Into the Inferno

Dante lost in the wood
Engraving by Gustave Doré. 

“ Midway along the journey of our life

   I woke to find myself in a dark wood,

   wandered from the straight path. ” 

       - DANTE AWAKES IN THE FOREST








So begins the Divine Comedy, as Dante finds himself alone and vulnerable in the wilderness of the dark forest. The fear wells up within him as the eerie silence and blackness of the wood begins to take its grip. An uneasy feeling possesses Dante, a thought that he has stumbled upon ‘the pass that never let a living soul escape’. Unsure of himself, and if he is awake or even alive, Dante begins to climb the slope ahead. No sooner had he begun than he is faced by the form of a leopard, which marks his every move. Just as our pilgrim recovers his nerve, a lion appears and starts toward him. Following in its wake was a she-wolf, who ‘forced me back to where the sun is mute’.

Bracing for his end, Dante spies the figure of a man approaching and cries, ‘Have pity on my soul... whichever you are, shade or living man!’ The stranger reveals to Dante that he once was a poet of old who ‘sang of that just man, son of Anchises, who sailed off from Troy after the burning of proud Ilium’ (He refers to his epic poem – The Aeneid). Dante rejoices as he recognises Virgil, and begs the poet to protect him from the savage beasts. ‘But you must journey down another road’, the great man answered, when he saw Dante lost in tears, ‘if ever you hope to leave this wilderness’. Guided by the comforting words and company of the legendary poet, Dante discovers that he is to be lead through Hell:



                               “ Where you will hear desperate cries, and see

                                    Tormented shades, some old as Hell itself,

                                    And know what second death means, from their screams. ”

                                                               - VIRGIL WARNS US OF WHAT IS TO COME


Our pilgrim is filled with dread at the thought of descending to the Pit, and confesses to his guide that he feels unworthy to follow in the steps of other great men, like Aeneas or St Paul, who once trod the path to Hell. Virgil explains how it was he came to Dante, guided by the will of the Virgin Mary, who took pity on our wandering pilgrim, lost in the forest. The departed soul of Dante’s beloved Beatrice in Heaven came down to Hell and tasked Virgil as to be his infernal guide. Comforted by his story, and word of Beatrice, Dante renews his journey to the accursed place armed with fresh courage. Descending down a barren slope, the two poets reach a vast Gate, the way to the vestibule of Hell itself. Dante spies, in horror, the legend inscribed above the Gate, the last line of which has entered immortality:

 

                                “ I AM THE WAY INTO THE DOLEFUL CITY,

                                    I AM THE WAY INTO ETERNAL GRIEF,

                                    I AM THE WAY TO A FORSAKEN RACE.



                                  JUSTICE IT WAS THAT MOVED MY GREAT CREATOR;

                                   DIVINE OMNIPOTENCE CREATED ME,

                                   AND HIGHEST WISDOM JOINED WITH PRIMAL COMPASSION.



                                  BEFORE ME NOTHING BUT ETERNAL THINGS

                                   WERE MADE, AND I SHALL LAST ETERNALLY.

                                   ABANDON ALL HOPE, YE WHO ENTER HERE. ”

                                                             - THE GATE OF HELL

The descent into Hell
Engraving by Gustave Doré.

Virgil turns to his faithful follower, and warns him that all his cowardice and distrust must die on this spot, if he is to brave the journey and the sight of the tormented souls. Placing his hand upon Dante’s shoulders, and encouraging him with a smile, the two cross the Gate of Hell. Immediately an unearthly din breaks the deathly silence:



                             “ Here sighs and cries and shrieks of lamentation

                                  Echoed throughout the starless air of Hell;

                                  At first these sounds resounding made me weep:

                                Tongues confused, a language strained in anguish

                                  With cadences of anger, shrill outcries

                                  And raucous groans that joined with sounds of hands, ”

