After truly reading and understanding what Milton was writing, SatanвЂ™s first speech is actually terrifying and horrific. Though his speeches are impressive on the outside, they are misleading, filled with exaggeration and lies. After analyzing SatanвЂ™s heroic qualities, he does not perform any heroic actions, except in his speeches. This epic poem starts off painting Satan as a prominent leader and epic hero, but slowly shows how Satan is not the true hero of the poem. By volunteering himself, he gains more respect, trust, and admiration for his bravery. Before acting on this plan, they needed to send a scout to learn more about the new world, and Satan, in attempts to paint himself as a hero and liberator in their eyes, volunteers to go. Beelzebub suggests that they seek revenge by corrupting the new loved race. Many of the fallen angels express their ideas and opinions, but the advice of Beelzebub strikes a significant amount of support from the rest. Immediately after Satan gives his speech, he opens the floor to others. He acted as a true leader by calming their fears and despair and by encouraging his men to unite and to not lose hope. After reading his speech, a reader could conclude that Satan is a true hero based off of how he has acted towards his men. Throughout this speech, he connects with the fallen angels through the humility they share from falling from Heaven, which forms a more personal connection with his men and makes him seem more relatable, and he lifts up their spirits with the hope of being the victors in the upcoming battles. He convinces his men, and possibly himself, that if they rise up stronger and united in battle, they may win next time. And this empyreal substance cannot fail, since through experience of this great event in arms not worseвЂ¦We may with more successful hope resolve to wage by force or guile eternal war Irreconcilable (Milton, 1.117-122). In this moment, Milton describes SatanвЂ™s voice and how Satan was able to renew the hope and the courage of the fallen angels simply by the actual sound of his voice. SatanвЂ™s voice and its effect is mentioned and described multiple times throughout this epic, but this, specifically, is the first description of how his voice affected the angels. If once they hear that voice, (their liveliest pledge of hope in fears and dangers) they will soon resume new courage and revive (Milton, 1.274-279). He acts as a true leader by speaking of their shame in falling from Heaven, but he goes on by urging them to gather and fight back. He stirs them up with an exceptional speech. After Satan falls, he gathers all of the other fallen angels in Hell. Therefore, some readers conclude that Satan is the true hero based off of what Milton was describing about SatanвЂ™s role in a position of authority and stance. As defined earlier, an epic hero is generally a brave and noble leader and warrior. Satan is described as selfless, noble, and superior in his leadership skills and is pictured to stand as high as a tower carrying a massive shield. Milton describes with such great stature. He is described with striking qualities in both mind and heart, setting him apart from the rest of the characters in this poem. In the first two books of Paradise Lost, Satan is portrayed as the hero in this epic poem. We will write a вЂњSatan in Paradise LostвЂќ specifically for you! Want to get an original essay on this topic? It can clearly be stated that Satan is not the true hero in Paradise Lost based off of MiltonвЂ™s intentions for this epic poem and by the steady deterioration of SatanвЂ™s characters as the poem progresses. The previously held honor and respect Satan had is lost by the end of Paradise Lost because his pride and hatred towards God and his creation control his actions throughout the book. Readers later learn that Satan is not the true hero of the poem as they read further and further into the poem. In these first two chapters, Milton portrays Satan as a heroic figure, which possibly could have mislead readers into thinking that Satan is truly good and an epic hero since Satan is technically still an archangel at this point of the poem. There are readers who think that Satan is the true hero purely based off of the first two chapters of this epic poem. Multiple arguments can be made on whether or not Satan is the true epic hero of MiltonвЂ™s Paradise Lost. An epic hero is a brave and noble character in an epic poem.

Paradise lost