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Of Man’s first disobedience, and the fruit Of that forbidden tree whose mortal taste Brought death into the World, and all our woe, With loss of Eden
MiltonParadise Lost · Book 1
🔥 Hell: Satan’s Revolt
Book 1 of 12
Milton invokes not a pagan Muse but the Holy Spirit, asking for aid in telling a story greater than any classical epic — the story of why we suffer, why we die, and how we might be redeemed.
Why This Matters
The opening line announces the poem’s enormous scope: the origin of evil, the loss of paradise, and the entire arc of human history. Milton stakes his claim to surpass Homer and Virgil.
fallknowledgecreation
Fall of the Rebel Angels
Gustave Doré, 1866 · Public Domain