                                                      - DANTE HEARS THE CRIES OF THE DAMNED



Our pilgrim turns to his guide and asks of the souls so overwhelmed with grief. The great poet reveals that these are the souls of those who lived a life of neither blame nor praise. Men and women who stood undecided, neither faithful nor faithless. So too lie the ‘repulsive choir of angels’ who took no side in the War in Heaven between Satan and God. ‘Heaven, to keep its beauty, cast them out, but even Hell itself would not receive them, for fear the damned might glory over them’. As for the men and women - unknown in life, both Heaven and Hell turn from them, as they bathe in melancholy at their separation from God. 'Why do they lament so bitterly?' asks Dante. Gazing upon the ghastly sight before him, Dante finds his courage, and stomach, tested once again. He spies a banner rushing through the dank air, as though fated to never stop, and behind it follow vainly the souls of the indecisive. Punished to chase a thing and never catch it, this was not the only torment the souls endured:



                             “ These wretches, who had never truly lived,

                                  Went naked, and were stung and stung again

                                  By the hornets and the wasps that circled them



                               And made their faces run with blood in streaks;

                                 Their blood, mixed with their tears, dripped to their feet,

                                 And disgusting maggots collected in the pus. ”

                                                  - THE PUNISHMENT OF THE INDECISIVE



Filled with nausea, our pilgrim gazed beyond and saw a throng of souls gathered upon the shore of a large river. Asking his guide for what they waited, Virgil leads the way to the River Acheron, which forms the boundary of Hell. Suddenly, across the dark waters appeared a boat, steered by an ancient man, ‘with eyes of glowing coals’- Charon, the boatman, who bears the souls of the damned into Hell. Aware that Dante was of the land of the still living, Charon commands our pilgrim to get away from, ‘all these people who are dead’. Placating the boatman, Virgil reveals his purpose there, and his words bring silence to the fearsome Charon:



Charon goads the damned onto the ferry
Engraving by Gustave Doré.



“ But all those souls there, naked, in despair

Changed colour and their teeth began to chatter

At the sound of his announcement of their doom ”

        - THE DAMNED BEMOAN THEIR FATE

Weeping bitterly, the souls of the damned board the craft, as Charon strikes with his oar all those who lag behind. A sudden wind blasted forth from the ‘tear drenched land’, filling Dante with panic, and bringing our two poets on their way into the First Circle of Hell...

The Divine Comedy is the cornerstone of Italian literature, and indeed even the Italian language. Being the first work of epic poetry written in Italian, it formed the model for all that has come since. Most of the stereotypes of what Hell, Heaven and Purgatory are like come directly from this. The punishment of the damned is a classic example of Contrapasso, the idea that the punishment fits the crime. It is a powerful piece epitomising the fear of what lurks after death takes us, and a grisly warning against trespassing the laws of good. In future posts, we will descend with Dante into Hell, and see the hideous fates of the evil men and women of history. Inspiring countless motifs in modern culture, the Divine Comedy is easily available at a low price from Amazon:

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)

Bellerophon and the Chimaera

It is a simple truth among the stories told by human beings that the most remembered are those which tell of the triumph of man over nature, good over evil and the seemingly ordinary man over a seemingly invulnerable foe. Yet the greatest stories always hold a great moral truth within their words, and hold a dire warning against the transgression of the natural order of things. No man or woman could become too powerful or too beautiful without disaster befalling them. The gods had a way of punishing such pride. One of the earliest myths of Greece evokes all of these things – the story of Bellerophon and the Chimaera.

Bellerophon and Pegasus
Painting by Alexander Andreyevich Ivanov.

Born the son of Glaucus, King of Corinth, Bellerophon was blessed with near physical perfection and the “fine gallant traits that go with men”. Yet he was of a cursed line. For his grandfather was Sisyphus, a proud man whose everlasting punishment in Tartarus is legendary (see the full story in a later post, here). One tragic day, Bellerophon ‘s actions resulted in the accidental death of his own brother Deliades, and he was forced into exile. A broken man, Bellerophon arrived in the court of King Proetus of Argos (who incidentally was the brother of Acrisius, the man who would shape the destiny of Perseus – for his story, click here). Taking pity on the fair youth before him, Proetus used his virtue of kingship to expiate Bellerophon of his crime. Unfortunately for the hero, Proetus’ wife Queen Antea soon took more than an honourable liking to Bellerophon. She tried many a trick to seduce him, yet the hero’s will stood firm. Angered, Antea plotted against him. With malice in her eye, she came before Proetus and deceived him thus, “I wish you’d die, Proetus, if you don’t kill Bellerophon! He’s bent on dragging me down with him in lust though I fight him all the way”.

