• pimento64
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    1 year ago

    That’s a really bad read of Milton, which is unfortunate because Satan, being barely in the actual Bible at all, is effectively a Milton character. In Paradise Lost, Lucifer wages a war against God for the unfairness of God making himself king of heaven and earth, but then upon his defeat he sets himself up as the absolute king of Hell. He loathes humanity because he sees himself as a superior being who should rule them by right, but also demands equal footing with the omnipotent being who created him. It’s summed up in the fact that one of his primary stated goals is to try to show the hypocrisy of God, because he actually demonstrates massively hypocritical behavior at almost every conceivable opportunity. Lucifer wasn’t the first to demand equality, he was the first to demand social classes.

    • kofe@lemmy.ml
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      1 year ago

      Eh…I read it as Satan being the one that wanted Adam and Eve to have knowledge equal to God.

    • Uriel238 [all pronouns]@lemmy.blahaj.zoneOP
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      1 year ago

      I wouldn’t see Milton as the authority on Lucifer.

      And once I establish an omnipotent being created me, I can do what I want on the grounds they created me to want that. That applies to the Morningstar as well.

      • pimento64
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        1 year ago

        Milton is the authority on Lucifer whether you like it or not, because he effectively created the character. Also, you’re employing circular logic to sidestep the actual issue, which was the hypocrisy. Literary analysis is not about arguing backwards from a point of view you’re emotionally attached to.