Eden Lost

From the moment the apple's flesh touched the lips of Eve, the destiny of Man would never be the same again. Though her corrupter, the fallen angel Satan, suffered even now along his vile brethren in Hell, his evil deed was done. Hope, it seemed, was memory as lost as the Paradise in which it once dwelled...

Adam and Eve in agony
Fresco by Masaccio

As the rift between the Earth and Hell remained open, Sin and Death, the offspring of Satan, seized their chance. Soaring into the as yet still ethereal plains of Earth, Sin spread fear, doubt, envy, anger, sloth, hate, want, pride to ravage the World. Death brings down upon the land the scythe of time, undiscriminating, unbiased and even, bestowing his withering sentence upon all living things. Meanwhile, high above on the highest throne, the Almighty was made aware of this blasphemy. But it was the lot of man, his curse for his breaking the oath of God, to inhabit a lesser World now, until the day cometh when all will be purified. When that day arrives both Sin and Death will be hurled headlong to the dark pit from whence they came. "Then heav'n and earth renewed shall be made pure, to sanctity that shall receive no stain: till then the curse pronounced on both sides precedes". The host gathered sang in jubiliation, wonder at the ways of the Lord, and joyful at the promised time when the blight will be lifted and all will be free. At once the Creator set about making the new world. At his command, the blazing Sun moved, so that the Earth might feel heat and cold, from the south resplendent Summer, from the north Winter scarcely tolerable. To the Moon the Lord set in her place. To the winds he turned next, their way to blast the sea, the air and shore to the symphony of thunder.

Far below in Eden, the first man beheld the coming plight with despair. "O miserable of happy! Is this the end of this new glorious world, and me so late the glory of glory?" The curse of death weighed heavily upon his mind, as his thoughts turned to his descendants. "Who of all ages to succeed, but feeling the evil on him brought by me, will curse my head, I'll fare our ancestor impure, for this we may thank Adam". With anger he railed against the Almighty, anger at his fall for another's sin. Woe that he had been made at all, he declared:


                             " Did I request thee, Maker, from my clay
                               To mould me man, did I solicit thee
                               From darkness to promote me, or here place
                               In this delicious Garden? "
                                    - ADAM BEWAILS HIS CREATION

Adam and Eve expelled from the Garden
Engraving by John Baptist Medina

The loss of Paradise was his sentence, but to this grave retribution the Most High added endless woes. Adam considered, wondering at the ways of God. It was then that Eve, matriarch of man and companion to Adam from whose rib she once sprung, came to him. "God made thee of choice his own, and of his own to serve him; thy reward was of his grace; thy punishment then justly is at his will", she spake.  Willingly to her fate does Eve submit, filled with guilt and devouring remorse is she. Both broken hearted and dejected, lament that it is better to end all and return to the Earth from whence they came, for what left now but a life a shade of before? But Eve held one last hope:


   " Yet one doubt pursues me still,
      lest all I cannot die,
      Les that pure breath of life, the spirit of man,
      Which God inspired, cannot together perish,
      With this corporeal clod... "
                                                                       - EVE'S HOPE


How can the Almighty sentence his creation to torment without end? Adam sank deeper still:


                              " Me now your curse! Ah, why should all mankind
                                For one man's fault thus guiltless be condemned,
                                If guiltless? But from me what can proceed,
                                But all corrupt, both mind and will depraved,
                                Not to do only but to will the same
                                With me? "
                                        - THE DESTINY OF MAN?


Both ponder as to why the scythe of Death has not already struck them, but Death comes not yet. Divine justice it was which slowed her pace, as today, ordered to pronounce her foul sentence without haste. To Adam's restless state Eve sent soothing words which calmed his soul. She remembered suddenly the curse of God. The Almighty spake of a time when the progeny of the first Man and Woman will exact justice upon the Serpent, and righteous retribution will be done by their own seed. Her lowly and newfound humble words touched the anger of Adam, and some small measure of peace returned to him, not known since Eden. No longer could he find it in his heart to look upon Eve with furious eyes. He had eaten of the accursed orb so as to remain with Eve. In this some hope remained. "Eve, thy contempt of life and pleasure seems to argue in thee something more sublime and excellent...". Firm in his resolve, his will restored, Adam declares it is their duty to rid the world of the corruption which their sin brought to the fore. Terrible may be the path along the road to redemption, and long may it be, but at the end of the road redemption remained still. Hope remained. Woman had been cursed to suffer terrible pain in childbirth, but is not such agony soon recompensed by the result? With sweat, toil and grit must man now earn his bread."What harm?", Adam thought, "idleness had been worse". With terrible remorse the first man and woman accepted their fate, hoping upon hope that one day, after their sufferings and prayers, the heart of the Almighty might be moved to pity, and Paradise regained.

The Messiah intercedes
Painting by William Blake

Their repentance, and prayers of humility winged their way to Heaven more swiftly than the loudest acclamation, dampened by no gale until the throne of the Almighty they reached. But it was not God himself who was moved so at hearing their pleas, but his Son the Messiah. Turning to the Father, he spoke with heartfelt words of the pity he felt for the first man and woman. So the intercession of the Messiah was begun, and the destiny of the World set in motion. Hearing the words of Adam and Eve, he spake them anew, and with enchanting charisma, and the will of the Lord began to move. Allow me to stand for him and interpret for him, the Son said. It was then that he made his startling revelation which turned many an angelic head in Heaven:


                    " All his works on me,
                      Good or not good ingraft; my merit those
                      Shall perfect, and for these my death shall pay.
                      Accept me, and in me from these receive
                      The smell of peace toward mankind, let him live
                      Before thee reconciled, at least his days
                      Numbered, though sad, till death, his doom
                      To better life shall yield him, where with me
                      All my redeemed may dwell in joy and bliss,
                      Made one with me as I with thee am one "
                               - THE MESSIAH INTERCEDES FOR MAN