Tricked by Antea’s falsehoods, Proetus seethed with rage. He stopped short of striking Bellerophon down there and then, but conceived a stratagem to see to his end. He sent Bellerophon to deliver a sealed letter to King Iobates of Lycia (the area of southern Asia Minor). Little did the hero know that Iobates was in fact Antea’s father, and that the letter contained word that Bellerophon had attempted to ravish his daughter. So off he went to Lycia, where he was entertained by Iobates in his court for nine days and nights. The King was impressed with the man’s bearing and showered many gifts upon him. On the tenth day, Iobates inquired into the reason for Bellerophon’s coming, and the hero handed the King the letter. Iobates was stunned, and could not believe what he was reading. Torn between his duty to his guest and his daughter, he resolved to set Bellerophon a task which he would almost certainly not survive. He therefore ordered him to slay the Chimaera.

The Chimaera
Etruscan bronze dated to the 5th century BC, found in Arezzo.

“ Grim monster sprung of the gods, nothing human,

All lion in front, all snake behind, all goat between,

Terrible, blasting lethal fire at every breath! ”

                   - THE CHIMAERA

One of the most terrible of all the offspring of the fearsome Typhon and Echidna (For more about Typhon, see the very first post on this site here), the Chimaera was a formidable monster. It had inherited its father’s volcanic flames, and breathed fire hot enough to undo metal, earth and rock. To see the Chimaera was an omen of impending doom and natural disaster, and the monster was a plague upon the earth, devastating the land of Lycia and preying upon its people and cattle. Seeing that he would almost certainly be killed if he faced the creature alone, the goddess Athena resolved to come to Bellerophon’s aid. Athena put strength in his heart, and offered to him the bridle to tame the winged horse Pegasus (which had sprung from the blood of Medusa, whose story is here). Mounting his admirable steed, Bellerophon flew to meet his foe. Even upon noble Pegasus, brave Bellerophon struggled to get anywhere near the Chimaera. For whenever he sought to lunge upon the beast and run it through with his lance, the monster would spit forth an inferno. But suddenly, Bellerophon was possessed of an idea. He mounted upon his lance a block of lead and flew as hard and as far as he could at the Chimaera. Just before he would be immolated, he managed to drive the block of lead in the creature’s gullet. The Chimaera snarled and belched forth its fiery breath. But the intense heat was turned upon its creator, melting the block and choking the monster.

Bellerophon slays the Chimaera
Painting by Giovanni Battista Tiepolo.

When Bellerophon returned to the court of Iobates, the King could scarcely believe his eyes as he welcomed the hero back. Many times would Bellerophon ride against the enemies of Lycia, winning countless victories off the back of his airborne mount, his fame spreading with his triumphs. In one last effort to honour the letter which brought Bellerophon to his shores, Iobates handpicked the finest men in Lycia and ordered them to ambush the young hero as he returned one day. Fearless Bellerophon, however, killed them all.  A god’s hand was at work, the King thought to himself, and at last he embraced the man as an honoured friend. The Lycians gave to him a grand estate, and the King his daughter’s hand.

Soon, the darker side of the successful human psyche reared its head. As his name grew legendary, his grandfather’s traits began to show in young Bellerophon. His pride grew and arrogance in its wake. Soon, he believed himself worthy to set foot upon Olympus itself, and he goaded Pegasus to bear him to the immortal peak. Enraged, Zeus sent a gadfly to sting Bellerophon’s mount. Pegasus writhed in agony, and hurled the hero from its back. Landing in a thorn bush, blinded and made lame, Bellerophon lived out the rest of his days homeless and shunned by man, a living warning of what befell those who abused the gifts of the gods.

