Raphael goes to Earth where he eats with Adam and Eve. God decides to send the angel Raphael to warn Adam and Eve to be wary of Satan. Adam comforts her, reminding her that they are safe if they obey God. When Eve awakes, she tells Adam of her troubling dream. The two angels bring Satan before Gabriel, who, with God's help, banishes the tempter from Earth. Gabriel says that he and his angels will capture any interlopers in the Garden, and late that night Ithuriel and Zephron capture Satan whispering in Eve's ear. Uriel, on the sun, becomes suspicious of the cherub whose face shows changing emotions and goes to warn Gabriel. Satan immediately begins to formulate a plan. As Satan listens to the pair, they talk about God's one commandment that they not eat from the Tree of Knowledge under penalty of death. He sees Adam and Eve and is entranced with their beauty. Looking at Earth, Satan is taken with its beauty but quickly overcomes his sympathy to concentrate on what he must do. Satan disguises himself as a cherub and flies to the sun to talk with the archangel, Uriel. In the meantime, Satan, sitting on the edge of the Earth, cannot see the way to Man. The Son offers to become a man and suffer death in order to overcome it. God adds that Man can be saved through mercy and grace, but he must also accept the just punishment of death, unless someone takes on death for Man. But God omnisciently knows what will happen. God watches Satan approach Earth and predicts his success in corrupting Man. Finally, in the distance Satan sees Earth. Sin opens the gate for Satan who flies out into Chaos and Night. There, he meets his children, Sin and Death. He leaves at once, flying to the Gate of Hell. Beelzebub's proposal, which is really Satan's proposal, is adopted, and Satan volunteers to find the new world and new creatures. Finally, Beelzebub, Satan's second in command, proposes that the angels try to get at God through his new creation, Man. Mammon, the materialistic angel, argues that they do the best with what they have. Belial twists Moloch's arguments, proposing that nothing should be done. In the council, Satan asks what the demons think should be the next move against God. The highest ranking of the angels then assemble for a council. Led by Mammon and Mulciber, the fallen angels build their capital and palace, Pandemonium.
Satan tells them that all is not lost and tries to inspire his followers. He calls for the other angels to do the same, and they assemble by the lake. Satan raises himself from the lake and flies to the shore. Satan and the other rebellious angels awake to find themselves in Hell on a lake of fire. The epic begins traditionally in medias res. The prologue to Book I states Milton's purpose: to tell about the fall of man and justify God's ways to man.
Several of the books also begin with a prologue. These arguments were written by Milton and added because early readers had requested some sort of guide to the poem. Each book of Paradise Lost is prefaced with an argument, or summary.
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