Upon deaf ears the Great Redeemer's words fell not. With calm serenity the Father relented, "All thy request for man, accepted Son". However, no longer may man dwell in the place called Eden, a Garden too pure for man corrupted now with Satan's malevolent touch. Hope remains, in the words of the Lord:


                   " I at first with two fair gifts
                     Created him endowed, with happiness,
                     And immortality: that fondly lost,
                     This other served but to eternize woe;
                     Till I provided Death; so death becomes
                     His final remedy, and after life
                     Tried in sharp tribulation, and refined
                     By faith and faithful works, to second life,
                     Waked in the renovation of the just,
                     Resigns him up with heav'n and earth renewed... "
                              - WHY MEN DIE


But now came the time for man to enter his new abode, to leave his lost Paradise, but forever no more. With a deafening blast the heralds of Heaven rallied the angelic host to the throne of the Almighty, there to await the will of the Divine...



United Kingdom

Penguin Classics
Paradise Lost (Penguin Classics)
(The raw poem in original verse with the commentary at the back)

Oxford World's Classics
Paradise Lost (Oxford World's Classics)
(The raw poem with a commentary on the same page)

United States

Penguin Classics

Paradise Lost (Penguin Classics)

(The raw poem in original verse with the commentary at the back)

Oxford World's Classics

Paradise Lost (Oxford World's Classics)
The raw poem with a commentary on the same page)

The Temptation of Eve

His dark presence in Eden's verdant groves unveiled to the angels of the Lord, Satan cursed his brethren of old (for the previous episode in this story, please click here). In truth, deep down in his burdened heart, deepest sorrow welled up as his chance for redemption waned ever more remote. Now that he had seen the fields of Paradise with his own eyes, and the peace that could have been his, should have been his, his rage at the Most High burned anew, as his mind turned once again to malice...

The Angels vigilant
Engraving by Gustave Doré

Uriel, the Archangel of the Lord, unnerved by the ease at which the Morning Star had broken free of his infernal bonds, and cast his deception over him, sent word far and wide. Cherubim far and wide stood vigilant, wary that the eternal purity of the Garden, that abode of sanctity, had been breached. Meanwhile, high above, the Morning Star searched far and wide, all thought bent on bringing his fell task to fruition. For whilst he had plagued Eve with hideous nightmares, his final hand was stayed by the angels of the Lord. For seven days and seven nights he circled the Earth, casting his eye over all the Gates of Paradise, and on the eighth his vile stratagem came at last into his head. There lay not far away various of the fauna that called Eden home, and Satan cast his gaze upon them, and:



                           " With narrow search; and with inspection deep
                             Considered every creature, which of all
                             Most opportune might serve his wiles, and found
                             The Serpent subtlest beast of all the field... "
                                            - SATAN AND THE SERPENT

For within the wily snake, Satan saw its slender charm, its natural cunning and innate wit, and his mind was made. The Serpent would be the instrument of his fresh schemes, desperate to relieve his own suffering through the destruction of others as he was. Though in painful truth he remembered his humiliating fall from Heaven, he took fresh heart from the knowledge that he "in one night freed from servitude inglorious well nigh half th' angelic name". Where strength of arms failed, only by turning God's own creations against their master could he now seek solace through vengeance. Descending through the mists of the twilight, through the serpent's mouth passed that malevolent spirit as it slept. As Dawn arose over resplendent Eden, the serpent awoke, but its mind was no longer its own. "O foul descent!", Satan cried, "that I who erst contended with Gods to sit the highest, am now constrained into a beast!" As the perfumed scents of the bountiful trees swept through the Garden, the serpent froze, for it heard the footfalls of two approaching beings.

The Creation of Adam
Painting by Michelangelo

With the sun rising in the eastern skies, Adam, formed from God's own hand, and Eve, born of Adam's flesh, set about a new day in the Garden. Still shaken from the ghastly phantasmagoria which had wracked her dreams, Eve suggested to Adam that they divide their labours in Eden, so that they might better serve the command of the Lord. Adam thought back to the moment of his creation, and the Word of God to rule over the beings of the world. The warning of Raphael, however, still rang in his ears, that evil forces were at work, and that they should ever beware of its veiled presence, and stay together. Eve soothed her husband's fears however, reasoning that they themselves had inflicted no wrong upon this nameless evil. Why then, should it visit harm upon them? Reassured in his innocence, Adam, though harbouring secret fears at the back of his mind, relented. Cautioning once again on the danger of temptation of which the Archangel had spoken, Adam bade Eve farewell. As the first man strolled off into the undergrowth, little did he realise that ageless evil had already found them, and would soon bring about their utter ruin.

With Eve alone at last, Satan seized his chance. Flexing his newfound form, the Morning Star darted forward through the forest, though not on his underbelly as serpents do today, for this was an age before that accursed creature chewed the dust. There, "veiled in a cloud of fragrance", there she stood, framed by the finest roses. The striking sight before him could not fail to move the heart of Satan, for despite his betrayal and his shattered soul, he remained an angel still. Mourning that so fair a being as that before him must suffer, for God to suffer, the Morning Star came before the first woman.