A classic tale of heroes, gods and monsters, the story of Bellerophon and the Chimaera is a potent tale even thousands of years after its time, the subject of many Renaissance paintings and childhood stories. The word 'Chimaera' itself has entered the English language, meaning 'hybrid' or 'fantasy', and it has even entered the language of science, being the technical term for an organism which contains the genetic material from more than one source. The story exists in many places in ancient lore, the two most substantial places being lsited below, easily available to any reader from Amazon:

United Kingdom

The Iliad:
The Iliad (Penguin Classics)
(A masterpiece of literature, and the cornerstone of all Western storytelling)

The Library of Greek Mythology:
The Library of Greek Mythology (Oxford World's Classics)
(Less poetic, but contains a collection of many of the myths of Greece)

United States

The Iliad:
The Iliad (Penguin Classics)
(A masterpiece of literature, and the cornerstone of all Western storytelling)

The Library of Greek Mythology:
The Library of Greek Mythology (Oxford World's Classics)
(Less poetic, but contains a collection of many of the myths of Greece)

The Body of Ymir

The worship of elemental gods and songs of heroes did not die out with the rise of Christendom. In the Norse lands, the pagan gods endured. Even as late as the thirteenth century AD, the adventures of Thor and the stories of giants, terrible monsters, gods, Dwarfs and Elves flourished. Indeed many words in the English language are more Norse than Roman. The day of the week, Thursday, takes its name from the thunder god Thor and means Thor’s Day. The time of year, Easter, takes its name from the Northern goddess Ēostre, and it is indeed from the worship of this goddess that the tradition of the Easter egg has been drawn. Thriving long after the mythologies of Greece, Rome and Egypt, Norse mythology is as diverse and enthralling as it is influential. So let us begin at the beginning itself, and discover how the world came into being.

At the birth of time, there was a great void of nothingness, and it was called Ginnungagap. To the north of Ginnungagap were the dark and frozen wastes of that place called Niflheim, in which all evil things would dwell. In the south lay Múspell, a fiery domain which burned with heat so intense that only the Fire Giants could live there. One day the fires of Múspell met the ice of Niflheim:

         “ And when the breath of heat met the rime, so that it melted and dripped,

           life was quickened from the yeast-drops, by the power of that which sent the heat,

           and became a man’s form. And that man is named Ymir. ”

                                                                             - THE BIRTH OF YMIR

Audumla suckles Ymir
Painting by Nicolai Abraham Abildgaard.

So was born the Frost Giant Ymir, first of the jötunn, or race of giants with whom the gods are at everlasting war. Ymir slept, and a sweat came upon him. From the sweat in his left armpit was born a male and female giant, from the union of his two feet another giant was born and it was from these three that all the jötunn were descended. But also from the shards of Niflheim and sparks of Múspell was born the cow Audumla. Four streams ran from her udders, and it was from this milk that Ymir found sustenance.

Odin, King of the Gods
Engraver unknown.

The primordial cow then begun to lick the salty ice blocks which had formed.  At the end of the first day, a man’s hair emerged from the ice. At the end of the second day, a whole head had emerged. Then after the third day a whole man was there. His name was Búri, the first god born into existence, and it was from him that all the Aesir (war gods) and the Vanir (fertility gods) were descended. Búri produced a son, Borr, who in turn begot three sons; Vili, Vé and Odin. Mightiest of the three brothers, it was Odin who would be the most powerful and rule one day as King of the Gods. But the jötunn were a cruel race, and Ymir was evil. Odin lead his brothers and warred upon the giants, killing Ymir and bathing the cosmos in his blood. Indeed so intense was the flow of blood from the dead giant, all the jötunn were drowned in it, except for Bergelmir, the grandson of Ymir. So ever after the jötunn and the gods were at war, and will be until the judgement. Now here we have a major difference between Norse mythology and that of the Classical civilisations. In the stories of Greece, everything happened in the past. In Norse legend however, the mythology is past, present and future. The stories lay out clearly how the world was created and how it will end, in a cataclysmic war known as Ragnarök (The Twilight of the Gods). Many feuds and enemies are made among the gods, giants and monsters, which will all be unleashed at Ragnarök. But that is for a future post, so I return to the creation.

From the body of Ymir, Odin and his brothers created the cosmos. From his blood was made the lakes and oceans which surround the world, from his flesh the Earth, from his bones the mountains and crags, from his brains the clouds and from his teeth the rocks. From the maggots which crawled in his rotten form were born the dwarfs. Odin and his brothers then took the skull of Ymir and of it crafted the Heavens, and in each corner they set a dwarf. The names of these dwarfs were North, South, East and West. The brothers then took the sparks and embers which burst forth from Múspell, and from these created the Sun, the Moon and the stars which illuminated the Heavens and the Earth. The Earth was divided into nine Worlds, each home to a different race, yet all bound in the mighty World Tree, Yggdrasill. But populated by only the gods, the jötunn, and the dwarfs, the world had not yet given birth to men.

