milton 2013: 129). Clouds are also repeatedly
associated with God and his mountain seat: "with clouds exhaled / From that high mount
44
of God, whence light and shade / Spring both" (Milton 2013: 130), "of incense clouds /
Fuming from golden censers hid the mount" (Milton 2013: 179), " from his secret cloud”
(Milton 2013: 230). These clouds are meaningful symbols that are also mentioned in the
Old Testament: “Clouds belong to heaven; they cover the dwelling place of the Deity. [...]
In the OT they are a visible sign of God’s presence" (Lurker 1991) and "symbolic of forms
as phenomena and appearance, always in a state of metamorphosis, which obscure the
immutable quality of higher truth" (Cirlot 1971). God is also literally ascribed omniscience
and truth in the text, so this interpretation is correct: "the Maker wise" (Milton 2013: 206),
"Creator wise" (Milton 2013: 222, p. 253), "his heart / Omniscient, who in all things wise
and just" (Milton 2013: 230) . Another reason for God’s veiling may be the commandment
not to make an image of God; his form remains invisible through the cloud. In conjunction
with smoke and fire, these clouds are also a sign of God’s wrath: "clouds began / To
darken all the hill, and smoke to roll / In dusky wreaths reluctant flames, the sign / Of
wrath awaked" (Milton 2013: 139). The unveiled divinity only becomes visible in God’s
Son: "unfolding bright / [...] on the Son / Blazed forth unclouded deity" (Milton
2013: 231), and towards his Son he also shows himself unveiled: "To whom the father,
without cloud, serene” (Milton 2013: 260). At his abode, God surrounds himself with
archangels who do observations and errands for him:
Th’ Archangel Uriel, one of the sev’n

Who in God’s presence, nearest to his throne Stand
ready at command, and are his eyes
That run through all the heav’ns, or down to th’ earth
Bear his swift errands over moist and dry, O’er sea and land (Milton, 2013: 82).
Here, too, the number that occurs, the seven, has a task that emphasizes God’s
perfection: "In Judaism, Christianity and Islam, the number of perfection" (Lurker 1991).
45
The concept of heaven is therefore used as a synonym for God several times.
Essential characteristics are the light, immortality, perfection, eternity and moral
superiority. The angels as other inhabitants of heaven clarify the connection between light
and dark, good and evil, beauty and ugliness.
Heaven is not only portrayed positively in its description as a place, the inhabitants
are also characterized by positive characteristics and above all contentment and happiness:
"The happier state / In heaven" (Milton 2013: 33), "driven out from bliss" (Milton
2013: 35), "such concord is in heav’n" (Milton 2013: 74), "Those happy places" (Milton
2013: 123) and "all th’ angelic host that stand/ In sight of God enthroned, our happy state /
Hold” (Milton 2013: 127). What is striking here is that these states of mind are ascribed to
both the place and the residents.
However, this happiness and positive feelings do not only come from heaven, but
ultimately stem from God’s presence: "in thy presence joy entire" (Milton 2013: 71). For
Adam, too, closeness to God denotes the highest level of happiness: "God, whom to
behold was then my highth / Of happiness" (Milton 2013: 249).
Even the fallen angels see their goal in heaven at the beginning: "though oppressed
and fall’n, / I give not heav’n for lost" (Milton 2013: 33). Beelzebub later puts the wish
into perspective: "we may chance / Re-enter heav’n; or else in some mild zone / Dwell not
unvisited of heav’n’s fair light / Secure" (Milton 2013: 43). Just being close to heaven and
heavenly light is worth striving for. Heaven and light are also synonymous with happiness
for the fallen angels, as their primary goal is to regain their status and former abode.
With Satan this is ambiguous; for him heaven is synonymous with submission and
coercion: "subjection [...] to celebrate his throne / With warbled hymns, and to his
46
Godhead sing / Forced hallelujahs" (Milton 2013: 39) and "though in heav’n, our state / Of
splendid vassalage" (Milton 2013: 39). On seeing Paradise, however, he admits that his life
in heaven was basically good and that the tasks of the angels were not as negative as he
had previously portrayed them: "In that bright eminence, and with his good / Uraided
none; nor was his service hard” (Milton 2013: 86). However, the dominion of God, and
with it the felt compulsion, is independent of where they are: "remain / In strictest
bondage, though thus far removed, / Under th’ inevitable curb" (Milton 2013: 41). This
corresponds to the role of God as ruler over all worlds. A further indication of the
connection with heaven or the aspiration of the fallen host is the adherence to their
heavenly titles even in hell: "O progeny of heav’n, empyreal Thrones" (Milton 2013: 44).
Heaven is prophesied to man through the sacrifice of God’s Son: "Then with the
multitude of my redeemed / Shall enter heaven long absent, and return" (Milton 2013: 71)
and "Resigns him up with heav’n and earth renewed" (Milton 2013: 261). So he is the goal
and salvation not only for the angels but also for the human race. People reach heaven as a
state through unity with Jesus: "All my redeemed may dwell in joy and bliss, / Made one
wih me as I with thee am one" (Milton 2013: 260). This unity is achieved through his
incarnation as the Son of God and a human woman: “from thy womb the Son / Of God
Most High; so God with man units” (Milton 2013: 294). And just as the earth becomes like
hell through the sin of man, the earth is created by the Son of God and like heaven through
man:
in a moment will create

Another world, out of one man a race Of
men innumerable, there to dwell, Not
here, till by degrees of merit raised Up
hither, under long obedience tried;
47
And earth be changed to heav’n, and heav’n to earth,

One kingdom, joy and union without end
[...] And thou my Word, begotten Son, by thee This I
perform (Milton, 2013: 167)
and "New heav’ns, new earth, ages of endless date / Founded in righteousness and peace
of love, / To bring forth fruits joy and eternal bliss" (Milton 2013: 298). Union with God
then elevates man to a new status in which time will be neither finite nor limiting for him.
The connection between the condition and the resulting appearance of the angels
and the place is expressed very clearly: "Native of heav’n, for other place / None can than
heav’n such glorious shape contain" (Milton 2013: 123). , also in Satan’s change after his
fall; he is no longer recognized by his former companions:
Think not, revolted Spirit, thy shape the same, Or

undiminished brightness, to be known
As when thou stood’st in heav’n upright and pure; That
glory then, when thou no more wast good, Departed
from thee, and thou resembl’st now
Thy sin and place of doom obscure and foul (Milton, 2013: 108).
Thus, the sky becomes a symbol of its inhabitants: "heavenly" beings have positive
qualities and are characterized by the beauty associated with them.
Another important feature of heaven is the unity that leads to happiness: "United as
one individual soul / Forever happy" (Milton 2013: 129), "in communion sweet / Quaff
immortality and joy" (Milton 2013: 130) and "joy and union without end" (Milton
2013: 167). This unity or even unity is also very important for the human couple, Adam
and Eve. Also closely related to this unity is love, which is mentioned as the opposite of
infernal hatred: "in his face / Divine compassion visibly appeared, / Love without end, and
without measure grace" (Milton 2013: 67), "Dwells in all heaven charity so dear?’ (Milton
2013: 69) and ‘So heav’nly love shall outdo hellish hate’ (Milton 2013: 72). According to
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Michael, God will not forsake people and will not deny them his fatherly love even after
the fall: "Still following thee, still compassing thee round / With goodness and paternal
love" (Milton 2013: 269). Furthermore, love is a prerequisite for the happy state in which
the people of heaven find themselves: "Let it suffice thee that thou know’st / Us happy,
and without love no happiness" (Milton 2013: 196).
In summary, Heaven is the destination of the fallen multitude and the righteous
man, resulting in heaven being equated with happiness, love, and peace.
4.2. Eden and Paradise
Eden is a locally restricted area, the location and extent of which is also described
relatively precisely in the text:
Eden stretched her line

From Auran eastward to the royal tow’rs
Of great Seleucia, built by Grecian kings,
Or where the sons of Eden long before
Dwelt in Telassar (Milton, 2013: 91).
Further, Eden is bounded by an impassable rampart of plants, and contains within
itself Paradise as an exalted region, itself bounded by natural ramparts or walls:
[...] to the border comes

Of Eden, where delicious Paradise,
Now nearer, crowns with her enclosure green, As
with a rural mound the champaign head
Of a steep wilderness, whose hairy sides With
thicket overgrown, grotesque and wild, Access
denied; and overhead up grew Insuperable
highth of loftiest shade,
Cedar, and pine, and fir, and branching palm, A
sylvan scene, and as the ranks ascend Shade
above shade, a woody theater
Of stateliest view. Yet higher than their tops
The verdurous wall of Paradise up sprung:
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Which to our general sire gave prospect large

Into his nether empire neighboring round (Milton, 2013: 88-89).
The importance of paradise compared to Eden is expressed on the one hand by its
relatively higher location, on the other hand by the expression "crowns". The use of
superlatives further sheds light on the position of Eden, and indirectly, through the
comparison with Paradise, also on its position. The more precise placement of Paradise
within Eden is also described: "Paradise [...] in the east / Of Eden planted" (Milton
2013: 91).
Paradise is not a completely closed space, it has an entrance and exit guarded by
angels: "Gabriel, who had in charge the gate of Paradise" (Milton 2013: 85). The gate lies
to the east and is also made of marble and so high that it reaches the clouds:
the eastern gate of Paradise [...]

it was a rock
Of alablaster, piled up to the clouds,
Conspicuous far, winding with one ascent
Acessible from earth, one entrance high; The
rest was craggy cliff, that overhung
Still as it rose, impossible to climb (Milton, 2013: 100)
And "Satan had journeyed on [...] One gate there only was, and that looked east /
On the other side” (Milton 2013: 90). The latter passage of the text again bears a negative
characterization of Satan, if one deduces from the indirect description of the route that he
is approaching paradise from the west: "According to the Christian conception, the sun of
salvation, Christ comes from the east, in the west the powers of darkness rule and of
demons” (Lurker 1991) and “The west is the sunset side, portending darkness, cold and
death” (Lurker 1991). Death is the very fate of Adam and Eve brought to Paradise by
Satan’s deception and Eve’s sin. The angel Raphael, who reminds the two of the
50
prohibition on God’s behalf, also approaches from the east: "Eastward among those trees,
what glorious shape / Comes this way moving; seems another morn / Ris’n on mid-noon;
some great behest from Heav’n" (Milton 2013: 121). The more difficult access to paradise
can certainly also be understood in a figurative sense, especially for Milton’s readers:
There is only one way to paradise, and that leads through Christ.
Paradise’s elevated position combined with intensive guarding is somewhat
reminiscent of medieval fortresses; however, the only enemy man has to fear is Satan.
The main features of the description are plants, especially trees, flowers and their
fruits: "goodliest trees loaden with fairest fruit, / Blossoms and fruits at once of golden hue
/ Appeared, with gay enameled colors mixed" (Milton 2013: 89), "this delightful land [...]
herb, tree, fruit, and flow’r, / Glist’ring with dew; fragrant the fertile earth” (Milton
2013: 103). The representation of the plants is consistently positive and even occupied
with superlatives, which is reminiscent of the description of the sky. However, the fruits
not only serve as food, but also have a symbolic meaning: "Fruits are symbols of fertility
and life" (Lurker 1960). Adam and Eve are the first living people and the origin of all
subsequent generations.
In addition to plants, landscape elements are also shown, all of which have positive
connotations and emphasize fertility and the season:
Groves whose rich trees wept odorous gums and balm,