As Eve stood tending the glorious wonders of the forest, her eyes caught sight of a serpent approaching. The snake licked the ground where she had stood, and his gentle expression could not help but heighten her curiosity.  To her profound amazement, the Serpent reared its slender head and spoke. "Wonder not, sov'reign mistress, if perhaps thou canst, who art sole wonder, much less arm thy looks, the Heav'n of mildness, with disdain, displeased that I approach thee thus...", spake the Serpent, and his words were straight and true, touching the heart of the first lady. "What may this mean? Language of man pronounced by tongue of brute, and human sense expressed?" she thought. How had this creature acquired the power of human speech and feeling? Sensing her question, the Serpent wove his trap:

                          " Till on a day roving the field, I chanced
                             A goodly tree far distant to behold
                             Loaden with fruit of fairest colours mixed... "
                                                  - SATAN SPEAKS OF THE TREE TO EVE

The Serpent told Eve of the great enlightenment that the fruit of the tree gave to him from the moment it touched his lips, how a great feeling of epiphany had gripped his coiled form, how he found the power of speech henceforth stood in place of a hiss, how a sudden realisation of a boundless new mind had come to him. Her curiosity rising further still, Eve asked the Serpent where one could find this most enchanting tree. The Serpent flattered Eve, telling her of its location, near the thicket "of blowing myrrh and balm".  "Lead then", quothed the first woman, and duly, the Serpent lead her on her road to ruin.

The Temptation of Eve
Painting by Michelangelo

When the clearing came, and Eve saw the tree of which the beguiling Serpent spoke, great was the despair that filled her. For the tree he had lead her to was the Tree of Knowledge, of which the Lord had forbidden them to eat. She told the Serpent of her fears, and the mandate of the Lord. Bracing himself greater than all the finest orators of mankind allied, and focusing his divine charisma beyond all restraint, Satan calmed her fears with soothing comfort:




   " Queen of this universe, do not believe those rigid threats of death; ye shall not die:
     How should ye? By the fruit? It gives you life to knowledge. By the Threat'ner?
     Look on me, Me who have touched and tasted, yet both live, and life more perfect
     have attained than Fate meant me, by vent'ring higher than my lot..."
                                          - THE TEMPTATION OF EVE

What harm was there, the Serpent spoke, in possessing the knowledge of good and evil? Won over by his charming words, the first woman, "her rash hand ito the fruit, she plucked, she ate: Earth felt the wound, and Nature from her seat sighing through all her works gave signs of woe, that all was lost...". Victory at last in his rebellious grasp, Satan took his leave from the grove, forever to haunt the destiny of man as it was, as Eve gorged greedily upon the forbidden fruit. Never before had she tasted such a sweet thing before, and never would she ever taste sweetness again.

Barely a moment passed of the new accursed age, when Adam, born of the Lord's own hand, happened upon the blackened grove. Greeting her husband merrily, Eve joyfully proclaimed, "This tree is not as we are told, a tree of danger tasted, nor to evil unknown op'ning the way, but of divine effect to open eyes, and make them gods who taste...". But when the terrible truth of Eve's deed reached Adam's ears he was :

                                " Astonied stood and blank, while horror chill
                                   ran through his veins, and all his joints relaxed;
                                   From his slack hand the garland wreathed for Eve
                                   down dropped, and all the faded roses shed... "
                                                 - ADAM LEARNS THE TERRIBLE TRUTH

Raw anguish and terror course through Adam's veins, as mankind first felt remorse. The serene bliss of the Garden was at once shattered by the first man's cries of broken hope. Until now immortal as the spirits high above, now forever would the dark spectre of Death haunt man's destiny. But even now, Adam could not turn away from Eve, as he cried "Should God create another Eve , and I another rib afford, yet loss of thee would never from my heart: no, no, I feel the link of nature draw me: flesh of flesh, bone of my bone thou art , and from thy state mine never shall be parted, bliss or woe". Bound together more closely than man or woman ever was, Adam resolved to share Eve's fate through doom or redemption. Seeing his Paradise now truly lost, Adam took the fruit from Eve's outstretched palm, forever resigned to the coming storm...


United Kingdom

Penguin Classics:
Paradise Lost (Penguin Classics)
(Paradise Lost is written in English, so text choice is personal preference)

Oxford World's Classics:
Paradise Lost (Oxford World's Classics)
(Paradise Lost is written in English, so text choice is personal preference)

United States

Penguin Classics:
Paradise Lost (Penguin Classics)
(Paradise Lost is written in English, so text choice is personal preference)

Oxford World's Classics:
Paradise Lost (Oxford World's Classics)
(Paradise Lost is written in English, so text choice is personal preference)

The Violent and the Frauds

Filled with grief at the plight of those who took their own life, Dante and Virgil come to the edge of the grand forest of sorrow (for the previous episode in this saga, please click here). The arboreal spirits thin out, and a vast plain emerges before them, a place "whose soil refused any plant". A river of boiling blood separates the second ring from the third, a ring where the violent meet their judgement.

The Violent
Engraving by Gustave Doré.

Beyond the grisly river, our pilgrim enters the third and final ring of the Seventh Circle of Hell. A vast wasteland stretches before him, a blasted land, where no plants grow, only great shifting sands cover the ground. From the skies comes a rain of fire, kindling the sands underfoot. The souls damned to this place scream in agony, as the boiling rain sears their flesh, and the burning sands scorch their soles. Shades try desperately to brush off the fire, but to no avail, the weather is relentless, endlessly spewing its conflagration on the damned of Hell. Dante notices three groups of souls condemned to this place, and enquires of his teacher Virgil of their crime. His master replies, the souls lying down upon the fiery floor are those whose violence was unto God, those who took the Lord's name in vain and blasphemed against his will. Dante spots among them Capaneus, a man who in ancient times, during the siege of the city of Thebes, cursed the name of Zeus. The Thunderer blasted Capaneus with a thunderbolt in retribution, and now he finds himself damned in Hell. Others here crouch upon the sand. These men were usurers in life, Virgil explains. They preyed on the needy, offering money to the poor, then ruthlessly charging extortionate levels of interest. They were violent against nature, betraying the compassion man should feel for his kin. For this they now burn in Hell. There is another group too, one who wander aimlessly through the cruel desert. These are the sodomites, those who needlessly scorned 'Christian nature', now wander without purpose in Hell. Dante spots many men he knew in life, illustrious men of Florence that they were. He is grieved to see that his old mentor, Brunetto Latini, now walks among these shades. Not for the first time our pilgrim sheds a tear for the damned. The two men speak of Dante's future, and Dante remembers the kindness Latini showed him in life, thanking him for showing the true path to immortality. Many more Florentines now approach, rapacious in their extortion of gold, and all revel in the glory of their great city. But time grows short, and a huge form rises out of the abyss, as the two poets continue into Hell.

