Paradise LostType of Work Paradise Lost is an epic poem which — like the epic poems of Homer, Dante, Vergil, and Goethe—tells a story about momentous events while incorporating grand themes that are timeless and universal、Date pletedMilton pleted the first version of Paradise Lost in 1667、 It consisted of 10 books、 In 1668 and 1669, he added an introductory ment about the verse form and a special section with summaries of each book 、 In 1674, he published the final version of the epic, in which he divided Books 7 and 10 into two books each 、 The pleted work thus had 12 books instead of 10、 He also placed each summary at the beginning of the book it summarized、 Sources Milton used the Bible, Homer's Iliad and Odyssey, Vergil's Aeneid, and the stories in GrecoRoman mythology as sources of information and as writing models、 The Bible's Book of Genesis is the main source for his retelling of the story of creation and the first humans, Adam and Eve、 SettingsThe settings are heaven, hell, the firmament (苍穹) (Chaos), and earth、 Characters God the Father, God the Son: (trinity)Two of the three divine persons making up the allpowerful Godhead, the single deity(神性) that created and ruled all that exists outside of itself、 The third divine person, the Holy Spirit, does not play a role in Paradise Lost、 God the Father is portrayed as just but merciful, condemning ( 批判) the defiant (目中无人)and unrepentant (不后悔得) rebel angels but permitting redemption of the repentant Adam and Eve 、 God the Son volunteers to redeem them by being human and enduring suffering and death、Satan (Lucifer, Archfiend): Powerful and prideful angel who, with legions ( 众 多 得 ) of supporters, l...