Others whose fruit burnished with golden rind [...] Betwixt
them lawn, or level downs, and flocks
Grazing the tender herb, were interposed, Or
palmy hillock, or the flow’ry lap
Of some irriguous valley spread her store, Flow’rs
of all hue, and without thorn the rose:
Another side, umbrageous grots and caves [...]
meanwhile murmuring waters fall
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Down the slope hills, dispersed, or in a lake, That

to the fringèd bank with myrtle crowned,
Her crystal mirror holds, unite their streams (Milton, 2013: 92).
Particularly striking in this description is the thornless rose, which embodies the
state of purity, i.e. "without sin" (Lurker 1990). Several senses are also addressed, for
which paradise means a positive experience: "fruit [...] of delicious taste [...] airs, vernal
airs, / Breathing the smell of field and grove" (Milton 2013: 92 ).
There is only one season in paradise, namely eternal spring and thus a consistently
pleasant climate: "th’ eternal spring" (Milton 2013: 93), "vernal airs" (Milton 2013: 92).
This is further supported by the description of the air and the wind, which, due to their
pleasant nature, are even able to influence the mental state of the viewer, in the following
case Satan: "and of pure now purer air / Meets his approach, and to the heart inspires /
Vernal delight and joy, able to drive / All sadness but despair: now gentle gales / Fanning
their odoriferous wings dispense / Native perfumes” (Milton 2013: 89).
Everything Adam and Eve need to live is available to them through the rich
vegetation. Fruits and their juice serve as food:
"flow’rs and their fruit / Man’s nourishment" (Milton 2013: 126) and
And Eve within, due at her hour prepared

For dinner savory fruits, of taste to please
True appetite, and not disrelish thirst
Of nectarous draughts between, from milky stream,
Berry or grape (Milton, 2013: 121).
The arbor is described in quite some detail, its components and therefore its
appearance and smell. Adam and Eve’s daily occupation is also shaped by the vegetation:
52
"sweet gard’ning labor" (Milton 2013: 94) and "following our delightful task / To
prune these growing plants, and tend these flow’rs" (Milton 2013: 97).
After the Fall, Adam and Eve use another plant, the fig leaf, to hide their nudity,
which they have become aware of: "The figtree [...] those leaves / They gathered [...] To
gird their waist [...] their shame in part / Covered” (Milton 2013: 227).
So overall, the description of Paradise and the circumstances of Adam and Eve is
very much focused on plants that emphasize the new life here. Even the shelter is not made
of dead plant parts or stones, but of living flowers.
Paradise has a great scenic resemblance to heaven, although it is much smaller in
extent: "In narrow room nature’s whole wealth, yea more, / A heav’n on earth" (Milton
2013: 91), especially that appearance of the Tree of Life and its description by the terms
"ambrosial" and "gold" indicate: "And all amid them stood the Tree of Life, / High
eminent, blooming ambrosial fruit / Of vegetable gold" (Milton 2013: 91). Its central
position and towering size make clear its importance: "the Tree of Life, / The middle tree
and highest there that grew [...] the virtue [...] Of that life-giving plant" (Milton 2013: 90 ).
The designation of paradise as a garden is not only to be understood as an
expression of its beauty, but also in the original sense of a constructed or planned
landscape, since God himself created it with appropriate considerations: "the sovran
Planter, when he framed / All things to man’s delightful use” (Milton 2013: 104), “the
gard’n of God” (Milton 2013: 120), and
in this pleasant soil

His far more pleasant garden God ordained:
[...] God had thrown
That mountain as his garden mold high raised
Upon the rapid current, which through veins Of
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porous earth with kindly thirst up drawn, Rose a

fresh fountain, and with many a rill Watered the
garden (Milton, 2013: 91).
Similar to hell, four rivers flow in different directions from this source; however,
they are only reminiscent of the fiery rivers of the underworld in terms of their number, not
their quality. The paradisiacal rivers are clearly positively documented, especially through
their life-sustaining property:
How from that sapphire fount the crispèd brooks, Rolling

on orient pearl and sands of gold,
Wih mazy error under pendent shades Ran
nectar, visiting each plant, and fed
Flow’rs worthy of Paradise (Milton, 2013: 91).
In the eleventh book, one scenic element, the highest hill of paradise, is given
particular prominence: "the heav’nly bands [...] on a hill made alt, / A glorious apparition"
(Milton 2013: 265). In his description he is reminiscent of God’s hill in heaven: "it was a
hill / Of Paradise the highest" (Milton 2013: 269) and
From yonder blazing cloud that veils the hill

One of the heav’nly host, and by his gait None
of the meanest, some great Potentate Or of the
Thrones above, such majesty Invests him
coming (Milton, 2013: 265).
The angel described here is Michael bringing the news to Adam and Eve that they
must leave paradise. The resemblance to God’s hill may be due to Michael’s high status
and his function as the mouthpiece of God. Before the human couple leaves Paradise,
however, Adam is allowed a glimpse of humanity’s future; for this he must take a higher
standpoint: "Ascend / This hill [...] So both ascend / In the visions of God" (Milton
2013: 269).
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The description of paradise is often linked to the description of feelings or states,
e.g. "on earth he first beheld / Our two first parents [...] in the happy garden placed, /
Reaping immortal fruits of joy and love" (Milton 2013: 65). Other examples include: "The
happier Eden" (Milton 2013: 99), "this happy place" (Milton 2013: 100), "delightful land"
(Milton 2013: 102), "Eden’s happy plains" (Milton 2013: 117), "the blissful field" (Milton
2013: 121) and "the garden of bliss" (Milton 2013: 188).
The close connection between place and condition becomes clear, among other
things, in the change in paradise after the Fall: "O Eve, some further change awaits us
night, / Which heaven by these mute signs in nature shows / Forerunners of his purpose"
(Milton 2013: 264).
An important and significant fact in the description of the human couple is that they
almost always appear together. The only situation in which the two are separated leads
directly to the Fall. However, the question of whether they would have resisted the seducer
together remains open. This unity of Adam and Eve is particularly expressed through the
frequent depiction of the physical bond through their hands: "hand in hand" (Milton
2013: 94, p. 104), "Handed they went" (Milton 2013: 105) , "To the nuptial bow’r / I led
her blushing like the morn" (Milton 2013: 193) and
to have thee by my side

Henceforth an individual solace dear;
Part of my soul I seek thee, and thee claim My
other half’: with that thy gentle hand Seized
mine (Milton, 2013: 98-99).
But their gardening work also becomes a pleasure because of the community:
"following our delightful task [...] Which were it toilsome, yet with thee were sweet"
(Milton 2013: 97).
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The separation of the two before Eve’s sin is also described by the hands: "from her
husband’s hand her hand / Soft she withdrew" (Milton 2013: 208), although this separation
is ultimately not only physical, but also moral in nature becomes. After both have eaten
from the forbidden tree, they find each other again, which in turn is also expressed through
the hands: "Her hand he seized" (Milton 2013: 225).
The absolute importance of commonality is illustrated by the use of the term
paradise: "Imparadised in one another’s arms" (Milton 2013: 99). The greater importance
of commonality for the state, especially happiness and contentment, over whereabouts
becomes clear at the end of the twelfth book: "then wilt thou not be loath / To leave this
Paradise, but shalt possess / A paradise within thee, happier far" (Milton 2013: 299). This
statement is in stark contrast to Satan’s hell and clarifies the use of the term paradise in
two entirely different meanings: as a place and as a state.
This "paradise" state can be reached by man, and the key to this is conjugal love, in
which man’s perfection is only achieved: "Our state cannot be severed, we are one, / One
flesh, to lose thee were to lose myself" (Milton 2013: 223), "gladly of our union hear thee
speak, / One heart, one soul in both" (Milton 2013: 223) and "My other self, the partner of
my life" (Milton 2013: 233).
Although Adam and Eve must leave Paradise at the end of the book, they take
Paradise with them thanks to their fellowship and love:
with thee to go,

Is to stay here; without thee here to stay, Is
to go hence unwilling; thou to me
Art all things under heav’n, all places thou,
Who for my wilful crime art banished hence
[...] They hand in hand with wand’ring steps and slow,
Through Eden took their solitary way (Milton, 2013: 300-301).
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The paradisiacal state is quite similar to heaven as a state, both terms are
characterized by happiness and contentment and are presented positively. However,
paradise as a state is tied to the partner and thus to earth, just as heaven as a state is
dependent on God’s presence. Through development man can become equal or at least
similar to the heavenly inhabitants:
Your bodies may at last turn all to spirit, Improved

by tract of time, and winged ascend Ethereal, as we,
or may at choice
Here or in heav’nly paradises dwell (Milton, 2013: 126).
Due to Adam’s and Eve’s possible ascent and the associated equality with the
angels, the difference between heaven and paradise is abolished and both expressions can -
in their description of a state - be used synonymously.
4.3. God as the Highest Authority Figure in Paradise Lost
The first canto in John Milton’s Paradise Lost begins with a prayer to the celestial
muse, from whom the epic narrator seeks inspiration and assistance in his endeavour.
Defending providence and extolling the ways of God can be interpreted as the poet John
Milton’s claim in Paradise Lost to bring to work a justification of God’s ways. Milton sees
himself less as the voice of God and more as a modern apostle who tells people about God
through his writings. The narrator’s position throughout the epic is that of a superior
observer who, while not interfering with the narrative as such, has omniscience equal to
the eye of God. He surveys all the events of the story, knows where it begins and how it
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ends, and seems to grasp the logic of all the events of completion. To do this, the narrator,
like the character in Dante’s Divine Comedy, goes to the Den of Hell as an eyewitness. But
unlike Dante, the darkly colored painting of the Hellmouth does not serve as a deterrent
example, but only as an ironic stage set for the fallen angels. The apostate angels appear as
beings equal to God whose right it is to deliberate on the progress of the universe in their
own pandemonic parliament. Satan as the adversary of good par excellence, embodies one
of the main characters of the epic and is on a literary level on an equal footing with the
powers that be on the good side. Without his active involvement, the story would hardly
have gotten off the ground, and there would have been no turmoil in heaven, nor a fall
from grace on earth. William Empson in his book „Milton’s God“ mentions Can it be the
uneasy conscience of God or of Milton which produces this unfortunate metaphor, actually
reminding us of the incident when he forced his trops to expose mankind to the tempter?“
(Empson, 1979).
The war in heaven, the turmoil in hell, and the divine creation of the Almighty all
precede the event of the Fall (the very center of the story). Only later, in Cantos IV - X,
does Milton turn to the events in the Garden of Eden. The beginning of the epic announces
these events in advance by presenting the result in its essence.
„Of Man’s first disobedience, and the fruit
Of that forbidden tree whose mortal taste
Brought death into the World, and all our woe […]“ (Milton, 2013: 3)
The extremely frequent use of terms expressing eternity, especially in relation to
God, suggests another temporal concept: e.g. "God [...] never but in unapproached light /
Dwelt from eternity" (Milton 2013: 63), "Immutable, immortal, infinite, / Eternal King"
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(Milton 2013: 74), "Eternal Father" (Milton 2013: 119, p. 166, p. 230), "th’ Eternal eye"
(Milton 2013: 132), "Father Eternal" (p. 231). The environment of God is similarly
described: "Th’ eternal regions [...] Immortal amaranth" (Milton 2013: 73). God does not
experience time in the same way as all his created creatures, but has the gift of providence;
he not only has knowledge of all events of the past, present and future: "Foreseeing or
presaging, from the depth / Of knowledge past or present" (Milton 2013: 27), he is also the
beginning, i.e. the creator and end of all things: "Author and end of all things" (Milton
2013: 178) and "God [...] from his prospect high, / Wherein past, present, future he
beholds [...] foreseeing" (Milton 2013: 65), "Him first, him last, him midst, and without
end" (Milton 2013: 117). It unites past, present and future, i.e. all time, and is at the same
time independent of it. This being, perfect in itself, does not need knowledge and
experience for further development.
Whether in Virgil’s Aeneid or in Homer’s Iliad, in the Roman and Greek world of
legends man is always exposed to the whims of powerful gods. The ancient heroes had to
fear their wrath, but they could also count on their help and support in overcoming difficult
tasks. The main characters in the classic epics were responsible for their own actions and
were rewarded or punished for them by the gods (Empson, 1979). In both Paradise Lost
and classic epic poetry. The prior knowledge of the gods, or the one god in Paradise Lost,
does not conflict with the free actions of humans. For Featheringill, too, the fall from grace
is ultimately necessary in order to bestow greater prosperity on mankind. The paradox of
the fortunate fall (‘fortunate fall’) is by no means new to the classical epic (Featheringill
1990). For example, in Virgil’s case, the fall of Troy led to the founding of the far more
powerful and larger Roman Empire.
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After the disappearance of the ancient world of gods and legends and the rise of
Christianity, the anthropocentric world view, in which man always played an active role in
fulfilling his destiny, seems to have been replaced by the determinism of the one God.
Both Luther and Calvin resisted the idea that God could have handed over parts of his
power to human beings in the form of free will (Featheringill 1990). With Milton,
however, the omnipotence of God is not in conflict with man’s free will. His god rules
fate, but forbids necessity and chance from dominating his will.
And put not forth my goodness, which is free