The Panderers and Seducers
Engraving by Gustave Doré.

A vast monster rises before them, a fearsome Chimaera of three forms. Bearing the head of an honest man, his docile face belies his monstrous form, the body of a dragon, with a tail crowned with a lethal sting. The monster Geryon is a fitting personification of the crimes of fraud, as souls are deceived by the creature's soft face. Tricking Geryon with his words, Virgil order the beast to bear them down to the Eighth and penultimate Circle of Hell. Deep into the bowels of Hell the monster descends, Dante clinging to his mane. Soon, our two poets make landfall in the Eighth Circle, the infernal prison of the Frauds in Hell. Ten ravines divide this Circle, called the Malebolge ("The Rotten Pockets"), where those who knowingly sowed discord and deception in life are banished. In the first of the Rotten pockets, our pilgrim spies a cruel sight. Two files of naked souls stride alongside each other, one to the fore, the other behind. Bent over with weight of sin, horned demons look on armed with whips. Revelling in cruel pleasure, the demons lash with all their might upon the backs of the souls, the crack of the whip ringing through the air, accompanied by the shout of anguish of the scourged shade. These souls were panderers and seducers in life, using the passion of others to manipulate their path in life, now they are driven through this rotten pocket by these demons on Hell. Dante spots among them a man of Bologna, Venedico Caccianemico, a man he knew in life. But fearing the sting of the lash, the man dares not speak long. Virgil too, points out the hero Jason, who in his quest for the Golden Fleece seduced the sorceress Medea, abandoning her when her use was past.

The Flatterers
Engraving by Gustave Doré.

" Now we could hear the shades in the next pouch
    whimpering, making snorting grunting sounds
    and those of blows, slapping with open palms.

  From a steaming stench below, banks abound
     with a slimy mold that stuck to them as glue,
     disgusting to behold and worse to smell... "
                  - THE TORMENT OF THE FLATTERERS


Crossing into another of the Rotten Pockets, a ghastly stench befouls our pilgrim's nose. Coming to the edge of a huge ridge, Dante and Virgil look down the gorge at a grotesque sight. An ocean of human excrement fills the valley floor, smothering and drowning many unfortunate souls cast within. Dante eyes find the head of a man, so besmirched with faeces he cannot make out his features. The man shouts up, begging why the poet stares at his indignity. Dante knows his voice, it is Alessio Intermenei, a man of Lucca, a man from whose tongue fell unceasingly obscene flatteries in life. Just as these souls spewed vile words in life, so now they wallow in this putrid filth in death. Eyes watering with the evil odour, and his nausea growing, Dante continues on his baleful journey.

The Simonists
Engraving by Gustave Doré.

The Third Rotten Pocket is one Dante takes the utmost pleasure in experiencing. For here are condemned those who committed the sin of simony, corrupt men of the church who gave money for influence, exchanging gold for a position in Saint Peter's Church. This sin takes its name from a soul who is damned here, that of Simon Magus, the man who tried to bribe Saint Peter himself to grant him the power to conjure miracles. A vast expanse of bare rock stretches before the two poets, marked by a series of holes, each no wider than the sinner thrust inside it. To our pilgrim's eyes, they remind him of those pulpits from which his priest would stand and baptise from, now in twisted perversion, those men who corrupted the hierarchy of the church lie upside down within them. From each hole emerges the feet of a sinner, and from each sole bursts purging fire, as the simonist within twitches violently in agony. Our pilgrim hears the shouts of one buried nearby, a man who mistakes Dante for his own successor. The sinner buried within is Pope Nicholas III, a man who gained the Papal throne through gold and nepotism, who lavished positions in the Roman Church upon his own kin above other men. In his infernal jabberings, Nicholas names two of his successors to Saint Peter's throne, destined to be condemned to Hell for their crimes, Pope Boniface VIII and Pope Clement V, both deeply corrupt men, disgraces to the Roman Church. On realising his mistaken assumptions, Nicholas addresses Dante with a haughty speech, showing no remorse for his crimes, condemning others in his stead. Disgusted, Dante reminds the tainted Pope that Peter offered no sum for the keys of Heaven, the price that Christ asked of him was "Follow me" and no more. Berating the corrupt Pope, Dante works up a fury. "You have built yourself a God of gold and silver! How differ you from the idolator?" Dante shouts at him. Mourning the day when the Church first acquired wealth, Dante notices Virgil eyeing him, smiling, admiring his virtue. Seeing his pupil learning from his path, Virgil embraces Dante as a noble man, denouncing the evil within God's representatives on Earth...

United Kingdom

Penguin Classics:
Dante: Inferno (Penguin Classics)
(A nice edition which also has the original Italian on the left hand page opposite the English)

Oxford World's Classics:
The Divine Comedy (Oxford World's Classics)
(Accessible and well annotated, also includes Purgatorio and Paradisio)

United States

Penguin Classics:
The Divine Comedy: Volume 1: Inferno (Penguin Classics) (Pt. 1)
(A nice edition which also has the original Italian on the left hand page opposite the English)

Oxford World's Classics:
The Divine Comedy (Oxford World's Classics)
(Accessible and well annotated, also includes Purgatorio and Paradisio)

To Lower Hell

Shaken from the sight of the wrathful souls at war with each other, Dante is surprised to suddenly see before him in the distance a towering wall of stone (for the previous episode of this, please click here). Seized by curiosity, he sees great flames bursting upon its lofty battlements, just too far away to perceive. Before his questions can be answered however, an ancient craft appears in the dank waters of the Styx. A boat, ragged with age breaks the surf, steered by a fearsome man, bent with age. He is Phlegyas, boatman of the Styx (and also, in life, was the father of Ixion - for more see here).

