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I have begun to feel that for hundreds of years that Satan had been unfairly treated. I know this may sound strange, but I have always felt that even though he rebelled against God, doesn't mean that he stopped loving him.

Satan has been seen as Lucifer, even though this isn't exactly true. There are seven princes of Hell, Lucifer is Pride, Mammon is Greed, Asmodeus is Lust, Satan is Wrath, Beelzebub is Gluttony, Leviathan is Envy, and Belphagor is Vanity and Sloth.

In modern society we associate all of these entities as Satan, and that Satan is the ruler of Hell, but in the scripture we find that Satan is not the ruler of Hell, but its prisoner. But when you see the story of what Satan did, and what he did for us, maybe you can be sympathetic.

Satan first worked for God, as a servant, who tempted those who maybe fraudulent. Lucifer, never called by name, but called Morning Star, did not truly rebel against God, but did not want to bow down to the creatures God had created on Earth, man.

Satan did not want this because, God made us in his image, but did not give us proper intelligence. We were banned to eat from the Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil, we were not allowed to stop being ignorant.

In Paradise Lost, Satan is the antihero, and as he has to travel through Hell to reach Earth, the Garden, and got humanity to eat from the Tree, he gave us intelligence and free will.

It is said we would be happy in the Garden, everything given to us, but we would be ignorant. I think everything being handed to us would cause us to be bored, who doesn't like a challenge?

He could now feel that even though he corrupted God's favorite object, he did not stop loving God. I have rebelled against my father, but that didn't mean I stopped loving him.

If you think about it this way, creation stories have someone in the slot of Satan, but only one has one moment exactly the same. It is when Zeus created man, Zeus just wanted a race crafted after himself, but ignorant, and it was only when Prometheus gave the Human race fire, intelligence, was he punished.

Prometheus gave us intelligence in that story. In the story of the Garden of Eden, Satan gave us intelligence, why is it now that Satan gets no sympathy?

This is a joke, right?

I find it very interesting

I don't believe he exsists therefore I'm not sympathetic. If I did believe I'd find this quite interesting actually but right now it sounds like something in a story book.

TL;DR.

This is definitely a break from how we normally view Satan. I'll have to give it more thought - but it is an extremely interesting notion.

"There is a sacredness in tears. They are not the mark of weakness, but of power. They speak more eloquently than ten thousand tongues. They are messengers of overwhelming grief...and unspeakable love."
- Washington Irving

I thought Prometheus gave fire and intelligence to man because of Epimetheus's doings? If I remember right, Epimetheus wanted to help, but he messed up. He gave animals everything nice, such as warm fur, speed, bravery, immense strength, etc. Because there was no good left for man, Prometheus stole fire from the gods to give to man (It's initial purpose was to be used as protection because of our fragile, almost bare skin), made man intelligent, and made man stand on two legs (in resemblance of the gods).

In comparison, Prometheus never received sympathy after his doings either. Once he gave man the gifts of fire, intelligence, and the ability to stand upright, he was cruelly punished by being chained to the Caucasus Mountains for some 10,000 years and having his liver eaten. (He was also punished for his animal sacrificing tricks, but that's a different myth). Not to mention man was punished as well, we received the punishment of women (well, Pandora first, which is where women came from).

In Paradise lost, it's extremely arguable if Satan can be declared as an epic hero or not. In my opinion, Satan is a hero (in Paradise Lost that is). The way John Milton described God in Paradise Lost is pretty prominent. God isn't all that friendly, he's the almighty ruler who sets the rules simply because he can. He doesn't have to have any particular reason or justification for his actions. Whenever his rules aren't followed, he has the power to punish, which is exactly what happened to Satan (expelled from the Kingdom forever).

Satan has many ideas and questions throughout Paradise Lost, and he is persistent in obtaining what he believes in. His flaw however is how he becomes easily misguided. There's a popular quote from book 1 of Paradise lost where Satan states, "The mind is its own place, and in itself / Can make a Heaven of Hell, a Hell of Heaven. / What matter where, if I be still the same," which I think means he wishes to be different. All Satan wanted was to be able to ask questions that would in a way help him understand himself, and everything around him, more.


This is deep... Very good question. Summarizing what I just said, I think the best answer I can come up with is that he might be a hero, but he also develops many more traits later in time. He becomes hateful and deceitful.

To move on is to grow, yet we can barely accomplish either on our own. We know the way to go, yet we follow those with their eyes closed.

I myself find this imensely interesting. I'm afraid I'm not very knowledgable in regards to these stories, but if all you say is true, then that is quite interesting. I myself do not believe in Good or Evil, even though they might exist. As the relativist I am, I find it quite amusing and fascinating how you can look at Satan, the personification of Evil, as not being Evil.

But, I only find it interesting, seeing as I don't believe in him, I don't sympathize.

Mistakes are made, and regrets are our luggage; we will drag them with us to slow us down.
The victories are flashes of light, sudden and unlasting, which allow us to glimpse the road ahead before darkness descends.

Love is bitter, yet it is the bread that keeps us. Over and over it fills us up, only to starve us.
The people whom we love shape our destinies and our strengths,yet leave us cold and alone in the darkness.

interesting, i don't believe in either "god" or "Satan" but i have always liked and been interested in the character of Satan and Lucifer etc.

I've always been more interested in Satan than God.