Comparison between Milton’s Satan and Dante’s Lucifer

When you think about Satan’s representation in literature, a comparison between Milton’s Satan and Dante’s Lucifer comes automatically to mind. The two poets represent the same character, but differences exist: for example in “Divina Commedia” the hero is the poet; while, in “Paradise Lost” the hero is Satan.

Moreover in Milton’s poem, Satan introduces himself through the use of direct speech, and gives a psychological characterization about himself: he is great in evil and has got “a mind not to be changed by place or time”, a mind that “ can make a Heaven of Hell, and a Hell of Heaven”. Dante’s Lucifer is introduced by Dante, who is the narrator, through physical appearance: “L’imperatore di quel regno, tanto doloroso, emergeva dal petto in su fuori da quel blocco di ghiaccio; e mi avvicino di più io alle dimensioni di un gigante, di quanto un gigante possa avvicinarsi alle dimensioni delle sue braccia: immagina quindi quanto fosse immenso il resto del suo corpo, se le sole braccia erano tanto grandi!” and “E quanto rimasi stupito ed inorridito quando vidi che la sua testa aveva tre facce!”.

In addition to that, Milton’s Satan describes his “new” reign through the comparison with heaven (“Farewell happy fields where joy for ever dwells: hail horrors, hail Infernal world, and thou profoundest hell receive thy new possessor”); while Dante cannot do that because he has not already visited heaven.

Furthermore, God representes the justice and is characterized as a punisher in both poems, but in Paradise Lost accepts the divine punishment, while in the Divina Commedia Lucifer doesn’t and starts to cry: “Lucifero piangeva con I suoi sei occhi, e dai suoi tre menti gocciolavano le sue lacrime e la sua bava insanguinata”).

In conclusion, Dante and Milton had contrasting ways to represent Satan’s physical and psychological appearance, but the most notable difference is that Dante’s Lucifer becomes a mean of punishment, while Milton’s is the symbol of God’s eternal justice.