The Furies taunt Dante
Engraving by Gustave Doré.

His spiteful exhortations rebuked by swift words of Virgil, Phlegyas steps back to receive his crew. Our pilgrim notices that only when he places a foot in the skiff does it sink with the weight - the weight of the living. Sweeping across the Styx low in the waves, Dante spies in horror a slimy hand emerge from the dark depths. "Who are you, who come before your time?" the shade enquires. The poet recognises the dead man's face; it is Filippo Argenti, a man he once knew in life, an arrogant and foul man. "May you weep and wail, stuck here in this place forever, you damned soul!" Dante bravely replies. Argenti tries in vain to reach for the boat, but harsh words from Virgil lash him back to the depths. Virgil turns to his protégé and commends his rebuke of so vulgar a soul. Reaching the foot of the walls, they set foot upon land once more. A reddish glow seems to rise beyond the citadel. This is the city of Dis, a keep which guards the lower regions of Hell, reserved for graver crimes yet.

The bright glow Dante sees is that of the Eternal Fire burning beyond, maiming so many souls yet to come. Atop the battlements of Dis lurk many thousand Fallen Angels, who once rose in impious war against God himself (for this story, please click here). Intimidated by their jeers, Dante is reassured by Virgil, who tells him that none can harm him, by God's command, they are fearsome to the mind and eyes alone. Approaching the gate, they find their way barred by the demonic host. Awaiting aid, the two poets rest awhile, as Virgil once more strengthen Dante's resolve, reassuring him that he has passed this gate once before. Just then a new apparition appears, but it is no servant of Heaven. The Three Furies; Megaera, Alecto and Tisiphone, and in their wake the Gorgon Medusa (whose story is told here). Quickly clapping his hands over Dante's eyes, Virgil does not trust to chance that our poet may allow curiosity to defeat his fear. For one the glance of the Gorgon will ensure Dante never leaves this place. The fell spirits taunt and chide the pilgrim for his life, and his fear. But, just then, an angel arrives from Heaven, scattering the evil spirits and condemned shades afar. Denouncing the Fallen Angels for their futile resistance, the shining spectre opens the gates for the two poets, and their journey begins in Lower Hell.

The Heretics
Engraving by Gustave Doré.

The land of Hell is different here. 'A countryside of pain and ugly anguish' stretches before Dante's eyes. Scattered in the plain all about are countless graves, open too, their lids cast aside, and roaring flames pouring from within. To his anguish, Dante can just make out the screams of the tortured souls, bound in their deathly graves. Here, in the Sixth Circle of Hell, are condemned those who spread heresy in life. Just as their fiery tongues spread malice in life, so now they bathe in fire in Hell. False prophets of Christendom lie afire, as do ancient philosophers of the Epicurean school, who believed that the soul died with the body on Earth. Nor are the deep graves for one soul each. Each sarcophagus is home to many, all packed within the inferno. Yet another soul, Farinata, is one Dante knew in life, who was his enemy in Florence in days of old. The two speak of the ills of Florence and her scheming politics, as another soul rises from its fiery grave. He was once Cavalcanti in life, and begs Dante tell him of his son, does he still live? Shocked by the shade's emotion, Dante cannot speak. Misinterpreting his silence, Cavalcanti believes his son dead, and retires, weeping, to his ordeal, cursed to ponder it for all time. Dante begs Farinata to go and tell the spirit of Cavalcanti that his son is indeed alive on Earth, and that his silence was not meant as he took it. Seized by curiosity once more, Dante enquires as to why so many souls have asked him of the current affairs on Earth. The souls damned in Hell, Farinata tells him, are cursed to see the future, and future alone, and know nothing of the present, "this much the sovereign lord grant us here". When the Final Judgement comes, the future will be closed off to them, and all hope will be lost, left to see nothing but their own endless torment.

The Violent against people and property
Engraving by Gustave Doré.

Moving on at Virgil's bidding, and coming to a steep bank, a dreadful stench rises from a nearby pit. It is a vast grave, vomiting forth vile miasma. The inscription on the coffin lid nearby states "Within lies Anastasius, the Pope". Indeed, a great many men of the cloth are condemned in Hell, neither Pope nor Cardinal is safe from judgement. Coming to another ridge, they spy a monster, the Minotaur of Crete, lying at the edge of the abyss, guarding the Seventh Circle of Hell. Virgil cries out to the Bull, reminding him that he is cursed there too, cast down to the House of Death by Theseus long ago. The Minotaur writhes in rage, an anger so intense the beast cannot rise, shuddering pathetically by the Pit. Here, in the three rings of the Seventh Circle, are punished the violent, each guilty of malicious violence to a different being. Descending into the first ring, a vast river of boiling blood flows past in cruel torrents. Burning in this foul current are those who through violence injured other men or their property in life. Galloping around the rim of the river Phlegethon are a herd of Centaurs, who hunt with their arrows any soul which tries in desperation to claw its way up from the river. Our pilgrim recognises powerful men of old burning up to the eyebrows, he sees Alexander, the tyrant Dionysius, even Attila, King of the Huns and the Scourge of God, all tormented in the sanguine waves. Eyeing the two poets with suspicion, Chiron, leader of the Centaurs, demands their purpose, lest they be shot too. Once again, Virgil takes control, and asks guidance for the way beyond, ordered thus by the Almighty. Dante, as a living man, cannot touch the Phlegethon, and is borne across a ford by the Centaur Nessus, as they approach the second ring.

The Suicides
Engraving by Gustave Doré.