“ When the sons of Borr were walking along the sea-strand,

   they found two trees and shaped men of them:

   the first gave them spirit and life;

   the second, wit and feeling;

   the third, form, speech, hearing and sight.

  They gave them clothing and names: the male was called Askr,

  and the female Embla, and of them mankind was begotten. ”

                                          - ODIN AND HIS BROTHERS GIVE SHAPE TO MAN

Sköll and Hati chase the Sun and Moon
Drawing by John Charles Dollman.

There was born one man called Mundilfari, who was so proud of his son and daughter that he named them Sun and Moon. The gods were angered by this insolence, and condemned Sun to drive a chariot across the Heavens which pulled the true Sun, and Moon to drive the chariot which pulled the true Moon at the end of the day. Sun is chased across the sky by Sköll, a fell wolf, and Moon by Hati, the brother of Sköll. It is written that at Ragnarök, they will finally catch their prey, and the Sun and Moon will be devoured. Now that the passage of time had been decreed, the gods created Midgard, one of the nine worlds, which was the realm of men. It was protected from Jötunheim (or ‘home of the jötunn’) by the eyebrows of Ymir, which the gods set around it. For themselves, the gods built a mighty citadel, Asgard, which is connected to Midgard by the rainbow bridge known as Bifrost. The world had now been created, and gods and men began to be born.

The stories which lay out the course of Norse mythology are all contained rather nicely in a twelfth century work, known as the Prose Edda, written by Snorri Sturluson. The whole work is very readable, and also not excessive in length. The work is therefore easily contained in one book, which is available from Amazon (There is no Oxford World's Classics version):

United Kingdom

Penguin Classics:
The Prose Edda: Norse Mythology (Penguin Classics)
(A fast paced version well suited to the casual reader)

United States

Penguin Classics:
The Prose Edda: Norse Mythology (Penguin Classics)
(A fast paced version well suited to the casual reader)

Horatius at the Bridge

The rolling hills of Etruria
Photograph by the author

The birth of the Republic was a defining moment in the history of Rome, and marked a key turning point in the lives of its people. Since the founding of the City in 753 BC, Rome had seen the rule of Seven Great Kings, and had risen from a group of mud huts on the Palatine Hill to the first city in Latium. But two hundred and forty four years after the founding of the city, mobilised by the propaganda of Lucius Junius Brutus, the people of Rome had cast out their seventh King – Lucius Tarquinius Superbus, known infamously to history as Tarquin the Proud. Denounced as an arrogant tyrant, Tarquin had returned from a campaign one day to find the Gates of Rome sealed before him and the people jeering from the walls. Enraged, the King turned to his kin, the Etruscan peoples, to aid him in taking back his rightful throne. What later followed would be a conflict which would give rise to many heroes of the Republic, first among whom was the man who stood alone against the might of Etruria in defence of his city – Publius Horatius ‘Cocles’ (a name he bore in commemoration of an eye he lost in war).

Immortalised only seconds after his valiant defense, the fortitude of Horatius captured the visions of many great writers and poets of Rome and Greece. There was a time when every English schoolboy learned to memorise the words of one of my all time favourite works -Lord Macaulay’s famous poem Horatius. One man, one Roman against impossible odds, it was a golden age of older days, when heroes abounded and petty squabbles were not yet born, and legends were forged.

The King and his family were forced to flee Rome before the mob, and called on the might of the Etruscan League for aid. Many great cities answered Tarquin’s summons, including the powerful cities of Veii and Tarquinii, but greatest of all was the city of Clusium, and its widely renowned King Lars Porsenna. Seeing the danger, should Rome’s new idea of a Republic spread to other cities, Lars Porsenna raised his countrymen to war:

                                          “ Lars Porsenna of Clusium

                                                    By the Nine Gods he swore

                                            That the great House of Tarquin

                                                    Should suffer wrong no more.

