Source of all evil, terrifying entity and adversary of God in an eternal war for the souls of humanity, Satan is often presented as a powerful “other”, having little in common with those he tempts and torments. For example, in Dante's Inferno, Satan is massive, strong, and beast-like, chained like Cerberus in Hell to punish humanity, chewing on the bodies of history's greatest traitors like a vicious dog. Milton's human-looking Satan is at the other end of the spectrum. He is portrayed as the underdog, the one who must overcome enormous obstacles, leading the reader to see him as a tragic hero and feel sympathy for the fallen angel. Satan soon begins a transformation of both his mind and physical appearance, not only making his true nature apparent to the reader, but also making the reader realize that he or she may have more in common with Satan than one didn't think so before. Paradise Lost opens in media res: Satan is in a dire situation. He was, by God's command, cast out of Heaven with his legion of angels into the great Depth of Hell, a place "in utter darkness." . . As far from God and the light of Heaven as from the center three times to the most extreme pole. (I.70-75). Satan's desire to rebel against his creator comes from his refusal to be repressed by God and his Son, claiming that angels are "self-begotten, self-raised" (5.860) and thus denying God's authority over them as their creator (Singh). In Book I, Milton portrays Satan as a strong and imposing character with great abilities as a leader and public statesman. These powers of persuasion are evident throughout the book. Not only is Satan cunning and deceptive, but he is also able to rally the angels to continue the rebellion after...... middle of paper ......ames. Criticism of Milton: Selections from Four Centuries. London: Routledge and Kegan Paul, 1951. Print.Samuel, Irene. Dante and Milton: Commedia and Paradise Lost. Ithaca, New York: Cornell University Press, 1966. 112. Print. Singh, Deepak. "English Literature: Satan in Paradise Lost: Milton." Literaryism: The Republic of Letters. Np, and Web. April 10, 2014. SparkNotes Publishers. “SparkNote on Paradise Lost. » SparkNotes.com. SparkNotes LLC. 2003. Internet. April 9, 2014.Treviño Benet, Diana. “Adam's guilty conscience and the fall of Satan's substitute.” Milton Quarterly 39.1 (2005): 2-15. Premier Academic Research. Internet. March 30, 2014. Wikipedia Contributors. “Snake (symbolism).” Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia. Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia, April 9, 2014. Web. April 11, 2014. Zeng, Nicholas. “The Characters of Paradise Lost” visible darkness. Christ's College, nd Web. March 2. 2014.