Reaching a grand forest, the poets enter the second ring. No leaf here was green however. Twisted, gnarled and entangled trees sprouted forth leaves of charcoal black, as cruel thorns of poison bloomed where flowers should be. This is a forlorn place, one of sorrow and melancholy. In the high branches, harpies stir, foul birds, shrieking eerie calls. Wails and lamentations of grief sounded all about, and Virgil eyes our pilgrim:




                       " And so my teacher said, 'If you break off
                                a little branch of any of these plants,
                                what you are thinking now will break off too'.

                        Then slowly raising up my hand a bit
                               I snapped the tiny branch of a great thornbush,
                               and its trunk cried: 'Why are you tearing me'... "
                                                           - DANTE UNCOVERS THE TORMENTED
                                                       
To his horror, Dante realised that all of the trees of this forest are souls, cruelly bound as trees. As blood spurts forth from the stump, the soul cries in pain. Here are punished the suicides. Just as they scorned the gift of their bodies in life, now they are denied their own form here in Hell. The soul reveals himself to have once been Pier delle Vigne, an advisor to King Frederick II of Sicily. He was once his most loyal servant, but due to the intrigues of jealous courtesans, fell from favour and was cast into jail. Lamenting his injustice and losing all hope, he took his own life, dashing his head against the cell wall. He came to Hell, and his earthly body was torn away from him, as King Minos hurled his soul down here. Just as he had shown no care for his body in life, no care was shown for his soul in Hell. His soul fell in this land, and germinated a tree. The Harpies relentlessly feed on his leaves, and their constant movements break off branches, leaving him in constant agony. Just then new souls run into the clearing, terrified and lost. They are profligates, who recklessly did violence to their own property in life. One hides in desperation in a thorny bush. Suddenly a pack of ferocious hounds charge in, snapping branches as they go, as they maul the poor soul, tearing his flesh with their fangs. The thorny bush laments in pain, a soul who was once a Florentine in life who hanged himself in his home. Dante is left to ponder the bond he feels to his native city, weeping at so many others like him now cursed in Hell... Yet much remained along the path of the Inferno...

United Kingdom

Penguin Classics:

Dante: Inferno (Penguin Classics)

(A nice edition which even has the original Italian on the left hand side of the page!)

Oxford World's Classics:

The Divine Comedy (Oxford World's Classics)
(Accessible and well annotated, also includes Purgatorio and Paradisio)

United States

Penguin Classics:
The Divine Comedy: Volume 1: Inferno (Penguin Classics) (Pt. 1)
(A nice edition which even has the original Italian on the left hand side of the page!)

Oxford World's Classics:
The Divine Comedy (Oxford World's Classics)
(Accessible and well annotated, also includes Purgatorio and Paradisio)

The Ascent of Hell



Pandaemonium
Painting by John Martin.

With the declaration of open defiance against God, the Fallen Angels lamented in their new, infernal home. Frenzied with anger, Satan and his kin raise a vast palace in the fiery torrents of Hell, a new city to house those liberated from the tyranny of Heaven - Pandaemonium. Built as a temple to the ancient gods of old, crowned in gold and rivalled not by great Babylon at its height, the palace was a worthy monument to the towering ambitions of those that dwelled inside.

Satan rallies the Fallen Angels
Painting by William Blake.

A ringing blast sounded upon the trumpets of the Fallen crowd, as the Infernal Court is summoned. In their tens, in their hundreds, in their thousands, in their millions the invigored legions rally, and the mightiest of the fell Seraphim and Lords of the Cherubim take up position in the Halls of Hell, ready to seek counsel from their dark master. " High on a throne of royal state, Satan exalted sat, by merit raised ", still shocked by his unenviable fate. But fully one third of Heaven's host and followed him in his rebellion, and now they looked to their dread commander. " I give not Heav'n for lost ", the Morning Star rages. Though their sulphurous prison is a grim abode, at least they escape the unbearable weight of oppression in Heaven down here in the dank depths of Tartarus. Peace with Heaven is a crime to Him, torn is he between principle and the thought of the light. Rising before his dark council, Satan puts forth the motion, should they once again march in open war, and try one last time to remove God himself from the throne of Heaven? Or should cunning and guile take the place of force, if they are to prevail? To do nothing would be no better than to groan under the weight of Heaven, but to act rashly could make their fate more miserable still. What was to be done?


Just then Moloch, exalted among the Fallen Angels for his prowess in the War (for more on this, please click here), rose to his feet and raised his sceptered hand. Strongest among the gathered spirits, and fiercer still through despair, he urges the gathered storm to march upon Heaven at once, to tear down the angelic host:


                           " Accept this dark opprobrious den of shame,

                             This prison of His tyranny who reigns,

                             By our delay? No let us rather choose,
 
                             Armed with Hell's flames and fury all at once... "
                                             
                                                                  - MOLOCH URGES FOR WAR


All eyes look round, as Belial, blessed with grace and dignified bearing, rises to counter. Glorious it would most surely be, should they by force of arms seize back the lost paradise. But what if they fail. The same breath which kindled the fire in Hell could blast them sevenfold. Better to accept their lot, " This horror will grow mild, this darkness light ", eventually, they will forget what it was to be in Heaven, and Hell will be their Heaven. Then out spake Mammon, Prince of Avarice, rallying to Belial's side. The Omnipotent is too powerful to cast out by force, and to bow before God for eternity is a fate worse than any flame of Hell. Best, it would be, to look to their own realm now. Raise Hell to greatness with their strife, make it conspicuous for its liberty and sweetness, and all other angels will see who was truly right.



Satan vows to discover the realm of Men
Engraving by Gustave Doré.

Then up rose Beelzebub, a being no spirit sat higher than, save the Apostate Himself. Mighty once in Heaven, now Prince in Hell, Beelzebub turned to his brothers, who gazed on in awe and rapt attention. The King of Heaven will never stop, he says, not until he rules with his iron sceptre over the deepest corners of Hell. The poison of God must be drawn from earthly wounds wherever it be found, no matter the cost. God decreed this to be their dungeon, but it will now be so much more.

