[3] The poem concerns the biblical story of the fall of man: the temptation of Adam and Eve by the fallen angel Satan and their expulsion from the Garden of Eden.

Milton seeks to "justify the ways of God to men," addressing questions of predestination, human agency, and the nature of good and evil.

Milton's Satan, portrayed with both grandeur and tragic ambition, is one of the most complex and debated characters in literary history, particularly for his perceived heroism by some readers.

The poem's portrayal of Adam and Eve emphasizes their humanity, exploring their innocence before the Fall of Man and their subsequent awareness of sin.

Through their story, Milton reflects on the complexities of human relationships, the tension between individual freedom and obedience to divine law, and the possibility of redemption.

In Pandæmonium, the capital city of Hell, Satan employs his rhetorical skill to organise his followers; he is aided by Mammon and Beelzebub; Belial, Chemosh, and Moloch are also present.

Satan, disguised in the form of a serpent, successfully tempts Eve to eat from the Tree by preying on her vanity and tricking her with rhetoric.

[8][9] Leonard speculates that the English Civil War interrupted Milton's earliest attempts to start his "epic [poem] that would encompass all space and time".

[12] Key to the ambitions of Paradise Lost as a poem is the creation of a new kind of epic, one suitable for English, Christian morality rather than polytheistic Greek or Roman antiquity.

Other classical epic conventions include an in medias res opening, a journey in the underworld, large-scale battles, and an elevated poetic style.

Miltonic blank verse became the standard for those attempting to write English epics for centuries following the publication of Paradise Lost and his later poetry.

[14] Alexander Pope's final, incomplete work was intended to be written in the form,[15] and John Keats, who complained that he relied too heavily on Milton,[16] adopted and picked up various aspects of his poetry.

This has led other critics, such as C. S. Lewis and Charles Williams, both of whom were devout Christians, to argue against reading Satan as a sympathetic, heroic figure.

Adam requests a companion from God: Of fellowship I speakSuch as I seek, fit to participateAll rational delight, wherein the bruteCannot be human consort.

Michael explains that "Joshua, whom the Gentiles Jesus call", prefigures the Son of God, "his name and office bearing" to "quell / The adversarie Serpent, and bring back [...] long wander[e]d man / Safe to eternal Paradise of rest".

[...] If patiently thy bidding they obey, Dismiss them not disconsolate; reveale To Adam what shall come in future dayes, As I shall thee enlighten, intermix My Cov'nant in the womans seed renewd; So send them forth, though sorrowing, yet in peace.

When Adam sees him coming he describes him to Eve as not terrible, That I should fear, nor sociably mild, As Raphael, that I should much confide, But solemn and sublime, whom not to offend, With reverence I must meet, and thou retire.

David Mikics argues, by contrast, these positions "overstate the independence of the characters' stances, and therefore miss the way in which Adam and Eve are entwined with each other".

Milton's 17th-century contemporaries by and large criticised his ideas and considered him a radical, mostly because of his republican political views and heterodox theological opinions.

[34] Joseph Lyle points to this example, explaining: "When Milton objects to architecture, it is not a quality inherent in buildings themselves he finds offensive, but rather their tendency to act as convenient loci to which idolatry, over time, will inevitably adhere.

While Adam attempts to build an altar to God, critics note Eve is similarly guilty of idolatry, but in a different manner.

[36] Much like Adam, Eve falsely places her faith in herself, the Tree of Knowledge, and to some extent the Serpent, all of which do not compare to the ideal nature of God.

Critics elucidate that "Solomon's temple provides an explicit demonstration of how an artefact moves from its genesis in devotional practice to an idolatrous end.

Similar to Milton's republican sentiments of overthrowing the King of England for both better representation and parliamentary power, Satan argues that his shared rebellion with the fallen angels is an effort to "explain the hypocrisy of God",[citation needed] and in doing so, they will be treated with the respect and acknowledgement that they deserve.

"[42] He spent a large amount of his career attacking Christianity, demonizing it as "wickedness" and claiming that Milton's God was "sickeningly bad.

"[43] For example, Empson portrays Milton's God as akin to a "Stalinist" tyrant "who enslaves His human creations to serve His own narcissism."

Kapelos-Peters adds: "Milton demonstrates that far from being a tyrannical lord, God and the Son function as a collaborative team that desire nothing but the return of man to his pre-fallen state.

[49] In Paradise Lost Milton also ignores the traditional epic format of a plot based on a mortal conflict between opposing armies with deities watching over and occasionally interfering with the action.

Outside of book illustrations, the epic has also inspired other visual works by well-known painters like Salvador Dalí who executed a set of ten colour engravings in 1974.

[54] Milton's achievement in writing Paradise Lost while blind (he dictated to helpers) inspired loosely biographical paintings by both Fuseli[55] and Eugène Delacroix.