                                            By the Nine Gods he swore it,

                                                    And named a trysting day,

                                            And bade his messengers ride forth,

                                                    East and West and South and North,

                                            To summon his array. ”

                                                              - LARS PORSENNA ROUSES ETRURIA TO WAR

Thus Etruria’s might marched on the young city of Rome. Within the city, panic abounded as the Republic sent forth its men to meet Porsenna, but was overrun on the Janiculum Hill. “The enemy forces came pouring down the Hill, while the Roman troops, throwing away their weapons, were behaving more like an undisciplined rabble than a fighting force”. The broken men fled across the great bridge, the Pons Sublicius, but among them one man stood firm:

Horatius
Engraving by Hendrik Goltzius

              

               “ Then out spake brave Horatius,

                           The Captain of the Gate:

                 'To every man upon this earth

                            Death cometh soon or late.

                  And how can men die better

                            Than facing fearful odds,

                  For the ashes of his fathers,

                            And the temples of his gods, ”

                          - HORATIUS STANDS FIRM

                        

  

 

Horatius stands alone
Painting in the Capitoline Museums

Among his fleeing countrymen, two men – Spurius Lartius and Titus Herminius – turned at his words, ashamed to abandon his side. The three pledged their lives to hold the Bridge, until it be destroyed behind them. Lest the Etruscans take the Bridge and the City itself, wealth and class no longer divided Rome, as senator and plebeian alike began to tear apart the timbers of the Bridge. Amused at the three men stood before them, many times the Etruscans charged, and many times the three threw them back. Soon the Bridge began to creak and groan, and Horatius bade loyal Lartius and Herminius to flee to the city, as he alone stood as the last planks fell. Cries flew from the city calling Horatius to return before the hour grew late, but the mighty warrior stood firm and dared Etruria's finest to take arms against him:

  “ For the pursuers, looking upon him as a madman who was courting death,

    Dared no longer come to grips with him... But standing massed at a distance,

    They hurled spears, javelins, and large stones at him,

    And those who were not supplied with these threw the swords and bucklers of the slain. ”

                                                     - THE ETRUSCANS TRY TO OVERCOME HORATIUS

Horatius mocked his foes as tyrant’s slaves and careless of their own liberty, and challenged all among them to single combat. The Etruscans were struck dumb at the sight before them, for:

                                             “ Alone stood brave Horatius,

                                                         But constant still in mind;

                                               Thrice thirty thousand foes before,

                                                        And the broad flood behind.

                                              ‘Down with him!’ cried false Sextus,

                                                       With a smile on his pale face.

                                              ‘Now yield thee’, cried Lars Porsenna,

                                                      ‘Now yield thee to our grace’. ”

                                                                 - HORATIUS STANDS DEFIANT

The great man’s wounds grew grave, as lance and arrow pierced his flesh. The air was rent with a mighty crack as Pons Sublicius crashed into the Tiber. His ploy successful, Horatius raised his eyes to the Heavens with prayer:

The goddess Roma spurs on Horatius
Painting by Charles Le Brun

                        

                                         “ ‘Oh Tiber! Father Tiber!

                                                      To whom the Romans pray,

                                             A Roman’s life, a Roman’s arms

                                                      Take thou in charge this day!’

                                             So he spake, and speaking sheathed

                                                      The good sword by his side,

                                              And with his harness on his back,

                                                       Plunged headlong in the tide. ”

                                                              - HORATIUS PRAYS TO FATHER TIBER

A shout of triumph from the city, as their saviour crossed the Tiber, a moan of despair from their foe. But the currents of the Tiber were strong, and the wounded hero fought hard to reach the Latin banks:

                                          “ ‘Curse on him!’ qouth false Sextus;

                                                     ‘Will not the villain drown?

                                              But for this stay, ere close of day

                                                      We should have sacked the town!’

                                             ‘Heaven help!’ quoth Lars Porsenna

                                                     ‘And bring him safe to shore;

                                              For such a gallant feat of arms

                                                      Was never seen before. ”

                                                               - LARS PORSENNA ADMIRES HORATIUS

People rushed from their homes to see brave Horatius, sure they were of the mortality of his wounds. But Horatius lived and was hailed a hero of the Republic. A bronze statue was raised to him in the most prominent part of the Forum, and to him was gifted as much land as he could drive a plough around in one day. Rome was saved, but the siege continued, and pestilence struck the Seven Hills. The blockade began to hit home, and starvation became the norm, yet for all their toil, each man ensured that one among them would not die for want of food.