To act or not, Necessity and Chance
Approach not me, and what I will is Fate. (Paradise Lost VII)
So Adam is not determined by chance and necessity, but has the ability to follow
God’s will through his intellect. In contrast to the epic tradition, in which the supreme
deity must fulfill fate against the will of other deities, in Paradise Lost fate and the will of
the gods are united in the figure of God the Father (Featheringill 1990). In Paradise Lost,
the cause of the Fall from Man lies in the quarrels of the angels (gods), who are now being
carried out on earth under the unalterable providence of God (similar to fate in ancient
myths). However, God intervenes in the events insofar as he gives Adam personal advice
and shows him his grace despite disregarding his commandments.
For man’s salvation, God sends his son Jesus to earth to save people from their
committed sins. Milton, as a kind of divine narrator, thus presents a God who endows his
creation with free will and thereby creates a just and rational world (Featheringill 1990).
Rational human choices are rewarded by God, irrational choices are counterproductive
(Featheringill 1990). Thus Adam voluntarily takes upon himself the burden of man after
the fall and submits his will to the will of God (Featheringill 1990), as did Aenas or
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Odysseus, whose actions were always viewed with the benevolence or displeasure of the
gods. In Paradise Lost, on the other hand, God takes full responsibility for destiny and his
creation, if he didn’t do it, he wouldn’t be inherently good and omnipotent. Milton,
however, takes both as a matter of course and is therefore anxious not to let his god figure
act in a contradictory way. Then why did he create man (and angels) with potential
wickedness? And why is his providence for man not determinative? Featheringill proposes
to resolve the fate versus free will paradox by distinguishing between the perspective of
God and the perspective of man (Featheringill 1990).
It is not in the power of man to fathom God’s ways fully. The plans of the Creator
are therefore not fully visible to humans. Milton, as the author behind the epic, is therefore
aware that his poetry about what is happening in heaven is again only based on analogies
(Featheringill 1990). So Raphael is only able to tell Adam about the war in heaven to a
limited extent.
„This is dispensed; and what surmounts the reach
Of human sense, I shall delineate so,
By likening spiritual to corporal forms,
As may express them best;“ (Paradise Lost V)
Milton proceeds with his poetry in the same way as the evangelists. Ultimately,
Milton sees these sources of his own inspiration as sacred and inspired fictions. Milton
bases his views on a line of tradition that is familiar to him. The distinction between the
(limited) intellect of man and the (infinite) of God has its origins in Plato and is carried
over to the Renaissance via the Neoplatonist tradition (Fallon 2007). In Plato, poetry is
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‘the imitation of the imitation (of reality) of a divine archetype’ (Fallon 2007). And for
Aristotle, poetry is of higher truth than history.
Featheringill also draws a parallel from Boethius’s treatise on the consolation of
philosophy to Paradise Lost. Boethius presents arguments that prove that fate and the will
of God are not in conflict with each other. Thus divine providence does not change the
course of things themselves. God’s knowledge of the course of events that do not
necessarily occur is not due to his previous decision, but to his knowledge of the truth.
From God’s point of view, all events appeared as necessities because they are conditioned
by God’s knowledge. However, if one looks at things as such and in the nature of
themselves, they lose nothing of their absolute freedom ( Featheringill 1990). So in
Boethius too, perspective (whether divine or human) determines whether things and events
in the world are essentially determined or free. In light of Featheringill’s arguments,
Milton’s own claim to justify the ways of God is tempered by himself admitting that his
(Milton’s) actual insights into God remain limited.
What does this mean for the fall of Adam and Eve? Featheringill first summarizes
what is taken for granted in Paradise Lost: “Man is not compelled to act by God’s eternal
wisdom, by necessity, by fate, by predestination or by any other power than his own free
will” (Featheringill 1990)
The guilt and responsibility for the Fall of Man in Paradise Lost is borne entirely
by man. And this statement is supported by Milton’s theoretical argument: “Thus it was
certain that he would fall, but it was not necessary, because he fell of his own accord and
that is irreconcilable with necessity .. ” (Featheringill 1990)
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Despite their linear experience of time, God’s creatures originally live forever: the
faithful as well as the fallen angels are described by "eternal being" (Milton 2013: 13), but
also by Adam and Eve. However, this immortality is not unchangeable; Adam and Eve eat
from the tree of knowledge and thereby become mortal, and the angels can also die at the
hands of God: "for Spirits that live throughout / Vital in every part [...] Cannot but by
annihilating die" (Milton 2013: 146). Michael foretells to Adam that Satan will be
destroyed by God’s Son on Judgment Day: "thy Savior [...] to dissolve / Satan with his
perverted world" (Milton 2013: 298).
However, immortality and thus eternity in hell is a very frightening prospect for the
fallen crowd: "eternal punishment" (Milton 2013: 13), "Where pain of unextinguishable
fire / Must exercise us without hope of end" (Milton 2013: 35), "reduce / To nothing this
essential, happier far / Than miserable to have eternal being" (Milton 2013: 35); though on
reflection it is still preferable to the extinction of its existence: "for who would lose, /
Though full of pain, this intellectual being, / Those thoughts that wander through eternity"
(Milton 2013: 37) and "We are decreed, / reserved and destined to eternal woe; / Whatever
doing, what can we suffer more, / What can we suffer worse?” (Milton 2013: 37).
In Paradise Lost, God’s omnipotence is not questioned either by man or by any of
the fallen angels. All largely agree that God made everything in creation and that His
wisdom and power over the universe is infinite and unaffected by anything in any way.
Even Satan, the ruler of Hell, knows in his heart that the Lord is invincible and cannot be
overthrown by any cunning or force. Satan’s wickedness is fueled solely by his thirst for
vengeance for the shame of his unsuccessful rebellion. The creator of the universe in
Paradise Lost has complete power over the it, and at the same time God did not let Satan
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be finally destroyed after his lost fight, did not protect paradise against the intrusion of the
snake, and planted the tree in the garden for Adam and Eve. Those who sympathize with
Adam will question God’s omnipotence to turn things around for good. If God is
omnipotent, why does he allow Adam to be deceived, suffer, and ultimately commit the
fall? The devil is to blame for everything. But if we look at the origins of evil, the battles
in the kingdom of heaven, the envy of angels, the problem has only been transferred from
earth to heaven, but is far from solved. How can there be turmoil in heaven when God
made everything for the best? All of these questions seem to undermine the inner logic of
John Milton’s epic verse, indeed they make reading it exciting because here, as
everywhere in literature, an arc of suspense arises from the great questions of mankind.
The mathematician and philosopher Gottfried Wilhelm Leibnitz also took up the
question of how God and the destructive forces of nature can be reconciled. In his work
Theodicy - On the Goodness of God, the Freedom of Man and the Origin of Evil, Leibnitz
argues for ‘the best of all possible worlds’ and shows that a God bound by the laws of
nature has infinitely many possible worlds but only one can create real world (Leibniz
2010). With theodicy, Leibnitz introduces a term that Milton did not use, but with the
meaning of which he was intimately familiar. Milton also dealt theoretically with
theological questions, e.g. in his theoretically theological work De Doctrina Christiana.
Milton researchers even claim that Milton’s poetry (Paradise Lost) adequately solves the
problem (Empson 1979)
According to traditional tradition, the biblical events in the Garden of Eden,
particularly Adam and Eve tasting the fruit of knowledge, are considered to be the origins
of all evil (Genesis 3.1-24). In Paradise Lost, evil finds its way into creation much earlier.
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Disobedience to God begins in the person of Satan. Archangel Raphael, himself an
eyewitness and participant in the heavenly battles, reports on the warlike events and their
origins (cantos V and VI). So there was a fall not only in the Garden of Eden but also in
heaven, although it had various causes, the fall of man would not have been possible
without the fall of the angels (Poole 2005).
It seems as if the epic self has encountered nothing but contradictions in justifying
the ways of God. Indeed, Satan seems to deserve the reader’s sympathy when he speaks
eloquently against heaven:
„Here we may reign secure; and, in my choice,

To reign is worth ambition, though in Hell:
Better to reign in Hell than serve in Heaven“ (Paradise Lost I).
As will be shown below, God’s omnipotence and goodness are in proportion to the
freedom of mind that God has endowed man (and fallen angels as well). So Milton writes
the foolowing words in the speech of the Almighty:
„He and his faithless progeny: Whose fault?

