Justin Gamble
Dr Loftis
Eng 271
Paper #2
Satan Heroism
The war between heaven and hell is never ending, every one of us pawns, relentless soldiers in battle, fighting for good or evil, for God or Satan; though one side is destined to lose, and in defeat, forced to shamefully reside in eternal turmoil, dreaming of grandeur, living in Hell, frozen in the intense heat, covered by fire yet unconsumed. In religious context, Satan attempt to conquer the throne is a futile exasperating endeavor, and in John Milton’s epic poem, Paradise Lost, Satan is painted as desperately pulling at straws, as he tries to avoid the inevitable. Paradise Lost is a vivid sensational retelling of the Christian myth of the creation of sin and man. In Paradise Lost, Milton however, creates a world were Satan can be viewed as a hero, actual a tragic hero, with pride as his tragic flaw, and his affected nation is his mass of fallen angels. Satan has some typical heroic attributes, an emotional appeal and a tyrant to oppose, making him a hero.
To view Satan as a hero all religious propaganda need be forgotten. Satan is no longer the representation of the aimless pleasure of sin; God no longer symbolizes all things heavenly and divine. Milton utilizes this prominent holy narrative as the back story for his epic, and though the settings and events are superhuman, Satan heroism filters through none of these avenues, so they can be tossed. God, not in a religious aspect, represents a tyrant king, like Charles II. God has the masses of angels singing his glory; he is paid in praise, like a tyrant king enforcing unfair taxes. Since religious concepts are getting tossed out, angels and other holy reference will not refer to anyone involved. Satan’s legion can be referred to as the rebel forces, the dark side or republicans, choose your image, but remove all divine perceptions-- at least for now.
Foremost, Satan’s carries himself as a hero. In order to see Satan as a hero we need...