Herma The Shepherd Research Paper

Satan’s character embodies the idea of a heroic figure because he questions what he feels to be true, even though his tragic fall is that he becomes easily misguided.

The devil at the dawn of Christianity bore little resemblance to the ruler of hell, the antichrist and agent of evil that he is known as in present day. Satan makes few overt or implied appearances in the Old Testament. For the important role of God’s greatest adversary, early Christians had to flesh out great parts of Satan’s story in order to develop him into his present, fearsome persona. The Christian story of the Devil is heavily influenced by earlier Greek mythology, and early Christian writings about the Devil co-opted local mythology in order to gain new converts and discredit popular pagan beliefs.

Satan was unwilling to back down, no matter how great God’s power. This mission stands out as an element of the epic hero. In almost all epics written the hero has to stifle past guarded boundaries in order to complete goals. Satan’s bravery in trying to learn answers concerning his existence in heaven and his damnation to Hell is noble. Determination to derive truth is an admirable quality. Though his bitterness creates negative characteristics, his core purpose is not entirely blasphemous. He considers all that is placed before him and says in book 1, “Better to reign in hell than serve in heaven” (263). He knows that Hell is a place of doom and torture, but he is committed to living there with dignity and hopes to eventually rise above the creator and gain back what he feels he is entitled to as a living being. This acceptance of his conditions and determination to overcome makes him the underdog that an audience cannot help but root for. Everyone knows what it’s like to be in dark place with no visible escape. People want to be able to relate to a character that remains hopeful. In this sense Satan seems very heroic and critics have even gone as far as interpreting God as the villain.

In Paradis Lost, Milton wrote that Satan used to be an angel of God. The devil believed that he was equal to the Lord and he wanted to be greater than him. For this, God banished him to hell. Milton 's physical description of Satan is interesting. Since he used to be an angel, he still had wings, his eyes were blazed and he had a scaly skin. Satan was also an immense creature; the usual giant, 21 feet tall. It is noted that Satan had only one head, but Milton 's depiction of him was this basic

In (Revelation 12:3) Satan appeared as a 7 headed dragon that had a crown on every head. He became so jealous and full of pride that he threw a rebellion against God. Isaiah 14 says “ I will raise my throne above the stars of God.” (Isaiah 14 12-15 NIV). A war broke out in Heaven, Michael and his angles fought Satan (Revelation 12:7). This next verse proves that Satan is truly evil, It says “Its tail swept a third of the stars out of the sky and flung them to the earth. The dragon stood in front of the woman who was about to give birth, so that it might devour her child the moment he was born.” (Revelation 12:4 NIV) That clearly shows that he wants nothing good for us and wants to destroy us. Hell was originally for Satan only, but in Genesis God gave us the choice to live in eternally in heaven or go to hell. The

In book I of “Paradise Lost” the speaker characterized Satan as a leader based on his ability to lead the falling angels. By “Paradise Lost” being a Christian poem some may wonder why Satan is considered a powerful leader. I believe Milton portrays Satan as a heroic figure in order to show God’s ultimate power.

In “Paradise Lost” I think that Milton’s character Satan may be considered one of the most complex characters and is always changing. Of course at first he comes off as a very evil guy, who had a strong thirst for vengeance and liked to wreak havoc. Even though

Know the bible in my case describes him to be a beat who is huge and in all ways evil looking like with two wings that are huge bat like wings and feet that are like horses or bull like he has one head with the color of red eyes that have flames burning inside of eat like an empty black hole and on his head a crown made of gold with his head having horns his teal like a snake with scales and a pointy like teal almost like an arrow is the tip of the tail his mouth with big fangs like a hog would have them. That is what the bible has him looking like or more like what I take him to be. The weird part about Dante inferno is the position he has Satan in which is weird because his head and body is upside down while his legs are right side up. It wired because the way for them to turn back to the right side up is to latterly turn in a way where it's like they are climbing down instead of

In Milton’s Paradise Lost, surely we have come to ponder upon the makeup of Satan’s attractable character—his rebellious, seductive, almost “bad-ass” attitude—a case of admirable evil. But let us not forget his ambition, his strive to weld the image of God. We have seen many moments throughout where we get Satan’s ground for imitating the image of God: “…In imitation of that Mount whereon / Messiah was declar’d…” (V 764-65). But why does Satan do this? What is it in Satan that causes him to “look up” to God? Is God a tyrant yet a role model to Satan? I propose that Satan’s drive is something more than just an act of pretending; maybe, it is rather a means of trying to grasp what he has been taken away from him. Or, we can say that Satan was more. Perhaps he came to existence not in the mold of angel, but as a divine tool. There must be a reason as to: why Satan was considered God’s “first and favorite angel”? This seems to suggest that Satan is, originally, at some level of divinity; an experiment of God’s that was put to the test (or is a test)—a divine prototype.

When a person hears Satan, a streak of fear, and the thought of evil arises. People fear Satan, and think of him as evil, but in John Milton’s Paradise Lost, he displays a thought of the Father being the evil being, and Satan a tragic hero. In Paradise Lost, Book 1 and 2, the minor areas where God is shown, He is displayed as hypocritical. He contradicts himself by creating the humans to be of free will, but when Satan displays free will, he is shunned. Satan could be described in many terms, and by many people, but all can be disputed. According to my sources, Satan is displayed as the hero, while God is the evil deity, and Milton was wrong for writing Him as so. In this essay, I will show my thoughts on the subject of Satan as an evil

This character is all throughout the book and is found trying to force Christian off his current path of following Christ to the path that leads to destruction. This character’s name is the Devil. The Devil can be seen throughout the entire story and in different forms. Some of those different forms would include: Giant Despair, Diffidence, Demas, Temporary, and even in the Dark River. Throughout Christian’s journey these characters all try to change Christian’s path by their possessions or by their

"In the forefront of the battle, where we expect him, is Milton's Satan, the great rebel of Paradise Lost" (Hamilton 7). Hamilton also introduces the idea of an underdog, describing Satan as a person fighting against an inferior power, with extreme odds against a victory for his side (14). In the scenes around the battle in heaven, Milton shows how Satan is viewed as a leader by the other fallen angels.

Satan’s definitions include the advocate of God, a personification of evil, the fallen angel, a spirit created by God, and also the accuser. People see Satan differently, some know of his existence, others think of him as just a myth, and there are those that just ignore him. John Milton's Paradise Lost tells of Satan's banishment from Heaven and his gain of earth. He and his brigade have plotted war against God and are now doomed to billow in the fiery pits of hell. Satan is a complex character with many different qualities. God is a character who we, as Christians, know about but do not completely understand. We also do not completely understand Satan. Some may think they know Satan but when asked “Is Satan divine?”

Following the standards of classic tragic heroes, Satan is a determined leader with an extreme amount of hubris. He knows that God is the most powerful being and yet he still

The character of Satan in this story can also be related to other tragic heroes throughout history.