Whose but his own? ingrate, he had of me
All he could have; I made him just and right,
Sufficient to have stood, though free to fall.
Such I created all the ethereal Powers
And Spirits, both them who stood, and them who fail’d;
Freely they stood who stood, and fell who fell“ (Paradise Lost III).
In Paradise Lost, God has placed man at the center of world affairs, with the
responsibility to choose what to do and what to avoid in a changing cosmos. Thus, after
being expelled from Paradise, Adam freely chooses loyalty to God. Therefore he appears
saved after the fall. The experience of the tree of knowledge not only brought punishment,
death and expulsion from paradise, but also the way of salvation, the knowledge of the
good. Also in the view of Milton and his contemporaries, the fall includes practically
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everything good, from the birth of experimental thought to craft and science (Poole 2005).
Physics and astronomy are things that are already becoming increasingly important in
Milton’s age. William Poole therefore quite correctly paraphrases that people in Milton’s
time doubted the existence of paradise: "Was there ever a paradise to be lost (Poole 2005).
Milton’s discourse on the fall of man builds on a theological tradition established at the
time, sharing the appreciation of the Latin classics and fascination with the mysteries of
Genesis, but also aiming to justify the ways of God.
C.S. Lewis underscores the similarities between the Fall of Man in Augustine and
Lost in Paradise (Savoi 2006). Both recognize that the perfection of creation confronts the
problem of evil and that the will of God does not seem compatible with human free will.
For if God foresaw the fall, how could man ever have decided against it? "A freedom that
is not free?" asks Savoi (Savoi 2006). In order to resolve this contradiction, Augustine
advances, and Milton agrees, with three essential arguments. According to this, man was
created sincere and good, but chose disobedience to God’s creation of his own will. God
had foreseen this, but not planned (determined) it in advance. Nor did God prevent evil in
order to allow his mercy, forgiveness and justice to prevail for the greater good of man.
(Savoi 2006). The following quotes in the text of Paradise Lost should prove this:
„ […] I made him just and right,

Sufficient to have stood, though free to fall.“ (Paradise Lost III, 58)
„Freely we serve,
Because we freely love, as in our will
To love or not; in this we stand or fall […]“ (Paradise Lost V, 124)
„And all the Blest: Stand fast; to stand or fall

Free in thine own arbitrement it lies.
Perfect within, no outward aid require;
And all temptation to transgress repel.“ (Paradise Lost VIII, 199)
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Through the gift of liberty, the infinite goodness of God is restored. He offers
Adam and Eve redemption from their sins if they are willing to believe in him.
„As my eternal purpose hath decreed;

Man shall not quite be lost, but sav’d who will;
Yet not of will in him, but grace in me“. (Paradise Lost III, 61)
Although Adam and Eve must first experience guilt, despair, and self-loathing
(Savoi 2006), they are saved in the end. The ending is reached when Adam and Eve pass
through the gates of paradise together, as fallen, but equipped with the knowledge of
providence; "[...] and Providence their guide" (Paradise Lost XII). According to this, the
Fall was a necessary evil, but it could be overcome by the grace of God.
Milton answers the question of how something imperfect can arise from something
perfect and the question of how sinful things can come from God with the relationship
between chaos and free will or between chaos and creation (Danielson 1982). Milton
implicitly suggests in Paradise Lost that matter existed before creation but was still
disordered and chaotic, so Danielson sees Paradise Lost as describing a threefold creation:
(1) In one In the first chaotic state of the universe, matter does not yet exist or is still
different from God (Danielson 1982). In the third canto of Paradise Lost, chaos,
personified by the old night, makes its appearance and reports the loss of its kingdom
through any new creation. In Book II the gates of hell are opened and Satan gains a
glimpse of that dark stuff which God has not yet formed (Paradise Lost, Canto II, 51-52).
(2) In a second stage, God selects parts of chaos to make the stuff of this world, or to
outline its boundaries:
„[…] Then staid the fervid wheels, and in his hand

He took the golden compasses, prepared
In God’s eternal store, to circumscribe
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This universe, and all created things.“ (Paradise Lost VII, 169)
This choice by God is a kind of creation under the sacrifice of self-restraint, "To
allow the seeds of good to grow and bear fruit beyond himself, God had first to create a
‘beyond’. (Danielson 1982)
(3) In that third stage, consistent with the descriptions of Genesis 1, all matter then
takes form (God creates heaven and earth) and is detailed by Milton in Canto 7.
For Danielson, this three-stage creation is crucial for a ‘creatio ex deo’. In the
infinite chaos that exists before and after the creation of the world, there is no matter and
without it there is no existence of good and evil. Only with God’s dimensions of the
universe and its demarcation from chaos does the creator create the basis of all ordered
matter.
So the question of how evil can come from God is explicitly answered by Milton in
The Christian Doctrine (and literary in Paradise Lost). It is not the existence of matter
itself that contains evil, but its actual form. But the former is completely free in its form
and no longer the property of God. Only the rulers of form (angels in heaven, people on
earth) now show themselves responsible for maintaining them for God’s will or for
returning them to chaos (Danielson 1982). “Chaos can be exploited for good by God, and
by man in obedience to God” (Danielson 1982) “Milton modifies the classical epic
tradition to make it specifically compatible with Christianity, but overall the Providential
world view of Milton is not fundamentally unlike the notions of universal justice held by
the Greek epic poets Hesiod and Homer and the Roman poet Virgil”.
In Paradise Lost, the necessity of fate and the will of the gods coincide in the one
almighty and fundamentally benevolent God. The tension between the will of man and the
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will of God is resolved in that the unfortunate fall of man moves man to a higher status
(Featheringill 1990). At the end of Book XII, Adam no longer knows whether to accept the
Fall as good or bad, but ultimately realizes that God has arranged everything for the best.
„Light out of darkness! Full of doubt I stand,

Whether I should repent me now of sin
By me done, and occasioned; or rejoice
Much more, that much more good thereof shall spring;“ (Paradise Lost XII, 309)
Milton ends Paradise Lost with an anachronism (Featheringill 1990). In the
tradition of felix culpa, Adam and Eve leave paradise as good Christians, although Jesus
Christ was not sent to earth until much later (Featheringill 1990).
In retrospect, the paradox of the fall seems to have been resolved and Milton’s
theodicy thus succeeded. However, Featheringill points out some inconsistencies that still
exist. Yet how can God’s perfect creation be so prone to ‘prone to error’? Featheringill
asks, leading Raphael to reply (Featheringill 1990):
„Left to his own free will, his will though free,

