The Orphic Beauty of Milton's Devil
Date
2000
Authors
Abecassis, Michael
Journal Title
Journal ISSN
Volume Title
Publisher
The Southern African Society for Medieval and Renaissance Studies (SASMARS)
Abstract
In Judaeo-Christian iconography, the Devil is traditionally portrayed as a grotesque and terrifying-looking creature. Half-human half-monster, the fallen angel is adorned with stag’s antlers, straight, pointed ears, a hooked nose and a lion’s muzzle; the back of his head forms a point and he has a goatee beard. He is framed by serrated, bat-like wings; his eyes glow, his legs are hirsute and his goatlike feet end in curved, sharp-pointed claws (see Richardson 39). Satan’s image differs in the fifteenth century, where he is an androgynous figure, depicted either as ‘a woman-headed [serpent] often resembling Eve [or as] a male, a charming putto, a bristling monster’ (McColley 20). Often assimilated to his female counterpart, Lilith, he is the incarnation of an erotico-religious bestiality. His tiara of horns (in Hebrew queren means both ‘horn’ and ‘ray [of light]’2) is the symbol of his virility as well as his divine splendour.
Description
Keywords
Middle Ages -- Periodicals. , Renaissance -- Periodicals. , Middle Ages. , Renaissance.