Beelzebub suddenly remembers an old prophecy he once heard as a high angel of Heaven. Yes, there was another way they could weaken God's power, an alternative to outright war. Emboldened, the Prince of Hell speaks forth:



                   "  There is a place

                      If ancient and prophetic fame in Heav'n err not,

                      Another world, the happy seat,

                      Of some new race called Man, about this time

                      To be created like to us, though less

                      In power and excellence, but favoured more

                      Of him who rules above... "

                                                   - BEELZEBUB SPEAKS OF THE COMING OF MAN

The dark angel moves that they seek out this world, this Earth, and discover the nature of these Men. Their power, their weakness, whether by force or subtetly they can be corrupted, these things they should discover. The Gates of Heaven are shut, but let them be so, they can wound God more deeply than any blade without setting foot on the Mount of Heaven. They shall control men as though their own through their wicked ways:


                     " Seduce them to our party, that their God

                       May prove their foe, and with repenting hand

                       Abolish his own works! "

                                                - THE FALLEN ANGELS DEVISE THE RUIN OF MAN

Satan begins the ascent from Hell
Engraving by Gustave Doré.

God will be forced to hurl his own creation headlong into Hell. It would be the ultimate revenge. But who to send on this dangerous enterprise? Who will brave the perilous journey, to break out of the confines of Hell and seek out the land of men? Who will walk the path above the endless abyss? Whoever it may be their last hope lies with him. Beelzebub takes his seat once more, as a deathly silence plays out in the Palace of Hell. Of all the warring champions which marched on God, none may be seen with the courage to undertake this dark voyage. None among the despairing and furious host. None it seems, but one. Rising in his transcendant majesty, Satan himself stands alone:

          



                              " I should ill become this throne, O Peers,

                                And this imperial sov'reignty, adorned,

                               With splendour, armed with power, if aught proposed

                               And judged of public moment, in the shape

                               Of difficulty or danger could deter

                               Me from attempting... "

                                                         - SATAN ACCEPTS HIS DARK MISSION

God himself may always act through others, the Morning Star rages, may bend others to his will, but He will not bind them to slavery. He will go himself to the realm of Men. Wronged above all others by the King of Heaven, so now he will turn God's beloved creation against him. The gathered Seraphim look on in reverence, bowing before Satan, praising him as a god, worthy of the Throne of Heaven itself. While he is gone, he commands, they are to tighten their control over Hell, and begin the transformation of their fiery inferno into a new Heaven. It is with great, thunderous cheers and merry song that the embattled angels of Hell see off their dark master, who begins the long and arduous journey from the Lake of Fire to the Garden of Eden...

United Kingdom

Penguin Classics:
Paradise Lost (Penguin Classics)
(Paradise Lost is written in English, so text choice is personal preference)

Oxford World's Classics:
Paradise Lost (Oxford World's Classics)
(Paradise Lost is written in English, so text choice is personal preference)

United States

Penguin Classics:
Paradise Lost (Penguin Classics)
(Paradise Lost is written in English, so text choice is personal preference)

Oxford World's Classics:
Paradise Lost (Oxford World's Classics)
(Paradise Lost is written in English, so text choice is personal preference)

The War in Heaven

So the Archangel Lucifer revealed his true nature openly at last (for the course of events leading up to this, click here). The loyal angel Abdiel tore through the night to the vault of Heaven, bearing the gravest of news, that one third of the angelic host had declared open rebellion against God’s mastery of the cosmos. Reaching the most high, Abdiel found that word of his grim tidings had already found the ears of God, as his eyes fell upon the angelic host arming itself as though for war. There was acclamation and shouts of joy at his return, as the loyal host had feared the worst. The angels led him forth with applause to the high, and from a golden cloud was heard a voice, the voice of God. God honours Abdiel for his loyalty in the face of the revolted multitude, before commanding his two remaining Archangels who remain loyal:

                                “ Go Michael of celestial armies prince,

                                  And thou in military prowess next,

                                  Gabriel, lead forth to battle these my sons

                                  Invincible, lead forth my armed saints

                                  By thousands and by millions ranged for fight... ”

                                             - GOD  GIVES HIS COMMAND

The sovereign voice of Heaven spoke, and condemned the traitorous legions to be cast into the fiery chaos of Hell. The clouds began to darken, and smoke rose in Heaven and the ethereal trumpets sounded in the sky, as the loyal host drew forth its battle line. Then, on the northern horizon, the fallen angels appeared, bent on winning the Mount of God, and setting the Morning Star upon his immortal throne. Spears bristled, helmets thronged and proud shields bore witness to the coming field of war. Eclipsing all, the Apostate himself rode forth “High in the midst exalted as a god... Idol of majesty divine”. Beholding the Fallen one resplendent in his vast chariot of fire, clad in adamant and gold, Abdiel could bare to stand idle no longer. Stepping forth from the loyal lines, the angel marched alone against Satan, meeting him before each host. Trying once more to dissuade him from his ways, Abdiel rebukes Satan “Fool, not to think how vain against th’ Omnipotent to rise in arms”. Satan strikes back in anger, disgusted that none before him will join him “I see that most through sloth had rather serve, Minist’ring Spirits, trained up in feast and song”. Despairing, Abdiel declares Satan a traitor to God, and condemns him to reign in Hell. Raising his blade, Abdiel lands the first blow. The Fallen Archangel raises his shield of gold, but is forced on to one knee. Shock spreads through the rebel ranks, though soon replaced with impious rage at the exultation in the angelic host. The Archangel Michael sounds his battle horn, blasting through the vastness of Heaven:

