The Portrayl Of Satan In The Divine Comedy And Paradise Lost
Dante Alighieri, who was born in Florence, Italy, was a famous Italian poet who was also educated in philosophy, theology, and rhetoric. Most of Dante’s poetry is influenced by love and the effects it has on man. In fact, Dante believed that love is a way to get closer to God. He also thought that women were angelic and that through them, man can get closer to God. One of Dante’s most famous epic poems is The Divine Comedy, which he started writing in 1308.The Divine Comedy is divided into three different parts, known as the Inferno, Purgatorio, and Paradiso. In other words, it is a journey through Hell, Purgatory, and Heaven. These three parts of the poem represent a soul’s journey towards God. Another epic poem that is similar to Dante’s Divine Comedy is Paradise Lost, which was published in 1667 and was written by John Milton. The epic poem focuses on the story of Adam and Eve and the fallen angels. The purpose of both of these epics is to celebrate God not Satan. Although both The Divine Comedy and Paradise Lost share some similarities, such as their descriptions of Satan and Hell, Dante portrays Satan in a much weaker and non-human way than Milton does.
In both The Divine Comedy and Paradise Lost, Dante and Milton describe Heaven in similar ways. In the Portable Dante, when Dante successfully enters paradise, he is able to see light. The light that Dante sees symbolizes God. When Dante looks into God, he can see man. Dante says, “At this point power failed high fantasy / But, like a wheel in perfect balance turning, / I felt my will and my desire impelled/by the Love that moves the sun and the other stars.” When Dante says that he was impelled by the “Love”, he is referring to God, which indicates that both Dante and God are uniting together. This is similar to the way that Heaven is described in Milton’s poem. Similarly, to Dante’s poem, in Paradise Lost, when one makes it to Heaven, they have the ability to fully unify with God. Another similarity between the two epic poems is found in their portrayals of Hell. In Dante’s Inferno, Hell appears to be a gruesome place where souls are left to suffer. This is apparent when Dante first enters the gate of Hell and he says, “Here sighs and cries and shrieks of lamentation/ echoed throughout the starless air of Hell; / at first these sounds resounding made me weep; / … a language strained in anguish / with cadences of anger, shrill outcries / and raucous groans that joined with sounds of hands, / raising a whirling storm that turns itself / forever through that air of endless black, / like grains of sand swirling when a whirlwind blows.” Because Dante encounters a lot of weeping and shrieking in Hell, Hell is depicted in a negative and dark way. Likewise, in Paradise Lost, Milton also defines Hell as a miserable and dismal place. This is evident when Milton says, “At once as far angels’ ken he views / The dismal situation waste and wild, / A dungeon horrible, on all sides round / As one great furnace flamed, yet from those flames / No light, but rather darkness visible.” Hell in Paradise Lost is evidently not a place of peace. Furthermore, both Dante and Milton illustrate Satan in the same way. Satan, in both poems, is characterized as being extremely prideful and a betrayer since he was one of God’s servants. In fact, he was one of God’s most favorite angels; however; Satan is prideful to a fault, and as a punishment, in Dante’s Inferno, he is frozen in Hell forever. Milton’s Paradise Lost, Satan believes that he can rebel against God, which is why, as a punishment, he is casted down from Heaven into the abyss of Hell. Milton describes Satan in an evil way when he says,
“The infernal serpent, he it was, whose guile, / Stirred up with envy and revenge,
Deceived / The mother of mankind, what time is pride / Had cast him out from Heaven
with all his host… Raised impious war in Heaven and battle proud/ With vain attempt/
Him the almighty power / Hurled headlong flaming from the ethereal sky / With hideous
ruin and combustion down / To bottomless perdition, there to dwell/ In adamantine
chains and penal fire.”
In Milton’s poem, Satan’s corruptness and hostility against God is evidently portrayed through his envy, revenge, and deceptiveness, which is why he is sent into the pits of Hell, just like in Dante’s Inferno.
Even though both Dante’s Divine Comedy, and Milton’s Paradise Lost share similarities, they also share differences as well. Unlike, in Paradise Lost, in Dante’s Inferno, Satan is depicted more as a horrifying creature. In Dante’s Inferno, Satan is portrayed in a non-human way, with three heads. Furthermore, Dante encounters Satan and observes that he “crunched a sinner, / with teeth like those that rake the hemp and flax, / keeping three sinners constantly in pain; / the one in front – the biting he endured / was nothing like the clawing that he took; / sometimes his back was raked clean of its skin.” Satan, in Dante’s Inferno, is apparently super malicious like a demon. On the other hand, however, Satan in Milton’s epic, possesses more human characteristics since he is not frozen or silent like he is portrayed in Dante’s epic. Instead, Satan is more convincing, as he presents a speech against God. According to Satan, “the mind is its own place and in itself / Can make a Heaven of hell, a hell of 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.” By giving this speech, it shows how Satan is corrupting God’s new world. Because Satan is able to have a voice and manipulate people into following him, Satan is more human than he is in Dante’s Inferno. Moreover, compared to Satan’s evident strength and ability in Paradise Lost, Satan appears much weaker in Dante’s Inferno, as he “wept from his six eyes, and down three chins / were dripping tears all mixed with bloody saver.” Because Dante portrays Satan in a weak way, and Milton portrays him as powerful and more human, they are vastly different in their depictions of Satan.
In Florence, Italy, Dante was heavily involved with politics. In fact, Dante was way more political than Milton. At the time, Florence was Catholic, but there was a division in Florence due to the Pope. The Pope, who was very powerful and had a lot of influence over Florence, wanted control over all of Florence; therefore, as a result, Florence split between people those who supported the Pope and those who did not. Dante was one of the individuals who disagreed with the Pope. Because of this, Dante was sent into exile in Ravenna, Italy and never returned. Dante later traveled to Northern Italy, where his political views clearly influenced his poems that he began writing. On the other hand, in England when Milton was alive, there was a monarchy; but Milton was opposed to it. Instead, he supported regicide, which is the killing of the king. Additionally, during England at the time, was Protestant; therefore, so was Milton, as he was against Catholics. Milton denied Catholic authority to teach. Instead, he believed in relying on your own individual conscience. Although both The Divine Comedy and Paradise Lost are popular poems, Dante’s work is more relatable today because his poem focuses heavily on the afterlife and what it means to be a human, which is still relevant today.
Dante’s Inferno and Milton’s Paradise Lost both focus on Satan and how he is a betrayer; however, they both portray him in different ways. While Dante characterizes Satan in a non-human and weak way, Milton portrays him as a very strong and rebellious figure with human qualities.