The story of Horatius was legendary in Ancient times, it is no less so in modern times. Lord Macaulay's poem was responsible for the rise in the popularity of the legend once more, and is a personal favourite of my own. The story can be found in many sources, all of which can be acquired very easily from Amazon:

United Kingdom

A Roman Account:
The Early History of Rome: Bks. 1-5 (Penguin Classics)
(The full story of the Rise of Rome, including the defence of Horatius)

A Greek Account:
Roman Antiquities: v.3: Vol 3 (Loeb Classical Library)
(An account of the legendary rise of Rome from a Romanised Greek perspective)

Lord Macaulay's Poem:
Lays of Ancient Rome (Dodo Press)
(An iconic and expertly crafted poetic retelling) 

United States

A Roman Account:
Livy: The Early History of Rome, Books I-V (Penguin Classics) (Bks. 1-5)
(The full story of the Rise of Rome, including the defence of Horatius)

A Greek Account:
Dionysius of Halicarnassus: Roman Antiquities, Volume III, Books V-VI, 48 (Loeb Classical Library No. 357)
(An account of the legendary rise of Rome from a Romanised Greek perspective)

Lord Macaulay's Poem:
The Lays of Ancient Rome
(An iconic and expertly crafted poetic retelling) 

"Better to Reign in Hell than Serve in Heaven"

Satan (from the Hebrew הַשָׂטָן meaning ‘the Adversary’) is for all of us, whether faithful or not, the supreme embodiment of evil. Many names we know Him by; Lucifer, the Enemy, the Antichrist, Samael, the Fallen One and the Devil are a few of the more well known. Yet by whatever name we call him, to all He is evil incarnate. Unsurprisingly, our shared culture is awash with imagery and legend about the First Traitor. The greatest epic written in the English language, Paradise Lost, takes as its focus the tale of Satan, and the temptation of Adam and Eve which cursed humanity forever (known as the Fall of Man). Almost four hundred years old, John Milton’s great work easily eclipses Shakespeare as the first among English authors in my eyes. Now we look to the opening of the story, a story which takes as its purpose ‘to justify the ways of God to men’, and turn to an infamous speech epitomised by the oft quoted line ‘Better to Reign in Hell than Serve in Heaven’.

Satan is thrown down from Heaven
Engraving by Gustave Doré.

“ He trusted to have equalled the Most High,

If he opposed; and with ambitious aim

Against the throne and monarchy of God,

Raised impious war in Heav’n 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... ”

         - SATAN IS CAST OUT OF HEAVEN

Once the brightest, most beautiful and greatest of all the Archangels of Heaven, Lucifer (from the Latin lux meaning ‘light’ and fero meaning ‘bringer’, giving one of Lucifer’s other names – the Morning Star) as he was then known possessed but one weakness. Gravest of all the sins was Pride, and Lucifer had dared to lead an open war against God himself for control of Heaven. Fully one third of the angelic host sided with the Morning Star, and the War in Heaven was begun. The loyalist angels, lead by the Archangel Michael, had the power and blessing of God and triumphed over the Fallen Ones. The Archangel Michael himself cast Satan (as Lucifer became known after his betrayal) from Heaven, as God condemned the Morning Star and his followers to Hell. Why, you wonder, did Lucifer rebel against God? This I will explain in a future post, as Milton too opens his work in media res (in the middle of action) and leaves us in wonder. You will be most surprised at how curiously compelling Satan’s motivation was...

Satan awoke in the Lake of Fire, and was overcome with lamentation for his loss of Heaven, his own Paradise Lost. Surrounded with the Darkness of the Pit and the sulphurous Inferno, what many do not realise is that Hell was as much a torment for Satan as it was for sinners. Satan turned and saw Beelzebub, his second in command, stir. He too is grieved at their lot, banished from the plains of Heaven where they as angels belong. Beelzebub rages against God, ‘Who now triumphs, and in th’ excess of joy, sole reigning holds the tyranny of Heav’n’. Then Satan consoles him, and soothes his lieutenant:





The Melancholy of Satan
Engraving by Gustave Doré.