Yet mutable; whence warn him to beware
He swerve not, too secure: Tell him withal
His danger, and from whom; what enemy,
Late fallen himself from Heaven, is plotting now
The fall of others from like state of bliss.“ (Paradise Lost V, 123)
Following the lines of Milton researcher Joseph H. Summers, Featheringill shows
that Paradise Lost is more about a happy recovery than an unfortunate fall. Changeability
and perfection of creation are not mutually exclusive, but the former requires the latter.
Both the necessity of the fall and the chance of salvation are based on human free will.
Adam and Eve were created perfectly for a specific period of time. Perfection per se is not
a static state but only exists in motion (Featheringill 1990). Of their own choosing, Adam
and Eve can keep perfection in the movement by choosing the right faith. In their free fall,
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they are, so to speak, caught again by God himself. “The tension existing between human
free will and God’s providence is seen in Paradise Lost in that man falls and then takes
steps toward his regeneration as a result of his own free will, but man’s volition works in
accordance with God’s divine will, justice, and mercy in that in the end the greater good of
mankind will achieved and so will the will of God.” (Featheringill 1990)
Perfection in creation is thus shaped through a process of trial and error in which
the possibility of seduction is combined with heroic resistance (Featheringill 1990). Thus
the tree of knowledge provides at the same time the knowledge of evil and of good. It is
only up to man to accept the limits drawn for him and to obey the instructions of God.
[…] Heaven is for thee too high
To know what passes there; be lowly wise:
Think only what concerns thee, and thy being; […] (Paradise Lost VIII)
With Milton all instruction comes from the God of Christianity. While in the epic
tradition it was indirect communication with the gods (through omens and oracles) that
allowed the heroes to experience their destiny, in Paradise Lost this process has given way
to direct communication between God and man through Christ. Only through him did the
first human couple succeed in overcoming the task set for them.
In Paradise Lost, Adam gains the ability to change his destiny for good by
believing in a benevolent and all-powerful God, his Creator and Counselor. Accepting
such a Creator makes his destiny seem not accidental but preordained by God. The
protagonist’s free decisions lead to good things if they also agree with the will of his god.
Anything that does not conform to the will of God is bad for Adam. So God created man
with free will. Thus, the responsibility for errors and imperfections in creation rests with
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God’s creatures themselves, but not with the Creator. God foresaw man’s fall into sin, but
by no means wanted it.
Danielson deepens this justification by showing that the cause of metaphysical evil
is rooted in ‘pre-divine’ chaos. In creating matter out of chaos, God was unable to transfer
his infinity into creation. Matter is therefore neither in a state of godlike perfection, nor in
a chaotic state, but in constant motion (between these two poles). Accordingly, all evil
appears necessary, but not desirable.
Featheringill comes to a similar conclusion by distinguishing between a divine
perspective and a human perspective. As in ancient mythology, man’s insight into the will
of the gods and fate is limited. However, man receives instructions for action by
establishing contact with the gods or with one god and following his providence and
justice. The freedom of his own will is at the same time the cause of the Fall and the basis
of his ability to understand.
Milton does not divide the world into good and evil, but creates a creative dialectic
between the principles of evil and good. In doing so, man necessarily sees himself exposed
to evil. However, he can only achieve the good by his own will. Paradise Lost can be
described as modern because reflexivity and rationality play a decisive role in Milton’s
world design.
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MILTON’S SATAN IN HELL
5. Milton’s Satan in Hell
5.1. Satan as the Devil
The devil and hell belong to the specifically Christian circle of ideas and both went
through their own development in the Christian religion and in the course of the centuries
endured the most diverse views. However, despite the purely Christian character, they are
not lacking in preparatory elements. One can rightly claim that the belief in evil gods, in
demons and magicians, in giants, dwarves, goblins, satyrs and Silene, in monsters like the
Midgard serpent in the shape of the giant, all devilish beings and the belief in a place of
punishment after death like Hades, the dark Hel, the Persian Duseh in the ideas of hell and
resurrection celebrated was widely spread. The devil and hell are to be regarded as a
further development of those earlier appearances. As evidence of this, one can cite the fact
that the later Christian figure and the character of the devil borrowed traits from pagan
mythology and the image of hell often appears quite similar to the coloring of earlier ideas.
The pagan world of gods is filled with ambivalent gods: the ancient Egyptian Seth,
for example, is on the one hand the opponent of Osiris and a symbol of chaos, but on the
other hand is also considered the protector of the sun and the oases; the Canaanite Baal is
in constant conflict with Mot, and both together contribute to the eternal cycle of life.
The servants of divine justice are to be distinguished from these demons, such as
that lying spirit and angel of death who visited Israel with plague and slew Sennacherib’s
army then Satan, the adversary, the accuser, who tormented the pious servant Job. He is
envious of human happiness, incredulous of human piety and virtue. He is one of the sons
of God and is free to act as he pleases, but God’s will limits him.
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As in the Old Testament, so in the New Testament there are also demons, but they
are no longer the sons of God, but the messengers of the devil (δαιμόνια, ἄγγελοι τοῦ
διαβόλου), who is their master. The devil, or Satan, has many names, which are largely
taken from his nature and work, but also partly from specific occasions. His relationship to
God has changed. From the servant, as which he appears in the Old Testament, he has
become the master. This is connected with a different view and assessment of his activity.
He sinned from the beginning of the world. The seduction of Eve is his work. He is
regarded as a murderer as a falsifier of the divine word and finally, by inciting Judas to
betray him, he kills Christ himself. His power is unlimited. Darkness is his kingdom and
demons are his followers. These demons are also devils, because there is no such thing as
"a" devil at this time or later, but each of them has a specific sphere of activity. The
demons themselves take bodily possession of people, of their belongings and are
considered to be the cause of madness, blindness, dumbness, epilepsy. They dwell in the
depths of the earth, in desolate places and according to Paul’s sure indications also in the
air. The idea of demonic powers enters the Old Testament only hesitantly, but in the life of
Jesus it acquires an unprecedented power, which persists in Paul without diminution and
persists into the last writings of the New Testament, in the letters of imprisonment and in
the Gospel of John. This process of escalation from the Old Testament into the New, the
extreme crystallization of the demonic precisely in relation to the figure of Jesus and the
constancy of the theme throughout the New Testament is of considerable significance.
From there one may say that in the early history of the Old Testament faith the statement
about demonic powers had to remain aside, because first of all the belief in the one and
only God had to be asserted against any ambiguity. In an environment saturated with gods,
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which saw the transitions between good and evil gods flowing, the reference to Satan
would have robbed the decisive confession of its clarity.
This view corresponds entirely to that of the Old Testament. There is no mention
anywhere of a personal struggle between Christ and the devil, because the often quoted
temptation of Jesus, which is specifically advocated by Catholic theology, is only a
symbolic representation of an inner spiritual conflict in the richly illustrated language of
the grasp the Orient. The personal nature thus still recedes completely into the background,
and the figure of the devil has retained something nebulous in accordance with that of the
Old Testament; like that of God, it is impersonal and bound neither in space nor in time.
The ideas about his life story are more definite. The devil was thought to exist from
the beginning of the world. As a beautiful angel he dwelt in heaven and was cast out of it.
Placed as it were between God and man, he now seeks to subjugate the world and
estranges himself more and more from God with the increasing revelation through Christ’s
teaching. His existence and end is of course not clearly described. It seems that the devil
will be defeated by Jesus’ teaching and must lie bound in hell forever.
The overall picture of the devil that the Bible offers is based on genuine popular
belief without any dogmatic tendency and finds many similarities in demonology. Is it not
carried out so consistently in the Bible, and the devil is not an evil absolute, but is carried
at every moment by God’s omnipotence, which only leaves room for ethical
considerations.
The attributes of the devil (horse or goat foot, horns, tail, sulphurous stench, color
black ) preserve a last remnant of the pagan deities. The devil experienced his heyday in
the Middle Ages: the mystery plays and the Jesuit theater assign him a clearly defined role
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in the act of salvation, insofar as he drags sinners into hell as a seducer, while the people
who resist his art, amidst loud chants from the choir of angels, be led to heaven. At the
latest with the Enlightenment, the devil loses its terror and, after Dante and John Milton,
references to the devil in literature are primarily determined by variations of Faust.
In the course of the Middle Ages, the image of demons and devils changed with the
changing circumstances of human life. In the Italian High Middle Ages, Dante Alighieri
wrote the first detailed description of a hell, consisting of nine circles that stand for a
specific crime. The further and deeper into hell Alighieri describes, the fewer human souls
and the more demons the lower layers of the earth harbor. In the narrowest and deepest
circle he places the larger than life figure of Lucifer in the eternal ice of hell.
Dante describes the journey into the afterlife in symbolic-arithmetic verse form; the
poet is led through the nine stages of inferno, purgatory and paradise by Virgil and Dante’s
beloved Beatrice. On their way they meet a multitude of historical figures, some of whom
only became known to posterity through the Commedia and some of whom are still alive
at the time the work was written. Hell appears as a gigantic crater located beneath the
inhabited earth. The counterpart forms one to the earthly and finally a mountain leading to
heavenly paradise. The formation of the crater goes back to Lucifer himself, who after his
fall from heaven bored into the earth and got stuck in the center of the earth. The
background to the work is formed by scholastic theology and the Ptolemaic world view;
hell is divided into nine circles, which become more and more terrible depending on the
distance from the center and are subdivided again. Dante strives to assign every person in
the afterlife a place that reflects their role on earth. The connection between doing and
happening is played through to the last detail and evil is penetrated mentally. Deceivers,
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for example, are dipped in boiling pitch by demonic beings, and those who brought strife
and divisions among their fellow citizens are in turn physically divided, the wounds
always healing only to be reopened. Dante sketches “a topography of sin”4 and “makes
evil bearable by integrating it into the logic of medieval world interpretation and […]
taking away its horror in a paradoxical way precisely through the drastic description”.
Dante’s message is that hell can be avoided by living a godly life, but there are terrible
consequences for a sinful life.
In the ninth and final circle of hell, where fire and heat are replaced by cold, wind
and stench, are traitors, Dante’s worst category of sinners. Lucifer himself crushes the
three arch-traitors Judas Iscariot, Brutus and Cassius in eternity. »While Brutus and
Cassius stand for the betrayal of the state, Judas is also skinned by the devil for the
betrayal of Christ. Dante thus inscribes his belief in loyalty to state and church in the
reversal of the traitors, who represent the worst of betrayals and the disintegration of
society. Lucifer himself is "a gigantic, clumsy, immobile hunk, because his activity
consists only in devouring, digesting and excreting."7With him, too, only the upper body
protrudes from the ice, his former angelic beauty has been turned into the opposite. Its
three heads symbolize the counterpart of the Trinity, representing hatred, powerlessness,
and ignorance. The punishment of the arch-traitors "is presented by Dante as a perversion
of the Eucharist, the task of which has rendered the devil forever unable to speak – quite
the contrary to the Word of God made flesh, which is preached freely.
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5.2. Satan as the Rebel in Paradise Lost
Strongly influenced in form by Dante’s Divine Comedy, Virgil’s Aeneid and in
content by Grotius’ tragedy Adamus Exul, John Milton’s epic poem deals with the struggle
between God and Satan in heaven and the devil’s efforts to harm both man and God. For
the first time in literary history, Satan is portrayed as a proud, arrogant and envious
adversary of God.
The work begins after the fall of Lucifer, who consults with his demonic court
(including Beelzebub, Baal, Moloch, Belial) on how to harm God after the open attack has
failed. The aim is to achieve "through cunning and deceit what force could not do" (I, 44),
by seducing man, "more favored by the ruler above" (II, 66), to fall away from God. The
result should be the annihilation of the world by God. Milton places sin and death in a
genealogical relationship with Satan by having sin leap out of Satan’s head at the time he
rebels against God (parody of the mythical tale of the emergence of Pallas Athena from the
head of Zeus ). Against the background of the English Enlightenment, the seduction of
man in paradise, which is linked to knowledge, takes on a special note and Milton’s devil
proves to be far more active than Dante’s fallen angel. Although he fails with his plan and
is transformed into snake-shaped monsters along with his princes of hell, he almost
appears as a freedom hero who can definitely be held in sympathy. The once beautiful
angel is demeaned as an ugly, animal-like form, although he only wanted to preserve the
original order, which no being knows above the angels.
In Dante the devil is completely passive and carries out God’s will as an instrument
of punishment. In contrast to Dante’s structured hell, Milton’s devil has the ability to
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organize it and make himself the leader. He has the ability to express emotions [...] and the
reader can share his thoughts. […] His quest for revenge makes him appear humanely
understandable and dangerous at the same time. In the course of the epic, however, he
degenerates until he finally becomes a monster. Milton thus describes a double fall of the
devil: once he falls out of the sky, but he retains his angelic appearance. Then he falls into
hell and undergoes a transformation. To this double fall corresponds the defeat twice: once
in heaven through Christ’s intervention in the heavenly war, once on earth through Christ’s
sacrifice on the cross, which brings about man’s redemption.
In addition to sin and evil, in Milton’s case death also comes into the world because
of the devil. While the future event of salvation is revealed to Adam and Eve in a vision,
which makes them not only the first sinners but also the first believers, Lucifer, as an anti-
hero in the style of Lord Byron, is the actual protagonist of the work.
“Better to be the master of hell than slave to heaven!” we hear Satan proclaim
shortly after his fall (Milton, 2013). Milton equips his character with all the attributes of a
classic hero. He is brave, proud, bold and strong. He is combative and has a seemingly
unbreakable will. A born leader who delivers his speeches and accusations in glowing,
impassioned words. He has barely recovered from his fall when he calls his entourage
together. He literally awakens them with his call, as the host of angels banished with him
are stunned in a pool of oblivion.
Even though Satan’s splendor is darkened, his strength and power diminished, he
still outshines and towers many times over the legion of angels who fell with him. Under
his direction, Pandemonium is immediately erected in the midst of the dark wasteland, the
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seat of power in Hell and the home of all fallen angels. In the infernal pandemonium we
see the caricature of the heavenly Jerusalem.
As a mighty seat of rulership, it looms out of the swirling nothingness of the chaos
darkness as massive as it is menacing. Searing lava flows and deep chasms surround
Satan’s palace at the core of the capital. The prince of hell reigns, commands, builds and
builds.
In his creation, the creator himself is always recognizable and so it is not surprising
that Milton’s own rebellious spirit, passionately obsessed with the idea of freedom, turns
the figure of the fallen angel into his seductive anti-hero. Yes, perhaps , this point of
criticism is the real stroke of genius of Milton’s great epic, because precisely by apparently
siding with the devil, at least at the beginning, he also makes him accessible. Even more,
he paints him as only too human in all his thinking, speaking, and acting. Satan and hell,
the so-called evil, is a state or state space that is closely linked to human existence.
Milton leads away from the narrow view of the medieval conception and depiction
of the devil as a fearsome grimace with fiery red eyes and surrounded by steaming
brimstone. The grotesque beast may be an aspect of evil, but this image can only inspire
fear. It is a child’s fright and a threatening gesture, but not a mirror in which man learns to
see himself. Milton’s fallen angel is not absolute evil, but a mixture of light and dark. This
fallen angel is majestic even in his defeat and personifies precisely that trait that Milton
believed in with all his might: the power of the heroic.
The polymath John Milton did not create a new figure with his seductively dark and
rebellious angel. Milton’s Satan takes on many traits of ancient Prometheus. The
Prometheus myth weaves through Milton’s life and work. In addition, it will be the
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Uranian period of the French Revolution (1789-1799) in which Milton’s work will have a
renewed influence and the young Promethean poets and writers of English Romanticism
(1780-1837), above all Lord Byron and Percy Shelley and Mary Shelley, will place their
work entirely under the sign of Milton’s Satan-Prometheus.
But it is above all the rebellious, indomitable and passionately bold and proud
character side of the ancient Prometheus that Milton works into his Lucifer-Satan. Satan’s
rebellion is doomed from the start, the All-One God has no antagonist; and yet Milton’s
bold hero must rebel against the god-ordained order and risk.
For the ardent revolutionary Milton, it is the reason that determines the likeness of
God. Reason, however, is the ability to differentiate and therefore presupposes the
possibility of differentiation, the freedom to decide.
Thus says Milton’s Areopagitica, his treatise on freedom of speech and the press. In
his book Writing the English Republic, David Norbrook states, “The anti-episcopal tracts
had had the effect of undermining compromise and pushing towards a more radical
political position. Areopagitica had a comparable aim” (Norbrook, 1999). Ultimately, for
Milton, external bondage remains a reflection of man’s inner turning away from God.
In the figure of the ancient Prometheus, the heavenly and the earthly beings are still
closely connected. In Paradise Lost it is split open and highlighted by the harshness of the
contrast.
Milton intensifies the darkness of Satan, whose passion is fueled by a burning thirst
for vengeance, raw hatred and blind rage. Just as the rebel angel is thrown into the
uttermost depths of the abyss, his essential nature is also broken open to the deepest core
of hell. This densest darkness is total negation.
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That last line, "It would be better that nothing came into being," is nothing but a
desire to undo all creation, to take back everything that was created as if it never happened
(Milton 2013). The lowest point in hell is the absolute negation of meaningfulness. Neither
can the sense nor can the good in God’s creation be recognized, the eyes are blind without
light and only see darkness and nothing.
Milton contrasts this eclipse with the victoriously radiant light of the Christ figure.
On the field of war Satan and Christ find themselves confronted as Satan’s army seeks to
storm Heaven itself. Archangels Michael and Gabriel have already been sent by God to
lead the fight against Satan and his angels. The apostate angels of Satan fight against the
divine army of angels with devilish machinery and put them under considerable pressure.
Then, on the third day, when the war is still going on, God sends Christ to end the
war. Armed with the Father’s authority, the Son of God appears on the battlefield in His
flaming chariot of fire and commands all His legions on either side to stand still. In his
flaming chariot of fire, the Son of God drives the rebellious angels out of heaven into hell,
accompanied by thunder.
Then God commissions his only Son to create a new world and creation in the very
place where the fallen angels previously had their place in the order. This new world is
right between heaven and hell, and so is the new creation, man.
After Adam and Eve ate the forbidden fruit, the guardians of Hell’s gates, Satan’s
daughter, Sin, and Satan’s son, Death, which he begot with Sin, enter the world.
God sends his archangel Michael, accompanied by the cherubim, to drive the sinful
people out of paradise. As a consolation, Archangel Michael lets Adam see the future.
These visions cover the events up to the flood and then the new covenant between God and
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man up to the great act of redemption of Christ, which is followed by an outlook on the
Last Judgment. Adam, comforted by this vision of the future, wakes up the sleeping Eve,
who was also given a happy dream. Then they have to leave.
Within the final cantos of the epic, Satan, the work’s initial protagonist, disappears
entirely from the scene. The Son of God, but even more so, Adam, increasingly becomes
the focus of the narrative. Satan, the warlike, reckless, and intrepid anti-hero, yields in
favor of the figure of fallen man and his willing acceptance of his guilt.
Many artists and thinkers, especially the romantics, deal with Miltons Satan as a
representative of human freedom that fights against any form of oppression. He appears as
a hero with anarchist features, which adhered to considerable moral strength and
independence and sometimes embodied the spirit of the English revolution, the honor and
independence of a people in the fight against the incompetent government. A strongly
characterized and extremely sympathetic and heroic devil fights against borders and
obstacles for a goal he believes in. He and his defiant comrades are banished by God and
plunged into a kind of a trial. Satan, who is convinced that God has deliberately tempted
him in order to rob him of his power, organizes the "army of desperate" with the goal of
getting to the earth and Adam and Eve. The relationship with the first pair of people now
follows biblical pattern again, but the imaginatively described character of the devil is
more like a Prometheus that is driven by courage and arrogance.
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5.3. Hell as a Place and a State
Just as belief in the devil was popular, so was a belief in hell. The Jews had no
place of retribution, and in the older writings of the Old Testament only the abyss is
mentioned as a dark, deep place where the dead die in grave stillness rest. Only in the post-
exilic writings under the influence of the Persian views did the idea of a place of
punishment penetrate popular belief, and the sinners lead a shadowy existence in Gehenna,
similar to the departed souls in Hades.
Through the teaching of Christ, which emphasizes the compensatory justice of God
in an effort to raise morale, as evidenced by the parable of the rich man and poor Lazarus,
the idea of hell is further developed. Often she draws Christ into his contemplation,
without us encountering her picture as a complete whole, rather it first has to be
constructed from the existing indications. Thereafter, flames and smoke belch up from an
unquenchable, ever-burning sulphurous lake in which sinners are consumed with thirst. Or
the idea assumes the opposite, and eternal frost surrounds the damned in hell, who howl
and gnash their teeth from the cold.[38] To that place of terror go the foolish virgins, the
useless servant, the ungodly, adulterers, thieves, murderers, idolaters, poisoners,
fornicators, liars. They all languish in eternal torment, surrounded by Satan and his spirits
who lie here bound. The sinner receives the reward for his crime. The beginning of the
punishments in Hell comes after the great Last Judgment at the end of days, which Christ
often prophetically points to.
As part of examining John Milton’s description of hell in his work Paradise Lost, it
is useful to take a closer look at the concept of hell that prevailed in 16th- and 17th-century
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Europe, „The world between the 14th and 16th centuries is in many respects not inferior to
Hell, one might think it was a branch. Hell encroaches on Europe, where Satan lingers as if
he were at home. He had never been seen so often“ (Urban, 2015).
There is, however, a rather disconcerting feature of Milton’s description of
pandemonium: the building of Satan’s palace is accompanied by beguiling sounds: "with
the sound / Of dulcet symphonies and voices sweet" (Milton 2013: 30). This circumstance
seems positive, although the description of hell is mostly negative. Perhaps this is a
reference to the sirens of Greek mythology, with their beguiling but deadly voices.
In describing the rivers in Hell, Milton makes clear reference to Greek mythology.
Four of the rivers flowing in different directions are mentioned by name: the Styx,
Acheron, Cocytus and Phlegethon. The depiction of these rivers corresponds to their
translations from the Greek ( Elledge in Milton, p. 48, FN to II): hatred, grief, lamentation
and anger. The fifth river, "Lethe the river of oblivion" (Milton 2013: 49), is the only one
that contains water.
Hell continues to be a place of local confinement or confinement, with only one
entrance and exit: "hell gates" (Milton 2013: 33), "And thrice threefold the gates; three
folds were brass / Three iron, three of adamantine rock, / Impenetrable, impaled with
circling fire” (Milton 2013: 50). The material gets harder from the inner to the outer gates.
The use of the number three is not arbitrary; It has a symbolic meaning that has its origin
in the Christian religion: "Three [...] is the formula for the creation of each of the worlds.
[...] Finally, it is associated with the concepts of heaven [...] and the Trinity” (Cirlot,
1971). Furthermore, the sum of nine goals is “the triplication of the triple. It is therefore a
complete image of the three worlds” (Cirlot 1971). The nine also appears in the description
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of Satan’s fall: he fell nine days before he reached hell. Here again this number carries an
indication of the creation of the three worlds.
Sin requires a key to open the gates, "the fatal key" (Milton 2013: 56), and is the
only one in Hell possessing this ability: "Which but itself not all the Stygian powers /
Could once have moved” (Milton 2013: 56). Finally, some passages describe hell as a
living creature.
Hell heard th’ unsufferable noise, hell saw Heav’n

