Demons Playing gods // Elijah Mahn
In Paradise Lost, the demons parallel the Greek gods, as well as some gods of other pantheons. For example, Satan's daughter Sin references Athena, being born out of the head of Satan, just as Athena was from Zeus. A more direct and blatant allusion is Vulcan, who is stated to have built the demons golden palace. Vulcan is the Roman name for Hephaestus, the god of the forge and craftsmanship. Sin Also references another entity from Greek Myth, Kampé. Kampé was effectively the warden of the cyclopes and hundred handed ones, preventing them from leaving Tartarus, which is Greek mythology's version of hell. She is described in myth as having the upper torso of a snake-haired woman with flaming whips, and the lower half of a dragon with a scorpion tail, legs with snakes for hair, a skirt made of living heads of, jackals, wolves, bears, boars, etc... and other terrifying features. And if appearance weren't enough, this reference is furthered by the fact that in Paradise Lost, Sin is the gatekeeper.
It is evident that Paradise Lost alludes to the gods through its demons, and there are many potential reasons why. First, it may be to get across the idea that humans have been led astray by false gods, and that would be the work of demons. This hypothesis states that the gods of other religions were in fact demons pretending to be gods. Another possibility for why the demons of paradise lost are the gods of myths is a bit more metaphorical. It could be to show that the demons have each come to see themself as their own god, as they have rejected the true one. This is made more evident by the fact that they have the names of gods of myth. It is also possible that both interpretations are intended to be true.
PS: I commented on Haylee Lynd and Ashley Scism's posts.
Elijah I loved your post. Building off of what you wrote, I think another possible reason Milton gave the demons names of the Greek gods is perhaps to depict their fall. They sought power, they sought glory, they sought worship, and to show that Milton gave them names of what they always strived to be and ultimately led to their downfall: gods.
ReplyDeleteI love the connection you made between the Greek gods and the demons. I also agree that he may have referenced the Greek gods to show that the demons might have been pretending to be Gods. Milton does an amazing job with referencing in his writings, and it really causes you to think deeper about what he truly could have meant when writing this book. People interpret the reading in several different ways, and I think Milton might have intended for this to happen when writing the novel.
ReplyDeleteThe comparison of the demons being gods of different religions is interesting and it excites me to hear it here as well. I've had a similar conversation with a close friend of mine. I also like the comparison of Athena and Sin specifically, down to the way of birth.
ReplyDeleteI always enjoy a good greek mythology reference so— thank you. I also noticed the metaphor of the demons representing pagan gods. Similar to the characters of greek mythology the demons downfall was a result of hubris. The demons wanted to be like God and were cast down. The titans of Greek mythology were the same way. The titan Kronos ate his own children to keep his authority and this act lead to his youngest taking his throne.
ReplyDeleteI loved your post Elijah! It's no coincidence that Milton was using the names of God's from other mythologies. I always assumed that Milton was using this to show how these 'gods' were always false, and that they, despite their historical relevance and creative inspiration they inspire, they have been and always will be false gods. Maybe their meant to be the literal gods, shown off in a more Christian origin, or maybe it is just a reference. -- B.Poole
ReplyDelete