GLOSSARY

This glossary does not include all the words that Milton uses in senses different from the senses in which we use them now. If it did, it would be a good deal longer than this entire book. Most of those words will be explained in footnotes in your edition of Paradise Lost, or you will find them in a good dictionary. What you will find here are names and terms which are used often throughout the poem and aren't necessarily found in a regular dictionary.

ADAM

The first man, placed in Paradise by God. He asked for a mate, so God made Eve from his rib.

ANGELS

The servants of God. The word comes from the Greek word "angellos," which means a messenger. The angels were created next to God in the universal hierarchy, above man.

ARCHANGELS

The highest order of angels, those entrusted with God's most important business. Gabriel, Michael, Uriel, and Raphael are among the archangels we meet.

The subject matter of the poem or the speech (not a verbal dispute).

BEELZEBUB

A fallen angel, second-in-command to Satan.

BELIAL

A fallen angel who speaks in the debate in Pandemonium.

CHAOS

The primal stuff which fills all the space between Hell, Heaven, and the World. Chaos is both the name of the space-filling material and the name of the ruler of Chaos. God takes pieces of Chaos to make Hell and the World.

CHERUB

A young angel. The plural is cherubim, a Hebrew form.

EDEN

The land in Mesopotamia, between the rivers Tigris and Euphrates, where the Garden of Paradise is situated.

EVE The "mother of mankind," the first woman, made from Adam's rib and given to him as a mate in the Garden of Paradise.

FALL

The name given to Adam and Eve's disobedience. It is also called original sin.

FALLEN ANGELS

The followers of Satan who were pushed out of Heaven on the third day of the war and must live in Hell.

FREE WILL

The subjective sense that angels and men have that they can choose all their actions, even though God knows the outcome in advance.

GABRIEL

The archangel who guards Paradise. He was second-in- command to Michael in the War in Heaven.

GATE OF HEAVEN

The place at the top of the World (the universe) where there is a stairway going up to Heaven, an opening to go down into the ten concentric circles which make up the World, and the end of a road from Hell.

GATE OF HELL

Sin and Death stand guard here; after Sin opens the gate for Satan, it can never be closed again.

GOD

He has three aspects: the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. In Paradise Lost, God means the Father. God is creator of all things, omnipotent and omniscient, with foreknowledge of all that is to happen.

HELL

Located directly opposite to Heaven, this is where Satan and his followers are sent after they lose the War in Heaven.

LIMBO

A place where souls go who belong neither in Hell nor in Heaven, it lies on the outside rim of the World.

MAMMON

A fallen angel who loves gold.

MICHAEL

The archangel who escorts Adam and Eve out of Paradise.

MOLOCH

A belligerent fallen angel.

PANDEMONIUM

The hall built by Mulciber and Mammon in Hell for the great debate among the fallen angels.

PARADISE

The garden in Eden which God has given Adam and Eve to live in and from which they are expelled after the Fall.

RAPHAEL

The angel who tells Adam the story of the War in Heaven and the creation.

SERAPHIM

Hebrew plural, meaning angels.

URIEL

The angel who guards the sun.

WORLD

In Paradise Lost, the universe. It consists of ten concentric circles with earth at the center.

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