Paradise Lost Book I

Book I:

• Satan awakens next to Beezlebub, his second in command
• They are in a lake of fire that emits darkness instead of light
• Satan believes they should attack God again, feeling no remorse for their actions.
• Beezlebub disagrees, believing God cannot be overpowered
• Satan then suggests that could at least interfere with God's good workers, manipulating these works for evil purposes.
• God still intends for their evil deeds to turn to good, thereby releasing them from chains
• Satan becomes more optimistic about their lot.
• Milton lists some of the more well-known angels whose names have been erased from the book of heaven, and who are later known as Gods and worshiped by humans.
• Satan tries to convince his fallen legion that they will find happiness in doing evil, not good.
• This task is not easy for Satan as God's power was just demonstrated, and they would not have been able to escape their chains without God's permission
• Satan's envy of the son's chosen status and search for freedom leads him to believe he would rather be a king in hell than a servant in heaven
• Satan's pride leads him to believe that his own free intellect is as great as God's will
• Satan remarks that the mind can make its own Hell out of Heaven, or a Heaven out of Hell
• Satan addresses his legion about their shame from falling from heaven, and asks them to gather so they can discuss whether or not another war is feasible
• Immediately, they all dig into the ground & find gold and other minerals. With these, they construct a temple called Pandemonium (means "all of the deamons" in Greek)
• Everyone gathers inside to hold a summit, by shrinking to the smallest size.