Paradise Lost surprised me. Before I read it, I knew that it was an epic poem to do with the fall of humanity into sin. However, I was surprised to find that it focused so much on Satan. In a classic epic, there is always a hero, a protagonist who is usually outlined very early on in the story. This hero is often a proud warrior or leader. In this case, Satan seems to be painted as the hero. His second-in-command Beelzebub calls him as “leader of those armies bright” (line 272), referring to how he led the army of opposition in the war of heaven. Later, Satan calls out “warriors . . . repose your wearied virtue” (lines 316-20) in the way that a valiant, brave general would call out to his troops. This is interesting because Satan is unanimously considered the antagonist in Christian belief. I believe he will turn out to be the antagonist in Paradise Lost, but it is definitely odd that Milton seemed to place Satan in the position of protagonist to begin with.
Milton also surprised me by the styling of his epic. He clearly wanted to keep with tradition since he wrote a classic introduction calling to the muse, started the story “in the midst”, and included a catalogue element. However, he peppered some rhyme into it, which is unheard of in epics. Several lines in Satan’s speech rhyme: “tend . . . there . . . offend . . . repair . . . despair” (lines 183-191). This makes me think that Milton didn’t just want to write an epic, he wanted to write the best epic. He wanted his work to stand out and be remembered by adding unique qualities like rhyme and taking on such a daunting, important topic.