Battle is joined in Heaven
Engraving by Gustave Doré

“ Now storming fury rose,

  And clamour such as heard in Heav’n

  Was never; arms on armour clashing bray

  Horrible discord, and the madding wheels

  Of brazen chariots raged dire was the noise

  Of conflict... ”

           - THE WAR BEGINS

St. Michael the Archangel wounds Satan
Painting by Luca Giordano 

All Heaven rang and shook to the sound of the very first war. Millions marched on millions, each alone able to wield the power of the elements. The battle hung in the balance, and Satan “who that day prodigious power had shown, and met in arms no equal”, smote battalion after battalion of fighting Seraphim, finding at last the Archangel Michael within his grasp. Michael denounces Satan for disturbing the blessed peace of Heaven, and giving birth to misery. Satan swears to conquer the field of Heaven, Heaven which under the tyranny of God would only become true Hell. Words failing them both now, they circle each other and duel, their blazing shields as though suns in the sky. But the fiery sword of Michael was blessed by God, that no force may resist its edge. Michael breaks Satan’s blade, driving the point into the Traitor’s flesh, and Satan first knew pain. Nectarous humour spat forth from the wound, staining his armour, as Satan gnashed in pain and anger to find himself not matchless. Fallen angels rush to his side and bear him on their shields to his chariot to recover. Meanwhile, Moloch, Adramelech and Asmodai, all powerful among the rebel host, are conquered by the Archangels Uriel, Gabriel and Raphael, and the fallen armies fall back in rout.

Falling back to their encampment for the night, the rebel angels hold council. Nisroch, a former prince of Heaven, laments the sensation of pain, one never felt before that day, deplored as the worst of evils. Satan urges more violent battle, and in his malice, conceives a terrible new weapon – gunpowder. All looked on in admiration at the Traitor’s craft, and their hope revives. Satan curses mankind to one day discover his dread contraption:

                                        “ In future days, if malice should abound,

                                          Someone intent on mischief, or inspired

                                          With dev’lish machination might devise

                                          Like instrument to plague the sons of men... ”

                                                          - SATAN CURSES MANKIND

The next day, the Heavenly host watches as the rebel host advances, in slow but firm order. Zophiel warns his loyalist comrades to hold firm in face of Satan’s devilry, as an ominous feeling grips his side. At last, suddenly revealed, Satan was heard commanding aloud his fallen brethren to stand proud and visible, opening fire. Fire and smoke engulf the plain, and the ground trembles at the unholy barrage. Devastation abounds in the heavenly ranks, as they too discover the feeling of pain. Satan beheld their plight, delighting at his work, as Belial too joins his master in scoffing at this army of God. Hearing the taunts, the loyal Seraphim cast aside their weapons, and tear up the mountains themselves and hurl them upon the Fallen ones. Some are trapped, other cry out in pain, though they cannot die, yet Satan’s infernal machines are destroyed. Enraged, the betrayers imitate, and launch the very stuff of Heaven in defiance.

The Messiah casts the Fallen angels from Heaven
Engraving by Gustave Doré

Thus would Heaven have been ruined utterly, had God himself not decided to intervene, resigned to forgo His pledge of free will. Turning to his Son, he transfers upon him all his power and bids him know mastery of Heaven and Hell, and drive out the accursed angels from incorruptible Heaven. As the banner of the Messiah rises in the angelic ranks, the Son of God rides forth, bestriding His brilliant chariot, framed with the glory of Heaven, as thunder breaks the sky around, Victory seated eagle winged at His right hand. Ten thousand thousand saints follow in his wake, and bear down upon the Satanic forces. Their spirit restored and fired anew, the host of Heaven bore down upon the Traitor’s legions, “God’s indignation on these Godless poured”. Full of wrath bent on His enemies, the Messiah crashed into the impious ranks, all but the throne of God itself shaking. Grasping ten thousand bolts of flaming thunder, He blasts the rebel angels through the crystal walls of Heaven, hurling them and their dread commander headlong into a fall to the fiery pit of Hell:

The rebel host falls into the Pit of Hell
Engraving by Gustave Doré

“ Nine days they fell; fell Chaos roared,

  And felt tenfold confusion in their fall

  Through his wide anarchy, so huge a rout

  Encumbered him with ruin: Hell at last

  Yawning received them whole,

  And on them closed... ”

            - THE TRAITORS FALL TO HELL

So the order of the world, and birth of good and of evil, was born. The blissful paradise and peace of Heaven lay tattered and broken, reeling in shock at the audacious revolution of the Morning Star. Once the greatest of all the Archangels of Heaven now lay in the Pit of Fire with his impious kin, defeated and broken. Or so it seemed. Though condemned to eternal damnation, however broken down they might be, they were immortal and could not die. Where steel and sword had failed, other designs now emerged in Satan's dark thoughts. Heaven was too strong to be sieged again, for now. The rule of God must be weakened first, he thought. A dark smile broke the Morning Star's face as he realised God's propensity for boundless compassion was both his greatest strength and his greatest weakness. Scheming anew, the fallen angels began to plan a new war to drive the Most High from the Heavenly Mount, though this time, Satan's target was no angel nor heavenly deity, but a new creation - Man.

Paradise Lost, a true classic of the English language, deserves to be read and its story told. Perhaps you too will be inspired by Milton's words, and pick up a copy. You will not regret it. Copies are easily found for a mere couple of pounds at Amazon:

United Kingdom

Penguin Classics:
Paradise Lost (Penguin Classics)
(Paradise Lost is written in English, so text choice is personal preference)

Oxford World's Classics:
Paradise Lost (Oxford World's Classics)
(Paradise Lost is written in English, so text choice is personal preference)

United States

Penguin Classics:
Paradise Lost (Penguin Classics)
(Paradise Lost is written in English, so text choice is personal preference)

Oxford World's Classics:
Paradise Lost (Oxford World's Classics)
(Paradise Lost is written in English, so text choice is personal preference)