Satan lands atop Mt. Niphates
“Satan lands atop Mount Niphates, just north of Paradise, the Garden of Eden. He becomes gripped with doubt about the task in front of him; seeing the beauty and innocence of Earth has reminded him of what he once was. He even briefly considers whether he could be forgiven if he repented. But Hell follows him wherever he goes—Satan is actually the embodiment of Hell. If he asks the Father for forgiveness, he knows it would be a false confession; he reasons that if he returned to Heaven, he still could not bear to bow down. Knowing redemption or salvation cannot be granted to him, he resolves to continue to commit acts of sin and evil. He does not notice that during his internal debate, he has inadvertently revealed his devilish nature. He is observed by Uriel, the archangel he tricked into pointing the way. Uriel notices his conflicting facial expressions, and since all cherubs have permanent looks of joy on their faces, Uriel concludes that Satan cannot be a cherub.” …
One of the most poignant and important moments in Paradise Lost comes with Satan’s complex, tangled soliloquy atop Mt. Niphates, his first landing place on our planet. Lines 27-31 set the stage, with Satan on the mountain sometimes looking down at Eden, sometimes looking up at the noonday Sun, his mind pursuing itself through many difficult “revolving” thoughts and attitudes. The soliloquy itself begins at line 32 and ends with line 113.