“ Fall’n Cherub, to be weak is miserable

Doing or suffering: but of this be sure,

To do aught good never will be our task,

But ever to do ill our sole delight,

As being contrary to his high will

Whom we resist. If then his Providence

Out of our evil seek to bring forth good,

Our labour must be to pervert that end... ”

                - SATAN COMFORTS BEELZEBUB

Satan pledges that now they must seek to ease their suffering, and ‘overcome this dire calamity, what reinforcement we may gain from hope, if not what resolution from despair’. Invigored, Beelzebub rises from the Lake of Fire. Other Fallen Angels awake, and begin to rise at the words of their accursed prince:

                                “ Is this the region, the soil, the clime,

                                  Said then the lost Archangel, this the seat

                                  That we must change for Heav’n, this mournful gloom

                                   For that celestial light?... Farewell happy fields

                                  Where joy forever dwells: hail horrors,

                                   Hail Infernal world, and thou profoundest Hell... ”

                                                              - SATAN MOURNS THE LOSS OF HEAVEN

Transfixed by the Morning Star’s words, the tragedy of Satan is unveiled at the most famous of his exhortations:

                                “ The mind is its own place, and in itself

                                   Can make a Heav’n of Hell, a Hell of Heav’n.

                                   What matter where, if I be still the same,

                                   And what should I be, all but less than he

                                   Whom thunder hath made greater? Here at least

                                   We shall be free; th’ Almighty hath not built

                                   Here for his envy, will not drive us hence:

                                   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 Heav’n. ”

                                                            - SATAN CONSOLES HIS FOLLOWERS

For the Classicists among you, perhaps you may notice an echo of Achilles’ lamentation here, when Odysseus spies his ghost in the Underworld? Achilles tells Odysseus that he would rather be a servant in a poor man’s house on Earth than a king of kings down in Hades. Now Satan calls to his Fallen legions and, in droves, his faithful angels emerge from the Pit. Many names we hear, and some described:

                                “ First Moloch, horrid king besmeared with blood

                                  Of human sacrifice, and parent’s tears,

                                  Though for the noise of drums and timbrels loud

                                  Their children’s cries unheard,

                                  that passed through fire to his grim idol. ”

                                                           - THE FALLEN ANGELS RALLY TO THEIR LEADER

Azazel unfurls Satan’s banner, thousands more rise into the air, and ‘with them rose a forest huge of spears: and thronging helms appeared, and serried shields in thick array of depth immeasurable’. Standing above them all was their dread Commander, brightness still clinging to the Morning Star. Yet in the Fallen One’s face:

Satan calls forth His defeated Legions
Engraving by Gustave Doré.

“ Deep scars of thunder had intrenched, and care

Sat on his faded cheek, but under the brows

Of dauntless courage, and considerate pride

Waiting revenge: cruel his eye, but cast

Signs of remorse and passion to behold

The fellows of his crime... ”

      - SORROW BREAKS THE FACE OF THE MORNING STAR

Satan fires the passion of his legions, praising their valour, and willing them on to rise again, ‘For this infernal pit shall never hold celestial spirits in bondage’. The Legions scream their approval at His words, drawing:

                             “ Millions of flaming swords, drawn from the thighs

                               Of mighty Cherubim; the sudden blaze

                               Far round illuminated Hell: highly they raged

                              Against the Highest, and fierce with grasped arms

                              Clashed on their sounding shields the din of war,

                              Hurling defiance toward the vault of Heav’n. ”

                                                 - THE FALLEN ANGELS SCREAM IN DEFIANCE UNTO GOD

But how did this come to pass? What was it that caused God’s greatest creation to Fall? How did He rally so many to his cause? This is only the beginning of Paradise Lost. In future posts, we shall return to this great work, and discover how the pride of one being caused so much pain and anguish, not among the angelic host alone, but also in man.

Paradise Lost is widely regarded as 'England's epic', written in English by an English poet. It is indeed questionable why England's national writer is Shakespeare next to Paradise Lost, which is a rival for Dante's Divine Comedy (which I will certainly be looking at in future posts). It is available in many texts, all available easily and at a fantastic deal 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)