ruining from heav’n, and would have fled
Affrighted; but strict fate had cast too deep
Her dark foundations, and too fast had bound (Milton, 2013: 161).
Hell is able to hear and see, so is capable of sense perception and posses
ses at least the auditory and visual senses. Furthermore, she may experience a
feeling that she is afraid. Other passages show that Hell can also devour: "hell at last /
Yawning received them whole" (Milton 2013: 161), "towards the mouth of hell" (Milton
2013: 237) and "obstruct the mouth of hell / and seal up his ravenous jaws” (Milton
2013: 247).
The image evoked by this description corresponds to a wild animal, a beast of prey,
albeit an immovable one that does not need to be hunted. Knott notes that this was a
common description even before Milton’s time, „A gaping hell mouth, usually the
gargantuan mouth of Leviathan or some more familiar beast, was one of the commonest
features in medieval and Renaissance pictorial renderings of hell“ (Knott, 1971).
Satan and his followers are characterized by a strictly hierarchical structure; each of
them has a title and position, with other angels above and below them.
Satan is repeatedly referred to as supreme in rank (and guilt) among the fallen
angels: "O Prince, O Chief of many throned Powers / That led th’ embattled Seraphim to
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war / Under thy conduct" (Milton 2013: 12), "Leader of those armies bright" (Milton
2013: 16) and "to their general’s voice they soon obeyed" (Milton 2013: 18). The
hierarchy among the other angels is made clear by the following passages: "next in order
and dignity" (Milton 2013: 7), "chief leaders" (Milton 2013: 7), "The heads and leaders"
(Milton 2013: 19) and "These were the prime in order and might" (Milton 2013: 24). The
last quote shows a connection between rank and power, but it is not clear which of these is
the cause and which is the consequence of the other.
The ranking is also represented by a local dimension. The superior is placed above
the inferior. This can be observed in both external and internal structure: God, who
possesses greater power than Satan, is situated in heaven, and Satan, the "monarch"
(Milton 2013: 45) of the fallen angels, "above the rest / In shape and gesture proudly
eminent / Stood like a tow’r” (Milton 2013: 26); "High on a throne of royal state [...] Satan
exalted sat" (Milton 2013: 33). The words "throne" and "royal" are a direct connection to
kings and queens on earth, who also sat in a raised place.
In chronological order, this hierarchical structure appears first in Heaven, before
the War in Heaven and Satan’s fall. God and His Son are in a higher place than the angels:
"This our high place, our sanctuary, our hill" (Milton 2013: 132). Their position is at the
head, as God makes clear in His discourse to His Son: "under thee as Head Supreme /
Thrones, Princedoms, Powers, Dominions I reduce" (Milton 2013: 72). Some tracks are
repeated multiple times in a specific order:
"Thrones, Dominations, Princedoms, Virtues, Powers" (Milton 2013: 129, p. 133,
p. 242). Milton does not adopt the idea of the hierarchical structure among the angels that
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was prevalent in his day but only a part or a shortened version of it. These five ranks are
those also mentioned in the New Testament, but in a different order.
So, in conclusion, it can be said that the hierarchical structure was transferred from
heaven to hell, although there is a slight difference. In Hell the positions must be earned
e.g. Satan’s first position: "And so refused might stand in opinion / His rivals, winning
cheap the high reputation / Which he through hazard huge must earn" (Milton 2013: 45).
A similar transfer can be observed with regard to the military dimension. The first
descriptions of the art of war in heaven resemble ancient legends: "Celestial armory,
shields, helms, and spears / Hung high with diamond flaming, and with gold" (Milton
2013: 100). Again, Milton adds heavenly extras; the weapons used differ from the earthly
ones as they were made in heaven, they are extremely strong and beautiful: "the sword / Of
Michael from the armory of God / Was giv’n him tempered so, that neither keen / Nor
solid might resist that edge” (Milton 2013: 146). Furthermore, God uses weapons that obey
only his command, namely forces of nature:
"Heav’n’s afflicting thunder" (Milton 2013: 37) and "fiery tempest" (Milton
2013: 37). Even the manner in which this civil war is fought is very similar to the war on
ancient Earth: ‘armed / To their night-watches in warlike parade’ (Milton 2013: 106), ‘th’
angelic squadron bright / Turned fiery red, sharp’ning in mooned horns / Their phalanx,
and began to hem him round / With ported spears" (Milton 2013: 111) and "when all the
plain / Covered with thick embattled squadrons bright, / Chariots and flaming arms , and
fiery steeds / Reflecting blaze on blaze” (Milton 2013: 138).
The only strange thing is the existence of the steeds before the creation of the earth
with all its animals; but these steeds may be of a different quality or kind than those on
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earth. Unfortunately, they are not described in more detail. They seem to be viewed as
some sort of weapon, not living animals.
Satan and his followers have the same or at least similar weapons, since they are
angels: "with upright beams innumerable / Of rigid spears, and helmets thronged, and
shields / Various, with boastful argument portrayed, / The banded powers of Satan hasting
on" (Milton 2013: 140). For the second day of the battle, Satan invents "devilish engines"
(Milton 2013: 137), which by description appear to be cannons, built in imitation of God’s
thunder:
pregnant with internal flame,

