Satan and Achilles, True Heroism

What makes a character a hero? Is it great accomplishments, firm morals, courage to fight through any situation? Talking about Satan as a hero figure in class on Wednesday made me realize that he is not much worse of an individual than many of the great heroes of the Greek epics. Think about Achilles, the great "hero" of the Iliad, was he really any better of an individual than Satan? He didn't rise from the depths of defeat, he groveled in it, quit when he was offended, and channeled his rage into nothing more but blind revenge. Achilles might have been the devil who would start a war with heaven anew. I never liked Achilles nor did I even seen any heroism in him at all, at least in his depiction in the Iliad.  It's an interesting comparison to think about. Satan's journey to earth also contains a lot of parallels to Odysseus's journey home. Both are portrayed as masters of trickery, deceit, and disguise. One was considered a great hero, while the other the reason for all unhappiness in the world. But are they really that different in character? I feel a little better sympathizing with Satan considering
Achilleus and Odysseus weren't the most heroic of figures. Oh and they were both favored by certain gods as well. Satan had nothing. Perhaps that may be the root of our sympathy for the devil in Milton's great tale. Satan has all odds stacked against him (like GOD) and yet still he finds the strength within to fight a losing battle. Thankfully none of us have to fight such a fight, nor do I think we would ever want to. If the devil can use revenge, hatred, and his suffering to push towards a hopeless goal, can't we fight on even stronger terms against him to do what is right and survive this mortal experience? Unlike Satan or Sisyphus, the rock we roll up the mountain of our life will reach the top, and we aren't the only ones pushing it.

Milton's Multipartite God

Old Testament Trinity, by medieval
Russian iconographer Andrey Rublev

As I've been reading Paradise Lost and various scholarly resources on the work, I've become somewhat interested in certain of Milton's deviations from traditional Christian thought. One prime example is his portrayal of a multi-person God. In Book III of Paradise Lost, God the Father and Christ discuss the fall of man and the means whereby man might be redeemed. However, oddly, they are presented as separate, sentient Beings, each with His own thoughts and motives. Milton emphasizes this distinction at various points in the text, as in the following excerpt, spoken by Milton's God the Father:

                                . . . But all ye gods,
Adore him, who to compass all this dies,
Adore the Son, and honor him as me. (3:341-343)

In "Milton’s Strange God: Theology and Narrative Form in Paradise Lost," Samuel Fallon notes that this idea of a bi- or tripartite God is in contrast with the prevalent Christian theology of Milton's time, which emphasized the Holy Trinity. Fallon remarks: "even at his most heretical, Milton could agree with nearly all Reformed thinkers when it came to God’s essential attributes," and stipulates various traits, including "oneness." Is this a valid assertion? Does Milton's portrayal of God really suggest a belief in the oneness of God? In what other ways are Milton's theological ideas less than orthodox or even "heretical"?

Article Citation: Samuel Fallon. "Milton’s Strange God: Theology and Narrative Form in Paradise Lost." ELH 79.1 (2012): 33-57. Project MUSE. Web. 25 Sep. 2013.

A Paradise Lost by One

One of the things that has struck me most as I've been reading the first couple of books in Milton's Paradise Lost is the parallel of Satan's and Christ's relationship to their followers. You could say that I've thought a lot about salvation and damnation and what each means and how each is ensured, either by deference to virtue (Christ) or to sin (Satan), but a couple of pretty simple lines have had me thinking about how one figure (Christ or Satan) can figure into the fates of millions of individuals.

In the second book of Paradise Lost, Satan announces that he will "Through all the coasts of dark destruction seek / Deliverance for us all: . . . (2:464-465). The parallel to Christ's salvation here is, I think, more than apparent. Just as Christ is the author and finisher of our salvation--of our ascent back from a fallen condition--so also does Satan become the savior figure for those devils cast out of Heaven. But what really got to me was some lines that I came across among my annotations as I was reviewing the first book:

Millions of spirits for his [Satan's] fault amerced
Of Heav’n, and from eternal splendors flung
For his revolt . . . (1:609-611).

I had never really thought about this before, but just as man is saved by one supernal, vicarious act, so were those among that third part cast out for one singular act of selfishness. Each individual is, of course, responsible for his/her own actions and decisions, but would those "morning stars" and "sons of God" (Job 38:7) have relinquished their glory had not Lucifer stepped forward in defiance? After all, the Bible states that "all the sons of God shouted for joy" when the foundations of the earth were laid. Why then did they follow Lucifer, the light bringer that would cast them into darkness? What is the power of one to save or to damn?