Genesis – Paradise Lost
... as his. It is this reasoning that Satan was thankful, for upon entering the world in order to persuade the couple to commit the first sin; he hoped that he would encounter Eve alone, which would make it easier to benefit from her weaknesses. As we learn, Satan is fortunate enough to have such and encounter, and successfully meets Eve alone (Book 9 lines 463-466): That space the Evil One abstracted stood From his own evil, and for the time remained Stupidly good, of enmity disarmed, Of guile, of hate, of envy, of revenge. Even though her beauty momentarily stuns him, “for the time remained stupidly good,” his evil ways allow him to continue his plan. It is this same sinful thought process that throughout Satan’s conversation with Eve, he does not allow her to retreat back to Adam in order to keep her faith. Initially, Satan’s actions with Eve involve little effort to convince her that he is not any evil demon that Adam told her to expect on her voyage. Simply, he uses his ability to flatter Eve in order to gain her attention and trust (Book 9 lines 540-548): ‘…By gift, and thy celestial beauty adore, With ravishment beheld… …who shouldst be seen A Goddess among Gods, adored and served By Angels numberless, thy daily train?’ Satan compliments her beauty and leads her to believe that all of Eden’s animals adore her, then he cautiously inserts the proposition that will allow her to become greater in power and being, “A Goddess among Gods,” gaining a greater power than God. Satan came in the form of a snake, when questioned how he inquired the ability to talk and interact, he simply answered that he ate the fr...