Which into hollow engines long and round
Thick-rammed, at th’ other bore with touch of fire
Dilated and infuriate shall send forth
From far with thund’ring noise among or foes
Such implements of mischief as shall dash To
pieces, and o’erwhelm whatever stands
Adverse, that they shall fear we have disarmed
The thunderer of his only dreaded bolt (Milton, 2013: 150).
The war of the second day is of a different quality than that of the first day, it has
different weapons. Although guns and cannons had been invented by Milton’s day, it is
amazing that cannons are used only by Satan; this implies a negative assessment of this
type of weapon (along with the words “devilish engines”). Later, the following passage
illustrates that cannons and rifles are considered evil:
In future days, if malice should abound,

Some one intent on mischief, or inspired
With dev’lish machination might devise Like
instrument to plague the sons of men
For sin, on war and mutual slaughter bent (Milton, 2013: 150).
After his fall, Satan and his followers continue to use whatever weapons they have
and stick to the type of warfare that was practiced in heaven:
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A forest huge of spears: and thronging helms

Appeared, and serried shields in thick array Of
depth immeasurable: anon they move
In perfect phalanx to the Dorian mood
Of flute and soft recorders [...] (Milton, 2013: 25).
Fire is also mentioned several times in connection with weapons, especially
swords: "Millions of flaming swords" (Milton 2013: 28), "waved their fiery swords"
(Milton 2013: 145), "of a sword the flame / Wide -waving" (Milton 2013: 263), "a flaming
sword" (Milton 2013: 299) and "The brandished sword of God before them blazed / Fierce
as a comet" (Milton 2013: 300). J.E. Cirlot writes that, according to Eugene Mogk and
Edward Westermarck, fire "has as its aim the purification or destruction of the forces of
evil" (Cirlot, p. 105), indicating on the one hand its occurrence in connection with
weapons, especially those made by God and the loyal angels, as well as explaining its
prevalence in the environs of Hell. Cirlot’s remarks on the sword as a symbol are even
more interesting: "When it appears in association with fire and flames - which correspond
to it in shape and resplendence - it symbolizes purification" (Cirlot, p. 324) and "The
sword of fire [. ..] emphasizes the heat of the flame and the coldness of the bare metal”
(Cirlot, p. 325). This contrast can also be observed in the landscape of Hell, the fire of the
volcano and the frozen continent. A parallel between these two phenomena is the function
of physical wounding, destruction, purification and/or punishment.
The text clearly presents hell as a place of punishment: "a fiery deluge" (Milton
2013: 10) and
Him the Almighty Power

Hurled headlong flaming from th’ ethereal sky
With hideous ruin and combustion down
To bottomless perdition, there to dwell
In adamantine chains and penal fire [...] (Milton 2013: 9).
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By using the word "deluge", Milton draws a direct parallel to the Bible and alludes
to its punitive function. In Paradise Lost, the flood is made worse again: the biblical flood
that took place on earth was made of water, this one is made of fire. The words
"bottomless perdition" in the second quote connect the concept of punishment to
geographical and moral inferiority.
The environment in Hell, shows that it is obviously a very unpleasant place; it
serves as a site of physical punishment, as the following passages make clear: "pain of
unextinguishable fire" (Milton 2013: 35), "these piercing fires" (Milton 2013: 40) and
"The sensible of pain" (Milton 2013: 40). Although angels cannot die from these injuries
and wounds, the weapons of God leave clear marks on the bodies of fallen angels: "but his
face / Deep scars of thunder had intrenched" (Milton 2013: 26) and "the scar of these
corrosive fires” (Milton 2013: 43). points to the perfection of the gates created by God,
through which escape is possible only through sin. Aside from pain, there are other
feelings in Hell that characterize it as a state: "sights of woe, / Regions of sorrow, doleful
shades, where peace / And rest can never dwell, hope never comes" (Milton 2013: 10) .
These feelings and also the non-existent feelings, like the lack of hope at the beginning, are
not limited to the fallen angels, but are obviously a part of the environment of Hell or Hell
itself, like the air. After their fall, Satan’s followers realize the place and state they are in:
"Now misery hath joined / In equal ruin" (Milton 2013: 11), "In horrible destruction laid
thus low" (Milton 2013: 12) and "in endless misery" (Milton 2013: 12).
However, the first book shows not only negative feelings, but also positive ones.
During his conversation with Beelzebub, Satan speaks of hope, freedom and security:
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"hope" (Milton 2013: 14) and "Here at least / We shall be free [...] Here we may reign
secure" (Milton 2013: 16). The fallen company does not blame Satan, as might be
expected, but show great loyalty:
All these and more came flocking; but with looks

Downcast and damp, yet such wherein appeared Obscure
some glimpse of joy, to have found their chief Not in
despair, to have found themselves not lost
In loss itself (Milton, 2013: 24)
and "yet faithful how they stood" (Milton 2013: 27).
They obey their leader’s command, accept Satan’s hope, and later even express
ambition: "build up here / A growing empire" (Milton 2013: 41). Milton even states clearly
that positive feelings or character traits still exist in hell: "for neither do the Spirits damned
/ Lose all their virtue" (Milton 2013: 45).
Other sentiments or traits relate to the fallen angels mentioned and described:
"Belial came last, than whom a Spirit more lewd / Fell not from heaven, or more gross to
love / Vice for itself" (Milton 2013: 23) and „Mammon, the least erected Spirit that fell
[...] admiring more / The riches of heav’n’s pavement, trodden gold“(Milton, 2013: 28).
Belial’s and Mammon’s descriptions remind the reader of the two deadly sins of lust and
greed, and several more actually occur in the text. Anger, pride and envy are mentioned in
relation to Satan (this will be explored further below), sloth is mentioned once in relation
to Belial: "peaceful sloth" (Milton 2013: 39) and lust in the description of chemos: " lustful
orgies [...] lust hard by hate” (Milton 2013: 21).
Two things are quite surprising in this connection: although the list of the seven
deadly sins as it is known today must have been known before the 13th century (since
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Dante deals with it in The Divine Comedy), one of them, gluttony, not mentioned in
Paradise Lost. The second notable feature is the doctrine of demons written in the 16th
century by Peter Binsfield, a Jesuit monk, which associates seven fallen angels with each
one of the seven deadly sins. Milton seems to have done this with Mammon and Belial, but
not in other cases. There can be various reasons for this: maybe he wasn’t familiar with
this system or he didn’t adopt it. Another reason may be that according to this doctrine of
demons, Satan and Lucifer are two different creatures that tempt man into the sins of anger
and pride; but many people believed and believe that these are just different names for the
same creature. That would also have had a decisive influence on the portrayal of Satan, as
will be shown below.
The passages "sights of woe / Regions of sorrow, doleful shades" (Milton
2013: 10), "many a region dolorous" (Milton 2013: 50) and
Abhorred Styx the flood of deadly hate, Sad

Acheron of sorrow, black and deep;
Cocytus, named of lamentation loud
Heard on the rueful stream; fierce Phlegethon
Whose waves of torrent fire inflame with rage (Milton, 2013: 48/49)
give the impression that these feelings are tied to specific places and not to
creatures. Hell seems to have feelings as part of itself.
for now the thought

Both of lost happiness and lasting pain Torments
him; round he throws his baleful eyes That
witnessed huge affliction and dismay
Mixed with obdúrate pride and steadfast hate (Milton, 2013: 10).
As already mentioned, "wrath" (Milton 2013: 10), "envy" (Milton 2013: 84, p. 88,
p. 202) and "pride" (Milton 2013: 9, p. 10, p .24, p.25, p.26, p.86) characteristic feelings in
Satan. It seems no coincidence that three of the deadly sins are used in his description;
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first, he is the one who caused the war in heaven and thereby put more guilt on his
shoulders than anyone else; and second, three is a symbolic number used in describing
God as the "Holy Trinity" (Father, Son, and Holy Spirit). appears, but it is also used in the
description of Satan as an "unholy trinity": He is an archangel (light-bearer), the prince or
prince of hell, and the deceiver of man. All three titles are mentioned in relation to Satan:
"he of the first, / If not the first Archangel" (Milton, pp. 130-131),
"Prince of Hell" (Milton 2013: 108) and "the Tempter" (Milton 2013: 212).
Another interpretation that includes this number reads: "The divine Trinity is matched by
the infernal trinity of Satan, Sin, and Death" (Tillyard, 1966).
On the other hand, Satan’s feelings appear to be of a wide range, even
contradictory and changing at times: He is described in terms such as "fearless" (Milton
2013: 12), "dauntless courage" (Milton 2013: 26), "cruel his eye" (Milton 2013: 26); but
there are also passages that show him differently: "Signs of remorse" (Milton 2013: 26)
and "Thrice he assayed, and thrice in spite of scorn, / Tears such as angels weep, burst
forth [...] sighs” (Milton 2013: 27).
Satan tries to keep to himself feelings that the other fallen angels would not expect
or that might jeopardize his position in Hell; but the emotional conflict within him
becomes exceedingly clear when he sees Adam and Eve in paradise for the first time:
"falls in doubts with himself, and many passions, fear, envy, and despair“ (Milton, 2013:
84).
At this point, the ambivalence of his character becomes very clear. He admits his
guilt, considers his options, and decides to stick with evil (cf. Milton, pp. 86-88).
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To describe hell it is necessary to analyze Satan’s emotions; Hell is not only a
place, but also Satan’s inner state: "The hell within him, for within him hell / He brings"
(Milton 2013: 85). He himself knows about this fact: "Which way I fly is hell; myself am
hell” (Milton 2013: 87) and also that only God can change this: “is there no place / left for
repentance, none for pardon left? / None left but by submission” (Milton 2013: 87). After
considering this possibility, he realizes that he would fail again: "how soon / Would highth
recall high thoughts, how soon unsay / What feigned submission swore" (Milton
2013: 87). This observation was also made by Knott: "The soliloquy on Mount Niphates at
the beginning of Book 4 provides Milton’s most telling illustration of the way Satan’s own
passions constitute an inner hell" (Knott, 1971).
In summary, hell in Satan originates in the fact that he was unable to resist
temptation (he wished to be in a higher position than he was), but also in his repeatedly
mentioned character traits pride and envy. In addition, Satan’s fall is presented not as fate
but as his own failure, since it is based on his own free will, as he even states himself:
"Hadst thou the same free will and power to stand? / Thou hadst” (Milton 2013: 87). The
sins of pride and envy contributed to his fall, but cannot be counted as the cause of it;
Milton will want his readers warned not to commit these sins as well.
As described above, Hell is not just a place, it is Satan’s state. The passage "The
hell within him, for within him hell / He brings" (Milton 2013: 85) implies that hell can be
transferred as a state from Satan. This transfer must be completed by man: Adam and Eve
have their own free will and the road from hell to paradise can only be paved by their
disobedience. The sin Eve commits when she eats from the tree of knowledge is very
similar to Satan’s: she intends to become divine. This parallel is expressed by Adam’s
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words "our fall" (Milton 2013: 226), which remind the reader of Satan’s fall. After tasting
the fruit of this tree, Adam and Eve begin to change: for the first time they experience
negative feelings and thoughts: "high passions, anger, hate, / Mistrust, suspicion, discord"
(Milton 2013: 227) and give in to the sin of lust: "Carnal desire flaming [...] in lust they
burn" (Milton 2013: 224). Hell found its way to paradise through sin, represented by
Satan’s daughter, the creature called sin. Her allegorical description, half woman, half
serpent, points to the fall of man: the woman refers to Eve and the serpent to Satan, since it
was in this form that he tempted Eve. Sin finds its way to earth after Eve and Adam’s fall
and is followed by death, the son of Satan, and sin:
Meanwhile in Paradise the hellish pair

