Paradise Lost

Paradise Lost John Milton THE STORY BOOK I The first book (1) introduces the theme of the entire poem, (2) introduces us to Satan and the fallen angels, and (3) tells us that we are reading an epic poem. In order to put himself in the epic tradition of The Odyssey and The Aeneid, Milton uses devices like the invocation, epic similes, and catalogs. They'll be explained as we come to them. They are used heavily in the …

…The globe down there at the center, the one half lit by the sun and half by the moon reflecting the sun's light, is earth. Uriel even points his finger directly at Paradise and tells Satan that he can't miss the way. Satan bows respectfully, as a cherub would to a senior angel, and swoops down from the sun to the earth, landing on the top of Niphates, a mountain in the Armenian Taurus range.