In Honor of Satan and All That Is Unholy

I noticed that my blog's counter has hit the famed number of 666, so I figured I'd take the time to stop and reflect on John Milton's astute Biblical allusion in Book 2 of his epic poem Paradise Lost.

In The New Testament's Book of Revelations 13:18, the line reads: "Here is wisdom. Let him that hath understanding count the number of the beast: for it is the number of a man, and his numer is six hundred threescore six."

And in Paradise Lost's Book 2, line 666-671 reads: "Eclipses at thir charms. The other shape, / If shape it might be call'd that shape had none / Distinguishable in member, joynt, or limb, / Or substance might be call'd that shadow seem'd, / For each seem'd either; black it stood as Night, / Fierce as ten Furies, terrible as Hell,"

At this point in the poem, Satan has already persuaded Moloch, Belial, Mammon, Beezlebub and all the other angels that their best course of action for revenge against God is to travel to Earth and tempt his beloved new creations -- Adam and Eve. In order to leave Hell, he has to persuade Sin and Death to open the gates for him. For the sake of expository information, Sin is Satan's half-woman/half-serpent daughter, birthed from his head (read: another literary allusion by Milton, this time Homeric in nature), who then gives birth to Death, who then rapes his mother Sin, who then gives birth to a pack of Hell-dogs...it all gets a little confusing, but the point of the matter is, the horrible concepts of Sin and Death and corruption and disobedience have not yet made an appearance in Paradise Lost UNTIL Book 2's line of 666.


This isn't one of Milton's more esoteric allusions -- in fact, it's pretty obvious, even to the least well-versed reader -- but it's still appreciated nonetheless. After Satan steps through the gates and begins his trek towards Earth, both Sin and Death travel slowly behind, building a bridge from Hell's gates straight to the Garden of Eden, giving all the demonic spirits an expressway to follow. So it's only completely appropriate that the existence of death and decay and despair is first introduced in line 666. It's this near-obsessive attention to detail that makes Milton such an involved and intricate writer; a single stanza of his poetry is so jam-packed with allusions, allegory, symbols, and wordplay. It can be discussed/analyzed/deconstructed/agonized over until you're brain is numb.

(Disclaimer: many scholars think the real Number of the Beast is actually 616; also, many think that the number doesn't refer to Satan at all, but the Roman emperor Caligula.)