Too soon arrived, sin there in power before, Once
actual, now in body, and to dwell
Habitual habitant; behind her Death (Milton, 2013: 245-246).
As a consequence, the earth becomes a hell or at least hell-like: "made one realm /
Hell and this world, one realm, one continent" (Milton 2013: 240), as Satan says to his
daughter. As a consequence, humanity is responsible for hell on earth. Samuel finds a
common original purpose in her comparison of Dante’s and Milton’s Hell:
After his fall, Adam draws a direct parallel between himself and Satan: "To Satan
only like both crime and doom" (Milton 2013: 252), and even the setting takes on a certain
resemblance to Hell: "the still night [. ..] with black air / Accompanied, with damps and
dreadful gloom” (Milton 2013: 252). Finally, Adam accuses Eve of the same sin often
mentioned in connection with Satan: "thy pride / And wand’ring vanity" (Milton
2013: 253). So even the relationship between the two has changed. Eva’s words "wander
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down / Into a lower world" (Milton 2013: 267) connect their own destiny with that of
Satan, with local and moral descent.
The same principle of striving high but falling low appears again in one of Adam’s
visions:
Marching from Eden towards the west, shall find

The plain, wherein a black bituminous gurge Boils
out from under ground, the mouth of hell; Of brick,
and of that stuff they cast to build
A city and tow’r, whose top may reach to heav’n (Milton, 2013: 284).
In this case, people even manage to establish a direct and locally unambiguous
connection to hell, even though they had actually planned the exact opposite. This passage
is a little confusing, since Hell lies far beneath the earth and is connected to it only by the
bridge built by sin and death; so this description may be more symbolic, implying that
pride and false ambition lead quickly and directly down to hell in a moral sense.
96
CONCLUSION
6. Conclusion
Just as the world of the gods in the myths and legends of antiquity hide allegorical
patterns of explanation and instructions for action, Paradise Lost is also permeated by a
specifically Christian mythology whose conception seems fantastic, but whose truths are
no more illogical than those of ancient traditions or modern literature.
There are two basic principles in Milton’s Paradise Lost; on the one hand, the
status of a world or a being is reflected in its spatial position, on the other hand, there is a
strong connection between the respective location and at least the characteristics or even
the status of the inhabitants. This can be understood from Satan’s designations: in heaven,
with high status, he was called Archangel and Lightbringer (Lucifer): "he of the first, / If
not the first Archangel" (Milton, pp. 130-131), " great Lucifer” (Milton 2013: 133) and
“Lucifer from heav’n / (So call him, brighter once amidst the host / Of angels, than that
star the stars among)” (Milton 2013: 166), this earlier one However, the name is no longer
used: "his former name / Is heard no more in heav’n" (Milton 2013: 130). Even in hell as a
fallen angel he is no longer allowed to bear his former name and is called the prince of
hell: "Prince of Hell" (Milton 2013: 108) and in paradise he is called the seducer or
tempter: "the Tempter" (Milton 2013: 212). This connection can also be seen in the
example of paradise after the fall of Adam and Eve: Paradise is so perfect and pure that it
does not endure the presence of fallen beings. Even heaven cannot bear the presence of the
fallen angels and "Disburdened heav’n rejoiced, and soon repaired / Her mural breach"
(Milton 2013: 161). In the assignment of good and evil to heaven and hell, the pronounced
dualism in Paradise Lost is shown once again: "Heav’n the seat of bliss" and "the place of
97
CONCLUSION
evil, hell", as well as in the allocation of light and darkness: "rid heav’n of these rebelled, /
To their prepared ill mansion driven down / To chains of darkness” (Milton 2013: 157).
Overall, the characterization of the places shows a strong functionalization, heaven
and paradise as a heaven-like place for the human race and hell primarily serve as a
representation of a godly or godless state or life. The purpose of this description is an
explanation or warning to the reader to live a godly life.
While Danielson primarily examines the role of chaos in Paradise Lost and sees in
this the need for metaphysical evil, Featheringill focuses on the tensions that exist between
the will of Adam and the will of God. Although the authors argue from different starting
points, both show that the paradoxes surrounding human free will, destiny and the
almighty God can be resolved in Paradise Lost and do justice to Milton’s poetic genius.
Featheringill summarizes the following points. The crucial characteristic of the epic
tradition is also preserved in Paradise Lost. The tension between the will of God and that
of man is resolved through providence. Milton’s Christian God, like the pagan gods, did
not allow man’s free will to be left in a moral vacuum. Adam learns that his own
willpower is not enough to stand up to evil. Milton divides the power of the gods between
two antagonists: Christ and Satan. Both fulfill the providence of the almighty and
benevolent God (cf. Featheringill 1990).
A look at the biblical texts mostly shows the devil as an accuser. This is also the
meaning of the Hebrew word Satan: accuser, adversary. This assignment of roles is
particularly evident in the First Testament. There, the devil mostly acts as a member of the
divine court, who, with God’s permission, presents and realizes his accusations (Job) and
is often only added afterwards in order to be able to act as a concrete opponent of God.
98
CONCLUSION
Only when the belief in the one God as the creator and goal of all being was really
established could one consider where evil came from and what connection it had with God
the Creator.
Above all, the strong, seductive presence of Satan in the text of the epic encourages
this suspicion; the fallen angel’s point of view, delivered with rhetorical brilliance, is all
too easy to grasp. However, the main focus of the epic is never the actual ‘defense’ of
God, but the depiction of a new kind of heroism that renders the former redundant anyway.
This Christian, loving, suffering heroism is preferred by Milton to the ancient heroic ideal
of fighting power and immortal glory, which had hitherto been the main theme of the epic
genre. Both of these ‘new’ epic heroes of Paradise Lost are contrasted with the third, ‘old’
epic hero who, with his energy, his fighting spirit, but also his hubris, most closely
resembles an ancient hero: Satan. Opposed to this, God the Son is a deeply Christian,
suffering, loving hero; Adam, on the other hand, turns out to be an astonishingly modern,
passive hero, perhaps even an anti-hero, with whose departure into the uncertain certain
the epic ends.
In this way, John Milton created one of the greatest epics in literary history around
the quite well-known storyline of the first act of disobeying God by eating an apple of the
Tree of Knowledge, which expanded the boundaries of the genre itself. Even today,
Paradise Lost, read from a (post)modern point of view and sometimes against the grain,
seems surprisingly up-to-date. This applies not least to the rousing characters that Milton
created in his epic: the partly moralizing, partly accusatory narrator, who manifests itself
particularly impressively in the hymn to the light at the beginning of the third canto, in
which the blind poet also finds his endless imprisonment lamented in dark solitude; the
99
CONCLUSION
Son of God with his almost resigned willingness to make sacrifices; Adam with his wide-
eyed thirst for knowledge, insatiable hunger for life and sexual appetite; Eve, with her
flirtatious femininity and sulking dissatisfaction with her inferior position; the faithful
angels in their somewhat unnerving goodness; and finally the rebellious Satan, craving
absolute freedom, hopelessly entangled in self-generating evil and trapped in the deepest
pain of eternal separation from divinity.
This Satan, although he loses himself in the epic, has remained Milton’s most
influential creation. It is reflected in countless charismatic, torn antagonists, but also
protagonists of world literature, and that till today. Milton’s influence on literary history
may be less clear and overwhelming than that of his compatriot Shakespeare, but echoes of
Paradise Lost are everywhere. The great epic of mankind is one of the architexts of
English-language literature. The confrontation with Milton, whether admiring, critical, or
even negative, has shaped many writers, and the figure of his Satan and the questions
about the nature of good and evil that this dazzlingly drawn figure raises is at the center of
the world’s centuries-long fascination with John Milton and his Paradise Lost.
100
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Paslavska Iryna MA Thesis

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FACULTY OF ARTS

God and Satan, Heaven

Master’s Diploma Thesis

Supervisor: Stephen Paul Hardy, Ph. D.

Department of English and American Studies

Programme English Language and Literature

Author: Iryna Paslavska

Brno December 12, 2022 .......................................

3 The Textual Universe of Paradise Lost 21

4 Milton’s God in Heaven 31

5 Milton’s Satan in Hell 72

John Milton’s greatest work Paradise Lost presents a cosmic panorama of

closer to the conjectures of Satan and his fallen followers.

In 2005, Peter Paul Schnierer published De-Demonization and Demonization, his

(The Cambridge Companion to English poets, 2011).

emotional fluctuations of their residents.

time and till today.

knowledge and unlimited expression, conformity, and individual freedom.

works written by his predecessors.

A few questions in the foundation of this research have proven to be key to

In connection with this, it is necessary to mention the approaches used in this

Paradise Lost. The work will be subject-focused rather than author-focused.

characters and places more vividly and to emphasize their importance.

presented in the order of the chapters.

2 John Milton and His Narrative of "Justifying the

creation of the world to Judgment Day. It is a work of truly cosmic dimensions,

heterogeneous structure, whose kaleidoscope-like character may surprise at times, but

above all fascinates.

memorized in both Greek and Hebrew.

constitutional monarchy. Although he was critical of Oliver Cromwell’s absolutist

ruins of the cause to which he had sacrificed his eyesight.

liberal Milton’s bitterness and frustration.

goal of his epic.

3 The Textual Universe of Paradise Lost

3.1. The Origin

The textual universe of Paradise Lost is almost immeasurable in philosophical and

tradition, thus uniting the two great strands of occidental culture.

of hell and earth:

empire up to light" (Milton 2013: 59).

His Son of His dominions:

under thee as Head Supreme

Chaos, with Earth in turn placed above Chaos.

formless infinite” (Milton 2013: 63) and

The secrets of the hoary deep, a dark

Some inconsistencies emerge here, although chaos is described by terms such as

The structurelessness is also represented by the endless war:

amidst the noise

can endanger a prevailing order or hierarchy are mentioned in a personified form:

Rumor next and Chance,

Satan sought a higher rank than he is due.

I saw and heard, for such a numerous host

Confusion worse confounded (Milton, 2013: 60).

But now at last the sacred influence

cannot therefore correspond to either of the two places in terms of brightness.

In comparative descriptions of chaos, terms connecting it to water and the sea

They viewed the vast immeasurable abyss

from the bottom turned by furious winds And

the fall mentioned above:

nigh foundered on he fares,

obscure” (Milton 2013: 239).

Deep to the roots of hell the gathered beach

The womb of Nature and perhaps her grave, Of

anarchy” (Milton 2013: 57) and