Satan's name dates back to the Jewish root “Satan”, which means "to resist "," to be an enemy". In "Paradise Lost" Milton often names Satan “The Enemy” or “Archenemy”. Thus, Satan seizes human consciousness as the enemy of God, so that believers, watching him struggling with God, perceive the grandeur of the latter. Milton’s Satan is not just an Archangel, but the most outstanding military leader, who enjoyed complete trust of God. G. Butler pushes to the idea that Milton’s Satan was influences a lot by “Comedy” and it should be agreed with: Milton received classical education and “acquires excessive knowledge of Dante, Petrarch, Aristo etc.” (Butler, 352). However, two images of Satan are quite different. Milton does not deny might of Satan – this denial is observed in “Divine Comedy” where Satan is imprisoned in the depth of Hell. On the contrary, Milton skillfully takes advantage of the possibilities of poetic language and colorfully describes Satan’s power. Milton emphasizes that Satan commands a third of the host, those angels who supported him and rebelled against God.
Before his fall, Satan is the most important and splendid of all Archangels. He is called Lucifer, who shins among the angels as the brightest star among others. He is great, but not perfect, and his greatness destroys him. It is the consciousness of his own power that led him into the sin of pride. Milton complicates the case: he enters in the poem an extra story line associated with the Son thus comparing glorified Son with Satan, unsatisfied and forgotten Archangel broken away from the divine throne. However, Satan is a son of the Lord God too, who is strong and assiduous, but obviously despised. The antagonism inevitably leads to a prideful son not willing to put up with the fate and forced to break the will of the Father by challenging His power.
Despite the defeat, Satan does not give up his attempts of uprising. Once in hell, he's still ready to fight. The curse of Satan is his staunch aspiration for struggle being doomed to defeat. Nevertheless, with the Fall of Satan the end of the world will come. The world as it is, without any confrontation, is simply unthinkable; as well as a man who convinced that he has no enemies, is the most vulnerable and insecure.
The image of Satan is a very important piece of the poem. All the researchers are unison in opinions that it is comparable with God's shadow: dark and solid, his image, however, is the more obvious the more decency it is surrounded with. Also, Milton's Satan demonstrates the pervert taste. Taking advantage of the ability of angels and demons to reincarnate in another body, Satan takes images of the most ugly. Tempting Eve, he enters the snake; wanting to seduce her in sleep, Satan sleeps at her ear in the shape of a toad.
There is the controversy in Satan’s image. According to Milton, Satan and the forces of Hell are defeated, confounded and imprisoned in the depth of the underworld; but he at least deserves respect for implacability. The more is this obstinacy, the greater is the mortal sin of Pride. A. Paolucci explains the treatment that Milton gives to Satan by the fact that Milton was one of the ideologues of English revolution of 17th century and could not but sympathize rebellion spirit of Satan in his struggle for freedom (Paolucci, 1964). Finally, Satan is an excellent speaker, whose monologues are truly impressive. The very poem "Paradise Lost" is started by Milton with an exciting monologue of Satan.
The essence of Dante´s evil is illustrated by the organization of Hell. Dante explains that sins should be ranked, since he suggests that certain sins can never be forbidden. Also the geography of Hell hints on unavoidable links between sins, which is illustrated by bridges from one circle to another.
Dante portrays Satan as something “sub-human” (Paolucci, 141). Dante places Satan at the middle of Hell. He is trapped in the Ninth Circle of Hell, surrounded by ice. His punishment is as severe as his sin. He is portrayed as a dreadful demon, with a pair of huge wings; and when he beats the wings, he creates freezing winds. He is silent and seems to be just a cruel beast. His ugliness is opposed to his splendor, when he was an Archangel and before he was cast out of Heaven. Speculating about the image of Satan in “Comedy” A. Paolucci finds out that Dante tells nothing about Satan’s soul or any other qualities of him apart from abnormal physical strength due to which Satan endures his never-ending punishment. According to Dante, Satan is very alike with other sinners. He seems to be rather mortal than eternal. Contrary to the poetic vision of Satan, created by Milton, the image of Dante’s Satan can hardly be one of the Lord of Hell. He is a true evil, and Dante does not contemplate about the nature of his sin. If Milton presents Satan as arrogant, obstinate but also intelligent, great and eloquent, Dante exposes Satan somewhat powerless. Even Dante, as the main character of the “Comedy”, defeats Satan. However, A. Paolucci argues in her research the inferiority of Dante’s Satan. She suggested viewing both interpretations of Satan as “utterly different” (Paolucci, 139). They should not be characterized out of context, since both Milton’s and Dante’s Satan evolve his power of the Lord of Hell only in the course of story.
Actually, it is hard to believe that Dante’s Satan could convince a third of the host into following his rebellion against the Divine. He is depicted more as an envious individual, craving for power than a military leader, once the greatest creation of God.
Milton’s Satan is the necessary evil compared to a shade of God and all the goodness. His creation is explained by the importance of the oppositions or confrontations in the world. Dante’s Satan is a powerless demon, whom the main character came across during his quest, searching for his true love. Here Satan is simply another trial that the main character successfully overcame.
The discrepancy can be easily explained by traditions of different centuries. When Dante wrote “Comedy”, he was not permitted to deviate from the dogmas of the church under the thread of being imprisoned and accused of heresy. Thus, without breaking the norms, he skillfully rendered his view of Hell as well as religion to a certain degree.
Milton was a poet of 17th century – the period of revolutionary views and manifestations. He himself was rebellious by nature, but since he was a representative of high society, he had to evolve his position within the moral limits of his century. His Satan is a tragic “Greek hero”, the one who is worth sympathizing from time to time (Paolucci, 144). This Satan is an unbelievable image of a revolutionary, who is doomed to defeat but still ready to struggle until the very end. “Milton contrasts the classical heroism of Satan with the Christian heroism of the Son” (Butler, 134). George F. Butler deliberately attributes “heroism” to both opponents. The reason is that Milton’s Evil is arguable, since his Satan possesses a number of virtues, although he committed a sin. Nevertheless, Butler argues the admiration that Milton gave to his Satan. Devil's heroism is faulty, and Satan suffers punishment for impudence (Butler, 135). Dante’s Evil is beast-like, merciless but limited and powerless. Consequently, Milton’s Satan is perceived as the true image of Evil that is in fact as mighty as Good, but helpless in the face of God.
Works cited
Paolucci, A. “Dante's Satan and Milton's "Byronic Hero". 1964, Ialica: Vol. 41, No. 2, p. 139-149.
Butler, G. F. “Giants and Fallen Angels in Dante and Milton: The “Commedia” and the Gigantomachy in “Paradise Lost”. 1998, Modern Philology: 95, no. 3, p. 352-363.
Butler, G. F. “Statius' Thebaid, Dante's Commedia, and Milton's Paradise Lost”. 2006, Comparative Literature Studies: 43.1-2, p. 134-152.
(https://www.researchgate.net/publication/236798151_The_Fall_of_Tydeus_and_the_Failure_of_Satan_Statius%27_Thebaid_Dante%27s_Commedia_and_Milton%27s_Paradise_Lost?_sg=6Cgiq6CKD-Fw7pXFrD0V6tJHXjI-hHSCMWi82YegZmZyqguWB3ZWOv5KWVcGhvrFKqcIHpkx3plSholXrH-bKQ)
